The United States, Britain, and France were reported to be quietly releasing most of the German war criminals still held in the wake of the new agreement for German sovereignty and remilitarization.
According to Allied High Commission figures 208 Nazis remain confined. This does not include the seven major offenders held at Spandau prison in Berlin. The United States holds 120 at Landsberg in Bavaria, the British hold 42 at Werl Prison, and the French have 46 at Wittlich.
The men now held by the United States are all who remain in custody of the 1,417 Nazis convicted by U.S. military tribunals. They represent S.S. and Gestapo members and other Germans convicted of mass cruelties and crimes against humanity. Many were guards at concentration camps. In some instances death sentences were commuted with the understanding that long prison sentences would be substituted.
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.
