Draft Resolution in General Assembly Recommends Measures to Combat Nazism

The General Assembly’s Third Committee (Social, Humanitarian and Cultural) opened discussion yesterday afternoon on a draft resolution condemning and recommending measures against Nazism, racism, apartheid and other forms of discrimination. The draft, sponsored by Iraq, Poland and the Ukraine, calls on the Assembly to “resolutely condemn” such bigotry; take appropriate action to eradicate it; ask the Secretary General to publish a brochure on the issue; recommend that all states act on the problem next year, the International Year for Action to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination; instruct the Secretary General to consider holding an international symposium on racial intolerance in 1972, and decide to consider the problem a priority. In 1967 and 1968, the Assembly condemned “racism, Nazism, apartheid and all similar ideologies and practices which are based on racial intolerance and terror.” Mrs. Lidiya K. Kudryautseva of Byelorussia complained that “not everything” had been done since the end of World War II to eliminate Nazism forever. “We should not forget with what speed Nazism developed in Germany,” she declared, adding that one of today’s manifestations of Hitlerism was “the bestiality of Israel” in the occupied Arab territories. She urged the United Nations to use the mass media to emphasize the dangers of Nazism.

Gyula Budai of Hungary said neo-Nazism in West Germany imperiled the peace of Europe. He scored West Germany’s “mockery and insult” in advising the Secretary General that it would treat neo-Nazis and Communists alike. Mr. Budai called that a “slap in the face” of today’s German. He also charged some unidentified Western governments with failing to inform the Secretary General of their actions against Nazism. Edward Sabik of Poland voiced alarm at what he called the penetration of Nazi ideology into many right-wing groups around the world, adding that the existence of neo-Nazism was evidenced by the upsurge in militarism. N.I. Evdokeev of the Soviet Union accused Israel of using Nazi tactics against the Palestinians in the occupied territories. Ludek Handl of Czechoslovakia joined the previous speakers in endorsing the three-power draft, as did Fernando Alvarez Tablo of Cuba, a country that has not experienced Nazism. The Third Committee is also considering a message from Otto Winzer. East German Foreign Minister, in which he charges that West Germany “grossly defames German anti-Fascist resistance fighters” in its statement in the Secretary General’s report on anti-Nazi action. Mr. Winzer’s charge was circulated at the request of Bulgaria; East Germany is not a member of the UN.