A statement mourning the death of Dr. Adenauer and emphasizing the role he played in the establishment and implementation of West Germany’s program for indemnification and restitution of victims of Nazi persecution, was issued here today by the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany. Signed by its senior officers: Dr. Nahum Goldmann, president; Jacob Blaustein, senior vice-president; and Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, treasurer, the statement reads:
“The Claims Conference mourns the passing of Dr. Konrad Adenauer, first Chancellor of the German Federal Republic, who played a historic and decisive role in framing the program for the indemnification and restitution of victims of Nazi persecution. It was Dr. Adenauer’s deeply felt determination that did most to translate that program into reality.
“The establishment of the program for indemnification and restitution and its implementation were grounded by Dr. Adenauer upon a foundation of morality. On September 27, 1951, he had stated to the German Parliament in a historic declaration: ‘Unspeakable crimes against the Jews were perpetrated in the Third Reich in the name of the German people and they make it obligatory to extend moral and material reparation for injuries and damages suffered by individuals.’
“Dr. Adenauer’s statement served as the starting point for the negotiations with the Claims Conference and the Government of Israel, which led ultimately to the signing of the Luxembourg Agreements in 1952. The compensation provided by those Agreements was for material losses suffered by Nazi victims and was not in reparation for moral wrongs inflicted. Those wrongs were irreparable in their totality, a conviction shared by Dr. Adenauer with the Claims Conference and the Government of Israel.
“Dr. Adenauer was a signatory of the Luxembourg Agreements and we know that he ranked them among the most significant and lasting accomplishments of his regime. For the rest of his life, he remained a steadfast supporter of the program for indemnification and restitution of Nazi victims. We shall always remember Dr. Adenauer as one of the great statesmen of our era. But above all, we shall hold his memory dear as a man of courage and integrity who refused to compromise the moral convictions which he deeply held.”
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