DOCSLIB.ORG

Informatictn

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Informatictn Vol. V. No. 8 5P:SU€^. 1950 INFORMATICTN ISSUED ir THE ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH REFUGEES IN GREAT BRITAIN 8, FAIRFAX MANSIONS, FINCHLEY ROAD ( fAIRSSC^'IOAD ) LONDON, N.W.3 OIPM one Canmltint Hemrt: 10 a.*.—I p.m.. 3—4 p.m.. Sunday 10 ».m.—I p.ia. rWa^Mm: MAIdi VtU 9096 (Genaral Offic*) MAIda Vale +449 (Employment Agancy) Gustav W'^arourg delegation looked at every word to find out whether the laws in force in their respective countries were in accord with the wording of HUMA^ RIGHTS the Covenant, whether they would have to be altered and whether their Governments were At a time when the United, Nations are prepare a Bill of Human Rights. At the start, prepared to propose such alterations. The passing through a grave crisis, which affects differences of opinion as to the scope and majority of the Commission decided to confine everj'thing this world organisation is standing character of such a Bill arose. Some of the the Covenant to strictly political and indi­ for, it may seem that talk of a Bill of Human delegates favoured a broad Declaration, vidual rights and to omit all economic and Rights has become a matter of mere academic setting out a wide range of basic human social rights, which are mentioned in the interest, on which no more time should be rights — a kind of lighthouse showing Declaration. Such questions as equal pay wasted. If one takes a short-term view only, humanity the direction on which to set its for equal work, a hving wage, minimum this argtmient may be justified. But those course. Other delegates thought httle of such housing standards, medical attention, etc., who inaugurated the discussion on Human well-intentioned generalities ; they rather are not mentioned in the draft Covenant ; Rights and succeeded in having Human favoured a legally binding convention, more but the hope is being held out that additional Rights made a cornerstone of the United modest in scope but estabUshing well defined conventions may be prepared to make good Nations charter, never took a mere short- rights. A compromise was reached, the Com­ those omissions. term \'iew. The struggle for Human Rights mission decided to prepare both a Declaration is old, it is more than a struggle for mere and a Convention, a Declaration to lay down Jews have, from the beginning, taken a clauses and paragraphs, it is nothing less general standards, a Convention to bind those great interest in this problem of Human than the struggle for the future development States prepared to adhere to it. Rights. Probably no people has suffered as much in the past from disregard of funda­ of international law ; and as such it remains The Declaration was ready first. It was of greatest importance—crisis or no crisis. mental human rights as have the Jews. much easier to prepare. As none of the Their knowledge was invaluable, for they In the charter of the United Nations it is States was bound by the words chosen for knew the problems not only in theory but laid down that a special Commission on each of its clauses, as it laid down not effective from painful practical experience. In this Himian Rights is to be established. This rights but only standards of behaviour, the sphere the institution of consultative organi­ Commission, which selected Mrs. Eleanor choice of words was not of major importance. sations proved very useful. In order to Roosevelt, the late President Roosevelt's It is always easier for a Government to sub­ connect the people of the world more closely widow, as its Chainnan, started at once to scribe to high-sounding principles than to with the United Nations the charter provided accept exact legal obligations. The Universal that non-Governmental organisations with TWO JEWRIES Declaration of Human Rights was passed by special knowledge in those fields with which HE rift which divides the world between East the General Assembly of the United Nations the United Nations, in particular its Economic T and West is going right through the Jewish on 10 December, 1948. No single delegation and Social Council, are concerned, could be people. When, eleven years ago, the civilised world voted against it, but nine (the Soviet bloc, granted consultative status, which enables rallied to stem the onslaught of Nazism, Jews in all South Africa and Saudi Arabia) abstained. them to send observers to the Sessions of the countries were in the front-line of the struggle, both This idealistic Declaration has, as stated as victims and as fighters. Economic and Social Council and its Com­ before, no binding force ; it sets up standards missions and Committees, to submit written To-day, the international conflict is also a conflict of behavioiu", nothing more. between various parts of Jewry. There are still memoranda and, with sjiecial permission, to large Jewish populations in Rumania, Hungary and From the outset the Commission on make oral statements. Poland. Although many of them expressed their Human Rights had also begun to consider a Five Jewish organisations have been desire to emigrate, there are, no doubt, also sub­ Convention. The Secretariat submitted a granted such status ; Agudas Israel World stantial numbers who identify themselves with the draft, the United Kingdom—a protagonist of Organisation, Consultative Council of Jewish programmes and policies of the Governments, let the idea of a binding convention—also had Organisations (formed by the Alliance alone the vast mass of Russian Jewry which has no prepared a draft and some other Governments Israelite, American Jewish Committee and voice of its own. followed with proposals and drafts of their Anglo-Jewish Association), Co-ordinating Only in two places have Jews succeeded to own. A Working Committee of the H.R. Board of Jewish Organisations (formed by the remain outside the two warring camps—in Israel Commission discussed those drafts and pro­ Board of Deputies, South African Board of and, strangely enough, in Berlin. The Jewish posals as early as 1947, and since then the Deputies and U.S. B'nai Brith), Council for Community in Berlin is the only body which em­ Convention—or Covenant as it is now usually Progressive Judaism and World Jewish braces inhabitants in all sectors, and the unity called—has never been out of the mind of the Congress. Apart from the Council for Pro­ between East and West which has been abandoned Commission. During its most recent Session, in the administration of the town and of Germany, gressive Judaism all these Jewish organisa­ from March to May, 1950, the Commission tions took an active part in the work of the is still being maintained by the 8,000 Jews in has at last prepared a complete draft, which Europe's " Danger Spot No. 1." Human Rights Commission. While the has now been placed before the Economic and Agudas Israel concentrated its efforts largely A problem of greater consequence is presented by Social Council of the United Nations and, on the clauses dealing with rehgious freedom Israel, whict balances uneasily between East and unless referred back to the Commission, will West on the thin line of " non-identification." and religious practice and tried (unsuccess­ go before the General Assembly at its Autumn fully) to have a clause inserted covering the How long the young State will be able to remain Session. outside the two power blocs, in spite of economic problem of Jewish war orphans, the three and political pressure, is a matter for speculation. The draft Covenant is a much more limited other bodies made a number of constructive The Jews are a peace-loving people. More than document than the Declaration. AU those proposals for amending the clauses dealing i! ever, they pray that the shadows which are now " Rights" of the Declaration which are with such matters as statelessness, freedom darkening the world, may not plunge it into night, nothing more than fine aspirations have been of the Press, freedom of migration, right of and that a chance be given to our hard tried people left out. The Covenant would create new law asylimi, prevention of racial or religious to recuperate and develop. for those States that adhere to it. Every discrimination, incitement to race hatred. Continued on page a Page 2 AJR INFORMATION August, 1950 Continued from front page. RESTITUTION IN PARLIAMENT etc. While not all of the proposals were JEWISH TRUST CORPORATION NUMBER OF ALIENS accepted, they undoubtedly influenced the ESTABLISHED According to a statement of the Home Secretciry, work of the Commission. .\ Successor Organisation to claim and receive Mr. Ede, the total number of aliens, including StiU, the most important work of those heirless, unclaimed and former Communal property visitors, seamen. Ministry of Labour permit- Jewish bodies was not concerned with the in the British Zone of Germany, has been established holders and others, who entered the United King­ and registered as " The Jewish Trust Corporation dom in each of the years 1946—19 is as foUows :— exact wording of the various clauses—im­ for Germany, Limited." A statement announcing 1946, 311,932 ; 1947, 563,369 ; 1948, 657,661 ; portant as that may be—but with the the objects of the Trust Corporation says : " It is 1949. 645,728. decisive problem of implementation. Even a matter of international justice that this property During tlie same years the number of aliens who is not left in German hands, but is used to help the left the United Kingdom were : 1946 : 291,227; the best Covenant would be of little value 1947, 501,000 ; 1948, 593.532 ; 1949, 619,199. if there were no provisions for putting it into survivors of Nazi persecution and other victims of racial and religious discrimination." It is estimated that on May 31, 1950, the number effect, or—to use a popular phrase—without The " Council of Jews from Germany," which, of aliens over 16 years of age who had registered giving it teeth.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • The Future of the German-Jewish Past: Memory and the Question of Antisemitism
    Purdue University Purdue e-Pubs Purdue University Press Books Purdue University Press Fall 12-15-2020 The Future of the German-Jewish Past: Memory and the Question of Antisemitism Gideon Reuveni University of Sussex Diana University Franklin University of Sussex Follow this and additional works at: https://docs.lib.purdue.edu/purduepress_ebooks Part of the Jewish Studies Commons Recommended Citation Reuveni, Gideon, and Diana Franklin, The Future of the German-Jewish Past: Memory and the Question of Antisemitism. (2021). Purdue University Press. (Knowledge Unlatched Open Access Edition.) This document has been made available through Purdue e-Pubs, a service of the Purdue University Libraries. Please contact [email protected] for additional information. THE FUTURE OF THE GERMAN-JEWISH PAST THE FUTURE OF THE GERMAN-JEWISH PAST Memory and the Question of Antisemitism Edited by IDEON EUVENI AND G R DIANA FRANKLIN PURDUE UNIVERSITY PRESS | WEST LAFAYETTE, INDIANA Copyright 2021 by Purdue University. Printed in the United States of America. Cataloging-in-Publication data is on file at the Library of Congress. Paperback ISBN: 978-1-55753-711-9 An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks to the support of librar- ies working with Knowledge Unlatched. KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make high-quality books Open Access for the public good. The Open Access ISBN for this book is 978-1-61249-703-7. Cover artwork: Painting by Arnold Daghani from What a Nice World, vol. 1, 185. The work is held in the University of Sussex Special Collections at The Keep, Arnold Daghani Collection, SxMs113/2/90.
    [Show full text]
  • Download Paper (PDF)
    In the Shadow of the holocauSt the changing Image of German Jewry after 1945 Michael Brenner In the Shadow of the Holocaust The Changing Image of German Jewry after 1945 Michael Brenner INA LEVINE ANNUAL LECTURE 31 JANUARY 2008 The assertions, opinions, and conclusions in this occasional paper are those of the author. They do not necessarily reflect those of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. First Printing, August 2010 Copyright © 2010 by Michael Brenner THE INA LEVINE INVITATIONAL SCHOLAR AWARD, endowed by the William S. and Ina Levine Foundation of Phoenix, Arizona, enables the Center for Advanced Holocaust Studies to bring a distinguished scholar to the Museum each year to conduct innovative research on the Holocaust and to disseminate this work to the American public. The Ina Levine Invitational Scholar also leads seminars, lectures at universities in the United States, and serves as a resource for the Museum, educators, students, and the general public. At its first postwar congress, in Montreux, Switzerland, in July 1948, the political commission of the World Jewish Congress passed a resolution stressing ―the determination of the Jewish people never again to settle on the bloodstained soil of Germany.‖1 These words expressed world Jewry‘s widespread, almost unanimous feeling about the prospect of postwar Jewish life in Germany. And yet, sixty years later, Germany is the only country outside Israel with a rapidly growing Jewish community. Within the last fifteen years its Jewish community has quadrupled from 30,000 affiliated Jews to approximately 120,000, with at least another 50,000 unaffiliated Jews. How did this change come about? 2 • Michael Brenner It belongs to one of the ironies of history that Germany, whose death machine some Jews had just escaped, became a center for Jewish life in post-war Europe.
    [Show full text]
  • The Holocaust As Public History
    The University of California at San Diego HIEU 145 Course Number 646637 The Holocaust as Public History Winter, 2009 Professor Deborah Hertz HSS 6024 858 534 5501 Class meets 12---12:50 in Center 113 Please do not send me email messages. Best time to talk is right after class. It is fine to call my office during office hours. You may send a message to me on the Mail section of our WebCT. You may also get messages to me via Ms Dorothy Wagoner, Judaic Studies Program, 858 534 4551; [email protected]. Office Hours: Wednesdays 2-3 and Mondays 11-12 Holocaust Living History Workshop Project Manager: Ms Theresa Kuruc, Office in the Library: Library Resources Office, last cubicle on the right [turn right when you enter the Library] Phone: 534 7661 Email: [email protected] Office hours in her Library office: Tuesdays and Thursdays 11-12 and by appointment Ms Kuruc will hold a weekly two hour open house in the Library Electronic Classroom, just inside the entrance to the library to the left, on Wednesday evenings from 5-7. Students who plan to use the Visual History Archive for their projects should plan to work with her there if possible. If you are working with survivors or high school students, that is the time and place to work with them. Reader: Mr Matthew Valji, [email protected] WebCT The address on the web is: http://webct.ucsd.edu. Your UCSD e-mail address and password will help you gain entry. Call the Academic Computing Office at 4-4061 or 4-2113 if you experience problems.
    [Show full text]
  • Berlin Political Meet
    -~-. '···· .~,-... ~~-~- .,..... • I • ' • j ate' 1 t Berlin Political Meet 'Reminiseellllt ·of Jllitier' BONN, OTA) - West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer in a public address here, hos indicated censure of anti-Semitic de~ velopment~ at a meeting whic_h w_as held by the German party fn West Berlin lost week. The rightist party is a member of the no­ For Eoeru Jewf3h Family and Eoeru Memher of the Familu-Manitoh':', Saskatchewan, Alhr:rta, British Coiumhia, Ontario tional coalition government and the Berlin rally was addressed by Bonn Minister of Transport Hans C. Seebohm. · r.':' The Berlin municipal parlla- · Vol. XXIX, No. 48. WINNIPEG, THURSDAY, DECEMBER 2, 1954 Sc Per~. ment, meanwhile, hns condemned the German party rally, at wltleh several persons were beaten when §nrr w DDD§Il®rm they were thought to be Jews be­ cause they would not rise and sing (l;Q;{t§ EI:cmlh>llce the ultra-nationalist song "Deuts­ Borrod rRece©rd hil Sllght.; chland Ucbe~ Alles," The city council resolution, demanded that IFrr@mm ([;ceDllD(Bnr the "strongest measures" be taken Edward E. Gelber, president, aga.lnst those responsible for the Wednesday sent a cable to Sir OperniUrrog Rea incident. Mayor Wa.lther Schreiber Winston Churchill on the occa­ DinH11eir said that It was reminiscent of the sion of his 80th birthday, on be­ Winnipeg's Israel Bond drive is expected to get away to a "dark past" of Adolf Jiltler, half of the United Zionist Council @Broker Hf)nors The headquarters of the German record-breaking official start at the openfng dinner this Monday, of Canada. party here has disclaimed all re­ Dec.
    [Show full text]
  • Introduction S
    INTRODUCTION S In September 2009, a group of former German Jewish refugees and their fam- ilies visited Berlin. For most of them it was the first time they returned to the city, their birthplace or long-time residence, since they had fled Germany from Nazi persecution more than seventy years before. They came from various places in Israel, South America, Great Britain, and the United States at the invitation of the city government. Since 1969, West Berlin had run a program, launched in the spirit of Wiedergutmachung—literally meaning “making good again” and practically referring to a legislation for material compensation for victims of National Socialism—that sponsored trips for former residents who had fled because of Nazi persecution. During their week in Berlin, the visitors met city and government officials at special receptions, went on sightseeing tours, attended the opera, and had time to pursue quests into their personal pasts. This could mean visiting the Jewish cemetery in Berlin-Weissensee or going to see their former home, but also find- ing out about the fate of family members. On this 2009 visit, Ralph Reuss from Portland, Oregon, for example, learned the date of the deportation of his paternal grandparents and uncles from Berlin and that they had been sent to Auschwitz. After his return to the United States, Reuss reflected on how he had felt visiting the station where the deportation trains had departed Berlin. “On the rainy gray and gloomy day when our group was standing on the railway platform I couldn’t help but think of the fear and hopelessness my grandparents and uncles were feeling on a cold December 14, 1942.”1 Yet, even as he reflected on such somber matters, a few lines later he also wrote, “All in all Berlin seems like a very livable city about which I have very positive feelings—after all I am German!” Notes from this chapter begin on page 8.
    [Show full text]
  • The FAU Digital Library!
    . ,.•! ) ·· . Periodic Reports on THE ~liSH POSITION published by THE INSTITUTE OF JEViiSH AFFAIRS VOL. III Number 5 .May. 1962 Institute of Jewish At'faj.rs World Jewish Congress 15 East 84th Street New York 28 N. Y. ' .·' . 1 t TABLE OF CONTENTS Page I. ADOLF EICHMANN IS DEAD -- WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER EICHMANNS? •••••••••••••-:-1" II. REPORT FROM MOROCCO ••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••• 4 III. ANTI-JEWISH ACTION ••••••••••.•••••••••••••••••••.••••••••••••••••••••••• 5 1. Argentina •••••••••••••• 5 7. ItalY••••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 2. Austria. • .•••••••••••••• 5 8. Mexico•••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 3. c~eohoslovakia ••••••••• 6 9. Norway•••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 4. Egypt•••••••••••••••••• 6 10. Uruguay••••••••••••••••••••••• 8 5_. Germany •••••••••••.•••• 7 11, USA ••••••• ••••••••••••••••• • • • 9 6. Great Britain •••••.••••• 7 12. USSR•••••••••••••••••••••••••• 9 'N. PROSECUTION OF WAR CRIMINAlS •••• ••••••••. •••• •••••••• ••••••••••• ••• ••••• 9 1. Austria•••••••••••••••• 9 3. Germany ••••••••••••••••••••••• lO 2. Belgium•••••••••••••••• 10 4. USSR ••••.•••••••••••••••••••• 12 V. MISCELLANEOUS EVENTS •••••••••••••••••••• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •. • • • • • • 12 1. Algeria ••••••••••••••••• l2 18. Iraq • •• ·• •••••••.••••••.••••• • •• 22 2. Argentina ••••••••••••••• l3 19. Israel ••••••••••••••••••••••• 22 3. Belgium ••••••••••••••••• 14 20. ItalY•••••••••••••••••••••••• 22 4. Brazi1••••••••••••••••••14 21. Jamaica•••••••••••••••••••••• 22 5. Bu1garia •••••••••••••••• l4 22. Morocco••••••••••••••••••••••
    [Show full text]
  • Common Past Versus Shared Memory: Changing Perceptions in German-Jewish Relations
    MICHAEL BRENNER COMMON PAST VERSUS SHARED MEMORY Changing Perceptions in German–Jewish Relations One of the ironies of history is that Germany, whose death machines the Jews had just escaped, became a centre for Jewish life in post-war Europe. Between January and December 1946, the number of Jewish DPs in the American Zone of Germany alone increased from 40,000 to almost 150,000. Several hundreds or thousands of Jews now populated areas that had been ignored by Hitler in his efforts to make Europe judenrein because no Jews were living there. The size of the Jewish population in such unlikely Bavarian places as Feldafing, Föhrenwald, Pocking and Landsberg came close to that of the pre-war centres of Jewish life in Bavaria, such as Munich and Nuremberg. Bavaria was one of the very few places in Europe where, just one year after the Holocaust, the Jewish population rose to a level high- er than ever before. To be sure, this phenomenon was a temporary one, but during their stay in Germany, the Jewish DPs developed a wide-ranging net- work of religious, social and cultural institutions. This all changed with the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948 and when the US began to open its doors shortly thereafter. Most Jewish DPs left Germany, but about 15–20,000 stayed on, founding new Jewish com- munities together with the remnant of German Jewry. The demographic sit- uation and the feeling of a temporary home lasted for the German-Jewish postwar community for several decades. A major transformation of German Jewry started, at least in the larger communities, in the 1980s, when the first generation of Jews born in postwar Germany acknowledged that both they and their children would probably continue to live on what the survivors had referred to as cursed soil.
    [Show full text]
  • Re-Inventing German Collective Memory: the Debate Over the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe
    Re-Inventing German Collective Memory: The Debate over the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe Author: Karen C Kauffman Persistent link: http://hdl.handle.net/2345/557 This work is posted on eScholarship@BC, Boston College University Libraries. Boston College Electronic Thesis or Dissertation, 2008 Copyright is held by the author, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise noted. Re-Inventing German Collective Memory: The Debate over the Memorial for the Murdered Jews of Europe An Advanced Independent Research Project By Karen Kauffman Boston College History Department Class of 2008 Table of Contents Introduction . 1 Chapter 1 – Learning from the Holocaust: The Debate over Meaning and Responsibility . 21 Chapter 2 – Defining the Holocaust: The Debate to Determine its Victims . 54 Chapter 3 – Representing the Holocaust: The First Design Competition . 90 Chapter 4 – Representing the Holocaust: The Second Design Competition . 118 Conclusion . 146 Appendix A – Glossary of Key Terms . .. 161 Appendix B – Glossary of Key Names . 166 Appendix C – Chronology . 173 Appendix D – Publications and Political Parties . 183 Bibliography of Works Cited . 184 Acknowledgements Since I began work on what would become my thesis more than two years ago, studying German memory of the Holocaust has become much more than an academic pursuit. Engaging with this topic has developed into a personal passion, the apex of which is in the pages that follow. Whether this document is only an intermediate point in a longer career of historical study or the capstone achievement of my academic years, working on this project has been an incredibly meaningful experience for me academically and personally.
    [Show full text]
  • Beyond Jericho: the Resurgence of German Jewish Life Since the Fall of the Berlin Wall
    W&M ScholarWorks Undergraduate Honors Theses Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects 4-2012 Beyond Jericho: The Resurgence of German Jewish life since the Fall of the Berlin Wall Max Harrison Lazar College of William and Mary Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses Recommended Citation Lazar, Max Harrison, "Beyond Jericho: The Resurgence of German Jewish life since the Fall of the Berlin Wall" (2012). Undergraduate Honors Theses. Paper 481. https://scholarworks.wm.edu/honorstheses/481 This Honors Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Theses, Dissertations, & Master Projects at W&M ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Undergraduate Honors Theses by an authorized administrator of W&M ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Beyond Jericho: The Resurgence of German Jewish life since the Fall of the Berlin Wall A thesis Submitted in partial fulfillment of the Requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Arts with Honors in History from the College of William and Mary in Virginia. by Max Harrison Lazar Accepted For ___________________ __________________________________Dr. Tuska Benes __________________________________ Dr. Cindy Hahamovitch __________________________________ Dr. Jennifer Taylor Williamsburg, Virginia April 2012 1 Table of Contents List of Figures 3 Acknowledgements 4 Introduction 5 Chapter 1: “In the Wilderness” 20 Chapter 2: The Flood 38 Chapter 3: Contemporary German Jewish Life 55 Chapter 4: Visible Jewish Culture 71 Conclusion 94 Bibliography 97 2 List of Figures Figure 1: The Ignatz-Bubis-Gemeindezentrum in Frankfurt am Main 73 Figure 2: The Neue Synagoge in Berlin 76 Figure 3: The Neue Synagoge in Dresden 77 Figure 4: The Ohel-Jakob Synagoge at the St.-Jakobs-Platz in Munich 77 Figure 5: Christian Boltanski’s “Missing House” 81 Figure 6: Daniel Libeskind’s Jüdisches Museum in Berlin 84 3 Acknowledgements This thesis would not be possible without the help and encouragement of many individuals.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Republic of Germany
    Federal Republic of Germany National Affairs AN 1992, GERMANY'S SECOND YEAR of unification, important develop- ments took place in spheres ranging from foreign policy to the treatment of foreign- ers to abortion laws. Many of these were related to the dynamics of nation and state building, as Germany assumed its new role as the wealthiest and most powerful state in post-1989 Europe. In foreign affairs, the most dramatic new development was the participation of the German military in international peacekeeping operations, first in the former Yugoslavia and later in Somalia. In January Germany became the first European state to recognize Slovenia and Croatia. In July Germany began to take part in the humanitarian airlift to Sarajevo. Additionally, Bonn sent a destroyer and three reconnaissance planes to monitor the UN embargo on Serbia and Montenegro. And in December Chancellor Helmut Kohl announced the initiation of humanitarian aid to be delivered by German military personnel to Somalia. These moves provoked heated discussion within Germany. The Bonn government justified its actions with the argument that since the use of arms was excluded, these measures did not constitute military actions and thus did not require parliamentary consent. In September Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel addressed the UN in New York, emphasizing Germany's wish to assume all the rights and obligations of a UN member, which could include a seat on the Security Council. In November Kinkel visited China and Japan, and in December the German Parliament ratified, by a large majority, the Maastricht treaty on a European economic, political, and cur- rency union.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Republic of Germany
    Federal Republic of Germany National Affairs AN THE ATMOSPHERE OF EAST-WEST detente that spread throughout Europe in 1989, the West German people showed growing impatience with the heavy burden of defense placed on them by membership in NATO. This was expressed, for example, in more open protest against the pervasive low-flying mili- tary aircraft of NATO, especially after several serious accidents. Moreover, a federal Parliament report on the state of the German army pointed to the declining accept- ance of the Bundeswehr in German society and continuing problems with morale in the army itself. This shift in popular attitudes in turn forced changes in the defense policy of Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democratic (CDU)-Free Democratic (FDP) coalition. Due primarily to the dovish views of Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher, Kohl was forced to resist U.S. pressure for modernization of short-range nuclear missiles and to press for U.S.-Soviet nuclear disarmament. In early January, the New York Times revealed that a German firm, Imhausen- Chemie, had played a central role in the construction of a poison-gas factory at Rabta in Libya. The German Foreign Ministry at first denied the allegations, claiming insufficient evidence, and the government charged that a campaign against the Federal Republic was being mounted in the American media. Later on it became known that the German government had been informed by Washington in Novem- ber 1988 about the involvement of German firms and even earlier by its own intelligence service (Bundesnachrichtendienst, BND). Indeed, the director of the BND, Bernhard Wieck, indicated that reports from his office to the government in August 1987 had not received proper attention.
    [Show full text]
  • Federal Republic of Germany
    Federal Republic of Germany ^ OR THE BONN GOVERNMENT, 1988 was a relatively uneventful year, one in which some progress was made in easing tensions with the USSR, and the president of the Bundestag was forced to resign as a result of an ill-considered speech commemorating Kristallnacht. The Jews of West Germany were shaken this year by a major scandal involving the embezzlement of funds by the head of the commu- nity, though the consequences proved less damaging than originally feared. National Affairs Two major areas of foreign policy occupied the Bonn government in 1988: East- ern Europe, especially the USSR, and the apartheid regime in South Africa. Several steps were taken this year to ease relations with the Soviet Union, which had been seriously strained since 1986, when Chancellor Helmut Kohl (Christian Democratic Union, CDU) in a Newsweek interview compared Mikhail Gorbachev to Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels. First, in mid-January, Soviet foreign minister Eduard Shevardnadze paid a three-day visit to Bonn, where he discussed the status of West Berlin, disarmament, and various bilateral issues. Shevardnadze indicated that Gorbachev would not be able to visit Bonn in 1988, but did not exclude the possibility for a later time. Secondly, in February Lothar Spath, premier of Baden- Wiirttemberg, met with Gorbachev in Moscow to discuss the improvement of economic relations. In the course of their meetings, which were described as very successful, the Soviets made clear that they recognized the economic importance of the West German state. Other Germans who traveled to the Soviet Union this year to meet with Gorbachev were Willy Brandt, honorary chairman of the Social Democrats (SPD), in April; Hans-Jochen Vogel, chairman of the SPD, in May; and later that month, Economics Minister Martin Bangemann.
    [Show full text]