A request that the words “German murderers” in the proposed new standard prayers for the dead, on behalf of the victims of the Nazi holocaust. be replaced with the words “Nazi murderers” was made today by Israel President Yitzhak Ben Zvi.
In a letter to Rabbi Jacob Toledano, Minister of Religious Affairs, the President said that the text as proposed would denounce the Germans as a people despite the fact that there had been anti-Nazis among the Germans. He said replacing the word “German” by the word “Nazi” would extend the prayer to include the Nazis of other countries who were involved in killing Jews. He mentioned the Ukrainians as an example.
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