Representatives of American and world Jewry were quick to respond Thursday to the East German parliament’s unequivocal apology to the Jewish people for their suffering in the Nazi era, and its acceptance of responsibility as an heir to the Third Reich.
A statement, filled with contrition and self-reproach, was delivered at the televised inaugural session of the new Volkskammer, where Christian Democrat Lothar de Maiziere, elected just a month ago, was installed as prime minister.
“East Germany’s first freely elected parliament admits joint responsibility on behalf of the people for the humiliation, expulsion and murder of Jewish women, men and children,” said the statement, read by Sabine Bergmann-Pohl, speaker and acting head of state in the new regime.
“We feel sad and ashamed. We ask the Jews of the world to forgive us.”
Apologies were extended as well to Israel, with whom the parliament expressed hope of soon establishing diplomatic relations.
The statement was a total rejection of the position held for 40 years by East Germany’s Stalinist rulers, that the German Democratic Government bore no responsibility for Nazi atrocities because it was founded on anti-fascism.
“There’s widespread recognition that this is an important historical statement turning over from the past and looking to the future,” U.S. State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said in Washington.
Dr. Israel Miller, president of the New York-based Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany, hailed East Berlin’s statement.
‘PROVIDING JUST COMPENSATION’
“We are heartened by the readiness of the GDR parliament to follow its sentiments with deeds by providing just compensation for material losses,” he said.
“We look forward to early negotiations by the government of the GDR with the Claims Conference as the recognized designated representative of the organized world Jewish community and with the state of Israel,” Miller said.
World Jewish Congress President Edgar Bronfman called the GDR’s statement “the first step in the foundation of a new relationship between the Jewish people and the whole of the German people.”
Benjamin Meed, president of the American Federation/Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, observed that “what is really important is what effect the statement will have in preventing any repetition of the Holocaust in the future.”
B’nai B’rith International President Seymour Reich welcomed the statement as a “belated recognition of historical fact,” and “a hopeful sign that the planned reunification of Germany will be a positive development.”
In a footnote from Prague, abbots of the Roman Catholic Church issued a statement expressing regret for the church’s failure to act against the Nazi genocide against the Jews during World War II.
The statement voiced remorse that church leaders did not “raise our voices” to assist the rescue of Jews, adding, “Our help to those persecuted was not helpful enough.”
(JTA correspondent Josef Klansky in Prague contributed to this report.)
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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.
