West Germany’s establishment of diplomatic relations with Israel, and the Bonn Parliament’s completion of legislation for indemnification of more Jewish victims of Nazism, have marked “a decisive stage” in the development of Germany’s postwar relations with the Jewish people, it was declared here today by the Council of Jews from Germany. The Council held a conference here, attended by representatives of affiliated organizations in the United States, Britain, France, Belgium, Israel and Latin America.
The recent series of trials in Germany, where many ex-Nazis were found guilty of atrocities committed against Jews during World War II, and publication of considerable, relevant literature about the Nazi holocaust, “have fully exposed before the eyes of the German people and of the world the catastrophe of the National Socialist regime, “the conference stated in a resolution. The session voiced support for the efforts made in Germany in recent years to develop among the German people, especially the youth, “genuine understanding of the Jewish question and its part in the German past, helping eradicate the distorted image of the Jew created by the Nazi propaganda machinery.”
In a report to the conference, the Council noted that the Leo Baeck Institute in West Germany has been trying “to contribute to the rectification of the historical misinterpretations by publishing unbiased works on the history of the German Jews and their interdependence with German history.” The conference expressed the hope that “during the lifetime of the present generation, these efforts on both sides may help to further gradual relaxation of tensions between Germans and Jews.”
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