The charge voiced by Senator Kenneth B. Keating that Robert F. Kennedy, who is now running in New York as candidate of the Democratic Party in the forthcoming elections to the U.S. Senate, had arranged–as U. S. Attorney General–a settlement whereby more than $60,000,000 of assets of a German firm confiscated as enemy alien property during World War II were turned over to a “huge Nazi cartel,” was refuted yesterday by the State Department and the Department of Justice.
A spokesman of the State Department said that Secretary of State Dean Rusk had initiated the settlement and wrote to Attorney General Kennedy that a negotiated settlement was desirable. Sen. Keating, the Republican incumbent, who is running for re-election, opposed by Mr. Kennedy as the Democratic nominee, insisted today, however, that he will continue to make a campaign issue of the alleged “deal.” The transaction involves the sale of General Aniline and Film Corporation which, prior to the war, had been owned by I.G. Farben, a German chemical combine.
According to the Department of State, Mr. Rusk wrote to Mr. Kennedy in 1961, proposing a negotiated settlement in order to remove a long-standing source of irritation with the Swiss owners of Interhandel, a successor company to parts of the old I. G. Farben interests. Department of Justice officials said Mr. Keating had been aware of the details of the transaction for 18 months and had never indicated opposition. But Mr. Keating insisted still today that the “deal” with a Swiss holding company involved “a front for I.G. Farben.” Kennedy campaign forces decried the Keating charges as “a smear.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
