John J. McCloy, United States High Commissioner for Germany, yesterday refused to consider requests for amnesty for former high Nazis sentenced as war criminals. “I do not believe that world opinion is prepared to accept that there has been sufficient atonement for the war crimes or that the Germans themselves should be allowed to forget them,” the High Commissioner wrote to Bishop Muench, Papal envoy to Germany who appealed for clemency.
Commission McCloy added that he has been disturbed by what appears to be a “persistent tendency” to question the legal basis for the war crimes’ prosecutions and the soundness of the verdicts. “I do not think that any German who sincerely believes in the future of Germany as a responsible and peaceful member of the community of nations can reasonably doubt the enormity of those crimes or the principle of international justice under which the defendants were tried,” the High Commissioner stated.
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