Nazis’ Testimony To Be Heard
(N.ZP.A .-Reuter—Copyright) (Rec. 11.30 p.m.) JERUSALEM, April 28 The Israeli Coart tryinf Adolf Eichmann today deeided to admit affidavits from three living former Nazis, bat said the defence should be enabled to examine them. The prosecution had asked the Court to admit affidavits from Eberhard von Thadden. a former German Foreign Ministry official concerned with Jewish matters. Dr. Wilhelm Hoettl, a former S.S. officer and intelligence agent, and a former S.S. colonel, W. Huppenkoethen. The defence opposed the admission of the affidavits as evidence, and demanded that the men be called as witnesses so that they could be cross-examined. It asked the prosecution to give a promise of immunity from arrest to any former Nazi so testifying.
Mr Justice Landau said the Court could not direct the executive powers to give immunity from arrest to wit-
nesses coming to Israel to testify. The Israeli AttorneyGeneral, Mr Gideon Hausner, told the Court two days ago that he could not offer blanket immunity for former Nazi witnesses.
The trial, in which Eichmann is accused of the murder of millions of Jews during the last war, continued with the reading of sworn statements made by von Thadden for submission at the Nuremberg trials in 1947. Von Thadden's statement said that Eichmann had told him that foreign reports about the burning of Jews in Auschwitz were "completely false." Among a series of documents submitted to the Court yesterday, was a dispatch to Washington from Mr Joseph Kennedy, father of President Kennedy, in which he quoted the Nazi Foreign Minister. von Ribbentrop, as saying that Jews "were all pickpockets. murderers and thieves "
Mr Kennedy said the results of a meeting between von Ribbentrop and the French Ambassador in Germany (Mr Henri Bonnet) were “very bad.” Von Ribbentrop said the German Government had decided "to assimilate" the Jews with the criminal classes.
Mr Kennedy’s message said: "They would be forced to report to police as other criminals were obliged to do. They would be under police observation like other criminals.”
Extracts from the shorthand report of a meeting of Nazi leaders in 1938, discussing measures to segregate Jews from Germans, were read to the Court. In them. Field-Marshal Goering, chief of the Nazi four-year plan and Air Force commander, was quoted as saying: “We will give the Jews a special part of the forest and (an official) will arrange that various animals which look very much like Jews—the elk has got a' crooked nose of that sortwill go there and settle down ..” A
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Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 11
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422Nazis’ Testimony To Be Heard Press, Volume C, Issue 29500, 29 April 1961, Page 11
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