Prinz Says Prosperity, Not Nazi Past, Concerns West Germans Now

Dr. Jeachim Prinz, chairman of the Conference of Major American Jewish Organizations, and president of the American Jewish Congress, said today that West Germany possessed the basic institutions of democracy but that too few Germans were concerned with making democracy work. Dr. Prinz, who just returned from a visit to West Germany, told a news conference:

“There are hopeful signs of progress in West German–a free and liberal press, TV and radio, courageous and determined government officials; and young people with a deep commitment to freedom. “At the same time, the typical German appears more interested in enjoying prosperity than in seeking his country’s moral rebirth: more concerned with sweeping the Nazi era under the rug than with confronting the meaning of Hitlerism, more eager to forget the past than to make sure it will not happen again.”

He expressed “satisfaction” at the decision of Chancellor Ludwig Erhard to seek full diplomatic relations with Israel. However, he voiced “sharp disappointment” with the action of the West German Parliament last month in extending the effective date of the statute of limitations on Nazi murderers for only four and one-half years. “Even this brief extension was grudgingly granted,” Dr. Prinz said, “more because of pressure from abroad than from any deep-seated desire among the German people to mete out full justice to Nazi criminals.”

Dr. Prinz was critical of the policy of the United States Document Center in Alexandria, Va., in refusing access to its files on Nazi criminals to scholarly and civic organizations. He said such groups had had key roles in ferreting out Nazi criminals in hiding, and that it was “inexplicable” that an official U.S. agency should hamper rather than assist the task of bringing Nazi criminals to justice.