Simone Veil, former President of the European Parliament and a survivor of Auschwitz, said she has “had enough” of trials of two former Nazis or Nazi collaborators. In an interview with Le Monde, Veil said: “My views on this subject might shock some and might be misunderstood by others but 40 years after the war, I have had enough of these trials.”
Mrs. Veil, a former magistrate, was questioned about the “Papon affair,” the case of former Budget Minister Maurice Papon who was charged last week with “crimes against humanity” for his alleged role in the deportation of 1,690 Jews from Bordeaux when he was an official of the Vichy regime during World War II.
Veil, who takes an active interest in Jewish affairs, also said she was adamantly opposed to retroactive laws. She stressed that Papon was being charged 40 years after the alleged events, after France’s Parliament lifted the statute of limitations for war crimes or crimes against humanity. “I have always doubled the wisdom of changing existing laws to rule out the statute of limitations and apply a law retroactively,” she said.
Veil, who lost her family in Auschwitz, said: (Adolf) Eichmann was a case apart. He had become a symbol. I also think that (Josef) Mengele (the Auschwitz doctor), were he to be found, would justify some special measures. As for the rest, I have had enough of these trials.”
Veil said that people who committed war crimes or crimes against humanity and are only now being found out “should not be permitted to continue leading normal, quiet, everyday lives.” She explained that the public revelation of their former acts would be sufficient punishment but ruled out any legal proceedings.
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