A proposal that West Germany establish diplomatic ties with Israel was offered in Parliament today by a leader of the Social Democratic party in debate on the Government’s White Paper on the hundreds of anti-Semitic incidents which followed the Christmas Eve daubing of the Cologne Synagogue.
The proposal was one of a series of steps urged by Prof. Carlo Schmid, vice-president of the Bundestag, on the Government to demonstrate its determination to wipe out all elements of anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism in West Germany.
In presenting the White Paper, Gerhard Schroeder, Minister of the Interior, said that while the police investigations at local and federal levels had not verified suspicions that the anti-Semitic incidents were organized, “there is evidence to show that the Communists exploited them to discredit the Federal Republic and to create discord between the partners of the Western Alliance.”
He called the incidents a “vicious offense against the efforts toward reconciliation and tolerance demonstrated by the Federal Republic with words and deeds” toward the Jews. He announced the intention of the Government to create a commission of educators, scientists and leaders in public life to study means of improving political education in West Germany. He also said the Government would act against rightist groups by all means at its disposal.
Prof. Schmid asserted that anti-Semitism should not be viewed as an isolated problem and that “wherever a Jew is insulted, the principles of democracy are attacked.”
Declaring that such actions should be considered treason against the state, he also listed as a step the Government should take the removal of all persons from office who had been affiliated with the Nazis.
A Free Democratic deputy, Mrs. Lueders, stressed the responsibility of the German people toward the Jews and lauded the “humane and tactful attitude” expressed by world Jewish leaders and Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion in the face of the anti-Jewish excesses.
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