Germans were today surprised to learn that a West Berlin court had sentenced two Germans to six and eight month jail terms for publicly blaming Jews for Berlin’s economic difficulties and for expressing the opinion that all Jews should have been gassed by the Nazis.
Not only the severity of the sentences — these are the heaviest handed out by a West German court for this offense–surprised the Germans. Most Germans had forgotten that an Allied Control Commission law directed against the revival and promotion of the Nazi spirit is still on the books. Most German courts have avoided enforcing this measure.
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.