The White House has informed West Germany that President Reagan will not visit the site of the Dachau concentration camp after he attends the economic summit in Bonn May 2-4. White House spokesman Larry Speakes, in confirming this, said Reagan “doesn’t think it is the appropriate thing to do.” He would give no further explanation.
However, Administration officials have been quoted as saying that the President thinks that a visit to Dachau “wouldn’t contribute to the theme of reconciliation and friendship” and that “the Germans of today are not a part of that and shouldn’t be made to feel that they are.”
The West Germans reportedly proposed the Dachau visit if Reagan stays on beyond the summit as part of a series of commemoration ceremonies for the 40th anniversary of the Allied victory over Nazi Germany May 8.
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