Jewish groups threaten legal action against Vatican

[emad]

Haaretz
By The Associated Press

WASHINGTON - U.S. Jewish groups threatened legal action against the Vatican on Thursday, saying the Roman Catholic church has stonewalled their requests for information about Jewish children placed in convents during World War II to protect them from the Nazis.

David Schoen, an Alabama-based attorney, said Thursday that if the church does not agree to open up the records within a week, the Coalition of Jewish Concerns-Amcha would turn to the legal system for help in identifying the missing children.

Speaking to a news conference outside the Vatican's embassy, Rabbi Shmuel Herzfeld noted the commemoration ceremony taking place in Poland to mark the 60th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz.

But, he said, "as long as the children of all those murdered at Auschwitz do not know their true identity, and as long as the murdered at Auschwitz have descendants who do know their true lineage, how can we truly say that Auschwitz has been liberated. We want our chidren back."

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/533017.html