Kohl Heckled by Young Jews at Kristallnacht Ceremony

Chancellor Helmut Kohl was heckled by young Jews as he addressed a packed gathering at the West End synagogue here Wednesday night marking the 50th anniversary of Kristallnacht.

The hecklers accused him of insensitivity to Jewish concerns.

The assembly, also attended by President Richard von Weizsacker of the Federal Republic, was one of the principal events in West Germany’s commemoration of the first organized pogrom in the Third Reich, which occurred during the night of Nov. 9-10, 1938.

According to reports from Bonn, dozens of legislators walked out of the Bundestag, West Germany’s parliament, after the speaker of the legislative body said that Adolf Hitler had made Germans feel proud.

Philipp Jenninger, a member of the ruling Christian Democrats, said that anti-Semitism had existed in Germany and other countries long before Hitler, and that the years 1933-1938 created an atmosphere of optimism and self-confidence.

Kristallnacht was also observed by the tiny Jewish community in East Berlin, who gathered in a theater while a military band performed outside. Several prominent West German officials attended.

Kohl’s speech in Frankfurt and the East Berlin ceremonies were nationally televised in both Germanys.

Kohl, wearing a yarmulke, said it was shameful that most Germans failed to protest while Jews were being persecuted in the Reich.

Kohl said, however, that the nation’s history should be viewed as a whole, with its positive as well as negative aspects.

His speech was interrupted by cries of “Bitburg, Bitburg.”

That was a reference to Kohl’s visit — along with President Reagan — to a German military cemetery in Bitburg in March 1985.