The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People asked the West German Government today to extend its statute of limitations for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals beyond next May 8.
A statement, approved by the NAACP board, which calls for amendment of the West German constitution for that purpose, was sent to West German Ambassador Heinrich Knappstein in Washington, for transmittal to Bonn. The statement said that “the struggle of the Jewish people to bring Nazi war criminals to justice for the wanton slaughter” of millions of Jews and other victims was fully supported by the NAACP and that, if no action is taken, many of the Nazis would receive immunity from prosecution.
The NAACP said that action to prolong the statute would “reaffirm worldwide faith in the integrity and effectiveness of the judicial process” and “lend encouragement to concerned people everywhere who are working diligently to forever banish the crime of genocide from the earth.”
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.