A leading West German politician warned here today that recent anti-Semitic statements by political figures in his country are “a small flame that can develop into a fire.”
Johannes Rau, Minister – President of the Federal State of North Rhine-Westphalia, who is the opposition Social Democratic Party’s (SPD) probable candidate to unseat Chancellor Helmut Kohl in the 1987 elections, spoke at a press conference at American Jewish Congress headquarters after a luncheon meeting with more than 30 prominent American Jewish leaders.
Rau, who is ending a three-day visit to the U.S., replied to questions about the anti-Semitic remarks recently made by Hermann Felner, a leading Bundestag member of the Bavarian Christian Social Union (CSU), and Mayor Wilderich Von Mierbach of Korschenbroich, a town in North Rhine-Westphalia. Rau said that although West Germany is a solid democracy now, it has to be more sensitive to such remarks because of Germany’s past.
Felner, whose party is allied with Kohl’s ruling Christian Democratic Union(CDU), said recently that former Jewish slave laborers of the Nazi regime who seek reparations create the impression that “Jews always show up when money jingles in German cashboxes.” Von Mierbach, a member of the CDU, told his town council’s budget committee that the best way to balance the budget was to “kill a few rich Jews.”
Rau maintained there are “no significant rightwing radical groups” in West Germany today. He added, nevertheless, such groups as there are have to be watched “very carefully.” He said he did not know why these expressions of anti-Semitism were voiced or if they signify a trend in German society. “Personally, I feel very sorry for them (the remarks) and deeply regret them, “he said.
Henry Siegman, executive director of the American Jewish Congress, who opened the press conference, said Rau was invited in the aftermath of the Bitburg controversy because the Jewish position on President Reagan’s visit to the German war cemetery last May was misunderstood in Germany. Jews and many others objected to Reagan placing a wreath at a cemetery where members of the notorious Waffen SS are buried along with other German war dead.
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