W. German Prosecutors Get Names of 4,500 Nazi Crime Suspects

West Germany may be in for another round of wrenching trials of old Nazis this year.

Over the last few days, the Central Office for Investigation of Nazi Crimes has sent local prosecutors the names of 4,500 people suspected of committing crimes during the Nazi period, which began in 1933, when Adolf Hitler came to power, and ended in 1945, with the defeat of Germany in World War II.

Alfred Streim, director of the government-funded Central Office, said the names, none of which he would disclose, came to light as the result of the United Nations’ decision to open its files on those suspected of Nazi crimes.

The files were opened, he said, because of pressure brought by the United States and Israel over the case of Austrian President Kurt Waldheim, who was an officer in the German army during the war and has been accused of assisting or participating in war crimes, charges he has denied.

Streim said the list may contain the names of prominent persons, but he declined to say who they might be.

” . . . So far all we have are the accusations,” Streim said in a telephone interview. “Local prosecutors’ offices now have to find evidence,” which may be outside West Germany.

After the first rush of postwar investigations into Nazi crimes, the files assembled by a number of countries were turned over to the United Nations, which kept them out of public view for 30 years on grounds that in many cases they involved unsupported charges.

Last year the Central Office, which is situated in Ludwigsburg, was given the names of 30,000 people thought to have been involved in criminal activity during the Nazi era. About three-quarters of the names were discarded, Streim said, because the people were dead or had already been prosecuted or because the statute of limitations had run out.

The 4,500 people whose names have now been sent to prosecutors are suspected of murder, and there is no statute of limitations on murder in West Germany.

Most of those named were either SS policemen or guards in Poland or France, Streim said.

“They probably thought they had been overlooked among the hunt for senior SS men suspected of war crimes.”

The SS, or Schutzstaffel , was a Nazi organization that began as Hitler’s personal guard but grew to include entire divisions of combat troops. The SS also provided personnel for the Nazi death camps.

Streim said he believes that many of the 4,500 will never be put on trial, even if firm evidence against them is developed, because they are too old or infirm.

Nevertheless, he said, the government decided to go ahead with the distribution of the names “because Nazi crimes are like other crimes, and we are obliged to investigate all known crimes.”

If a significant number of people are brought to trial, political observers say, there could be protests from right-wing elements in West Germany.

Last month, an incident occurred that showed how close to the surface that past is. Werner Hoefer, the host of a popular current affairs television program, was forced to resign after his activities during the Nazi era were made public by a national magazine.