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German People Do Not Share Pro-jewish of Their Leaders, U.S. Official Says

December 1, 1949
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The statements on the Jews in Germany issued recently by President Theodor Heuss and Chancellor Konrad Adenauer were welcomed today by Major Abraham S. Hyman, newly-appointed American adviser on Jewish affairs to the U.S. High Commissioner in Germany. However, Maj. Hyman emphasized that the views expressed in these statements do not seem to be scared by the German people.

“Every Jew who is able to retain a sense of objectivity in the face of what Germany under Hitler did and was determined to do to the Jewish people will applaud the forthright statements of President Heuss and Chancellor Adenauer,” Maj. Hyman said in a statement to the press. “Unfortunately, what measure of consolation exists in these statements is diminished by the feeling based on the pass four years of experience. President House and Chancellor Adenauer were expressing their personal philosophy and not the conviction of the German people.

“This is just a beginning,” Maj. Hyman continued, “but a beginning must be made, and it is encouraging that Germany is presently being led by men who have finally found the courage to disassociate themselves from the conspiracy of silence on this question and who are prepared to bring the attention of the Germans to their share of responsibility for the inhumanities of the Nazi regime.

“The offer of German monetary restoration for the economic losses sustained by the Jews is commendable. However, what the Jews really expect is that the Germans reject completely Nazi doctrine and vigorously suppress its resurgence in whatever form it may manifest itself. The Jewish people will watch, in the years ahead, whether the spirit expressed by the present head of the West German Federal Republic finds a counterpart in the attitude and actions of the German population,” the statement concluded.

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