An East German Jewish attorney placed Israel in a delicate dilemma today by asking that his credentials be formally acknoweldged as a representative at the trial of Adolf Eichmann on behalf of four East German Jews whose parents were murdered by the Nazis.
Professor F.K. Kaul made the request to Justice Minister Pinhas Rosen, asking as an alternative that he be called as a witness on behalf of the prosecution. Prof. Kaul said at a press conference today that he represented Wolfgang Stein of Leipzig, Rudolph Lipman of Berlin, Ruth Borza of Leipzig and Ilia Shreer of Frankfurt, whose parents were murdered, the attorney said, on direct orders of Eichmann.
The attorney said that if Israeli law prevents him, as a foreign attorney, from joining the prosecution, he wanted to testify and present 52 documents connected with the charges against Eichmann. Israel did not ask the East German Government for documents as it did other East European countries, but Dr. Kaul said he could submit his documents as a private citizen without involving his Government. He stressed that his documents not only implicated Eichmann but also pointed to persons under whose orders the Nazi acted.
Professor Kaul said he was returning to East Germany but that he was awaiting a call to testify at the Eichmann trial. He hinted that if he was not called, Israel would be open to charges it was helping to defend the “real culprits” behind Eichmann, which was one horn of the dilemma. The other was that if East Germans were allowed to testify, there was the danger of attacks on the West German Government with which Israel has excellent, though unofficial relations.
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