Nazi Archive To Be Opened Because Of Signed Agreement
Richard Rittierodt - All Headline News Staff Writer Berlin, Germany (AHN) - On Wednesday, an agreement was signed by Germany, Israel and the United States to open an archive of Nazi files to see how they carried out the Holocaust. In April, the 11-nation governing body of the International Tracing Service, which is part of the International Committee of the Red Cross, reached the accord. Britain and four other nations had signed the accord, while the other three nations will sign the accord on a later date. U.S. Ambassador William Timken Jr. said, "those who suffered from the Holocaust will welcome access to these archives as they hope to answer long-standing and agonizing questions about the fate of family members and family property." Up until now, the files were only open to the families of the victims of the Holocaust. The only way a third party could see the files was to have the written consent of a victim. The change was also being helped by the victims and their families because they believed that their history could be lost if there was no change. Even though it dropped its objections earlier this year, Germany had originally opposed the change because it would violate its privacy laws. German Deputy Foreign Minister Guenter Gloser said, "for Germany, the signing underlines the importance it attaches to dealing with the past." German Justice Minister Brigitte Zypries has stated that |
