For the Crimes They Committed Trials of Nazi Criminals
(Continued from Page 1)
Case, he again faces charges of homicide arising
from different actions. Some additional defendants,
whose names have not yet been released, may be
implicated in the Hungary trial. According to Frank-
furt District Attorney Dr. Hans Grossmann, at least
50 witnesses will be called against Krumey and
Hunsche.
In Munich, former SS General Karl Wolff, 62,
Heinrich Himmler's chief-of-staff, has just been
indicted for the murder of 306,000 Polish and
Italian Jews. Wolff was arrested only a year ago,
shortly after publishing his memoirs. Until then,
he had been leading a prosperous life as an ad-
vertising agent. He became well known at the end
of the war for helping to negotiate the surrender
of the German forces in Northern Italy. At the -
Nuremberg trials, where he was one of the key
prosecution witnesses, he was the only SS officer
permitted to wear his general's insignia in court.
Allied judges referred to him kindly as a "misfit"
in the Nazi terror organization.
In Limburg, Prof. Werner Heyde and two other
doctors are expected to face trial this summer for
their leading roles in the Nazi euthanasia program
which, prosecution officials say, cost the lives of
100,000 Germans.
In Essen, prosecutors are investigating former
members of Einsatzkommando 7 of Einsatzgruppe D.
In Braunchschweig, a case is being prepared against
former members of the SS cavalry regiment, and in
Frankfurt, investigations are continuing on former -
members of Police Battalion 306, responsible for
the liquidation of Jews in the Pinsk area in Oc-
tober, 1942.
Two other major cases were completed within
the last few weeks. One concerned the Heuser
group which resulted in penitentiary terms ranging
from 31/2 years to life imprisonment. The other in-
volved 12 former guards at Kulmhof Concentration
camp, accused of murdering 150,000 Polish, Austrian,
Czechoslovakian and German Jews. Six of the 12
defendants were acquitted, the other six received
sentences ranging from 3 1/2 to 15 years.
All told, according to the Federal Justice Min-
istry, 10,000 Germans have been convicted of war
crimes since 1945, and 5,000 of these were tried in
German courts. The others faced military govern-
ment tribunals.
Many Germans believe the trials should be
terminated and a general amnesty for war crim-
inals be declared. They view the recent spate of
proceedings as "neo-denazification." Some have
based their recommendation on ending the trials
on the feeling that the court proceedings focus
attention on a few notorious men and create an
atmosphere in which "everyone else can feel
exonerated for any moral responsibility for the
actions of the Third Reich."
The official goyernment position, as published
not long ago in the Bulletin, is this:
"These defendants are on trial for the crimes
they have committed, not as representatives for the
German people. The German people are not a
nation of murderers. But all Germans have a varied
form of responsibility. The Third Reich was predi-
cated on spiritual and moral corruption . . . "
The light sentences in some of the cases have
also evoked criticism in Germany and abroad. Some
of the prison terms, Prosecutor Schuele recently
remarked, "are the equivalent of 10 minutes in jail
Per murder."
But part of the answer lies in the nature of
the German penal code which has no death pen-
alty and which limits penitentiary terms to 15
years, even for murder, whenever evidence is not
all-conclusive.
How, many observers have asked, can one expect
judges who themselves are tainted with a Nazi rec-
ord, to pass judgment on war criminals? Although
153 of the 159 most notorious jurists wandered into
retirement a year ago, others who performed the
Nazi regime's work of terror, remain. Yet, incon-
gruous as it may seem, some of the most severe
penalties for war crimes have been imposed by
judges with very shady pasts.
It is difficult to ascertain how the majority of
Germans feel about the current wave of trials, but
the most ecouraging view was published recently in
Duesseldorf's conservative Rheinische Post. Com-
menting on the Heuser case, the paper said:
. . . There can be no excuse for what happened
in Minsk 20 years ago, and it would be cheap,
indeed, to place all blame on the "system" of the
time. That system was a criminal one, true, but it
required criminals to make it as gruesome and
effective as it was.
"There were so many criminals available that
our courts today are still preoccupied with them: in
Koblenz, in Munich, in Nuremberg; in Freiburg. The
legacy of Nazism will hover over our people for
many years because there were so many so eager
and willing to commit those crimes. They must be
punished. There is no way of circumventing that
responsibility."
First ZOA Convention in Israel Inspires
Increased Interest in Cultural Programs
(Continued from Page 1)
He said this had happened
because Jewish youth in Israel
were under the constant bur-
den of the struggle for eco-
nomic independence and - se-
curity and had no time to look
toward the outside Jewish
world. At the same time, he
said, Jewish youth in the U.S.
was enjoying unprecedented
economic prosperity and was
taking Israel for granted while
becoming more integrated into
an isolationist environment.
Asserting that there was a
strong tendency toward as-
similation among Jewish
youth in the U.S., he called
for an intensified educational
and cultural program and
indirect intimate cooperation
between Israeli youth leader-
ship and Jewish youth out-
side of Israel to assist the
Zionist movement to develop
leadership for the future.
The delegates heard Y. Foe-
der, director of the Bank Le-
umi, and M. Stern, director of
Rassco, report on economic
conditions and investment po-
tentials in Israel. Leon Dultzin
of the Jewish Agency reported
on measures to encourage the
immigration to Israel of middle
class Jews. _
M. Kaplan, president of Or-
ganization of Americans and
Canadians in Israel, called for
an increase in Aliyah mainly
of youth and professional.
Rep. James Roosevelt, Cali-
fornia Democrat and eldest son
of the late President Franklin
D. Roosevelt, stressed that the
Soviet Union must be called
upon by the United States to
help guarantee the integrity
and security of Israel, along
with the similar guarantees it
had already given to the Arab
nations, in a convention ad-
dress at ZOA House.
Referring to the greeting
sent to the ZOA parley by
President Kennedy, asserting
that "the integrity and security
of Israel and of all other free
nations in the Middle East"
is a matter of concern to the
United Staates, Roosevelt said:
"If Israel is to survive, the
U.S.A. must convince the Com-
munists and the Arab world
that the full strength of our
military and economic re-
sources are behind the achieve-
ment of peace between Israel
and her neighbors — that we
truthfully mean that these re-
sources are totally pledged to
guarantee the integrity and se-
curity of Israel, and that we
shall welcome the aid of the
Communist countries in achiev-
ing this aim in a context that
will bring the same integrity
and security to all free nations
in the Middle East."
In view of "recent news,"
said Roosevelt, "it is plain that
Russia and other Communist
nations are making very sure"
by aiding Egypt with modern
weapons, that the integrity and
security of the Arab states is
guaranteed. "It is important,
therefore," he continued, "that
the American people under-
stand that, if there is to be
integrity and security for Is-
rael, there must be the same
determination by the non-Com-
munist nations to give the same
assurance to Israel which the
Communist nations are express-
ing to others."
Should , an invitation for
discussing Arab-Israeli peace
be declined, said Roosevelt,
"it must be made clear that
we are not afraid, but deter-
mined, to take whatever
steps are necessary — mili-
tarily and economically — to
prevent the strength of Is-
rael's apparent enemies from
reaching a point where ag-
gression would be too invit-
ing to resist."
Abraham Goodman, of New
York, prominent ZCA leader,
told the convention that the
ZOA House "bridges the gap
between Israelis and Ameri-
cans." He disclosed plans for
the expansion of ZOA House
and its activities, including the
establishment of a USA-Israel
Institute for Research, and for
studies to be conducted in
America and in Israel.
Former Prime Minister David
Ben-Gurion called on American
Jews to intensify their efforts
for the survival of Israel and
of Jewry abroad through a
three-pronged p r o g r a m. He
spelled out the program as one
including deeper Hebrew edu-
cation for the younger Jewish
generation in the United States,
deepening of "personal iden-
tity" with Israel, and strength-
ening the "unity of the Jewish
nation."
"Only through these three
efforts," he said, "shall we
be able to survive both in
Israel and in the Diaspora."
He was making his first pub-
lie address since he resigned
from the Premiership as the
principal speaker at a dinner
conducted here by the ZOA
convention, honoring Rabbi
Abba Hillel Silver, of Cleve-
land, on the latter's 70th
birthday.
Dr. Emanuel Neumann pre-
sided at the event. Other speak-
ers included United States Am-
bassador Walwourth Barbour;
Eliahu Elath, president of the
Hebrew University; Joseph
Saphir, Liberal member of the
Knesset; Joseph Serlin, also a
member of Parliament; and
Rabbi Max Nussbaum, presi-
dent of the ZOA. More than 800
delegates and guests, including
leading Israelis, attended the
gala event, which climaxed the
ZOA convention.
Lauding Rabbi Silver's work
as a Zionist, Ben-Gurion told
the assemblage that Dr. Silver,
who is honorary president of
the ZOA, began his Zionist ca-
reer "not with the Basle Pro-
gram, nor with the Balfour
Declaration, nor with the Unit-
ed Nations resolution for parti-
tion of Palestine, but with
God's promise to Abraham: 'To
thy seed I shall give this
land.' "
Dr. Silver noted, in reply,
that Abraham was in his
seventies when he received
the Divine command. "He
was not told," said Rabbi-
Silver, "exactly where to go
but simply to 'move on to
the land which I shall show
you.' I suppose that is a good
command to follow at any
stage of one's life — in trust
Enlargement of UN
Councils' Membership
Supported by Israel
UNITED NATION S, N.Y.,
(JTA)—Michael S. Comay, chief
of the Israeli delegation to the
United Nations, said that Israel
had consistently favored en-
largement of the organs of the
UN for wider membership. He
spoke at a meeting of the UN
Charter Revisions Committee
whch voted to set up a nine-
member sub-committee to try
to reach an agreement on a
recommendation to the next
General Assembly.
Ambassador Comay said Is-
rael favored expansion to take
account of the many new UN
members, particularly those
from sub-Saharan African.
and faith to keep on going,
confident that the true way
will be shown by Him Who
is the Light of the World.
And that is exactly what I
intend to do."
Yosef Almogi, Minister of
Housing and Development, told
the ZOA delegates that the
Israel Bond drive must be in-
tensified in the United States,
so that "we can drive out the
desert in the Negev and drive
in industry and housing there."
He called for further private
investments in Israel.
Dr. Israel Goldstein, former
president of the ZOA, now a
resident of Israel, told the con-
vention that, since the estab-
lishment of Israel 15 years ago,
1,150,000 Jews have come to
Israel at a cost of $1,750,000,-
000. He said that 55 per cent
of the costs of transportation
and resettlement of these im-
migrants were covered by Jew-
ish contributions from outside
Israel, mostly in the United
States.
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The
66th annual convention of the
Zionist Organization of Amer-
ica, the first in Israel, opened
here with a tribute by Moshe
Sharett, chairman of the Jew-
ish Agency executive, to "the
magnificent record" of Ameri-
can Zionism. After the first two
days' sessions here the conven-
tion moved to Tel Aviv.
Greeting the 1,000 delegates
and guests on behalf of the
World Zionist movement, Shar-
ett said that the American
Zionist movement had at sev-
eral critical junctures in the
history of Zionism proved "a
tower of strength" and helped
to achieve decisive victories.
He lauded the contributions of
Dr. Abba Hillel Silver "whose
dynamic drive and determina-
tion played such a signal part
in the epoch-making break-
through of the movement in
1947."
Dr. Max Nussbaum, ZOA
president, said that with the
exception of "an infinitesimal
group," the entire American
Jewish community was friendly
toward Israel, but that the
Zionist Organization was the
only entity whose support for
Israel was one of commitment.
Israel President Zalman Sha-
zar said that twice American
Zionism led all Jewry in an
effort that saved Zionism. The
first time was when the politi-
cal future of Palestine was de-
cided at the Versaille Confer-
ence at the end of the first
World War and the second was
at the end of World War II
when American Zionism had a
fateful role in the fight to
bring about the re-birth of Is-
rael. He told the delegates that
Israel was again in a crucial
period of threatening dangers
and gigantic problems and that
"we dare hope that in this third
time too you, together, with all
friends of Zionism, will come
through once again."
Dr. Silver said that while the
primary Zionist objective had
been achieved and Israel was
an accomplished fact, the need
for defending Israel politically
and militaryily will never dis-
appear, at least not in this
generation. He warned- that
Israel would not be able to
escape political tensions and
pressures of the region and
that danger lurks on its bor-
ders. "Our work is not over by
any means," he added, "and •
those who would rely in all
future emergencies on the in-
stand response of the unorgan-
ized so-called friends of Israel
— whose commitments are so
vague and whose staying power
so uncertain — are not wise
guardians of the best interests
of the State of Israel."
President Kennedy extend-
ed his greetings to the con-
vention. His message read:
"The holding of your meeting
in Israel is appropriate for
an organization that has con-
tributed so much toward the
establishment and develop-
ment of that nation. You may
take justifiable pride and sat-
isfaction from your activities
in interpreting American in-
stitutions and the American
way of life to Israel and in
helping convey to a sense of
Israel's needs and aspirations
to Americans.
"In the Middle East, as well
as in other parts of the world,"
the message continued, "the
policy of the United States is
based on the maintenance of
peace and the preservation of
freedom. The integrity and se-
curity of Israel and of all other
free nations in the Middle East
is a matter with which we can
properly concen ourselves. I
feel sure that your delibera-
tions will advance these ob-
jectives."