The Arab states had no right to protest the German-Israeli reparations agreement because the agreement was not a matter of paying compensation but one of demonstrating Germany’s goodwill and offering Israel “satisfaction” for the wrongs done the Jews, Dr. Otta Kuester, former deputy chairman of the German delegation to The Hague reparations negotiations, declared today on a radio broadcast.
Dr. Kuester dwelt at length on the difference in concept between compensation and satisfaction, and expressed the view that even the Arab protests against the pact should be “welcomed” because it gave the German people an opportunity to “fight for its right to atone of its free will.” He also stressed that satisfaction was being offered for the past wrongs for which “no punishment is sufficient.”
The German leader, who resigned with Prof. Franz Boehm, chairman of the German delegation, when the Bonn Government showed signs of balking at the terms of the pact worked out by the German and Israeli delegations, declared that the German people had been “badly informed on the true aspects of the agreement with Israel.” This situation, he warned, held the danger of anti-Semitism.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
