England prosecutes war crimes There is little doubt that England suffered immensely during World War II. Londonand other centres were major targets for the Luftwaffe. At war's end in 1945 hundreds of thousands of British military and civilian personnel had been killed or wounded in the conflict with Nazis. When the British army accompanied American, French and Russian forces into Germany, it was one of the first units to encounter the concentration camps. British soldiers did much in those early days to succor victims of Nazi barbarism encountered in those camps. Given this meritorious record, it has always been puzzling why England has never enacted legislation enabling the government to prosecute Nazi war criminals liying in England. On two different occasions the Hoiise of Lords has rejected statutes making that prosecution possible and on each occasion the Lords have expressed their disinclination to pursue elderly men for crimes committed more than half a century ago. Members of the House of Commons in Britain do not, fortunately, share the view that there is a statute of limitations on murder and that is why Prime Minister John Major recently invoked the rarely used 1911 Parliament Act to force the legislation through without any further debate. Commenting on the use of the Parliament Act, Greville Janner, a senior figure in Britain's Jewish community, said: "It is a marvellous outcome and is proof that public outrage and an elected democracy gets results." That may be, but analysts point to many ironies in the affair. Prime Minister Major, for exampfe, is said to have been opposd personally to the idea of legislation designed to prosecute Nazi war criminals. Many members of the House of Commons appear to be more interested, moreover, in asserting the supremacy of the House of Commons over the House of Lords than in affirming the legitimacy of hunting down Nazi war criminals. What is important, in the final analysis, is not the procedural wrangle which has permitted the passage of a controversial statute biit the end result. Those who had no pity for their aged Jewish victims, as Beate IClarsfeld has noted, deserve no pity no matter how old they are. The men in their 70s and 80s now awaiting their arrest and prosecution for heinous war crimes will nonetheless have something their victims were denied— due process in law. London Jevtfish Chrqnicle celebmtesiSO y^^^ By ARNOLD AGES The Jewish Chronicle of London, England, one of the oldest English-language newspapers reporting on Jewish events, is celebrating its ISOth anniversary. Since 1841 the Chronicle, through a succession of editors and Owners, has established itself as the voice of British Jewry and has compiled an enviable record as a newspaper of record and innovation in the Jewish media world. Priding itself as a quality newspaper, the Jewish Chronicle, over the past 150 years, has not only reported the news but also tried to set the agenda for the Jewish community in Britain and abroad. The paper innovated in publishing literary and historical studies and in 1906 brought out a supplement in modern Hebrew. According to Cecil Roth, the great Jewish historian, Arnold Aqm Is a regular JWB contributor. He it professor at Waterloo Unlvwyity, an author andjournallat the ieww/i C/ir(omW