HC Deb 22 February 1960 vol 618 c5W
51. Mr. Elwyn Jones

asked the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs what steps his Department is taking to make available to the German authorities at their request documents relating to the identity and activities of German war criminals; and to what extent these authorities have access to the original captured German documents jointly owned by the American and British Governments and presently housed in Washington.

Mr. Profumo

The answer to the first part of the Question is "None." As I explained to the hon. Lady, the Member for Blackburn (Mrs. Castle) on 10th February, Her Majesty's Government do not now hold any documents of this kind.

The answer to the second part of the Question is that the jointly controlled documents, which are mainly military, are being sorted. Those which are not secret or otherwise classified are returned to the Federal German Government. The rest are retained in Washington but the Federal German Government are allowed reasonable access to them.

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