International

Leaders of the Dutch Parliament’s various political groups have written a letter to colleagues in the German Reichstag requesting that they ‘do all they can to ensure the speedy imposition of sentence on the last fugitive Dutch war criminal in Germany, Klaas-Carel Faber.’ The communal letter was written after an initiative from SP leader Emile Roemer, who was responding to a request made to him by investigative journalist Arnold Karskens during popular late-night TV talk-show Pauw & Witteman.

Klaas-Carel Faber has been condemned for, amongst other crimes, participating in murders during the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. In 1947 he was sentenced to death for his crimes, but the sentence was later commuted to life imprisonment. Faber escaped from prison in 1952 and fled to Germany, where he has since lived out his life as a free man.

‘Faber did not serve his sentence,’ says Emile Roemer. ‘Relatives of those who died cannot stomach the fact that the perpetrator of such crimes has lived free for decades while they must carry the pain of history inside themselves for their whole lives. Arnold Karskens put it like this: “The last real Dutch Nazi should be behind bars.” I agree with him wholeheartedly. I hope that this letter can contribute to bringing this about and that justice will still be able to run its course.”