The Bonn government recently has informed the governments of 12 other countries that it intends to ask for the extradition of Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele when he is found so that he can stand trial in West Germany.
Deputy Justice Minister Benno Erhard, speaking for the ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU), said in response to questions in the Bundestag that the 12 countries contacted were those where Mengele, the Auschwitz death camp doctor, is believed to have found refuge in recent years.
Paraguay is considered by most Nazi hunters to have been Mengele’s haven for many years. Erhard said that when President Alfredo Stroessner of Paraguay pays his official visit to Bonn shortly, Chancellor Helmut Kohl will raise the issue of Mengele in the course of their talks.
According to Erhard, Washington has advised Bonn that the Paraguayan government is willing to cooperate and would arrest Mengele if he is located in that country.
Erhard reported that since the Federal Republic posted a one million Mark reward for information leading to Mengele’s arrest, many individuals have claimed knowledge of his whereabouts but so far none of this information has resulted in progress toward his capture.
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.
