Dr. Theodor Oberlaender, a member of the West German Cabinet, ended a lengthy controversy over his Nazi past by resigning today as Minister for Refugees.
He handed his resignation to Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in another reversal of several stands he has taken since he was first accused of participating in the 1941 massacre of Polish intellectuals and Jews in Lemberg in what was then Nazi-occupied Poland.
Two weeks ago, Chancellor Adenauer’s Christian Democrats and the opposition Social Democrats reached agreement on a formula under which Dr. Oberlaender was to take an indefinite vacation from his post with the understanding he would retire May 1, on a pension. The Social Democrats called off their demands for a Parliamentary probe of the Lemberg charges when that agreement was reached.
Dr. Oberlaender announced late last week that he would not resign and demanded a Parliamentary inquiry “to rehabilitate me completely.” The resignation followed today.
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