Prof. Franz Boehm, former head of the German team which with an Israeli group negotiated the German-Israel reparations pact, returning here from a three-week visit to Israel, gave a glowing account of his experiences in the Jewish State.
Deeply impressed with what he had seen of the building, industrial and agricultural developments of the Jewish State, Prof. Boehm declared that what Israel “mainly needs” is another 1,000,000 immigrants. Although heavily guarded during his visit, he was recognized by hundreds of Israelis familiar with newspaper photographs of him. He spoke with a number of ordinary citizens as well as with government dignitaries and reported that whenever he met and spoke with concentration camp survivors he was left with a deep sense of shame and contrition.
Prof. Boehm, who insists that his visit was private, despite two meetings with Premier Moshe Sharett and a visit to ex-Premier David Ben Gurion’s home at Sdeh Boker, believes that it would be a good thing for Israel to re-establish diplomatic relations with Germany, although he says he understands the mistrust with which Jews view Germany. He feels that Israel would gain from establishment of relations with Bonn, if only from the assistance the present government could give Israel on the international scene.
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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.
