Social Democratic Party spokesmen said today they would press for speedy ratification by the West German Parliament of the German-Israel reparations agreements. Government circles asserted the agreements would be ratified in short order and predicted that Chancellor Konrad Adenauer would have an overwhelming majority in his support on this measure.
Social Democrats said that “Germany’s obligations do not end with payment of reparations- there still remains the necessity for every German to fights and suppress all anti-Semitic tendencies and attempts by Nazi groups to make a comeback.”
A bill calling for federal legislation similar to the indemnification legislation now in force in the American zone of Germany which would considerably improve reparations and indemnification facilities, was introduced in the West German Parliament by the Social Democrats. The bill is being studied by the Bundestag’s Legal and Constitutional Committee. Sponsors of the measure are confident it will command a majority in the Bundestag. Strengthening of the reparations and indemnification laws was agreed to by Germany in its negotiations with the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany.
GERMAN PAPERS SEE PROOF OF GERMANY’S GOOD FAITH IN PACT
German newspapers, commenting on the German-Israel agreements, said that they must be considered as evidence of Germany’s good intentions and desire to make atonement for past sins against the Jewish people.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine said that “it should make it evident to us ourselves that we have not forgotten the tremendous injustice done to the Jews.” It declared that “we certainly cannot restore the murdered millions to life nor can we end the sorrow which those left behind have to bear, ” and added: “But the German people desire at least to make a contribution which, within the limit of their power, will help the Jewish people in their new community.”
The Berlin newspaper Telegraf pointed out that the “first international treaty which the Federal Republic concluded freely and independently with another state is the treaty with Israel.” The paper said that this fact proved “the will of the Germans to make good again.” It called on Jewish circles, however hard they may find it to forgive and forget, not to ignore what Germany is now doing.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
