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The Nazi War Crimes and
Japanese Imperial Government Records
Interagency Working Group
On January 11, 1999, in accordance with the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act (PL
105-246), President Clinton established the Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency
Working Group (IWG). The group is made up of public members and federal agency
representatives who are directed to
- locate, inventory, recommend for declassification, and make available all
classified Nazi war criminal records, subject to certain specified exceptions;
- coordinate with federal agencies and expedite the release of such classified
records to the public; and
- complete its work to the greatest extent possible and report to Congress
within one year.
On May 23, 2000 Dr. Michael Kurtz,
Chair of the Nazi War Criminal Records Interagency Working Group (IWG), announced
that the IWG will take steps toward the declassification of records related to
Japanese war crimes in the second phase of implementation of the Nazi War Crime
Disclosure Act of 1998.
Interagency Working Group (IWG)
- Legal Authorities:
- Public
Law 105-246, the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act, was signed
by President Clinton on October 8, 1998. In accordance with the Act, by
Executive
Order 13110, the President established the Nazi War
Criminal Records Interagency Working Group to locate, inventory,
recommend for declassification, and make available to the public all classified
Nazi war criminal records, subject to certain specified exceptions.
In May, 1999, NARA's Office of General Counsel prepared a preliminary
analysis of privacy issues related to the Nazi War Crimes
Disclosure as guidance to agencies declassifying Nazi war criminal records.
On October 27, 1999, the IWG submitted its interim report, Implementation
of the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act. Report to Congress,
October 1999.
On December 6, 2000, as part of the Intelligence Authorization Act for
2001, Congress extended the IWG's life to December 2003 through passage
of the Japanese Imperial Government
Disclosure Act, P. L. 106-567. This law changed the IWG's
name to the Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency
Working Group and formally recognized the declassification of U. S. Government
records related to Japanese war crimes as part of the IWG's mission.
A colloquy held in the
United States Senate clarified certain aspects of the Act.
President Clinton's December 27, 2000, Signing
Statement set forth the Executive Branch's understanding
of the new act relative to the original Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act.
- See Implementing Directives on records related to German and Japanese
war crimes:
- Steven Garfinkel, Chair. Members include: Thomas H. Baer; Richard Ben-Veniste;
William Hooten, FBI; Elizabeth Holtzman; Mary Walsh, CIA; Christina Bromwell,
OSD; William H. Leary, NSC; Paul Shapiro, Holocaust Memorial Museum; Eli M.
Rosenbaum, DOJ; Marc J. Susser, State Dept.
- Dr. Gerhard Weinberg, Chair; Dr. Rebecca Boehling; Mr. James Critchfield;
Dr. Edward John Drea; Dr. Peter Hayes; Ms Linda Goetz Holmes; Prof. Christopher
Simpson; Mr. Robert Wolfe; Dr. Ronald W. Zweig.
- Dr. Richard Breitman; Dr. Norman J. W. Goda; Dr. Marlene J. Mayo; Dr. Timothy
Naftali. See press release
of appointment of Breitman and Naftali. See press
release of appointment of Goda and Mayo.
- David Van Tassel, Staff Director; Richard F. Myers; William Cunliffe; Paul
B. Brown; Miriam Kleiman. IWG Staff may be reached at iwg@nara.gov.
Agency Guidance:
Records and Research
News and Current Information
- Announcements by the Interagency Working Group. Information about coming
events, conferences, classes, seminars, etc., of the IWG and other related
groups and organizations.
- Annotated bibliography on published secondary materials on the topic.
- The newsletter of the IWG.
- NARA press release information relating to the IWG.
- Links to related websites on the topic of war crimes and war criminals.
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