The Jewish community in West Germany takes a grave view of the resurgence of neo-Nazi violence in this country and elsewhere in Europe and is expressing its concern to the authorities, particularly over the mounting evidence of links between the neo-Nazi groups and the Palestine Liberation Organization.
Interior Minister Gerhart Baum met last week with Werner Nachmann, chairman of the Jewish community, for a discussion of rightwing terrorism in the Federal Republic. In an official statement released here later, Baum expressed hope that the current wave of violence will not impair Jewish life in West Germany.
The Interior Ministry confirmed last Thursday that members of the outlawed Wehrsportsgruppe Hoffmann visited Beirut several times this year. Earlier in the month, the Interior Minister of Bavaria reported that Karl-Heinz Hoffmann, founder and leader of the paramilitary neo-Nazi organization which masqueraded as a sports club, had met with PLO officials.
He also confirmed that the neo-Nazis were selling trucks to Palestinian terrorists. The Bonn government, which itself has contacts with the PLO, has not commented on these reports and apparently is trying to play down the matter.
ACKNOWLEDGES PLO LINKS
Hoffmann himself acknowledged, in a recent newspaper interview, that the PLO has been supplying training facilities for his neo-Nazi organization but he would not say how many of its members were trained at PLO installations in Lebanon.
In another development, Heinz Galinski, chairman of the West Berlin Jewish community, the largest in West Germany, called on the European Parliament to debate the issue of neo-Nazi violence in Europe. In a letter addressed to Simone Veil of France, President of the European Parliament, Galinski charged that the authorities in Bonn and in other capitals have not shown sufficient awareness of rightwing terror. In the past few years, police have uncovered several PLO and neo-Nazi plots against Galinski and other Jewish leaders.
Help ensure Jewish news remains accessible to all. Your donation to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency powers the trusted journalism that has connected Jewish communities worldwide for more than 100 years. With your help, JTA can continue to deliver vital news and insights. Donate today.
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.
