The commission of Allied jurists appointed by the Supreme Council
to consider the Leipzig trials of German War criminals reported unanimously last Saturday that the sentences were inadequate and that, as it was useless to submit fresh cases to the German Supreme Court, Germany should be required to deliver the accused persons to the Allies for judgment. We • feeLbound to express our regret that this proposal has been made. It is perfectly true that the sentences were inadequate and that the acquittals were tmjnatifiable. But it has always seemed to us a remarkable and encouraging fact that some of the culprits tried at the instance of the British Government were convicted by a German court for foul deeds committed during the War. Those convictions established a weighty moral precedent. We could not seriously hope for more than that. No good purpose would be served now by reviving the Treaty demand, long since tacitly abandoned by the Allies, for the surrender of the other War criminals. The Germans would never believe that the men would get a fair trial before Allied courts, and the moral effect of the Leipzig proceedings would be spoiled.
Previous page
