The Cologne Prosecution Office applied today to the Federal Supreme Court for a re-trial of the two youths sentenced Saturday for the Cologne synagogue desecration which triggered a worldwide eruption of anti-Semitic smearings.
The Prosecution Office wants stiffer penalties for Arnold Strunk, who was sentenced to 14 months’ imprisonment, and Paul Schoenen, who received a 10-month sentence for the Christmas Eve daubings. The State had asked for terms of 27 months and 21 months.
At the same time. Dr. H. G. Van Dam, secretary general of the Central Council of the Jews of Germany, said that he felt the Cologne court had “fully recognised” the seriousness of the situation in its sentences. He said the court had made its decision “independently of public opinion,” and added that a more severe sentence “would have turned these retarded men into real Nazi martyrs.”
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