Germany reviews cases of former Dutch Nazis

BERLIN – Germany has been a safe abode for a number of Dutch war criminals and collaborators since escaping from jails in the Netherlands in the late 1940s and early 1950s. Existing German law entitled them to citizenship for having served in such units as the Waffen SS, even though these individuals were charged and often convicted of serious war crimes in the Netherlands. In recent months, German officials have been taking another look at the matter of, for instance, Klaas Carel Faber who received a death sentence in 1947. A former justice minister finds it unacceptable that Faber received postwar protection because of a 1943 decree by Hitler. Faber, who is now 87, served as a supervisor at Kamp Westerbork and was feared for his violent demeanor. His father, a baker at Heemstede, was liquidated in 1944 by resistance fighter Hannie Schaft and his brother, Pieter Johan, was executed in 1948 for murdering 27 resistance workers. The brothers were part of an execution squad at Westerbork. As well, a German court cleared the way for the trial of former SS’er Heinrich Boere. He was sentenced to death in absentia in the Netherlands in 1949.