RAYMOND WEIL
German Justice
Is Inadequate
Berlin (JTA) — The head of
Germany's Jewish commun-
ity believes German justice
and intentions are inade-
quate to combat neo-Nazis.
Ignatz Bubis, speaking
with the Jewish Telegraphic
Agency about issues con-
fronting the community,
said judges have been too
liberal in sentencing the
perpetrators of right-wing
crimes.
Nevertheless, he also ad-
mitted that he had no solu-
tion or suggestion of his own
about educating the growing
far right movement to turn
away from racism.
"I don't have any sugges-
tions, and that's worse. I
don't know what one should
do," lamented Mr. Bubis.
"It's a situation where it's
difficult to say you have to
do this or you have to do
that."
And his verdict is not yet
in on what, if any, success
accrued from a recently
organized trip to Israel of
neo-Nazis from the city of
Dresden.
The trip was organized by
a Dresden city employee in
charge of foreign affairs in
conjunction with local social
workers. Their goal for the
trip was to erase Jewish
stereotypes by giving neo-
Nazis a firsthand view of
Israel.
"I'm not sure if that was a
good or bad thing," said Mr.
Bubis.
The trip was criticized by
some prominent Jews in
Germany who worry that
the trip might actually have
had an adverse effect and
could end up reinforcing
stereotypes.
Mr. Bubis spends much of
his time trying to educate
non-Jews about the
40,000-member German
Jewish community and in
trying to erase stereotypes
and preconceptions. He is
also active in promoting
equality for foreigners living
in Germany.
Shortly after this inter-
view, Mr. Bubis left Berlin
for Molln, to mark the first
anniversary of the killing of
three Turks by neo-Nazis.
Mr. Bubis, who is 66, has a
daily agenda that is more
packed than people half his
age. Indeed, he appeared
tired and overworked during
the interview.
His schedule is so hectic
that he employs three
secretaries to make ap-
GENEVE
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pointments and help keep
things in order.
After 14 months as head of
the Jewish community, he
has been largely well-
received here, by both Jews
and non-Jews alike. But
while Mr. Bubis is seen as
more thought-provoking and
diplomatic than his
predecessor, the late Heinz
Galinski, he does not think
his message is different.
But times have changed in
Germany. Within the last 12
months, there have been
2,584 incidents of violence or
vandalism by the radical
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Ignatz Bubis:
Sees judges as too liberal.
right, and 17 people have
died from neo-Nazi attacks.
Mr. Bubis voiced concern
about the discrepancy bet-
ween Germany's treatment
of activists of the radical
right and left. The police and
courts have been far more
lenient toward the right
than toward the left.
And the punishment has
been far greater toward
those who kill prominent
businesspersons than
toward those who kill
asylum- seekers, he said.
A debate as to whether
Germany is "blind in the
right eye" has been brewing
here ever since the first
suspended sentences were
handed down town years ago.
Among those who are
speaking out on this problem
are Lea Rosh, a well-known
Jewish television journalist
here and co-author of the
book Death is a Meister from.
Germany, where "moister"
translates into ruler and the
phrase indicts Germany as a
whole.
A number of law professors
have also blamed the Ger-
man system for its mild treat-
ment of the right wing.
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