Germany Praised on Implementation of Reparations Pact with Israel

Marking the fourth anniversary of the day that Federal Chancellor Konrad Adenauer for West Germany and then Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett for Israel met in Luxembourg City Hall to sign the Reparations Agreement between the two states, the head of the Israel Purchasing Mission in Germany issued to the German press an anniversary declaration praising German implementation of the pact as having come up to expectations entertained in Israel, in Germany and by world public opinion.

Excerpts from the statement by Minister F. E. Shinnar, chief Israel representative in Germany, are being carried in many German dailies under headlines such as “Israel is Satisfied with Bonn,” a formulation used by Germany’s most influential newspaper, the “Frankfurter Allgemeine.”

Referring to the events of the recent past which have no parallel in the history of mankind with respect to extent and frightfulness, Dr. Shinnar makes the point that the readiness of the Federal Republic to make good the material injuries precipitated by those events has, in the past four years, underscored the German determination to adopt law and justice, rather than might and despotism, as the guiding principles of state policy.

Going beyond the issue of reparations as such, Dr. Shinnar notes that the gradual normalization of relations between the Federal Republic and Israel, characterized as it was by circumspections as well as heedfulness, has hitherto proceeded in an orbit marked by discernment and responsibility. The declaration concludes with the observation that only from the perspective of a later period will it be possible to appraise fully the contribution of reparations deliveries to Israel’s peaceful construction effort.