§ Colonel Clarkeasked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs whether it is proposed to take any steps to obviate the hardship caused by the failure to implement the Peace Treaty with Germany on relatives of Germans posted missing in the late war, whose death cannot be presumed until the end of one year from the date of the ratification of peace.
Mr. McNeilThere appears to be some misunderstanding regarding the present position. In cases where a member of the German Armed Forces has been posted as missing and there is evidence that his decease is highly probable, a German Court may make a declaration of death at any time. Where, however, there is no evidence or insufficient evidence of death, German law previously provided that a declaration of death could be made after a lapse of one year since the end of the year in which peace had been concluded or military operations had ceased. Owing to the peculiar circumstances now obtaining in Germany, the German26W authorities in the British zone, with the approval of Military Government, in December 1946, amended the rule in the sense that the period of one year is to run from a date yet to be appointed. The fixing of the appointed date will depend on a number of factors, including the return of the prisoners-of-war from countries which were not signatories of the Geneva Convention and are, therefore, under no obligation to report the names of prisoners held, or their deaths, to the International Red Cross. It will be seen, therefore, that the delay in not due to the failure to conclude a Peace Treaty, but rather to the difficulty of obtaining evidence of death and that the law in the British zone is designed to protect not only the missing persons but also their relatives from the consequences of a mistake.