Beating of Klarsfeld by New-nazis Stirs Strong Public Reactions

The neo-Nazi rally Dec. 4 in a Munich beer hall where Serge Klarsfeld, the French anti-Nazi fighter, was beaten has created a strong public reaction Munich’s Jewish community held an outdoor protest meeting last weekend against the “neo-Nazi terror.” which was addressed by prominent civic leaders Munich’s Deputy Mayor Eckard Mueller-Heidenreich condemned the beer hall rally and warned against complacency in the light of such events.

The “spreading of ignorance” by neo-Nazi activities must be “strongly resisted,” he said. “This is an obligation for conscious democrats as well as a pledge to humanity and democracy.” The deputy chief of the Munich branch of Germany’s Trade Union Federation, Jakob Deffner, demanded that “provocative events by extreme right-wing movements” be banned, and called on property owners to prevent such movements using halls and other facilities.

Jewish community chairman Hans Lamm said the events in the beer hall, where an estimated 1000 people attended a rally organized by the “Deutsche Volksunion” (DVU), had caused “shock and disgust among Munich residents of all faiths and political persuasions.” The inflammatory remarks made at the meeting were reminiscent of “the blackest epoch of German history,” Lamm said. He asserted that Jews would “not allow themselves to be isolated and defamed, threatened and mishandled, without resistance.”

NEWSPAPER DENOUNCES NEO-NAZI RALLY

The Munich-based national daily, “Sued-deutsche Zeitung,” noted that Munich police standing on guard outside the rally failed to take action against Klarsfeld’s assailants. “Is that, too, a symptom that we have become used to such gatherings, a habit which leaves it up to Beate and Serge Klarsfeld to protest?” it asked.

Though the strength of German democracy. should not be underestimated, “certain circles” were currently trying to use “forces of reaction and retrogression in order to falsify history.” the paper noted. A democracy must look ahead to the future, it added, “but not at the price of forgetting–or worse, falsifying–the past.”