Resolutions urging members of the United Nations to take measures for “the speedy and final eradication of Nazism” and to arrest and extradite persons who have committed war crimes, were adopted unanimously by the Human Rights Commission yesterday. The vote came after several days of debate on ways and means to combat Nazism and racial intolerance and the punishment of crimes against humanity. The original draft resolutions submitted by Poland and the Ukraine were broadened by several amendments, including one proposed by the United States to include the phrase “totalitarian ideologies and practices based on incitements to hatred and racial intolerance or any form of group hatred.” The debate heard expressions of concern over resurgent Nazism from many delegates. West Germany was criticized for alleged tolerance of neo-Nazi movements and Arab delegates sought to link Nazism and Zionism.
The Israeli delegate, Moshe Leshem, commented after the vote that the struggle against Nazism should not be used to further political ends. He said that statements made during the debate on war crimes gave the impression that this was monopoly of certain nations. “One cannot help being taken aback by the expression of repugnance toward Nazism and its ideology on the part of countries which sympathized wholeheartedly with the Nazis during World War II,” Mr. Leshem said. He then made a pointed reference to “rather unpleasant memories of Moslem SS units” and the pro-Hitler activities of the ex-Grand Mufti of Jerusalem. Haj Amin El Husseini. Mr. Leshem declared, “In any discussion of measures to be taken against Nazism and racial intolerance, and the revival of the ideologies which have been the driving force behind the heinous crimes committed by the Nazis, the accusing shadow of six million slaughtered Jews must lay heavily upon our minds. This is equally true when we consider the question of the punishment of war criminals and of persons who have committed crimes against humanity. We are not ignoring the fact that the Jews were not the only victims of the demented Nazi murder machine.” Mr. Leshem stressed too that the act of blowing up civilian airliners should also be classified as a crime against humanity.
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.
