A united Germany will have to remember forever its collective guilt for the Holocaust, the European Jewish Congress declared in a resolution adopted here this week.
German unification, rising anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union and the European Community’s deteriorating relations with Israel were areas of concern addressed by the EJC at a meeting Monday and Tuesday.
It was called to consider anti-Semitism in various countries, in light of the historic changes taking place in Eastern Europe.
The EJC is the Western and Eastern European branch of the World Jewish Congress. Its resolution on German unification recalled the sufferings of European Jewish communities at the hands of the Third Reich and expressed concern over the prospects of a united Germany.
“It is imperative that all forms of racism, anti-Semitism, xenophobia and exclusion be outlawed” in the united country, the resolution said.
“This Germany will have to recognize today and forever its collective guilt for the Shoah and its victims.”
Another resolution voiced alarm at “the wave of anti-Semitism today in the Soviet Union, which is inspired by ultranationalist movements acting more and more openly.” It urged the Soviet authorities to act against the phenomenon, including the enactment and enforcement of stiffer laws.
The EJC expressed dismay over last month’s vote by the European Parliament in Strasbourg, France, recommending trade sanctions against Israel and the suspension of scientific cooperation with that country. The E.C. legislative body was expressing displeasure with Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.
The EJC welcomed the groundbreaking ceremony in Poland for an interfaith prayer center, where Carmelite nuns are to be relocated from their present quarters on the grounds of the former Auschwitz death camp.
It expressed hope that “the definite departure of the Carmelites, in peace and dignity, will occur within a reasonable time.”
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.
