Dr. Hans Globke, State Secretary and principal aide of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, denied on a television broadcast here this weekend the renewed charges by a film produced in Communist East Germany, linking him with the Nazi program for the annihilation of the Jews. Dr. Globke asserted in an interview over the West German television network that the film presented “false” and “distorted” material and, in some instances, forged his handwriting.
Dr. Globke was accused in the Communist film of having collaborated in the drafting of the Nuremberg Laws in 1935 which gave “legal” status to the Nazis’ program of anti-Semitism. In the interview, Dr. Globke denied he had helped draft those laws, insisting he only participated in applying the laws after they were enacted.
The State Secretary admitted he had implemented a decree ordering all Jews to use the names of “Israel” and “Sara.” But he said that order was actually a moderation of the original plan, which would have required German Jews to add the name “Jew” to their family name. He denied he had anything to do with ordering that all passports for Jews be marked with the initial “J.” He said also he had nothing whatever to do with implementing the Nuremberg Laws in countries occupied by the Nazi regime.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
