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Silver's Garage.
Sale.

Fascism And Reunited Germany
Worrying Britain's Chief Rabbi

HELEN DAVIS

Foreign Correspondent

N

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CHAIR MATS—Asst. styles-10.00
BIC PENS—List 3.48 dz.-5.00/6 dz.
FABER CASTELL SUPERITER MARKERS—Black, red, blue,
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FULL STRIP STAPLER—List 22.95-4.45
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38

FRIDAY, JULY 27, 1990

othing has so dra-
matically symbolized
the rolling back of
Communism in Europe as
the destruction of the Berlin
Wall and subsequent moves
toward the reunification of
the two Germanys.
Amid all the euphoria —
from the triumphal meeting
of NATO leaders in London
earlier this month to the
huge rock concert celebra-
tion in Berlin last Saturday
night — few have dared
question the wisdom of
restoring a state that has
provoked two world wars
this century and destroyed
one-third of European
Jewry.

Britain's highly respected
Chief Rabbi, Lord Immanuel
Jakobovits, has no such in-
hibitions. Last Sunday, he
dropped a bombshell when
he publicly raised a question
that has privately tormented
many Jews: Could a
reunited Germany lead to a
return to Nazi-style persecu-
tion of Jews?
The answer Jakobovits
himself provided was clear
and unequivocal. Yes.

He was, he said, "absolute-
ly convinced that the present
German government is
dedicated to the ideals of
democracy and the equality
of all citizens. As long as
Germany is prosperous, as it
is now, I believe minorities
will be safe and the whole of
Europe will be safe."
"My fear is that if there is
ever a reversal of economic
fortunes, not only would
minorities, like Jews, be
threatened but the whole of
Europe would be threatened
— and, perhaps, the rest of
the world, as it has been
twice in this century."
In the past, the Nazis had
claimed that its maltreat-
ment of Jews and other
minorities was a purely
internal German affair. As a
result, he said, the rest of the
world simply stood by and
silently witnessed events.
"That must never happen
again."
The future treatment of
minorities by a united Ger-
many must be a matter of
international concern, for-
mally enshrined in an inter-
national treaty. It was not a
matter that could be left to
the Germans to determine

"at their sovereign discre-
tion."
The maltreatment of
minorities in the new Ger-
many, including racist pro-
paganda, must be considered
crimes against humanity,
said Jakobovits. And, as
such, they must be subject to
redress in international
courts.
He noted that members of
the new neo-Nazi Repub-
lican Party, led by former SS
officer Franz Schoenhuber,
were now permitted to "fan
their hate propaganda" in
West Germany, "thereby
permitting excesses that had
previously not been allowed.
This," he said, "is how
Hitler began."
Banning political parties?
Stifling free speech? These
are, after all, the stuff of
knee-jerk responses of
outrage to such notions in
the liberal tradition of the
West. Once again,
Jakobovits had no inhibi-
tions: "I personally believe,"
he explained patiently,
"that freedom from the
threat of extermination is
more precious than freedom
of speech if it is devoted to
subverting the rights of
citizens."
These sentiments, he
hastened to add, were not
motivated by a hatred for
Germany, but rather by a
profound respect for the
reunited Germany which
would be a partner in a new,
democratic world and was
emerging as a superpower
second only to the United
States.
Jakobovits took the trou-
ble to set down his views in
letters to British Foreign
Secretary Douglas Hurd and
European Commission Pres-
ident Jacques Delors. In the
letters, he sought interna-
tional guarantees to protect
Jews from becoming a
"convenient scapegoat" if
there was a resurgence of
German militarism.
"We cannot altogether
forget the past experience of
a militaristic Germany
plunging Europe twice into
supremely bloody world
wars culminating in the
ultimate barbarity of the
Holocaust," he wrote. "The
time to forestall this by pru-
dent international action is
now, not when the danger
already looms.
"The existing human
rights provisions under-
written by Germany seem
insufficient," he added.

Rabbi Jakobovits:
"Dedicated to . . . democracy."

"Specific and substantial
assurances, as well as pro-
cedures for redress, should
be included in any treaty [of
reunification] to be drawn
up."
As a means of safeguar-
ding Jewish interests in the
new Germany, Jakobovits
believes Jewish represent-
atives must have a place at
any negotiating table where
talks are held over
reunification to ensure that
Germany is not allowed to
become "the fountainhead of
a highly mechanized form of
anti- Semitism."
Jews, he said, must never
again be used as pawns in
the power games of the great
empires. The one essential
means of helping to
safeguard their position in
the new, integrated Ger-
many was to give them —
and other minorities — the
right to appeal to an inter-
national court.
Such a right must form
part of any conditions laid
down for the reunification of
Germany. If this is not done,
he added, "it will be a
betrayal of past and future
generations."
Jakobovits did not believe
his sentiments would arouse
anger or bitterness in Ger-
many: "I think there are
many Germans, particularly
of the new generation, who
share my anxieties, who
want to see guarantees for
the maintenance of democ-
racy, who know they have
paid an awesome price for
the past excesses. I believe
there will be a great deal of
sympathy for these views."
The new Germany might

