The trial of two former Gestapo officers accused of having taken part in mass executions of several hundred Latvian Jews, began in Tuebingen today. The ex-Nazis, Richard Wiechert, 56, and Bruno Schulz, 58, pleaded not guilty.
Four hundred cases are pending in West German courts against “a large number” of Nazi war criminals, many of the cases involving two or more suspects, the Federal Republic of Germany announced here today. The announcement, in the Government’s official Information Bulletin, was candidly tied to the Adolf Eichmann trial in Israel, in an effort by the Government to show that it is doing all it can to clean up the record of Nasi atrocities against Jews and others.
The Bulletin shows that, in several of the West German states, vigorous prosecution has been undertaken against Nazi war criminals. The figures show that, in Bavaria, 1, 721 trials were held in such cases, resulting in convictions against 991 persons. In the State of Baden- Wurttemberg, 585 persons have been convicted of war crimes.
A special filmed documentary based on the life and crimes of Adolf Eichmann, Nazi specialist in the extermination of 6,000,000 European Jews, will be televised over the West German network next Tuesday, April 11–the day Eichmann goes on trial in Israel.
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