A West German official’s public suggestion that rich Jews ought to be killed to help balance the budget has triggered outrage here for the second time this month over anti-Semitic remarks by politicians linked to Chancellor Helmut Kohl’s ruling Christian Democratic Union (CDU) coalition.
Wilderich Freiherr Von Mierbach Graf Von Spee, May or of Korschenbroich, in the federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, admitted that he told the town council’s budget committee that a few rich Jews should be slain in order to get the budget balanced. Korschenbroich has a population of about 27,000. It was not immediately known if any Jews live there.
Von Mierbach apologized for his remark but added that talk about killing rich Jews was widely used in the past when discussing financial matters, an explanation that stunned observers. He did not say whether he was referring to the Nazi era or the more recent past.
The opposition Social Democratic Party (SPD) immediately called on the Mayor to resign. The Jewish community in Dusseldorf announced it has filed suit against him for racial incitement. Von Mierbach, a member of the CDU, made the remark at a meeting on January 16. But the local newspaper, owned by a CDU activist, still has not published it.
Outrage was expressed earlier this month when Hermann Felner, a ranking member of the Christian Social Union, the CDU’s Bavarian sister party, stated publicly that Jews who seek reparations from German firms that used them as slave laborers during World War II created the impression that “Jews are quick to show up when money jingles in German cashboxes.”
Felner, too, apologized both in the Bundestag and in a formal statement to the Jewish community. But the matter resurfaced when the weekly Der Spiegel quoted Chancellor Kohl as saying that Felner’s remark was not anti-Semitic and that it reflected the attitude of most Germans. A government spokesman has denied the Der Spiegel story. The weekly stood by its account.
Israeli Premier Shimon Peres, presently visiting West Germany, has refused to comment. Aides said he did not read Der Spiegel and had no intention of raising the matter during his talks in Bonn.
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.
