Disclosing that he sent a telegram to the White House last Sunday urging President Reagan not to visit the military cemetery in Bitburg where Nazi SS troopers are buried, Archbishop John O’Connor of New York said yesterday "I am not convinced that he (Reagan) was advised to do the right thing."
O’Connor, who spoke in response to a question after a youth rally at Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, said, however, that he praised the President on his decision to visit the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp site during his current German visit.
The Archbishop, who often recalls the strong effect a visit to the Dachau concentration camp several years ago had on him, said that he is willing to forgive but never to honor or forget those who perpetrated the crimes during World War II.
He stated: "I cannot forget it as a Christian and I am grateful that it is our Jewish brothers and sisters who keep reminding us. It must be seared into our memories."
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