Israelis are concerned about the resurgence of neo-Nazism in West Germany and are critical of German Jews and the West German Zionist Federation for alleged apathy in face of the threat.
MK Hillel Seidel of the Independent Liberal Party, a survivor of the Holocaust, denounced the indifference of German Jews to the revival of the Nazi movement. He cited last week’s incident in Munich where anti-Nazi activist Serge Klarsfeld was beaten up at a Nazi rally and he and his wife Beate were forcibly ejected. The rally was held in the beer cellar where Hitler planned his putsch against the Bavarian State government in 1923. No German Jews took part in the Klarsfeld’s anti-Nazi demonstration and none came to their aid, Seidel said.
Meanwhile, supporters of the Public Committee to Fight Nazi Criminals, headed by the Klarsfelds, have cabled World Jewish Congress President Nahum Goldmann to intervene with West German authorities. They want him to urge action against meetings of the neo-Nazi parties in Germany and reunions of former members of the SS and other Nazi groups.
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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.