Israel’s vigorous protest, lodged with the German Foreign Ministry, against the activities of German specialists working in Egypt, has aroused widespread reaction throughout Germany. Israel’s government move, claiming the acts of the German scientists affect its security, has led to front-page comments by a number of this country’s leading newspapers.
The Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung commented that Germans “cannot ignore the fact that, on account of the Nazi crimes, a special relationship between the two people (Germany and Israel) has emerged, ” However, the paper called for examining the facts “objectively. ” It declared that “while recognizing Israel’s vital interests, the Federal Government is unable to exercise an influence over the movement of its citizens. All the same, the Government should do all in its power to persuade the German specialists to return home.”
The Deutsche Zeitung, of Cologne, said: “It was unwise for Israel’s Foreign Minister to demand that Germany issue special orders restricting personal freedom. The editorial nevertheless added: “The Government and the people could impress upon their countrymen possibly not to lend their hands to the production of arms outside the NATO framework. But for the time, we are still in the dark as regards the activities of German scientists in Egypt.”
The Stuttgart Zeitung weighed the pros and cons of the Israeli Foreign Minister’s protest to the German Government and recalled that Germany took steps last year to influence the return from Egypt of Prof. Eugen Saenger, who had headed the Egyptian rocketry program in Cairo.
The Dusseldorfer Nachrichten declared its belief that an appeal by Germany to its scientists in Egypt to disassociate themselves from the Egyptian projects “would meet with little success.” The paper said that the motive for such service abroad is monetary. “Only in exceptional cases is Jew hatred the actual motive, ” the newspaper declared. “However, the crimes committed by Hitler should prevent Germans from going to the hotbed of the Near East,” it stressed.
The progressive Sueddeutsche Zeitung, of Munich, appealed to the German Parliament to “raise its voice” and request the scientists in Egypt to return to Germany.
The Frankfurter Rundschau declared that the German Foreign Office should be aware of what German scientists are doing in Egypt, and stated: “German Israel relationship is of a special nature. Only with the greatest effort will we succeed in overcoming the past, ” The newspaper wondered why German passport laws have not been applied to scientists traveling to Egypt “since it was known that they endanger essential German interests.”
(In London, the Daily Express urged editorially that Britain and the United States “act swiftly and decisively against the German rocketeers. ” The newspaper said the Nazi slogan was “Today Germany, Tomorrow the World” and with more and more West German rocket experts working for President Nasser of Egypt, the slogan may become “Today Egypt, Tomorrow Germany. “)
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.
