Delegations from over 20 countries, including some from East Europe, demonstrated here Saturday against the emergence of neo-Nazi activities in Europe. The 10,000 demonstrators also called upon West Germany to reject any law liable to restrict the prosecution of World War II crimes against humanity. Police sources said it was the largest demonstration held in the Alsatian capital since May, 1968.
The demonstrators, representing over 110 organizations of former resistance fighters and deportees, arrived in Strasbourg by special buses and special trains flying national flags. Prominent among the foreign delegations were several hundred representatives from Poland, Czechoslovakia, Rumania and East Germany. Many wore the old concentration camp striped pajamas.
The demonstrators cable the Ministers of Interior and Justice in Bonn and the President of the Hesse province to call for the continued prosecution of Nazi crimes. The telegram to Hesse was to call on the state government to “take adequate action to prevent former SS members” from holding a congress in the city of Arolsen next week.
In Paris, several hundred people met at the Memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr to commemorate the 36th anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising. Health Minister Simone Veil listened to the koddish recited to the memory of the Jewish victims. French Chief Rabbi Jacob Kaplan and Israeli Ambassador Mordechai Gazit attended the ceremony.
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