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Home , Alfred Dregger, Alois Mertes, Helmut Kohl, Kalman Sultanik

AND BEYOND

Table of Contents

Introduction by Ilya Levkov 21

PART I: PLANNING A RECONCILIATION ACROSS THE GRAVES 1. The Eye Of The Hurricane 34 President Will Not Go To Concentration Camp: "German Guilt [Is] Unnecessary"/President Reagan's News Conference 34 President Explains Purpose of West German Visit/Bernard Weinraub 35 Bitburg on Reagan's West German Agenda 38 Reagan Awards Holocaust Writer Elie Wiesel Congressional Gold Medal 40 "Your Place is With the Victims," Wiesel Tells Reagan 42 2. Political Reaction To Gathering Storm — U.S. 46 A Congressman Voices Concern Over West German Visit/Letter to President Reagan from Rep. Raymond J. McGrath 46 Senators Remind President of "Battle of the Bulge"/Letter to President Reagan from members of the Senate 47 Congressmen Suggest Bitburg Visit Dishonors U.S. Soldiers/Letter to President Reagan from members of the United States House of Representatives 49 "Visit Is A Travesty of Reconciliation/Senator Edward M. Kennedy/ Statement on the U.S. Senate Floor 51 82 Senators Urge Reagan To Cancel His Cemetery Visit/ Senate Resolution 53 Please Withdraw Invitation, Chancellor Kohl/Letter to Chancellor Kohl from members of United States House of Representatives 56 Congress Urges President Reagan To Reconsider Bitburg Visit/Resolution to President Reagan from United States Congress 58 Reagan Understands Lessons of History: Bush/Vice President George Bush/Concluding Remarks at the U.S. Chamber of Commerce 1985 Annual Meeting 59 Senator Moynihan Responds to President Reagan/Democratic Radio Response to President Reagan 60 3. Veterans' Organizations Respond 62 VFW Issues A Vote of Confidence/VFW Resolution #303 62 Catholic War Veterans Ask President to Forego Bitburg/ Catholic War Veteran magazine 63 Jewish War Veterans Express Deep Sense of Indignation/Letter to President Reagan from Samuel Greenberg 65 The American Legion: "Don't Do It"/Clarence M. Bacon/National Commander, The American Legion 66 Veterans of World War I Approve 67 4. Jewish Leaders 68 Reagan Errs on Holocaust/Menachem Z. Rosensaft 68 : Opening Old Wounds/The MacNeil-Lehrer News Hour 70 Stormtroopers Wantonly Killed Gentiles, Jews/Letter to President Reagan from Henry Orenstein 73 Holocaust Group Bars Trade-off in Itinerary/Jane Gross 74 "They Established A School Upon His Grave"/Dr. Norman Lamm, President of Yeshiva University/Address on the 40th Anniversary of the Liberation 75 Say It Isn't So, Mr. President/Abraham H. Foxman 79 Reagan Cemetery Visit Criticized at Ceremony/ William K. Stevens 81 To Be True To Their Cause/Henry Siegman, Executive Director of the American Jewish Congress 84 Arlington Address by Holocaust Survivor/Benjamin Meed 85

5. "Dear Mr. President. . ." — National Leaders Protest 87 "Victims of Nazism" is False/Open Letter to President Reagan from National Leaders 87 "Please Find Another Way!" Requests Ad Hoc Committee of Conscience (New York Political and Religious Leaders)/ Letter to Chancellor Kohl and President Reagan 90 Roman Catholic Survivor of Auschwitz 92 10

6. Reacts 94 "Your Attitude Has Not Been Understood By All/Letter to President Reagan from Dr. 94 Congressional Letters Fill Me With Dismay/ Letter to Senator Metzenbaum from Dr. Alfred Dregger 95 "Earth Conceal Not the Blood Shed on Thee"/Chancellor / Speech Given at a Commemorative Ceremony at Bergen-Belsen 96 Letter From A German Correspondent/Letter to Dr. Alfred Dregger 101 Letter From A Jewish Professor/Letter to Dr. Alfred Dregger 101 Letter From A German War Widow/Letter to Dr. Alfred Dregger 103 "You Severely Damaged The Image Of The FRG In The American Mind/Letter to Dr. Alfred Dregger from Prof. 103 "A Contribution to Peace and Reconciliation Among Nations"/Chancellor Helmut Kohl/Statement Concerning Preparations for His Visit 105 For a Free Germany in a Free Europe/Dr. Alfred Dregger/Speech to the Federation of 110 Western Europe Forty Years After World War 11/ Dr. /Speech to the American Jewish Committee 119

PART II: REAGAN PROCEEDS WITH GERMAN VISIT 7. May 5th At Bergen-Belsen—Reagan and Kohl 130 "We Bow In Sorrow. . . "/Chancellor Helmut Kohl 130 "Never Again. . . "/President 131 8. May 5th At Bergen-Belsen—Protest 136 A Jew At Bergen-Belsen/Menachem Z. Rosensaft 136 The Two Ceremonies at Bergen-Belsen/John Tagliabue 139 Protesters in Bergen-Belsen: More Than Just Grandstanding/ Walter Ruby 141 A Journey to Bergen-Belsen/Menachem Z. Rosensaft 152 9. May 5th At Bitburg 166 "Thank You, Mr. President, For Visiting The Graves With Me"/ Chancellor Helmut Kohl/Address to German and American Soldiers and Their Families at Bitburg 166 11

"We Do Not Believe in Collective Guilt"/ President Reagan/Speech at the American Air Base in Bitburg 168 Delicate Reagan Path/Hedrick Smith 171

10. Reaction After Bitburg 174 "Our Countries Have Linked Their Fates," Says President Richard von Weizsacker/President of the Federal Republic of Germany Richard von Weizsacker Toasts President and Mrs. Reagan at Dinner in Their Honor, at Schloss Augustusburg, Bruehl 174 The Spirit of 's Future /President Ronald Reagan Addresses German Youth at Hambach Castle 181 "When They Turned The Lights On, It Was Like Being Reborn/ President Ronald Reagan in Speech to the European Parliament in 185 " Who Recognize Their Responsibility"/Excerpts from Speech by Willi Brandt at Peace Conference 195 "We Must Look Truth In The Eye"/President Richard von Weizsacker Addresses Delegates in Plenary Room of the German 198 11. The Participants' Retrospective 208 "My Objective Was Reconciliation": Kohl/Interview by Time Bureau Chief William McWhirter with Chancellor Helmut Kohl 208 "Let Us Seek and Never Turn From the Truth": Shultz/Secretary of State George P. Shultz/ Remarks at the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial 211 U.S. Will Always Oppose Nazism/Vice President George Bush/Remarks at the 30th Anniversary Convocation of Bar-Ilan University 213 Kohl Says He Has No Regrets About Bitburg/Lally Weymouth 217 "I Took The Journey The President Should Have Taken," Says Senator/ Senator Frank R. Lautenberg 220 The Bitburg Affair/U.S. Ambassador to West Germany, Arthur F. Burns 225

PART III: THE ISSUES 12. The SS 234 The Structure of the SS in 1944/Chart 234 There's Butcher Mentality/Heinz H6hne/Z)er Spiegel 236 SS Veterans Feel 'Rehabilitated' by Reagan Visit/John Tagliabue 243 The 'Cowardly' Executioner: On Disobedience in the SS/ Daniel Goldhagen 246 12

American Dead Were Young, Too, Mr. President/Leonard Sattler 259 13. German-American Relations 262 What the Bitburg Episode Means for an Alliance/Christoph Bertram 262 Bitburg and the Strengthening of German-American Relations/ Dr. Alfred Dregger 265 Treacherous Signposts: The Perils of Misreading Germany's Past/ Franz M. Oppenheimer 267 14. German-Jewish/Israeli Relations 282 Twenty Years of German-Israeli Relations/ Ambassador Yitzhak Ben Ari 282 Bitburg a Blow to Jewish-German Relations/Sheldon Kirshner 287 German-Jewish Relationship After Bitburg/Ambassador Giinther van Well/ Speech to the B'nai B'rith 290 "It Thinks Inside Me. . .": Fassbinder, Germans & Jews/ Henryk M. Broder 294 Germany and Israel — The Road to Trust Without Forgetting/ 302

PART IV: THE AMERICAN RESPONSE 15. Leaders And Intellectuals 318 Bitburg: Who Forgot What/Midge Decter 318 The American Jewish Committee At the White House/ Rabbi Marc Tanenbaum 330 Does Incessant Recollection of Nazi Past Denigrate Germany of Today?/ Letter to Dr. Alois Mertes of the Bundestag from Prof. Erich Goldhagen 335 Interview/Stuart Eizenstat 339 Speaking Truth To Power/Charles E. Silberman 344 The Lesson of Bitburg/Rep. Sam Gejdenson 350 On Being Indignant About Bitburg/A Play by Hans Sahl 351 Reagan's Contempt for History/David Bromwich 355 A Footnote on Bitburg/Irving Howe 360 An Overview of Bitburg/Kalman Sultanik 362 Betrayal of Memory/Martin Mendelsohn 369 The Worst Effect of Bitburg Visit/Norman Podhoretz 373 13

Reagan Isn't Indifferent To Jews/Morris B. Abram 375 Jews Did Not Vote For Reagan/Dr. Mark A. Siegel 377 Thoughts After Bitburg/Abraham Foxman 381 Interview With Elie Wiesel/ZW Spiegel 383 Reagan Did Better Than Wiesel/Prof. Jacob Neusner 386 On Surprises, Linkages and Separations/Dr. Fred E. Katz 387 Bitburg—Who Spoke Out, Who Didn't/William Bole 393 Never Again?/Leonard Fein 400 From the St. Louis to Bitburg/Prof. Seymour Maxwell Finger 403 What Bitburg Revealed About the Jews/Dennis Prager 405 The Speech Ronald Reagan Should Have Given at Bitburg/ Dr. Irving Greenberg 413 Some Lessons from Bitburg/ Dr. Irving Greenberg 416 Reflections on the Nature of / Dr. David M. Elcott 419 The Bitburg Affair and its Implications for Black Americans/ Dr. R. Blanchard Stone 422 The Bitburg Fiasco/Charles Krauthammer 431 The Roper Report On Opinion About Bitburg/Milton Himmelfarb 433 16. The American Press 440 Before Bitburg Why the President Should Go to Bitburg/Jody Powell/ The Los Angeles Times 440 About Cemeteries/editorial/ The Wall Street Journal 442 On Anniversaries/William F. Buckley, Jr./Universal Press Syndicate 443 The False Choice of Bitburg/editorial/ 445 Bitburg Ron's Waterloo/Jack M.cK\nney/ Philadelphia Daily News 446 Decline and Send No Regrets/Mary McGrory/Tife Washington Post 448 Bergen-Belsen: Lest We Forget the Others/Douglas MacArthur/ The Christian Science Monitor 450 Penetrating Bitburg/William F. Buckley, Jr./Universal Press Syndicate 452 Bitburg Is A Long Way From Arlington/Dorothy Rabinowitz/ New York Post 454 Berserk/William F. Buckley, Jr./Universal Press Syndicate 456 Enough War Guilt/June Tierney/ The Washington Post 458 14

What Transcends Bitburg/McGeorge Bundy/ The New York Times 462 One Last Try/William F. Buckley, Jr./Universal Press Syndicate 463 Another 40 Years/Flora Lewis/'The New York Times 465 Reagan Dumps on Bitburg/James Ridgeway/ The Village Voice 467 After Bitburg Bitburg Bears Remembering/ The New York Times 468 I am a Jew. . . /William Safire/Tfo New York Times 470 Despite Bitburg Blunders, Religious Leaders Work for Real Reconciliation/Rev. Franklin \Atu\lJewish Times 472 Inquest/William F. Buckley, Jr./Universal Press Syndicate 474 Yet More Bitburg Lessons/ Washington Jewish Week 476 From Nuremberg to Bitburg/William F, Buckley, Jr./Universal Press Syndicate 477 Shambles and Reconciliation/Hans SteinitzA4u/&aa 479 New SS Wreaths, Old Anti-Semitism/Marvin Kalb/ The New York Times 481

PART V: THE GERMAN RESPONSE 17. The Response Of Religious Leaders 490 "I Reject Collective German Guilt": Joseph Cardinal Hoeffner/Sermon at Cologne Cathedral 490 "People Inquire After Guilt: Forget Own": Bishop Lohse/ Bishop Edward Lohse/Sermon at Cologne Cathedral 493 Church Leaders Erred in Going To Bitburg/A Resolution of the Working Group of Jews and Christians of the German Evangelical Kirchentag/ Dietrich Goldschmidt 496 18. The Response of Theologians 498 A State Visit As a State Funeral/Prof. Martin Stohr 498 A Wasted Opportunity and a Salutary Lesson/Prof. Rolf Rendtorff 505 Christians And Jews After Auschwitz/Prof. Johann-Baptist Metz 509 19. The Response of Jewish Leaders 521 German Jewish Leader Addresses Kohl/ Werner Nachmann/Speech Given at a Commemorative Ceremony at Bergen-Belsen 521 A Jewish Voice on the Reagan Visit to Bitburg and Bergen-Belsen/ Prof. Pinchas Lapide 525 15

20. Press 527 Forty Years Later, Remembering Alone Is Just Not Enough/ZfcV Zeit 527 No Bit* Pleasel// 530 "Herr Bin-germeister, We Love You So Much"/Erich Wiedemann/ Der Spiegel 533 Bitburg and Belsen: Reagan Appeals For Reconciliation/ Bremer Nachrichten 535

PART VI: THE RESPONSE FROM ISRAEL 21. Essays And Analysis 544 Was Hitler's War Just Another German War?/ Prof. Emil I. Fackenheim 544 "Nobody Can Forgive On Someone Else's Behalf"/ Prof. Alexander Voronel 547 Morality, Pragmatism and Moral Pragmatism/ Prof. Benyamin Neuberger 553 "Israel Can Prevent This. . . Acf/Shmuel Tamir 558 "Let My Cry Have No Resting Place"/Hanokh Bartov 560 "A Criminal Does Not Deserve To Be Honored"/Interview with Prof. Yisrael Guttman, Yad Vashem 563 "Ein Bergen-Belsener"/G. Benyamin 569 The Blot of KithaTglJerusalem Post 572 Frank Words to Ambassador Hansen/Hanokh Bartov 573

PART VII: REACTION FROM AROUND THE WORLD

22. Great Britain 580 Before Bitburg Germans Won't Forgive Thatcher/Letter to The Guardian/ Winnie Ewing, MEP 580 Biting the Bitburg Bullet/ The Guardian 581 Misjudgment Over Hithurg/Financial Times 582 The Past is Not Prologue/ The Economist 584 Hanging Out the Washing/ The Guardian 586 16

Reagan Goes Among the Ghosts/Sunday Telegraph 590 The Holocaust Must Not Be Forgotten/ The Times 593 Bitburg: The Cost in Human Damage /Observer 595 After Bitburg Belsen and Bitburg: Sorrow and Slapstick/7he limes 59b The Price Kohl Pays for Bitburg/Rupert Cornwell/ The Times 600 "Nothing But War Could Have Beaten the Nazis," Preaches The Archbishop of Canterbury/Dr. Runcie, Archbishop of Canterbury/ The Daily Telegraph 602 Not Sorry I The Jewish Chronicle 605 Why Don't The Jews Understand/ 606 With Friends Like Perry/ The Jewish Chronicle 606 23. 608 White House Planners' Narrow Vision/Serge Klarsfeld 608 This is Not an Isolated Incident/Henri Bulawko 612 Reagan at Bitburg—An Attack on History/Jacques Melode/ Actualite Juive 619 Only a Minute of Silence in Bitburg/ Henri Smolarski 621 Tulips and Chrysanthemums Did Not Hide the Past/Edwin Eytan 623 "I Was Seven Years Old And A Prisoner Of The Nazis"/ Frank Ludwig von Stauffenberg/Z.« Monde 625 "To Know Where One Comes From"/Heinz Kuehn/Le Monde 627 Reconciliation Does Not Mean Forgetting//Speech to the in Strasbourg 629 The Logic of Bitburg/Marcel Lipmann/Regards 635

24. Italy 638 Coming Back To Echterdingen/Nedo Figno/Milano Jewish Community Magazine 638 The Ingenuousness of Uncle Sam /Interview with Primo Levi/Marco Vigevani and Ester Moscati/Bulletino De Milano 641

25. Sweden 643 Unable To Learn From History/Letter to the U.S. Ambassador to Sweden from Dr. Hans Levy 643 Reagan in Bitburg/ Goteborgsposten 644 17

Nothing Turned out the Way They Had Planned/Svenska Dagbladet 645 The Swedish Press on Bitburg/Dr. Hans Levy 647

26. Argentina 649 Big Stir About Reagan's Visit to Germany/W.M.FJ Semanario Israelite. 649 No Reason for Nostalgia: Why then the Nostalgia Hurly-Burly/Werner Kroll/'Semanario Israelite 651 The "Terrible Mentality of Counter-Charging"/Peter Gorlinsky/ Semanario Israelite 654

27. The 656 Before Bitburg Reagan Honors Killers of U.S. Soldiers, says Soviet Party Newspaper/Yuriy Zhukov/ 656 "Blasphemy And Mockery": Chirkov Rejoinder/V. ChirkovIPravda 657 Ronald Reagan Paying Tribute to the Third Reich/Yuriy Kornilov/ Toss 659

After Bitburg At Odds with History/Valentin Falin/ 661

28. Eastern Europe 664 Czechoslovakia Your Excellency/Letter to U.S. Ambassador to Czechoslovakia William H. Luers from Phil Dr. Desizer Galsky/Rude Pravo 664 "Homage" to Nazis, SS/Antonin Kostka/Prague Radio 665 Prague Jews Resolution/Board of the Council of JRC/ Vestnik 667 "To Forget Means To Perish"/Dr. Dezider Galsky 667 Scandalous Tribute To SS/Prague Radio 669 Reagan's Bitburg Address Pleases Revanchists/ Radio 670 Reagan's Bitburg Visit Seen Condoning SS Crimes/Overview of Press 670 Murderers On Same Footing as Victims/Warsaw Television 671 Yugoslavia Dishonors Tombs of Millions/Milika Sundic 672 18

Reagan Visit Leaves "Bitter Taste"/Dragan Colovic 673 SFRY Veterans' Paper Criticizes Bitburg Visit/ TANJUC 675 Three Themes/ The Jewish Review 675 German Democratic Republic Jewish Leader's Speech Recalls Liberation/Neues Deutschland 676 29. Other Nations 677 Egyptian Ambassador Questioned/Letter to His Excellency Dr. Abdel Raouf el-Reedy from Abraham H. Foxman 677 Interview with Allan Rose/Editor's interview with Executive Vice-President of Canadian Jewish Congress 680 The Australian Experience/Isi. J. Leibler 688

EPILOGUE: BEYOND BITBURG 691

Brotherhood For The Minorities/Richard von Weizsacker/Speech at the Week of Brotherhood Convention, Duisburg, West Germany 694 The Americanization of the Holocaust/Dr. Michael Berenbaum 700 The State of Contemporary German / 711 The Waldheim-Kohl-Bitburg Axis/Menachem Z. Rosensaft/ Reform Judaism 728

Authors Index 732