The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith today revealed that a former member of Hitler’s elite SS was seated in the West German Parliament last week and called the appointment “an offensive and insensitive act of deep concern.” According to Lawrence Leshnik, director of ADL’s European affairs department, Hans Wissebach of Marburg, who served in Hitler’s personal SS division, “Leibstandarte,” and even now maintains the SS affiliation, was named to the Bundestag by the Christian Democratic Union to replace Walter Wallmann, who was elected Mayor of Frankfurt.
Leshnik said that Wissebach, an attorney, is an active participant in HIAG, the SS Mutual Aid Organization. He was guest of honor at the HIAG meeting held in Saar, Oct. 31, 1976 and attended the group’s spring meeting this year. In 1972, he made a speech calling for an SS monument to be erected in Marienfels.
“What is particularly shocking,” Leshnik said, “is the lack of reaction to the appointment by the German public.” Only two German newspapers made any comment at all–both expressed outrage. In the Bundestag itself, the Social Democratic Party and the Free Democratic Party opposed the appointment but the Christian Democratic Union refused to withdraw it.
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.
