Jewish Leaders Pay Tribute to Adenauer on His Retirement

Two Prominent Jewish leaders–Dr. Nahum Goldmann and Philip M. Klutznick–were among many world leaders who paid tribute today to Dr. Konrad Adenauer, the retiring West German Chancellor. Dr. Adenauer is to retire next week, and will be succeeded by Dr. Ludwig Erhard, now West Germany’s Minister of Economics. The tributes, including laudatory statements from former Presidents Dwight D. Eisenhower and Harry S. Truman, were published here today in a special edition of Der Spiegel, a news magazine.

Dr. Goldmann, president of the World Zionist Organization and of the World Jewish Congress, noted in his statement that Dr. Adenauer was a man of “highest value,” whose secret of personality “is based on a double synthesis, rare among great political figures. He is an autocrat who believes in democracy and combines political dexterity and talent with a philosophy of life that is deeply rooted on ethical and religious principles.” Noting Dr. Adenauer’s role in reaching the agreement on restitution and compensation for victims of Nazism, Dr. Goldmann declared:

“Without his authoritative methods, he would, perhaps, not have been able to enforce, over the resistance of many of his colleagues, even of the cabinet, the Luxembourg Agreement. Without the moral concepts of his policy, he would not have been able to accept in essence, against the advice of many of his financial advisers, especially his then Finance Minister, the large-scale demands I made on Germany in behalf of Israel and the Jewish world organization. Rather, he would have tried to get off cheaper.”

Mr. Klutznick, international president of B’nai B’rith and former member of the United States delegation to the United Nations, declared he welcomed “this opportunity to state publicly my sincere and personal appreciation of Konrad Adenauer.” He lauded Dr. Adenauer’s “herculean effort to extinguish a blotch on the escutcheon of Germany.” In that context, said Mr. Klutznick, “it has been an ennobling experience to come to understand and to appreciate the full depth of his inner conviction that the world has no place for bigotry and prejudice, let alone cruelty as a means of expressing it.” Noting that, at the United Nations, he had met Dr. Adenauer’s representatives, Mr. Klutznick stated: “Under his direction, they gave more than simple lip service to the ideals” of the UN.