D' AMATO WANTS ALL DOCUMENTS FROM IDAR-OBERSTEIN PRISON CAMP CITES FORMER GUARDS WHO SAY MENGELE WAS HELD THERE BY U.S.

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP90-00552R000404200049-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 1
• Document Creation Date: December 22, 2016
• Document Release Date: July 6, 2010
• Sequence Number: 49
• Publication Date: February 19, 1985
• Content Type: OPEN SOURCE

Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404200049-0
WS. senator Al u'Aniato
of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE STAT CONTACT: Ed Martin 202 224 6498
UPON RECEIPT Gary Lewi 212 947 7390
D'AMATO WANTS ALL DOCUMENTS FROM IDAR-OBERSTEIN PRISON CAMP
CITES FORMER GUARDS WHO SAY MENGELE WAS HELD THERE BY U.S.
U.S. Senator Alfonse M. D'Amato (R-C-NY) said today that a second
former guard at the Idar-Oberstein Prison Camp has surfaced to confirm
that Nazi war criminal Josef Mengele may have been held by American
forces immediately following World War II.
D'Amato said that the account of former PFC Richard A. Schwarz,
who in 1945 served as a guard at the camp, corroborates information
revealed last week by Walter Kempthorne, another guard who contends
the Americans did have Mengele.
"We need to see the records from that camp," D'Amato said, noting
that he has requested the Army to come forth with all information
about the Idar-Oberstein Prison Camp.
"We know Nazi war criminals were held at that camp," D'Amato
said. "Now, two former guards tell us that we had Mengele. If that's
true, as I believe it is, then we must determine how he got free."
Last month, D'Amato requested Army Secretary John Marsh, CIA
Director William Casey, and National Security Advisor Robert McFarlane
to order an intensive search of post-war intelligence information.
This is now underway and the Senator hopes that this information will
determine how Mengele escaped and open new leads that will help find
him today.
"If Mengele was in our hands and then released for whatever
reason, we have an obligation to correct that horrendous mistake,"
D'Amato said. "The world must not remember that it was the United
States that let the "Angel of Death" go free to live a normal life
after cruelly destroying the lives of so many innocent people."
On Sunday, Senator D'Amato revealed that the United States has
information indicating that Mengele recently may have been in
Portugal.
"It is most urgent that the United States contact the government
of Portugal, provide whatever information we can, and ask that they
immediately initiate a search for Mengele or those who have helped
him," he said.
"We need every piece of information we can get if Mengele is to
be brought to justice," D'Amato said. "The clock is running out -
Josef Mengele is 73 years old this year. It would be a cruel mockery
of jt!~tice if this monster who killed and tortured so many thousands
of innocent men, women, and children, were allowed to die in his bed
of old age without ever having been called to account for his crimes."
United States Senate I Washington, D.C. 205101(202) 224.6498
Regional Offices: New York [phone] / Albany [phone] 1 Syracuse [phone] / Buffalo [phone] 1 Rochester [phone]
Sanitized Copy Approved for Release 2010/07/06: CIA-RDP90-00552R000404200049-0