Poland Wants British Zone Premier in War Court: Explanation Not Accepted

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 12, Issue 37, 13 April 1948, Page 3

Poland Wants British Zone Premier in War Court: Explanation Not Accepted

Poland has requested the extradition of the Minister-President (Premier) of Lower Saxony, Wilhelm Kopf, for trial as a war criminal. Lowy Saxony, or Niedersachsen, is in the British Occupation Zone of Germany. The Polish Government, which officially requested the British Occupation authorities to agree to the extradition, points out that Kopf’s name appears in List No. 45, dated November, 1947, of the United Nations War Crimes Commission, under No. 339. Kopf was listed by the UN War Crimes Commission because, as manager of an estate at Sadowa, Poland, he brutally illtreated Polish workers. As a taember of a Nazi commission for evacuation of Poles, he p.articipated in evictions of many Poles from their* homes and was guilty of pillage. The Chief of the Polish Foreign Ministry’s Information Department, General V. Grosz, said that Poland could qot accept the explanation given by the Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Hector McNeil, in the House of Commons, that while Kopf had worked for the Nazis in Poland he had done so “against his will.” “This excuse,” said General Grosz, “cannot be used to justify immunity for Germans who have committed war crimes. “Irrespective of the views expressed by persons in various countries the Polish Government maintains its attitude that Kopf must be extradited to be tried for crimes against the Polish people. Poland regards Kopf as a war criminal, and he . should be handed over.”