German authorities are racing to reopen and prosecute hundreds of dormant Nazi-era war crimes cases, the AP reports:
Special Nazi war-crimes investigators reopened the files after the conviction of former U.S. autoworker John Demjanjuk, whose case set a new legal precedent in Germany, said Kurt Schrimm, the prosecutor who heads the unit. …
Elan Steinberg, vice president of the American Gathering of Holocaust Survivors and their Descendants, welcomed the news that the files were being re-examined and urged prosecutors to act quickly.
“As our numbers – those of the victims – have also rapidly dwindled, this represents the final opportunity to witness justice carried out in our lifetimes,” he said. “Time is the enemy here.”
