B’nai B’rith International joined leading American and British researchers in calling for the United Nations to open a vault of records that reportedly includes information on 10,000 cases against accused WWII criminals.
The UN should have provided public access to this information, involving nearly 40,000 people, from the beginning, the Jewish organization said.
The vault, which holds crucial records that could be used to prosecute those responsible for the Holocaust and other World War II atrocities, is only partially available to select researchers and historians on a confidential basis and at governments’ request.
It was the property of the United Nations War Crimes Commission from 1943 until it was shut down in 1948. It then became available only to governments, and later to select researchers and historians.
"These records should finally be open and available to anyone. Had these vaults been opened earlier they could have made much more of an impact on successful prosecution of war crimes," said B’nai B’rith International President Allan J. Jacobs.
"Where has the United Nations been for the last six decades? Hopefully U.N. officials will finally take these requests to heart and make these crucial historical records open to the public,” said B’nai B’rith International Executive Vice President Daniel S. Mariaschin.