Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group
Encyclopedia
The Nazi War Crimes and Japanese Imperial Government Records Interagency Working Group is a United States government interagency group, which tasked with locating, identifying, inventorying, and recommending for declassification classified
U.S. records relating to Nazi
and Japanese war crimes
.
The group was created after the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act 1998 (PL 105-246). Since 1999, the Interagency Working Group
(IWG) has declassified and opened to the public an estimated 8 million pages of documents, including 1.2 million pages of Office of Strategic Services
records; 50,000 pages of Central Intelligence Agency
name and subject files; more than 350,000 pages of Federal Bureau of Investigation
subject files; and nearly 300,000 pages of Army intelligence files. The IWG has issued two reports to the Congress of the United States (in October 1999 and March 2002), and it issues news releases and occasional newsletters.
On March 25, 2005, President
George W. Bush
signed into law legislation that pushes back the group's sunset date
to March 2007.
The members of the group are appointed by the President. Current membership is:
Classified information
Classified information is sensitive information to which access is restricted by law or regulation to particular groups of persons. A formal security clearance is required to handle classified documents or access classified data. The clearance process requires a satisfactory background investigation...
U.S. records relating to Nazi
German war crimes
The government of Germany ordered, organized and condoned several war crimes in both World War I and World War II. The most notable of these is the Holocaust in which millions of people were murdered or died from abuse and neglect, 60% of them Jews...
and Japanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes
Japanese war crimes occurred during the period of Japanese imperialism, primarily during the Second Sino-Japanese War and World War II. Some of the incidents have also been described as an Asian Holocaust and Japanese war atrocities...
.
The group was created after the Nazi War Crimes Disclosure Act 1998 (PL 105-246). Since 1999, the Interagency Working Group
Working Group
Working Group can mean:*Working group, an interdisciplinary group of researchers; or*Working Group , kennel club designation for certain purebred dog breeds; or...
(IWG) has declassified and opened to the public an estimated 8 million pages of documents, including 1.2 million pages of Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
records; 50,000 pages of Central Intelligence Agency
Central Intelligence Agency
The Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
name and subject files; more than 350,000 pages of Federal Bureau of Investigation
Federal Bureau of Investigation
The Federal Bureau of Investigation is an agency of the United States Department of Justice that serves as both a federal criminal investigative body and an internal intelligence agency . The FBI has investigative jurisdiction over violations of more than 200 categories of federal crime...
subject files; and nearly 300,000 pages of Army intelligence files. The IWG has issued two reports to the Congress of the United States (in October 1999 and March 2002), and it issues news releases and occasional newsletters.
On March 25, 2005, President
President of the United States
The President of the United States of America is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president leads the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the United States Armed Forces....
George W. Bush
George W. Bush
George Walker Bush is an American politician who served as the 43rd President of the United States, from 2001 to 2009. Before that, he was the 46th Governor of Texas, having served from 1995 to 2000....
signed into law legislation that pushes back the group's sunset date
Sunset provision
In public policy, a sunset provision or clause is a measure within a statute, regulation or other law that provides that the law shall cease to have effect after a specific date, unless further legislative action is taken to extend the law...
to March 2007.
The members of the group are appointed by the President. Current membership is:
- Steven Garfinkel, Chair
- Thomas Baer, head of Steinhardt Baer Pictures Company
- Richard Ben-VenisteRichard Ben-VenisteRichard Ben-Veniste , is an American lawyer. He first rose to prominence as a special prosecutor during the Watergate scandal. He has also been a member of the 9/11 Commission. He is known for his pointed questions and criticisms of members of both the Clinton and George W...
, a partner at Mayer BrownMayer BrownMayer Brown is an international law firm head-quartered in Chicago which specializes in commercial transactions and litigation. The firm employs more than 1,600 lawyers, including approximately 875 in the Americas, 425 in Europe and 300 in Asia.... - Christina Bromwell, Office of the Secretary of DefenseUnited States Secretary of DefenseThe Secretary of Defense is the head and chief executive officer of the Department of Defense of the United States of America. This position corresponds to what is generally known as a Defense Minister in other countries...
- Elizabeth HoltzmanElizabeth HoltzmanElizabeth Holtzman is an American lawyer and former Democratic politician, pioneer woman officeholder, four term U.S. Representative , two term District Attorney of Kings County , and New York City Comptroller .Her role on the House Judiciary Committee during the Watergate scandal drew national...
, former Congresswoman from New York - William Hooton, Federal Bureau of Investigation
- William H. LearyWilliam H. LearyWilliam H. Leary was the Dean of the University of Utah College of Law, now known as the S.J. Quinney College of Law, from 1915 to 1950. He was born in Massachusetts, United States, and received a Bachelor of Arts from Amherst College. In 1908, he received his Juris Doctor from Chicago University...
, National Security CouncilUnited States National Security CouncilThe White House National Security Council in the United States is the principal forum used by the President of the United States for considering national security and foreign policy matters with his senior national security advisors and Cabinet officials and is part of the Executive Office of the... - Eli RosenbaumEli RosenbaumEli M. Rosenbaum was the director of the U.S. DOJ Office of Special Investigations , which was primarily responsible for identifying and deporting Nazi war criminals, from 1995 to 2010, when OSI was merged into the new Human Rights and Special Prosecution Section...
, Director of the Office of Special InvestigationsU.S. DOJ Office of Special InvestigationsThe Office of Special Investigations was a unit within the Criminal Division of the United States Department of Justice. Its purpose was to detect and investigate individuals who took part in state sponsored acts committed in violation of public international law, such as crimes against humanity.In...
, Department of JusticeUnited States Department of JusticeThe United States Department of Justice , is the United States federal executive department responsible for the enforcement of the law and administration of justice, equivalent to the justice or interior ministries of other countries.The Department is led by the Attorney General, who is nominated... - Paul Shapiro, Director, Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies, United States Holocaust Memorial MuseumUnited States Holocaust Memorial MuseumThe United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is the United States' official memorial to the Holocaust. Adjacent to the National Mall in Washington, D.C., the USHMM provides for the documentation, study, and interpretation of Holocaust history...
- Marc J. SusserMarc J. SusserDr. Marc J. Susser is a former historian of the United States Department of State. The Office of the Historian of the Department of State is responsible, by act of the United States Congress, for the publication of the official historical record of United States foreign policy. This is done via...
, The Historian, Department of StateUnited States Department of StateThe United States Department of State , is the United States federal executive department responsible for international relations of the United States, equivalent to the foreign ministries of other countries... - Mary Walsh, Central Intelligence Agency