The West German Foreign Ministry denied here today that Dr. Alexander Toeroek, named as counselor to the new German Embassy in Israel, had been concerned during World War II with the Nazi plans for the deportation of Hungarian Jews to the death camps.
The Ministry confirmed the reports, which had emanated from Israel and aroused opposition there to acceptance of Dr. Toeroek, that the former Hungarian diplomat, now a naturalized German citizen, had served in Hungary’s Berlin embassy between December, 1944, and May, 1945, That was the period during which the Nazis were deporting Jews from Hungary. The Ministry said, however, he had no relationships, “formally or intellectually,” with the Nazi Party or with the Hungarian Fascist Party.
Dr. Toeroek himself indignantly denied today that he had anything to do with the Nazi deportation of Jews; He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency: “I have never been a Nazi. I was never associated with any political right-wing or fascist group.”
He insisted that, along with most members of the wartime Hungarian civil service under Admiral Horthy, he was against the anti-Jewish practices of the Nazis, although he knew what the Nazis were doing to and with Jews. He pointed out that holding a diplomat stationed in Berlin responsible for the acts of the Nazi regime was like linking a foreign diplomat in Moscow with Communism.
Die Welt, an influential German publication, said today that, although it was wrong to connect with the Nazi plans for deportation of Jews every diplomat who had served in Berlin during the Hungarian regime of Admiral Horthy, it was not surprising that many Israelis, particularly those from Hungary, have the greatest mistrust for a man who was occupied with State business at a time when Jews were fighting for their lives.
“Emotions,” stated Die Welt, “are also a factor. Perhaps Bonn could have paid more attention to this in choosing the staff for the Tel Aviv Embassy.” That theme was repeated today in other West German newspapers, some of which fixed responsibility for the choice of Dr. Rolf Pauls, a German army officer in World War II, as West Germany’s first Ambassador to Israel, and of Dr. Toeroek, on Foreign Minister Gerhard Schroeder.
GERMAN PRESS DOUBTS BONN MADE WISE CHOICE OF DIPLOMATS TO ISRAEL
The mass circulation newspaper “Bild” which has the largest circulation in West Germany, declared editorially today that although the two diplomats appeared to have had no connection with Nazism or any other political party “the choice in itself was most unwise.” The “Bild” contended that the Bonn Foreign Ministry should have considered the special sensitivity of Israel toward all matters related to Nazism and the Hitler period and should have selected more appropriate persons.
The newspaper asked “Do we not have young efficient diplomats who were not born or who were children in Hitler’s time? Do we not have politicians or diplomats who took an active stand against Hitler? Why don’t we send these people to Israel?” The respected “Suddeutsche Zeitung” declared that the Foreign Ministry had lacked a sense of proportion in the two appointments.
Meanwhile the West German press and broadcasting services widely publicized today an Israel Government announcement that “nothing wrong had been found in Dr. Toeroek’s past.” It was understood here that the Israeli announcement was based on a full report sent to Jerusalem by the Israeli Mission in Cologne which investigated in depth Dr. Toeroek’s past.
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.
