The German Press Agency distributed today an interview given to its correspondent by Israel’s Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion describing Nazi Germany as the principal defendant in the Eichmann trial which starts next Tuesday.
Declaring that the Eichmann trial must not spoil relations between Israel and West Germany, Mr. Ben-Gurion said: “We must beware of all racial theories. We are all responsible for our actions but we must not visit the crimes of the fathers upon the children.” He added that Chancellor Konrad Adenauer and West Berlin Mayor Willy Brandt “have nothing in common with the leaders of the Third Reich.”
The Prime Minister emphasized that “we want present day German youth to know what happened and this is why the trial is taking place.” He added that what happened in Nazi Germany might have happened in any country “and this is why it is necessary” to tell the world of the dangers of anti-Semitism.
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.
