Chancellor Konrad Adenauer made a special statement from the rostrum of the Bundestag yesterday affirming that “the German people are absolutely unanimous in their condemnation and abhorrence of (Adolf) Eichmann and his crimes. “
The Chancellor’s statement came after angry scenes in the Lower House when leaders of the Social Democratic opposition demanded that the Chancellor repudiate a hate-mongering campaign against Willy Brandt, Mayor of West Berlin, who heads the Social Democratic ticket in the forthcoming elections. Some of the Chancellor’s followers had accused Brandt of “treason” because he emigrated from Germany during the Nazi regime.
Fritz Erler, the Social Democratic deputy chairman of the Bundestag, took the floor yesterday to demand repudiation of these attacks on Brandt. He told the chamber that Hitler and Eichmann, who is now awaiting trial in Israel for the slaughter of six million Jews, were not identical with Germany. A voice from the floor interrupted: “Neither is Willy Brandt. ” The Social Democrat excitedly replied: “If I had to cast my vote for Eichmann or Brandt, I would vote for Brandt. “
Dr. Adenauer objected to this option offered by Mr. Erler, asserting that it would cause “incalculable damage to the entire German people. ” He then said from the rostrum: “I hereby affirm that the German people are absolutely unanimous in their condemnation and abhorrence of Eichmann and his crimes. “
The attacks on the West German Mayor for having emigrated to fight the Nazis drew sharp criticism today in the publication of the Central Council of Jews in Germany. Dr. H. G. Van Dam, the organization’s secretary-general, wrote there that “it is sad, indeed, if Germans today must defend themselves for having actively resisted the Nazi regime. “
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.
