Yugoslav Parliament and Jewish Communities Denounce Bonn Decision

The Yugoslav Federal Assembly and the Federation of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia denounced today, in separate actions, the West German Cabinet decision to adhere to the May 8 cutoff date for the prosecution of Nazi war criminals.

The Assembly declaration charged that the West German decision involved issues of an international character and that the question of application of the statute of limitations was the concern not just of West Germany but of the whole international community. The Assembly said that adoption by West Germany of the United Nations Genocide Convention confirmed that the Nazi war crimes were crimes according to international law. Therefore, the Assembly declared, the prevention and prosecution of such crimes was the international-legal duty of every state and no state could be freed of this duty by “appealing to its internal law.”

Dr. Lavoslav kadelburg, president of the Federation of Jewish Communities, distributed the federation statement to the foreign press here. The statement said the decision “cannot and will not change the character of crimes unprecedented in history, nor will it minimize for world public opinion the responsibility of those who carried them out. International opinion is still horrified by the momentousness and massiveness of Nazi war crimes. In the name of the decimated Yugoslav Jewish community, the federation demands urgently the reconsideration of the decision.”

The Federal Assembly statement also charged that the Bonn government did not undertake adequate measures against the remnants of Nazism in West Germany. The statement asserted that implementation of the Bonn decision “would in fact represent giving amnesty to Nazi criminals, giving them free action in the federal republic.”