Purely Commentary A Warning to Those Who Would Forget All too often we hear a rebuke: why remember the Nazi era? Isn't .1 time to forget? As a warning that if you forget they may also be distorters of truth comes this information from London by way o' the London Times: A psychiatrist, writing about Belsen in a weekly historical publication, says that conditions at the concentration camp were "not too bad" until late 1944, and denies that the inmates were unclothed and deliberately starved. But Brigadier Glyn Hughes R.A.M.C., who was in charge of the first British party to enter Belsen, said: "The conditions were frightful, quite indescribable. If there had been no deliberate starvation policy, there had obviously been deliberate neglect. I saw 20 women living in 35 sq. ft. of space, and the bunks were shared by the dead and the living together." He added that any suggestion that the German people knew nothing about the con- centration camps was "absolutely untrue." Brigadier Hughes said that prisoners at Belsen had no food at all in the week before the arrival of allied troops. Its a simple fact i' you forget. you're running the danger of being accused of condoning: if you forget, the criminal may get a new platform for himself. The London incident to a degree proves the validity of the warning based on the Biblical admonition: zkhor et Anialek—remember Amalek ! o From the Left Stems Much of Our Trouble Russia is arming the Arabs. the USSR navy is invading the Aledi- :erranean and is taunting Uncle Sam. the threat to Israel is primarily from the Kremlin. Like the Czar of pre-Communist times, the new regime is akin to the Black Hundreds in its anti-Jewish attitude. And this continuing expression of hatred has invaded many ranks. It is the inspirer of the New Left that sees It to distort truth in propagating against Israel. it has become a partner in the campaign that uses Zionism as a scapegoat. There is an unholy alliance that has also :nfluenced the Black Power which has given comfort to anti-Semites. It is impossible to find an adequate reason for such attitudes, other than the fact that the Jew is such a ready scapegoat for those Alio need some one to hate. In the turn of events after June 5, 1967, when the Communists and those who are influenced by them. suddenly adopted an anti- :-rael policy. East Germany became a leader in ;-,ate-spreading propaganda against Zionism. Israel and Jews generally. Walter Ulbricht added anti-Israelism to his platform. Ulbricht's devilish campaign as the head of the German Democratic Republic was exposed at a press con - erence with Simon Wiesenthal, who directs the documentation center of the Federation of Jewish Victims of Nazi Persecutions. He rev ealed facts regarding the "National Socialist Elements in the Press and Propaganda Organs of the German Democratic Republic" and he showed that while the GDR claimed to have ousted Nazis the Thmmunist East German regime is filled with former Hitlerites. He proved that the Communist propaganda organs have taken their cue from Julius Streicher and the filthy Nazi "Volkischer Boebachter" and the worst elements in the anti-Semitic ranks. Wiesenthal's charges are summarized as follows: The people, who, in the "Volkischer Beobachter" (the "People's Observer"), the Nazi party newspaper, formerly agitated against the Jews, the people who preached violence, hay now found a new medium. They have become followers of Ulbricht. This con- centration of National Socialist experts in propaganda in the Soviet Zone's organization for agitation and propaganda is not just a coincidence. It is a product of the similarity of many of the aims and methods of National Socialism and Communism. Khrushchev, for example, once proclaimed: "We shall bury Capitalism" — and the National Socialists marched to the song: "Today Germany belongs to us. and tomorrow it will be the whole world." Both systems are the same in their propaganda methods: agitation and penetration of all spheres of existence, intensified to the point of terror. The aim is total control of the human consciousness. Looking through the documents that Wiesenthal has assem- bled, it becomes clear how much these people dominate what is published in the Soviet Occupied Zone, the "GDR." They did not need to change their approach very much. Wiesenthal says that only a few words are lacking in order to make it seem that an article comes from "Neues Deutschland." the party paper in the East German Zone today, and not from the "Volkischer Boebachter." Wiesenthal gave a few examples of this phenomenon at his press conference. The "Neues Deutsch. land" was in fact printed on the same machines as the "Vol- kischer Boebachter" until a few years ago. New groups have formed. There are Aust, Kegel, and Kroger in the magazine "German Foreign Policy," and the group in "Neues Deutschland," led by Kertzscher and with such influential aides as Kegel, Dengler, and Siebenmorgen. Those are two of the im- portant journalistic centers in the zonal press. Another very im- portant "team" is what is called the "National Democratic Group," which is usually never mentioned in connection with the "GDR," but which was deliberately set up by Ulbricht to keep "national" elements on the same course with a flag of their own. Among the leading journalists are Stoblein, Zander, Hofe, Arnold, Ball, Cas- par, Hampe, Hempelmann, Riess, Seurla, and Sadder (who died recently). The zonal branch of the CDU, which is a satellite of Ulbricht's, has its former Nazi journalists too, with Hnhn and Gast at the top, and Schnabel and Ulrich. In the course of his press conference, in Vienna, Wiesenthal `,ad this to say: Since I myself speak almost all the languages spoken in East- ern Bloc countries, and know the terminology that is used there —I lived in the Soviet Union for two years; I have been in Poland; and I studied in Czechoslovakia—it immediately occurred to me that a terminology is employed in the newspapers—whether it be "Neues Deutschland," "Deutsche AuBenpolitik," or whatever it might be—that is reminiscent of something particular. We played at something like a jigsaw puzzle in my office. We took some 30-year-old newspapers, the Volkischer Beobachter" or the "Schwarze Corps," and removed certain words and replaced them with the customary words in the GDR press. Instead of the word "Jew" we wrote "Zionist," and instead of "National Social- ism," "the peace-loving camp, or the Socialist camp." And sud- denly these articles looked as if they had appeared in the press not 30 years ago but six months or a year previously. The "Docu- mentation Center" is in principle only concerned with capital crimes. From time to time we have also published documentation about things *•id; do not have anything to do with murder as Protest Against . Leftists Christmas Stamp . Endanger Hopes for Peace Justified By Philip Slomovitz THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 2—Friday, December 6, 1968 Knesset Alerts World on Bonn . unmes Statute such. Last year, for example, we published documentation about people now working in the Federal Republic, who had earlier been in charge of newspapers in countries occupied by the Nazis. We have documentation about Herr Dr. Totter, who two years ago was still press officer of the German Federation of Civil Servants. Formerly he was in charge of the "Brusseler Zeitung" and wrote some bloodthirsty articles. One result of the constant propaganda directed by the GDR towards the West was that it was . JERUSALEM (JTA)—The Knes- somehow difficult to believe—perhaps we have unconsciously ac- set adopted a proposal to take cepted a part of this propaganda—that there could also be people steps to alert world opinion to the there, who had dipped their pens in Goebbels' ink and employed danger that Nazi war criminals in it against democracy, against the Jews. This way of writing gave West Germany may go free after us the idea of looking into the matter. the statute of limitations on war It was clear to me that, if I sent someone to East Berlin just crimes prosecutions goes into effect to bring out a list of the people working for "Neues Deutschland," at the end of 1969. The proposal then I would not see him again for two or three years. The docu- was submitted by Mrs. Emma Tal- mentation I am putting before you has no claim to completeness. mi of Mapam and, at the sugges- Over the course of several months we got the details from various tion of Foreign Minister Abba archives, from publications, and from lists of SS and party mem- Ehan, was referred to the Knes- bership. Today we make known 39 names. set's foreign affairs and security We include articles from the "Volkischer Beobachter" by these committee, people. They work today in the press of the SED, the NPD, the Eban said that continuous con- LDP, and the Zonal CDU. And now a striking sentence from a war versations are taking place be- report. "Our Tiger tanks squash the sub-human Asiatics like tween Israel and West Germany bugs." One was a very important man. He died some months regarding the statute. He said that ago, Herr Wilhelm Stiehler, the city commissioner in Leipzig. For opinion within the Christian Demo- a long time he was also in the People's Chamber. I have a series cratic Party — the party of West of anti-Semitic articles that he wrote. These are people who, in the German Chancellor Kurt Kiesinger curriculum vitae necessary for acceptance in the Nazi Party, wrote —was divided on the question. The that they had contributed to the purging of Jewish influences from federal minister of justice, Gustav German culture. And these are the eliminators of Jews who are Heinemann, who visited Israel re- active in the press today and who weep crocodile tears to show cently, wants the statute abolished. that somewhere here or there an anti-Semitic is at work. That's Heinemann, a member of the So- the truth. But that is possibly intended to distract us from the fact cial Democratic Party, the CDU's that there too these people are at work. In order to be able to coalition partner, warned that un- come to these 39 names, we worked through some 600 names. We less the statute was at least post- were not able to check everything with all of them, and not all of poned, relations between Germany them seemed important to us. and the Jewish people would be When this documentation had been completed—that was in damaged. April this year—events started in Czechoslovakia, and we did not The matter has also been taken want, as a result of this publication, to be accused somehow of up, by Ernst Benda the West Ger- interfering in a conflict. This would have been a trump card for man minister of interior. Ehan the others. They would have said: Of course, the Jews from abroad. said. He reported that the Israeli They're fighting on against the opponents of Dubeck etc. So we said delegation to the United Nations is No. We'll wait. It is the first time that such a documentation has in contact with other delegations been brought out. Time is not important. The time would come. regarding ratification of the UN Otherwise we Jews would again, as for centuries now, have been the scapegoat. anti-genocide convention which would obligate member states to Then the time came. There was an article in the SED paper take legislative 'measures that "Neues Deutschland" headed "Zionism governs in Prague." Then would make genocide a crime to we saw that these people have reached the final stage of their which no statute of limitations argument—"The Jews are guilty." When the occupation of Czecho- could apply. Israel took such ac- slovakia was finally completed in the year 1939, there also ap- tion immediately after the draft peared in the "Volkischer Boebachter" a headline: "Jewry governs convention was adopted more than in Prague." I do not believe that it is necessary to explain here 10 years ago, Eban said. West that there are only 14,000 Jews living among the 14,000,000 Czecho- Germany, though not a UN mem- slovaks, a minimal percentage. Also that the vast majority of them are considerably over 60 years old, and that they are mostly people ber, would probably comply with the anti-genocide treaty, he said. who survived the concentration camps. And also that the people who had connections with Israel and with Zionism long ago left this country—as is the case in other East Bloc countries with the exception of the Soviet Union. By naming names, by listing facts which reveal the tactics of the GDR leadership, Wiesenthal has shown how the old Nazis are func- tioning in East Germany to perpetuate the Nazi hatreds. The facts gathered by Wiesenthal are especially valuable at this Israel Export Items on New Stamps time as indications of the alliance created by Communists (who are utilizing Nazi manpower in East Germany) with anti-Israel elements who have emerged as the revived anti-Semitic force in the world, By knowing who they are we may be able better to counteract their destructive propaganda. S The Christmas Stamp and the First Amendment An avalanche of Christmas stamps appeared this week in several countries, notably in Italy as Vatican releases and in Austria—and the shock came with the American issue against which the American Jewish Congress has rightfully protested. The Vatican's is a natural series, and Austria's observance of the 150th anniversary of the writing of the lyrics and the music to "Silent Night" by Josef Mohr and Franz Gruber wth a com- memorative stamp is not surprising because of the Christian influences in Austrian government ranks. But the U.S. is not a Christian country. Our population is, of course, overwhelmingly Christian, but it is guided by a Bill of Rights that proscribes religious practices and teachings. It is clearly stated in the First Amendement. Therefore the AJCon- gress protest was justified. There is an element that would proclaim this a Christian country, and there are many among those who uphold the First Amendment who nevertheless affirm the Christian aspect of American life. That is why observance of Christmas is accepted as part of our life. But as long as we can protect the basic American idea of Separation of Church and State it is a duty to support the AJCongress position. p, Fashion and electronics, t*i Of :Israel's export StaPle$, are depicted on two new airmail stamps issued this month by the postal ministry of Israel. Christmas Stamps Becoming Religious, AJCongress Says NEW YORK — The 1968 Christ- mas stamp, which depicts a por- tion of "The Annunciation" by Jan van Eyck, was protested by the American Jewish Congress as a violation of the church-state sepa- ration guarantee of the First Amendment. In a letter to Postmaster General brating "the dogma of the Virgin •'"It is from such beginnings as birth." this that fundamental threats to The American Jewish Congress our religious liberty can grow into protest called on the department to reality." reconsider its policy on Christmas The letter was signed by Joseph stamps. B. Robison, director of the Con- gress commission on law and social By issuing stamps with reli- action. gious motifs, the Congress de- clared, "the government set a W. Marvin Watchon, the Jewish The 1968 Christmas stamp de- group said that the annual Christ- precedent for using its power and picts the angel Gabriel telling mast stamps — first introduced in prestige to support the celebra- Mary she has been chosen to bear 1962—were becoming increasingly tion of a religious holiday. This the Christ child. Mary is not shown religious in content, changing over amounts to government support on the stamp but is seen in the the years from "relatively innocu- of specific religious ideas even painting, which hangs in the Na- ous" designs like holly wreaths to when those ideas are antithetical tional Gallery of. Art in Washing-, reproductions of paintings cele- to the religious beliefs of others. ton. .....