West Germany’s President, Walter Scheel, called today for “extensive scientific research” into the Germany of the Third Reich but warned that the current flood of literature dealing with the Nazi era should not be dismissed as a passing “Hitler fad.” Scheel spoke at ceremonies in Wuerzburg, Bavaria, launching the annual Brotherhood Week sponsored by the Association for Christian-Jewish Cooperation.
Scheel said he was aware that there are rightwing extremists in Germany as elsewhere. He placed their number, as of the end of 1976, at 18,000 who belonged to or supported rightist groups. He cautioned that because of their past, Germans must be “especially vigilant” and not play down the signs of anti-Semitism “where they do in fact exist.” He asserted that scientific research into the Nazi era was necessary to produce objective publications about the Third Reich to offset one-sided publications “that may possibly have an unhealthy influence on young people.”
The theme of this year’s Brotherhood Week is “Martin Buber’s Message for our Times.” The ceremonies were attended, among others, by Israeli Ambassador Yohanan Meroz; Chief Rabbi Peter Levison of Bavaria who awarded the Buber-Rosenzweig Medal to the scientist, Dr. Grete Schaeder and theologian Dr. Albrecht Goes; and Prof. Schemaryahu Talmon of the Hebrew University in Jerusalem.
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