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VOL. XX No. 9
September, 1965
INFORMATION
ISSUED BY THE-
ASSOCI ATION
Ertcin
OF JEWISH
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Year Book IX of the
Those of us who are looking forward with
eager anticipation to the annual event of this
Year Book* will not be disappointed : the
varied contributions to Volume IX, sober and
competent, are not only valuable in themselves but also raise a number of fundamental
questions for ourselves, the former German
Jews.
As usual, the Year Book is introduced by
its editor. Robert Weltsch, who, with youthful
vigour and sure touch, elicits important, relevant studies. By succinctly characterising the
seventeen monographs, articles and notes, he
conveys to the reader their essential unity in
design and theme. (It would be worthwhile
to collect his Introductions to the volumes so
far published and, one fervently hopes, to be
continued, into a book of its own, since they
are indicative of the many aspects of the
German-Jewish problem : religious, political,
economic, social and cultural.)
In the space of a review it would be impossible to describe adequately all the contributions. The present reviewer can only touch
the surface of some. The book falls into five
sections : Semantics and Historiography;
Jewish Contributions to Culture and Trade ;
" Bohemian Interlude "; Literature and Art;
and German Jews Abroad. Forty pages of
Bibliography 1963 under the title Post-War
Publications on German Jewry, compiled on
behalf of the Wiener Library by Bertha Cohn,
round off this as every previous edition of the
Year Book.
The analysis of recent German-Jewish history, seen as a symbiosis attempted with varying degrees of success and failure, is as necessarj' as it is painful for those who have lived
through it. Symbiosis, originally a biological
term, in our context denotes not only the
"association of two different organisms"
(Oxford English Dictionary), but the purposeful living together of two diflerent human
groups aiming at, but not always leading to,
complete integration. The problem of Jews
and Judaism in a largely non-Jewish world is
visible in its most acute form in this attempted
German-Jewish symbiosis ; it is the problem
of how to achieve integration while at the
same time maintaining Jewish separateness,
that is, the preservation of Jewish identity
amidst full participation in the national life
of the non-Jewish majority. It is Emancipation which has posed this dilemma for the
first time in Jewish history. The present Year
Book makes a significant contribution to its
understanding.
In the first study ("The Jewish Parasite.
Notes on the Semantics of the Jewish Prob-
Monday fo Thunday
BRITAIN
10a.m.-lp.m.
3—6p.m.
torical Interpretation of Judaism", aptly
placed by the Editor after Bein's study.
Though Weber distinguishes between Judaism
before and after assimilation, his use of the
term Pariahvolk to characterise the Jews
before assimilation is likewise open to dangerous misuse. Thus, he speaks of the Jews as
Leo Baeck Institute
of " a people living without attachment to a
native soil of their own, connected with their
lem,with special reference to Germany"),Alex hosts only by certain economic functions
Bein tackles this grave problem from a which they exercised ".
hitherto neglected angle. He treats with the
Liebeschiitz's critical evaluation of Weber's
significance of language for the image of the concept of the Jews as a Pariahvolk is of capiJew in the mind of the majority population tal importance for the understanding of the
by showing how terminology expresses and, at mind and attitude to Jews and Judaism among
the same time, conditions an attitude and how leading German intellectuals in the first third
such an attitude leads to action. The sinister of the twentieth century.
influence of terminology on Nazi doctrine and
Turning from semantics to historiography,
practice, and its direct connection with the Georg Herhtz offers a comparative study of
Jewish tragedy are demonstrated with a wealth " Three Jewish Historians : Isaak Markus Jost,
of relevant detail. By a close examination of Heinrich Graetz, Eugen Taubler", in which
the antisemitic literature from the nineteenth he seeks " t o demonstrate the tremendous
century onwards Bein illustrates how the progress which the historiography of the Jews
concept of " the Jew" gradually crystallised made in Germany in the course of rather less
in the image which the Nazis propagated. He than a century ". His attempt at vindicating
sees the philosophical foundation of such a Jost as " the first Jewish historian with a scienconcept in the romantic glorification of the tific approach . . . a historian of independent
organic and the biological roots of modern mind and integrity " in contrast to the theolonationalism. Add certain mystical and mythi- gian Graetz (who had a rather low opinion of
cal ideas and you have the theoretical super- Jost) is interesting. Herlitz shares Salo W.
structure of National Socialist Germany. Bein Baron's view of Graetz and charges him with
rightly points out that what was originally a " wavering between different historical conlinguistic analogy became an independent ceptions ", due to being " a Prussian patriot
criterion for fatal value judgements, and and a Nationaljude". We must exercise
exemplifies this with the development of the restraint in the face of such an apparent conterm " parasite". Denoting originally an tradiction ; there are also other views on
element m a living organism, the term was Graetz, and, in his Introduction, Dr. Weltsch
applied to political and social life and played draws our attention to other relevant studies,
a decisive part in justifying certain measures notably a perceptive evaluation by E. J. Cohn.
by which the majority " host nation " of pure The more successful part of Herlitz's comparaGermans was to be saved from the destructive tive study is devoted to Eugen Taubler, whose
influence of a minority of dangerous " para- basic thesis that Jewish history must be
sites". In cold logic, the step to the exter- viewed within the context of general history
mination of these parasites was not far.
was shared by Ismar Elbogen (a fact Herlitz
not mention). Herlitz rightly pleads for
Bein's study makes sombre reading ; its aim does
the
acceptance
writers on Jewish history
is to warn us not to fall prey to insidious of the exemplaryby
propaganda which may result in the accept- torian Taubler. methodology of the pure hisance by the victims themselves of the concept
created by the host nation. Confirmation
Reuwen Michael, in his German study,
comes from an unexpected quarter : the dis- " Graetz and Hess", stresses the two men's
tinguished literary critic and translator of identity of views on the desirability of reShakespeare, Friedrich Gundolf, who, in a establishing a Jewish nation in Palestine as
letter to Eugen Mayer, speaks of the Germans well as their conservatism and opposition to
as " a nation and a faith whose hospitality the Reform movement. Recent interest in
we enjoy " (Eugen Mayer " Zwei Gedichte aus Graetz and Hess is no accident : the dangers,
Friedrich Gundolfs Jugend", pp.343 E.). demonstrated by Bein, even after the defeat
Herzl also accepted the host-guest concept, and of Nazism, and the need—both among Israelis
perhaps one could see in Zionism a reaction and Galut-Jews—of redefining their Jewishagainst the opposite concept of a German- ness underline the relevance of these two
Jewish symbiosis. In any final assessment of thinkers' search for the meaning of Judaism
the inter-relationship between Jews and Ger- and Jewish history.
mans we would do well to remember Bein's
Eduard Rosenbaum's essay on "Ferdinand
verdict : "What appeared to be a symbiosis Lassalle " offers, despite its brevity, a percepto the Jews looked to the Germans—and not tive summary of the views held on this cononly to avowed antisemites—like a more or troversial socialist, who lies buried in the
less dangerous form of parasitism foisted Jewish cemetery of Breslau.
upon the German host nation".
The problematic aspects of the German-Jewish
A telling complement and, to some extent, symbiosis in the strictly theoretical-cultural
corrective to Bein's searching analysis of field are well brought out in Fritz Heineparasitism is furnished by H. Liebeschiitz in mann's lively study "Jewish Contributions to
his weighty exposition of "Max Weber's His(Continued on page 2, column 1)
GERMAN-JEWISH SYMBIOSIS
, * Year Book IX of the Leo Baeck Institute. Edited
by Robert Weltsch. London, 1964. Pp. xxxU -I- 448.
« 7s. 6d. For members of the Society of Friends of
the Leo Baeck Institute free of charge.
REFUGEES IN
Page 2
AJR INFORMATION September, 1965
GERMAN-JEWISH SYMBIOSIS
(Continued from page 1)
German Philosophy," which is devoted to the
German-Jewish dialogue from Mendelssohn to
Hermann Cohen. It is a refreshingly independent study by a philosopher nurtured in this
tradition of which he shows a valuable critical
understanding. Of Mendelssohn he says that,
while his " ' Jerusalem' remains a document
of permanent value ", he failed to give " his
people a sufficient religious and spiritual foundation to enable them to live as Jews together
with the Christian population. This was of
far-reaching consequence for Gennan Jewry ".
Heinemann also considers it " noteworthy that
the success of Mendelssohn, Marx and Cohen
(as German philosophers) depended on friendship and co-operation with outstanding Germans (Lessing, Engels, Natorp), a phenomenon
which would seem to deserve fuller analysis ".
The specific position in which Jews are
placed, whether they are just ordinary people
or have made " outstanding contributions " to
German or French or English culture, becomes
evident from the interesting study by Heinz
Becker on Meyerbeer ("Giacomo Meyerbeer
—On the Centenary of His Death "). It shows
how " political considerations interfere with
artistic judgement". This also emerges from
Max Brod's " Some Comments on the Relationship between Wagner and Meyerbeer ".
An interesting sidelight on this complex of
problems is thrown by Z. Szajkowski's " The
Struggle for Yiddish During World War I—
The Attitude of German Jewry ".
Right in the centre of the German-Jewish
problem is the limitation of the legal and
political emancipation of the Jews in Germany, as it becomes evident in the discussion
on their admission to public oflSce. In his
interesting article on " Jews in Public Service
under the German Monarchy", Ernst Hamburger shows that the Jews were simply not
acknowledged as equal citizens by predominantly Christian conservatives, not even by
Unmittelbar nach Verkundung erscheint das
Bundesentschadigungsgesetz
in der endgiiltigen Fassung des
BEG-Schlussgesetxes
(2. AendG-BEG) mit einem Leiffoden von
RA. Dr. L. H. Farnborough
ca. 128 Seiten, brosch . . DM 12,40
Soeben erschienen :
Bruno Blou
Das Ausnahmerecht fur die Juden in
DeutscMand 1933-1945
3. Aufl., 128 S., Gr. 8», brosch.
DM 9,80
im Verlag der Allgemeinen Wochenxeitung der Juden in Deutschland.
Zu beziehen durch alle Buchhandlungen und durch die
Bucherstube der Allgemeinen
4 DiJsseeldorf 10, Zietenstrasse SO. Postfach 100 99
Postscheck Essen 99 OSS / Telefon 49 36 34/35
1 Berlin I S , Joachimstaler Strasse 13.Telefon 91 SS 51
liberals. Jews could not be entrusted with
the education of German youth.
" Jews in the Leipzig Fur Trade ", by W.
Harmelin is important not only for economic
history but also for that of the Jewish community of Leipzig. The flourishing fur trade
fostered the development of a vigorous communal life, including important contributions
made by individual Jewish scholars at the
University of Leipzig. "The Life of Clementine Kraemer ", by W. J. Cahnman, allows us
more than a fleeting glance of the Jewish community in Munich and relates personal family
matters skilfully to the Jewish fate in
Germany.
The next two contributions, "A Voice from
the Prague Enlightenment", by Ruth Kestenberg-Gladstein and Hans Tramer's " Prague—
City of Three Peoples", relate " Bohemian
Interlude " to the wider context of the evolution of modern Judaism. Especially Tramer's
article highlights the considerable contribution of the Jewish inteUectuals of that famous
city to German literature as well as to Zionism.
Of special relevance to a final assessment of
unwanted contributions by " guests" to the
culture of their "host" is Tramer's factual
statement that the Germans—one of the three
peoples—did not want to have anything to do
with these literati-Jews who claimed to represent German literature (Brod, Kafka, Ernst
Weiss and many other poets and novelists of
distinction).
A tribute to the Jewish painter, Eugene
Spiro, on his ninetieth birthday, consists in the
reproduction of four of his cycle of prophets
(Amos, Isaiah, Jeremiah and Ezekiel). Finally,
Alexander Carlebach's " The German-Jewish
Immigration and Its Influence on Synagogue
Life in the U.S.A. (1933-1942)" provides welcome relief from the gloom spread by the
frank analysis of success and failure of German-Jewish symbiosis, in that it describes—as
the result of the author's visit to the U.S.A.
—how refugees from Nazi oppression settled
down in their newly-won freedom as Jews.
They mostly hailed from Southern and Western Germany, bringing with them local traditions and customs which they try to preserve
while being, at the same time, inevitably subjected to the influences of both Jewish and
Christian Americans.
If anybody had doubts as to the justification of the Leo Baeck Institute and its
numerous publications, such doubts will disappear after reading the Institute's weighty
studies. They are indispensable building
material for a strictly scholarly history of
Jewry and Judaism in Germany.
It is not possible to erect a monument with
casual labour, with a contribution here and
a contribution there written in one's spare
time, valuable as such monographs are. Time
is short and the number of those who can
speak from first-hand knowledge is bound to
decrease. We must find full-time workers,
whom some of the distinguished permanent
contributors to the Year Books should train
—think of Taubler and the Akademie fiir die
Wissenschaft des Judentums and his eminent
colleagues and their disciples. Yet the goal
can oniy be reached if all former German Jews
render their practical and moral support to
the work, especially by strengthening the
Society of Friends of the Leo Baeck Institute.
Recently the Leo Baeck Institute "celebrated " the tenth anniversary of its creation.
In the life of a scholarly Institute ten years
is a short time. Much has been achieved
during these years. It is in our power to
help the good work on.
RESTITUTION PAYMENTS TRANSFER
No Dollar Premiums
In the May issue of " AJR Information " we
reported that, together with other organisations, the AJR had asked the authorities concerned for a reconsideration of the decision
according to which dollar premiums were no
longer to be granted on transfers of capital
restitution and compensation payments. In his
reply the Chancellor of the Exchequer stated
that he had to adhere to his decision.
The matter was also raised in Parliament
on August 3 by Sir John Foster and Sir Barnett
Janner, but the answer was again in the negative. In his supplementary question Sir John
Foster referred to the fact that the victims of
Nazism received the money in compensation
for their investments. " Does the Chancellor
realise the existence of the anomaly," he
asked, " that if they had received shares
instead of money they could sell the shares on
the investment currency market ? " On behalf
of the Treasury Mr. MacDermot stated that the
Chancellor had given sympathetic consideration
to representations which were made on this
subject, but that he could not single out this
class for special treatment compared with all
the other categories of receipts now subject to
the new procedure.
In answer to a further question by Mr. Sydney Silverman, Mr. MacDermot stated that, up
to now, the recipients of German restitution
payments had been in a better position than,
for example, British claimants against the
Egyptian Government, who have never been
able to sell their compensation as investment
currency.
ANGLO-GERMAN COMPENSATION
AGREEMENT
Time Limit Extended
According to the rules of the Anglo-German
Compensation Agreement which were published in the October, 1964, issue of AJR
Information, claims had to be submitted to the
Under-Secretary of State, Foreign Office,
London, S.W.l, until July 31, 1965. This time
limit has now been extended to March 31, 1966.
Claimants must have been British citizens
on October 1, 1953, and payments for loss of
liberty or damage to health can only be
granted to persons who did not receive or are
not eligible for receiving indemnification for
these damages from Germany and Austria.
As according to the German Indemnification
Law, indemnification cannot be awarded for a
captivity of less than one month, persecutees
who were in a concentration camp for less than
one month might be eligible for a payment
under the Anglo-German Compensation Agreement. The types of damages for which Nazi
victims from Austria might be eligible for
compensation under the Agreement were described in the May, 1965, issue of AJR
Information.
Your House /or:—
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Personal attention of Mr. W. Shackman.
Page 3
Dr..C.
Kapralik
Aus der Oesterreichischen
Sozialversicherung
Pensionsclynamik in Oesterreich
Wir wollen heute unseren Lesern aus
Oesterreich ueber eine wichtige Neuentwicklung auf dem Gebiete der osterreichischen
Sozialversicherung berichten.
Diejenigen, die im Bezug von Sozialversicherungspensionen stehen, wissen, dass diese
Pensionen von Zeit zu Zeit erhoht worden sind.
Bekanntlich sind in den Nachkriegsjahren in
West- und Mitteleuropa Lohne und Gehalter
starker als die Lebenskosten angestiegen. In
anderen Worten, die Lohne und Gehalter
haben nicht nur mit den Lebenskosten Schritt
gehalten, sondern Lohn- und Gehaltsempfanger
haben an der Erhbhung des Nationaleinkommens teilgenommen und ihren Lebensstandard
verbessern konnen.
Die osterreichische Gesetzgebung war seit
1955 bestrebt, auch fuer die Pensionisten eine
gewisse Erhbhung des Lebensstandards zu
sichern, doch geschah dies bisnun durch
sporadische Erhbhungen, deren Ausmass von
budgetaeren Erwagungen diktiert war. Nuninehr ist jedoch das osterreichische Parlament
einen entscheidenden Schritt weitergegangen,
indem es die sogenannte Pensionsdynamik,
ueber die seit Jahren in Oesterreich diskutiert
worden ist, eingefiihrt hat. Durch das Pensionsanpassungsgesetz (PAG—BGBl. 96/65)
ist von Gesetzes wegen sichergestellt worden,
dass die Pensionen Jahr fiir Jahr der Entwicklung der Lbhne und Gehalter der im
Erwerbsleben stehenden folgen werden. Die
statistische und mathematische Basis, auf der
die neue Regelung ruht, ist zu kompliziert um
hier geschildert zu werden ; diejenigen unserer
Leser, die sich aber fuer die Art und Weise
der Ermittlung der Richtzahl und der Aufwertungsfaktoren interessieren, seien auf den
neuen Abschnitt Via des ASVG, bezw. den
neuen Abschnitt VII des GSPVG, verwiesen.
Sie werden den neuen Bestimmungen entnehnien, dass es gelungen ist, ein Problem von
ausserordentlicher Kompliziertheit in prazise
(wenn auch nur dem Fachmann klare)
Gesetzessprache umzugiessen.
Natiirlich fordert diese bahnbrechende
Neuerung Vorsorge fiir die laufende Bereitstellung der erforderlichen Mittel.
Die
Angestellten und Arbeiter, die selbstandigen
Gewerbetreibenden, sowie die freiwillig
Versicherten werden in Zukunft erhohte
Beitraege zu leisten haben.
Fiir unsere Leser, die freiwillige Beitrage
zahlen, sind hauptsachlich von Interesse die
zukiinftigen Beitragsleistungen in der Pensionsversicherung der Angestellten.
Die
monatlichen Beitrage wurden ab Mai 1965 von
14% auf 15% erhbht; sie werden ab Janner
1967 auf 16%, ab Juli 1968 auf 16.5%, ab Juli
1970 auf 17% erhbht werden. Diese gesteigerten Beitragsleistungen werden jedoch nicht
geniigend sein, um die erforderlichen Mittel
sicherzustellen, und die bsterreichische
Bundesrepublik wird alljahrlich erhebliche
Zuschiisse zu leisten haben.
Die Auswirkungen des Pensionsanpassungsgesetzes sind fiir die in Emigration lebenden
Pensionisten ausserordentlich bedeutsam. Dass
dieses Gesetz erlassen werden konnte ist
symptomatisch fuer die Wandlung und ErstarKung der wirtschaftlichen Lage Oesterreichs.
Pensionsversicherung der Selbstandigen
Im Maerz 1962 berichteten wir in AJR
information ueber den erfolgreichen Ausgang
der Verhandlungen des Committee for Jewish
Claims on Austria mit der bsterreichischen
Bundesregierung, die dazu fiihrten, dass auch
diejenigen, die zur Emigration gezwungen
waren, der Pensionen unter dem im Jahre 1958
erlassenen Gewerblichen Selbstandigen Pensionsversicherungsgesetz (GSPVG) teilhaft
werden konnten.
Die Pensionsversicherungsanstalt der gewerblichen Wirtschaft hat bis zum Jahre 1963
Ansuchen von Emigranten um Zuerkennung
von Pensionen in einer Weise gehandhabt, die
dem Geiste der Besprechungen des Claims
Committee mit der Bundesregierung entsprach.
Im Jahre 1964 mussten wir jedoch die befremdende Wahrnehmung machen, dass sich die
Praxis der Anstalt geandert hat, u.zw. wurde
jeder auch noch so kurze Aufenthalt in Oesterreich zum Anlass genommen um die Ersatzfrist des § 62(3) GSPVG als beendet zu
erklaeren mit dem Resultat, dass den Betroffenen Pensionsrechte abgesprochen wurden.
Noch uberraschender war die Tatsache, dass
das Oberlandesgericht Wien in einer Reihe
von Entscheidungen der von der Anstalt
eingeschlagenen Linie gefolgt ist und die obige
Gesetzesstelle dahin interpretiert hat, dass
Auswanderung als Behinderungsgrund der
Fortsetzung der selbstandigen Erwerbstatigkeit wegfalle, sobald nach dem Jahre 1945 eine
Riickkehr nach Oesterreich objektiv mbglich
war; ein, wenn auch nur voriibergehender
Aufenthalt in Oesterreich beweise, dass die
objektive Behinderung weggefallen ist. In
einer besonders krassen Entscheidung wurde
der Witwe die Pension verweigert, weil ihr
verstorbener Mann im November 1947 am
Abend in Bruck/Neusiedel von Ungarn kommend, in Oesterreieh eingereist war, iiber
Nacht im Zug Oesterreich iiberquert hatte, und
am nachsten Morgen iiber Arnoldstein nach
Italien, auf dem Wege nach Israel, ausgereist
war.
Gegen diese erstaunliche Entwicklung hat
das Claims Committee auf allerhbchster
Regierungsebene nachdriickUche Vorstellungen
erhoben. Es wurde ausgefiihrt, dass es sich
gar nicht darum handeln kbnne, ob eine Riickkehr objektiv moeglich war, dass es sich vielmehr darum handle, ob eine solche Riickkehr
zugemutet werden konnte in Anbetracht der
Vorkommnisse wahrend der sogenannten
Anschluss-Zeit. Dies sei von Bundesregierung
in den Jahren 1953/4 wahrend der Verhandlungen des Claims Committee iiber die Pensionen der bffentlichen Angestellten, iiber
Spezialversicherungspensionen und bei anderen Gelegenheiten voll anerkannt. Es gehe
daher nicht an, dass entgegen dem Geiste aller
Besprechungen Personen der Ersatzzeit verlustig gemacht werden, die aus irgendwelchen
Griinden, sei es um ein Restitutionsverfahren
zu betreiben, oder die Graber ihrer Eltern zu
besuchen, sich vorubergehend in Oesterreich
aufgehalten haben.
Es soil mit Befriedigung festgestellt werden,
dass sowohl der bsterreichische Bundeskanzler,
als auch der Minister fiir Soziale Verwaltung,
voiles Verstandnis fuer die Lage gezeigt haben.
Das bsterreichische Parlament hat im Wege
der jiingst erschienenen 13. Novelle zum
GSPVG (BGBl. 222/65) Abhilfe geschaffen.
Die Novelle bestimmt, dass verfolgungsbedingte Auswanderung langstens bis zum 1.
April 1959 als Ersatzzeit gilt. Diese Ersatzzeit
wird nur unterbrochen, wenn der Versicherte
im Inlande seinen Wohnsitz wieder begriindet
hat Oder eine selbstandige Erwerbstatigkeit
GERMAN AMBASSADOR IN ISRAEL
On August 11, the Gennan Ambassador to
Israel, Dr. Rolf Pauls, arrived in Lydda. His
arrival was preceded by a week of protests
throughout the country. There were also
demonstrations outside President Shazar's
mansion, when he presented his credentials to
the President. One of the Ambassador's first
actions after his arrival was a visit, at his own
request, to Yad Vashem, where he saw the
exhibits and archives commemorating the
victims of the Holocaust.
Protests were also lodged against the
appointment of Dr. Alexander Toeroek as Dr.
Pauls' deputy. Press reports accused Dr.
Toeroeck of collaborating with the Nazis
during the war while secretary at the Hungarian Embassy in Berlin in 1944, when the
Germans occupied Hungary and began channelling their orders for the destruction of Hungarian Jewry through the Berlin Embassy. Dr.
Toeroek has denied the accusations.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, after investigating Dr. Toeroek, has cleared him of any
association with antisemitic activities.
Other members of the West German
Embassy's staff in Israel include Graf York
von Wartenburg, whose father was executed
by the Nazis; Herr von Uthmann and Herr
Hondrich, the two last-named being too young
to have held any post during the Hitler
regime.
Until a permanent residence has been
found the Embassy will be accommodated in
the Sheraton Hotel (Tel Aviv).
EXCHANGE OF AMBASSADORS
WELCOMED
Dr. Prinz's Cable to Chancellor Erhard
Dr. Joachim Prinz, President of the American Jewish Congress, has sent the following
cable to Chancellor Dr. Erhard :
" May I express my deep gratification on the
exchange of Ambassadors between your
Government and Israel. I hope that this new
relationship will open avenues of meaningful
co-operation between Germany and the people
of Israel fully consonant with Germany's moral
obhgation and her special relationship to that
people. I am confident, too, that this relationship with Israel will further the cause of peace
in the Middle East. We who have lived through
the Nazi holocaust will remember at all time
our historic responsibilities."
AUSCHWITZ SENTENCES
After a trial which lasted 20 months, sentences were passed on the defendants of the
Auschwitz Trial in Frankfurt. Six of the
prisoners were given life sentences, 11 were
sentenced to hard labour, ranging from 14
years to 39 months, and three were acquitted.
Those sentenced to life-long hard labour—the
highest punishment in Germany after the
abolition of the death penalty—are four
guards, one medical orderly and one " trusted "
prisoner. Those acquitted were one of the
camp doctors (Dr. Schatz) and two clerks.
Several of the sentenced defendants have
lodged appeals. When announcing the sentences, the Judge, Dr. Hofmeyer, recalled the
unspeakable brutalities which had come to
light in the course of the trial. He emphasised
that the Court's task had not been to " overcome the past" ; the only issue with which it
had been concerned was the guilt of the
accused.
aufgenommen und langer als ein Jahr ununterbrochen ausgeiibt hat.
Eine in die Novelle eingebaute Uebergangsbestimmung sichert, dass auf bis zum 31.
Dezember 1966 zu steiienden Antrag alle diejenigen Falle neu aufgeroUt werden kbnnen,
in denen die Pensionsversicherungsanstalt der
gewerblichen Wirtschaft die Zuerkennung
einer Pension mit Ruecksicht auf einen
voriibergehenden Aufenthalt in Oesterreich
verweigert hat.
Page 4
EASTERN JEWRY
NEWS FROM ABROAD
DEPORTA-nON OF PARIS JEWS
REMEMBERED
UNITED STATES
Immigrants' Son for U.N.
Mr. Arthur J. Goldberg, a Justice of the
Supreme Court since 1962, succeeded Mr.
Adlai Stevenson as American Ambassador to
the United Nations.
The son of poor Jewish immigrants, Mr.
Goldberg began as a delivery boy and worked
his way through two colleges at once. By the
age of 30 he was lawyer for several trade
unions. President Kennedy chose him as
Secretary for Labour in 1961. Announcing the
appointment. President Johnson said: " His
life embodies the story of our open and free
society as a fulfilment of the opportunity we
want all mankind to share."
According to America, the liberal Jesuit
weekly, Mr. Goldberg " might conceivably be
destined to become the first Jewish President
of the United States ".
New Appointments
President Johnson announced the appointments of three more Jews to high positions in
the Administration. Dr. Harold Brown, 38,
will become Secretary of the Air Force. This
will make him a member of the Cabinet. Mr.
Stephen N. Shulman, 32, was appointed
General Counsel to the Air Force. Mr. Leonard
H. Marks, 49, was named Director of the
United States Information Agency.
Mr. Abe Fortas was appointed to the U.S.A.
Supreme Court to succeed Mr. Arthur Goldberg.
Mr. George J. Feldman, a New York
attorney, has been nominated the first United
States Ambassador to Malta. Another Jewish
attorney, Mr. David Bronheim, has been
appointed deputy U.S.A. co-ordinator of the
Alliance for Progress, the programme designed
to aid the economic development of Latin
America.
Bar Association Against Discriminatloii
The American Bar Association cancelled
arrangements to hold two sessions of its convention in Miami Beach in a private club which
bars Jews and Negroes. Mr. Morris B. Abram,
president of the American Jewish Committee,
protested against the venue in a letter to the
A.B.A. president. Mr. Lewis F. Powell. In
reply, Mr. Powell said that his organisation
" does not practise or tolerate racial or religious discrimination in any form ".—(J.C.)
RIO DE JANEIRO'S WEIZMANN SQUARE
Some months ago it was decided to call a
square in one of the most exclusive areas of
Rio de Janeiro " Chaim Weizmann Square ",
after Israel's first President.
The naming ceremony has now taken place
and a bronze bust of Dr. Weizmann wap
unveiled in the square. Among the buildings
in the square are the Governor's palace, the
Anne Frank municipal school and the West
German Embassy.
Speakers at the ceremony included the
Governor of Gunabara Province, of which Rio
de Janeiro is the capital, the president of the
Brazil-Israel Cultural Centre and the Israeli
Ambassador.—(J.C.)
Visit by U.S.A. Rabbis
Thousands of Jews attended a meeting at
the Memorial to the Unknown Jewish Martyr,
to commemorate the 23rd anniversary of
" Black Thursday "—July 16, 1942—when the
Gestapo, aided by the French police, rounded
up 30,000 Paris Jews for deportation to the
death camps.
GENEVA DESECRATION
Red paint was smeared on the monument to
the Jewish victims of Nazism at the main
Geneva synagogue. The monument was
unveiled on June 15, 1964. The inscription
reads : " Because they were Jews, six million
men, women and children were killed during
the Nazi era, innocent victims of a world laden
with sin. May God remember their martyrdom."
ANTISEMinSM IN SWEDEN
New antisemitic terror threats have been
received in recent weeks by Jews in Stockholm, Gothenburg and Malmb, including Dr.
Bemhard Tarschys. chairman of the Board of
Deputies of the Stockholm Jewish community.
Dr. Tarschys pointed out that a large number of Jews who were rescued from Nazi concentration camps were living in Sweden, and
such antisemitic letters made them afraid.
The Jewish communities have drawn the
Swedish Prime Minister's attention to neo-Nazi
activities in Sweden, and they plan a further
approach to Dr. Erlander complaining of an
antisemitic campaign in the country.
The Swedish Nazis have been given notice
to quit their headquarters in Stockholm by
the landlords, who are administrators of the
estate of the late C. E. Carlberg, a one-time
Nazi. Bjoern Lundhal, the head of the organisation, has objected to the notice and the
dispute may go to the courts.— (J.C.)
ANCIENT LIBEL SUPPRESSED
In 1475 the body of Simon, a Christian child,
was found in Trent, in north-eastern Italy,
and Jews were tortured and massacred after
being accused of his murder. Five years later
the people of Trent received the right from
Pope Sixtus IV to canonise Simon, and soon
afterwards the saint was proclaimed patron.
In spite of a finding by the Pope's envoy that
the Jews were innocent, the libel has been
maintained for nearly 500 years. Periodic protests in the last few decades had no effect.
Now, as the result of vigorous action by the
Vatican, all references to the Jews having been
responsible for the child's death have been
stopped. A booklet describing the libel which
used to be on sale in Trent Cathedral has
been withdrawn, the chapel dedicated to St.
Simon closed and the sculpture overhanging
its entrance, depicting the Jews spilling the
child's blood, has been removed. The solemn
procession, which used to carry the mummified
remains of the child together with the
torturers' instruments through the town, has
also been suppressed.
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For the first time in ten years American
rabbis have addressed worshippers in Moscow's
Central Synagogue. In the words of an eyewitness the scene was " electrifying." As the
three rabbis, members of a visiting nine-member delegation from the (Orthodox) Rabbinical
Council of America, walked with the Chief
Rabbi, Rabbi Y. L. Levin, behind the sefer
Torah, worshippers reached out to touch them
or to whisper the names of relatives Uving in
the United States.
Observers in Moscow have commented on
the fact that not only have the Russian authorities permitted the visit of a rabbinical delegation, who toured the Soviet Union, but that
they were also able to occupy the Central Synagogue pulpit.
"Economic Crimes"
After an absence for some time from the
Soviet press, two of Moscow's major newspapers recently published stories implicating
Jews in economic crimes. The first appeared
in " Pravda " on July 7, attacking Soviet citizens offering refuge to people sought by the
police for economic crimes. Pictures of three
wanted men were published, two of whom had
distinctly Jewish names. Other Jews were
mentioned in the article about a gang wanted
in connection with the illegal production of
textiles.
On the same day, " Moskovskaya Pravda"
began the publication of a series of articles
about a documentary film entitled " Black Business " dealing with the notorious ShakermanRoifmann affair. The paper brought in Jewish
names not mentioned in the film. Subsequently
" Sovetskaya Rossiya " named a Jewish barber
in Omsk and his associates as the ringleaders
of a drug ring.
Antisemitism Denounced
Addressing a joint meeting of the Communist Party central committee and the Latvian Supreme Soviet in Riga, Mr. Alexei
Kosygin, the Soviet Premier, denounced antisemitism as being " alien " to the Communist
world outlook. Mr. Kosygin said that the party
was progressing towards its final aim, the
merging of the nations into one family, "by
way of the fullest development of the national
culture of every people and every nationality "•
He stated that " nationalist remnants in any
form, be it the manifestation of nationalism.
Great Power chauvinism, racism or antisemitism, are absolutely alien, in contradiction
to our Communist world outlook."
Threat to Synagogue
The local authorities in Tallin are planning
to demolish the synagogue in the capital of
Estonia. This community of four thousand
Jews is about to lose its synagogue on the
second floor of a small building, because it
is in an area earmarked for reconstruction.
The authorities are unwilling to make another
building available to the community, which
has very limited means itself.
Ivrit in Leningrad
When the international congress of " twinned
cities " opened in Leningrad in the presence
of 500 delegates from 40 countries, municipal
leaders of Israel were invited to the Soviet
Union for the first time.
Mr. Oved Ben Ami, Mayor of Natanya, leading the Israeli delegation, made his opening
speech in Hebrew and English He stated afterwards that although no Israeli cities or towns
are as yet twinned with any in the Soviet
Union, the delegation was given a friendly
reception by the Russian hosts, and the Mayor
of Leningrad seemed to like his suggestion for
an exchange of street names between the two
towns.
The Israeli delegates also visited synagogues
in Leningrad and Moscow. A special prayer
was recited at Moscow for the welfare of the
Presidents of the U.S.S.R. and of Israel.—(J.C.)
Page 5
HOME NEWS
ANTISEMITIC OUTBREAKS
IN PARLIAMENT
Outbreaks of racialist activity and vandalism
have occurred in South London. There was a
bomb scare at Brixton Synagogue when a caller
telephoned Dayan M. Steinberg's home. A
search was made by the police but no bomb
was found. Special branch officers and local
police investigated threats to burn down the
Croydon Synagogue and telephone calls
threatening its minister. Other leading Jews
in the area are also said to have been
threatened and Mr. Bemard Weatherill, M.P.,
has taken action over this matter.
More than thirty Tooting shopkeepers complained to the police about anti-Jewish and
racialist posters and other daubings on their
shops. The M.P. for Wandsworth Central,
Dr. David Kerr, referred to this as an
outrageous display of racialism and a desperate
fling before the Race Relations Act.
Fascist Activities
Synagogue Fires
The spate of synagogue incidents continues.
Fires recently broke out in Clapton and Ilford
synagogues. Antisemitic slogans were daubed
on the Clapton synagogue. An attempt, resulting in little damage, was made to set fire to
the Shomrei Hadath Synagogue, in Finchley
Road. Police were called to the Stanmore
Synagogue, where they found two bottles of
petrol and paraffin against the door. No
damage was caused.
A scuffle occurred outside the Golders Green
Synagogue. Members of the community were
alerted by an anonymous 'phone call that the
synagogue would be raided. No damage was
caused.
Deputies' Concem
A Board of Deputies' delegation, led by
its president, Mr. S. Teff, called on Mr. J. L.
Waldron, an assistant commissioner of police
at Scotland Yard. They expressed to him the
anxiety felt by the Jewish community at the
number of anti-Jewish incidents, particularly
petrol bomb attacks on synagogues, over the
past few months. Mr. Waldron intimated that
these incidents were regarded very seriously
and that all possible steps were being taken
to protect synagogues and to apprehend the
culprits.
The defence organisation of the Board of
Deputies, in a concerted effort to prevent further attacks on synagogues and communal
buildings, has brought into consultation with
it every synagogue in Britain. Conferences
between representatives of Metropolitan synagogues and of the Jewish Defence Committee
have taken place.
Archbishop's Condemnation
Following the recent attacks on synagogues
in the London area, the Most Rev, John A.
Murphy, Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Cardiff, in a strongly worded statement offered
" sympathy for our Jewish brethren."
The Rev. W. W. Simpson, general secretary
of the Council of Christians and Jews^ commenting on the statement, said he was glad
that at last a strong ChristLan initiative had
been taken.
The " Catholic Herald " in an editorial also
praised Archbishop Murphy's stand, adding
that Christians would welcome " the putting on
record of their own revulsion against conduct
which is so contrary to their code which owes
much to its Jewish heritage."—(J.C.)
" Sentence of Death "
Anonymous 'phone callers claiming to be
officials" of the Ku-Klux-Klan on two occasions
told Mr. Reginald Freeson, M.P. for Willesden
East, that he has been " sentenced to death ".
Mr. Freeson. an outspoken campaigner against
racialism, although he regards the matter as
a poor joke ", has reported the calls to the
Police.
Mr. Reginald Freeson suggested that the
pohce be asked for special reports about the
growth of illegal acts by members and associates of the Union Movement, the British Nazi
Party, and other such organisations. He was
particularly concerned about acts of violence,
assault, abusive telephone calls, threats of
violence, arson and other insulting and
threatening conduct against the persons and
property of minority groups.
Sir Frank Soskice, the Home Secretary,
stated that he was being kept informed of the
activities of fascist groups. These activities,
he said, remained on a small scale and no
general request for special reports was
necessary.
Outrages to Jewish Property
Replying to Mr. Quintin Hogg's question as
to how many cases had been reported by the
Metropolitan Police recently of outrages
against specifically Jewish property in the
Metropolitan Police district. Sir Frank assured
M.P.s that the police were in close touch with
the Jewish religious authorities and that they
were paying special attention to synagogues
throughout the Metropolitan Police district.
He was also asked by Mr. Hogg whether he was
satisfied that adequate measures were being
taken for the protection of synagogues and
churches against outrage.
At a later stage, Mr. Paul B. Rose asked Sir
Frank how many cases of arson against synagogues and other Jewish communal buildings
had been reported to him. He suggested that
in view of two further cases in the Metropolitan area, the Home Secretary should call for
reports from chief constables on violence and
arson by fascist organisations.
Sir Frank replied that he had received
reports of twelve incidents since September 1,
1964, most of them in the Metropolitan Police
District. He was kept fully informed by the
Commissioner and was satisfied that the police
were paying special attention to the prevention
of these incidents and the detection of those
responsible. He did not consider that there
were any grounds for asking chief constables
generally for special reports.
Race Bill
The Race Relations Bill was given an
unopposed third reading in the House of
Commons. Sir Frank Soskice, who moved the
third reading, said the Bill was designed to
" get in first", to be ready to cope with frictions and difficulties which might arise. The
Government would watch the situation as it
developed. Should it appear that the provisions were inadequate, it might later be necessary for the Government to extend its scope
and to reconsider its effect and operation.
During the debate Mr. Quintin Hogg condemned attacks on Jews and Jewish property.
" The Jewish people have suffered enough in
our lifetime without having this frightful thing
rearing its head again", he declared. Mr.
Hogg said he represented a constituency where
there were a large number of Jewish people
and he had been very much disturbed by the
number of attacks on Jewish property. The
Board of Dei)uties had given him a list of 22
outrages against Jewish property since last
November, one case involving loss of life.
CHILDREN ON RACE PROBLEMS
Over 100 sixth-formers from North London
secondary schools attended a conference on
race relations arranged by the North London
Council of Christians and Jews. Dr. David
Pitt, chairman of the Committee Against
Racial Discrimination, spoke on " The problems
of settling in Britain".
ANGLOJUDAiaA
Tribute to Dr. Brodie
At a reception given in Rabbi Dr. Israel
Brodie's honour, warm tributes were paid to
him by the St. John's Wood Synagogue. A
presentation was made to Dr. Brodie, who
presented the synagogue with a portrait of
himself.
Jewish Peace Society
Lord Silkin has agreed to become vicepresident of the Jewish Peace Society in place
of the late Viscount Samuel. At the annual
meeting of the National Peace Council, the
society was represented by Mr. Adrian Cohen,
Mr. Hugh Harris and Rabbi Dr. H. F. Reinhart.
The society organised a public meeting at the
Westminster Synagogue as part of its contribution to the programme of World Co-operation Year.
Duke of Edinburgh's Visit
The Duke of Edinburgh paid an hour's visit
to Liverpool's new Jewish Youth Centre, where
he saw about 550 boys and girls pursuing their
normal group activities. He unveiled a plaque
commemorating his visit.
During his tour the Duke displayed particular interest in a group of the Jewish Lads'
and Girls' Brigade preparing for the Duke of
Edinburgh Award.
Building a Synagogue
Fourteen volunteers, men and women, are
helping to build a synagogue at Harlow, Essex.
The Harlow Jewish Synagogue, throughout its
eleven years, has been without permanent headquarters. The new synagogue will be made
of prefabricated materials and should be ready
for use by the end of the year. The congregation of 60 families raised £750 to buy the
land. Most of the sum required for the building will be provided by the Reform Synagogues
of Great Britain, to whom the community is
affiliated.
Henriques Memorial
Lady Henriques has officially opened the
Basil Henriques library at the Bernhard Baron
Settlement in Aldgate. Sponsored by the
Association for Jewish Youth, the library's
aim is to encourage the study of Judaism in
affiliated clubs, a policy advocated by Sir Basil
Henriques during his lifetime.
Glasgow Home
The Glasgow Jewish Old Age Home's extension scheme has now been completed at an
estimated cost of £100,000. The Home was
established in 1949. With the completion of
the extension, new ideas for the running of the
Home will be developed. Already a mobile
shop enabling residents and patients in the
geriatric wards to obtain various comforts has
been inaugurated. The older section of the
Home is also to be brought into line with the
same standard of amenities and facilities provided in the new building. There are at present
38 residents, with a further ten people awaiting
admission.
Manchester Desecrations
Five-feet high swastikas were daubed in
bright yellow paint on about 30 tombstones in
the Rainsough Cemetery, the largest Jewish
cemetery in Manchester. Antisemitic slogans
were painted on the cemetery walls.
Herbert Samuel Centre
The foundation-stone of the Herbert Samuel
Educational Centre has been laid at the David
Eder Farm. Horsham, Sussex. The new building will be designed both as a centre where
Jewish youth organisations can hold seminars
and other educational and cultural activities,
and as a training centre for those about to go
on Shnat Sherut.
Page 6
German News
Dr. R. Levy
ISRAEL'S FOREIGN TRADE IN 1964
North America (in 1963 : 192 million dollars,
or 29 per cent).
The most important countries from which
goods were imported were the United States,
Great Britain, France, the German Federal
Repubhc, Belgium and Holland, with goods
imported to the value of altogether 566 million
dollars, or 69 per cent of the total value of
Israel's imports, against 453 million dollars,
or 68% of the total (IsraeU) imports in 1963.
Gross exports from Israel had a value of
370 milUon doUars, as against 349 milUon
dollars in the preceding year. This increase
by 21 milUon dollars was the result of an
increase in industrial goods exported (including diamonds) by 42 milUon dollars, or 12 per
cent of total exports; on the other hand,
exports of agricultural products (including
citrus fmits) decreased by 22 milUon dollars,
or 25 per cent of the total exports.
The main part of Israel's exports was
destined for Europe, in fact goods to a value
of 232 million dollars, or 63 per cent of Israel's
total exports, as against 228 million dollars,
or 65 per cent, in the previous year, 1963.
The most important countries of destination
for Israeli export were the United States,
Great Britain, the German Federal Republic,
Holland, Switzerland and Belgium. These six
countries obtained goods to the value of
altogether 212 million dollars, or 57 per cent
of the country's total exports, as against 202
million dollars in the previous year.
Israel's trade with the countries of the
European Common Market (E.E.C.) was made
up in the years 1963 and 1964 as follows:
Last year the deficit in Israel's trade balance
increased further. According to the publications of the Central Bureau of Statistics in
Jerusalem the deficit in Israel's trade balance
was 454 million dollars and therefore 130
million dollars greater than in the previous
year, 1963. This 40 per cent increase is the
result of the increase in imports by 142 million
dollars, or 22 per cent, 43 million dollars of
which is accounted for by the import of ships
and 'planes, whereas exports rose by only 13
milUon dollars, or 4 per cent. The proportion
of exports to imports fell from 51 per cent in
1963 to 44 per cent in 1964.
Gross imports amounted to 826 million
dollars against 672 million dollars in the preceding year. This increase of 154 million
dollars, or 23 per cent, is due to the increased
import of raw materials by 76 million dollars,
or 16 per cent; an increase of 60 million
dollars, or 42 per cent, in investment goods
(of which the import figure for ships and
planes of 17 million dollars in 1963 rose to 60
million dollars in 1964); an increase in nonperishable consumer goods of 13 million dollars, or 31 per cent, and in perishable consumer goods of 7 milhon dollars, or 38 per
cent.
The greater part of Israel's imports (60 per
cent), to a value of 496 million dollars, came
from Europe (in 1963 : 375 million dollars, or
56 per cent), whereas goods to the value of
214 million dollars, or 26 per cent, came from
Imp ort*
E x p o r t •*
Italy
Belgium
West Germany
Holland
Luxemburg
France
Total
1964
1963
1964
1963
6,599
22,115
33,311
30,236
1
11,806
7,772
19,987
39,475
24,120
5
15.181
34,762
37,108
65,145
34,875
455
68,062
18,151
12,739
61,219
31,576
235
30,977
104,068
106,540
240,407
154,897
In 1,000 doUars
With the countries of the European Free Trade Association (E.F.T.A.) IsraeU
trade developed as follows in the past two years ;
Export *
Import*
Austria
Denmark
Great Britain
Norway
Portugal
Finland
Sweden
Switzerland
Total
1964
1963
1964
1963
1,777
4,164
46,035
3,213
876
4,307
8,106
25,790
2,155
5,059
47,816
3,478
478
4,613
8,014
24,767
5,246
6,229
58,287
6,208
3,797
9,619
12,217
24,865
3,086
6,387
131,322
3,629
4,781
9,404
10.431
25,523
94,268
96,380
226,468
194,563
In 1,000 doUars
In January of this year (1965) a certain
improvement in Israel's export was noticeable.
In that month exports amounted to 40.2 million
dollars, against 38.9 milUon dollars in January,
1964. Export of industrial goods (including
diamonds) amounted to 25.3 million dollars
(in January, 1964 : 23.9 milUon dollars), and
export of citrus fruits to 13.7 million dollars
(in January, 1964 : 13.1 milUon dollars).
BAMBERG INCIDENTS
Although swastika daubings and other antisemitic incidents have been reported from
many parts of West Germany, none of them
has been on the scale of the Bamberg outbreak,
reported in our last issue.
Pressed to say what measures were being
taken to apprehend those behind the weekslong rash of Nazi daubings in Bamberg, a
poUce spokesman stated that everything was
being done to prevent further outbreaks, but
nothing more could be said.
A reward of about £1,750 is being offered
for information leading to the arrest of the
Bamberg vandals and the city government is
to bear the cost—about £1,250—of restonng
the gravestones in the desecrated Jewish cenaetery. A 20-year-old dental technician, Reinhard Woitzik, was arrested by the Bamberg
police on charges of being responsible for the
daubing of slogans, and has admitted the deed.
Woitzik's father, a wartime officer in the S.S.,
died last year after his release from a Polish
prison, where he served a prison sentence for
war crimes. When Woitzik appeared in court
a psychiatric examination was ordered to determine if he was "mentally responsible."
ANTISEMITIC OUTBREAKS
In Munich, swastikas and anti-Jewish slogans
were daubed on the pavement and advertising
hoardings. There were similar reports from
Heilbronn, Krefeld, Dusseldorf and other
places.
The publisher and editor of a small newspaper, Philip Buxmann, was sentenced to three
months' imprisonment by a court in Reinheiin.
near Darmstadt, for publishing an antisemitic
libel. He will also be barred from his profession for a year.
Dietrich Schuler, a schoolteacher, was, m
Stuttgart, sent to prison for seven months for
publishing and distributing a pro-Nazi, antiJewish pamphlet. He was barred from holding
any public position for five years and deprived
of his voting rights.
ACTION TAKEN
The Rhineland-Palatinate State legislature
has dismissed two prosecutors because of their
involvement in Nazi crimes in Luxembourg
during the war. Leo Drach, the chief prosecutor of Frankenthal, was sentenced to 35 years'
hard labour by a Luxembourg court, but was
released in 1954. Josef Wienecke, the first
prosecutor of Coblenz, was given ten years for
his part in Nazi special court proceedings in
Luxembourg. Temporarily released on parole
after several years'
imprisonment, he
absconded to West Germany.
Neither man
seems to have had any difficulty in obtaining
his post with the Rhineland-Palatinate
judiciary.
In Wuppertal, the legal authorities suspended
the police chief of Neu-Isenburg, Friedrich
Rondholz, who is suspected of complicity in the
murder of Jews and other civilians in Western
Russia in 1941, when he was a member of a
Nazi police battalion.
Herbert Guenther was sentenced in West
Berlin to ten months' imprisonment for making insulting remarks about the Jews and
expressing approval of the Nazis's extermination policy. Guenther was an inmate of a concentration camp during the war.
M.P. RETURNS AWARD
The recent award of the Great Federal Cross
of Merit to Bundestag Deputy Dr. Hermann
Conring (C.D.U.) was strongly criticised by
the Dutch Government, which lodged a protest
with the Federal Foreign Office. During the
war, Conring was Governor of the Dutch city
of Groningen. It was stated that, according
to documents found in Holland, he had been
responsible for Nazi crimes against the Jews
of his district. Conring denied the charges
but decided to return the insignia, because he
wanted to avoid any criticism levelled against
the Federal President for having bestowed the
Order on him.
Page 7
Egon
Larsen
' FATHER OF THE REPORTAGE
Egon Erivin Kisch
We have had quite a succession of anniversaries to celebrate this year, from the
Magna Carta to the Battle of Waterloo. We
also ought to have remembered, in April, that
Egon Erwin Kisch was born 80 years ago ;
perhaps we forgot because it is so difficult to
visualise him as old and venerable—the
Rasende Reporter, as everybody called him
after the title of his most famous collection of
newspaper articles which established his reputation in 1926.
We, the journalists who began our careers
in Central Europe as his juniors, owe him a
debt which cannot be paid off with a mere
anniversary notice. For he created the modern
reportage; he Ufted the trade of journalistic
writing to the level of a branch of literature;
and I feel that whatever we write, there is (or
at least should be) a grain of Kisch's heritage
in it, though few of us can aspire to the
standards he had set for himself, to his honesty
and compassion, to his wit and insight, and to
his sheer craftsmanship in handling the
German language. One has to re-read his
stories now and compare them with presentday German newspaper writing to discover
how great Kisch's influence still is, and how
small the achievements of most of those who
try to follow in his footsteps.
It was Kisch who opened our eyes to the
extraordinary in everyday life, to the unique
on our doorstep. Few journalists before him
had ever thought it worth while writing about
such subjects as a village of lunatics in Belgium, the Ufe of a hop picker, an American
dog cemetery, the mercury miners in Spain,
the Bohmisches Dorf in Berlin, the ghetto of
Amsterdam. In his hands, simple things
acquired deeper meaning, people in humdrum
jobs became human beings ; he taught us to
look behind the facades ; he showed us comedy
and tragedy in life where others merely saw
banality.
Born in 1885 as the son of a well-to-do
Jewish family in Prague, he grew up in an
atmosphere which nurtured the talents of an
he
st
le
unusually great number of writers—Rilke and
Werfel, Meyrink and Kafka, Brod and Weiskopf. Jews and non-Jews, Germans and Czechs
were part of a closely knit bilingual cultural
and literary community the like of which no
other town or period has ever produced. He
started his journalistic career with the Prager
Tagblatt but moved, in 1906, to its rival,
Bohemia, at first specialising in local crime
and court reports. His great scoop was ths
discovery of the sensational spy story behind
the hushed-up suicide of Colonel Redl, Chief
of Staff of the Prague Army Corps, in 1913
[now dramatised by John Osborne in his latest
play, A Patriot for Me].
A lifelong Socialist, he was one of the
leaders of the Rote Garde in Vienna when the
Habsburg monarchy broke up in 1918, and
there is a splendid story about those days
which he liked to recall. He marched into the
building of the Neue Freie Presse at the head
of a group of armed revolutionaries, and right
into the editor's sanctum. There, behind his
desk, sat his elder brother. " The house is occupied", Egon Erwin informed his brother
sternly. "You will have to leave this room
immediately. We are taking over! " The
brother looked at him defiantly. " All right ",
he said, " I yield to brute force." He picked
up his papers and walked towards the door.
But as he passed the rebel leader he hissed in
his ear, " You just wait—I'll tell mother! "
He made Berlin his headquarters, travelling
and writing for the Uberal newspapers. His
articles, collected in book form—after Der
rasende Reporter came Paradies Amerika,
Hetzjagd durch die Zeit, Schreib das auf,
Kisch. China geheim and others—established
him firmly as the reporter who combined a
flair for discovering a good " story" and for
ferretting out the truth with a deeply felt
social conscience. Early in 1933 he was
arrested by the Nazis and his books were, of
course, flung on Goebbels' pyre. He tried to
emigrate to AustraUa, was not allowed off the
ship, jumped overboard in defiance and broke
his foot. He returned to Paris, went to Spain
during the civil war and found a temporary
home in Mexico.
Immediately after the liberation of Czechoslovakia he returned to Prague, where they
elected him Town Councillor. A month after
the 1948 Gottwald putsch he attended a banquet at the Soviet Embassy. He ate too much
of the roast goose, his favourite dish: this, as
far as we know, was the cause of his death at
the age of 63, a "curtain" as ironical as
Kisch himself could have fancied. Perhaps he
was lucky; as a Westernised Jew, he might
have been liquidated with the Slansky group
a few years later. Gottwald's Stalinists must
have feared his sharp eye and wit.
I suppose we all have our favourite Kisch
stories, such as the one about the V.I.P. visit
to the home for fallen girls in Prague, who
welcomed as an old friend the accompanying
local reporter with enthusiastic cries of
" Servus, Egonek ! " My own favourite among
Kisch's characters is the Jewish tough who had
returned to Prague after mixing with gangsters in America and who would sit in his
Stammcafe looking for a fight. And if there
was no chance of a shemozzle developing the
natural way, he would suddenly get up, punch
some innocent customer at the neighbouring
table on the nose and snarl: " Wer ist ein
besch . . . Jud ? "
Old Acquaintances
Munich Calling: During the past years, the
municipality of Munich, through advertisements in Jewish refugee publications like
AJR Information and Aufbau, appealed to
emigres to contact their former home town.
Since 1961, 425 persons responded, and the
authorities invited them to Munich. During
the first year only three came, in 1962, six, and
at present the total numbers 103. They had
only to lay out their fares. The city was their
host for a fortnight, providing them with
accommodation, as well as theatre and concert
tickets. Each guest was welcomed by the
Oberbuergermeister.
Home JSetvi: Berlin-born Ren6e Goddard, a
former actress, is now head of ATV's script
department.—Maximilian Schell and Ferdy
Mayne take part in John Osborne's " A Patriot
for Me ", about the Austrian spy Redl, at the
Royal Court Theatre.—Lilian Harvey will visit
London when her old film, " The Congress
Dances ", is shown.
Israel: Tel Aviv's Chamber Theatre presented a new comedy by Ephraim Kishon,
" PuU Out the Plug, the Water is BoiUng ".—
After the successful " My Fair Lady ", impresario Giora Godik produced another Broadway
hit, " Fiddler on the Roof ", based on Sholem
Alechem's, " Tevye der Milchiker".—The
Israel Philharmonic Orchestra has arranged a
cultural exchange with the Moscow Symphony
Orchestra for three weeks in May next year.—
The first Israeli-German co-production of
Verdi's " Othello ", partly financed by several
German cities, was directed by Arno Assmann
and conducted by Istvan Kertesz, both of
Cologne's Opera, at the Frederik R. Mann
Auditorium in Tel Aviv.—Habimah produced
" Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf ? " and
Ustinov's " Photo Finish ".
Obituary : The playwright, Frantisek Langer,
died in Prague, aged 77. His plays include
" The Conversion of Ferdy Pistora " and " A
Camel Goes through the Needle's Eye".—89year-old Professor Rudolf Holzer, doyen of
the Austrian joumalists, has died in Vienna.^
The actor, Joe Furtner, died in Berlin, at the
age of 71; he was in the cast of the popular
radio series, "Die Insulaner".
Milestones: Last month the following
became 65: EUsabeth Bergner (London),
whose next role will be in " The Madwoman
of Chaillot " in Berlin ; Hans Thimig (Vienna),
youngest of the Thimig family; Robert Siodmak, who directed the films " The Spiral
Staircase " and " The Killers ", and who a few
years ago returned to Europe.—Dr. Eugen
Guerster, former Cultural Attach^ to the
German Embassy in London, reached the age
of 70 in Munich where he is living in retirement.—" Querido", the publishing firm in
Holland which published works by refugee
authors, has celebrated its 50th anniversary.
Germany: Eric Pohlmann, of London,
appears in a revival of Burckhardt's " Feuerwerk " at Munich Deutsches Theater.—Rochus
Gliese designed the decor for Marceau's
" Manager " at Berlin's Renaissance-Theater.—
Lucie Mannheim and Walter Richter appear in
Superville's " Kinderdieb " in Bremen's TV.—
Viktor de Kowa will produce " Goetz" at
Hamburg's Thalia-Theater.—Max Lippmann, of
Wiesbaden's " Filmbildstelle", is a jury
member for the Venice Film Festival.
PEM
Page 8
//. IF. Freyhan
A HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN
PRZEMYSL
THE CASE OF FURTWAENGLER
Last year's tenth anniversary of Furtwaengler's death did not pass unnoticed in this
country: there were some memorial concerts
in London, and the B.B.C. devoted a special
programme to the great conductor who had
been no stranger to British audiences. The
controversy which had resulted from his
decision to remain in Germany under the Nazi
regime became an obstacle to his appearance
in the U.S.A. after the war but did not preclude his enthusiastic reception over here, and
if the critics did not always see eye to eye
with his interpretations there were no poUtical
motives involved. Many former refugees from
Germany and Austria also felt no inhibitions
in attending his concerts and reviving
unforgettable musical experiences.
Music lovers will welcome the acquaintance
with a volume of Furtwaengler's letters which
has been edited by the well-known writer
Frank Thiesg.* The selection covers the whole
of Furtwaengler's life, with special emphasis
on his early youth and the years after 1945.
Thiess makes it quite clear that the inclusion
of the correspondence with Jewish friends and
of letters referring to the political controversy
is intended to remove " das ebenso peinliche
wie ungerechte Missverstaendnis, mit dem
man sein Verhalten waehrend der nationalsozialistischen Diktatur beurteilte ".
This is obviously only one of the many
aspects which make the book highly rewarding; moreover, the personal image which
emerges from the whole of the collection may
well contribute towards a balanced and fair
assessment of Furtwaengler's actions between
1933 and 1945.
The over-all impression is of a highly sensitive introvert artist who, after a happy childhood, becomes gradually torn by a conflict
which he was never to solve. It is perhaps
little known that the man who ranked among
the greatest conductors of the century saw his
true mission, throughout his life, as that of a
composer, whom conducting tended to keep
away from his real task. Of course, Mahler
and Strauss had faced this dilemma and had
mastered it, and one might conclude that
Furtwaengler's creative gifts lacked the
elementary force which would have overcome
all obstacles. However that may be, Furtwaengler believed in his compositions—some
proved quite successful—and his letters give
ample evidence of the tragic sense of frustration which sprang from this fundamental
conflict. If Thiess is right in suggesting that
the interpreter in Furtwaengler owed some of
his success to the insight which the composer
had gained from his labours, Furtwaengler
himself derived little comfort from it.
In his work and in his whole outlook, Furtwaengler was deeply rooted in the heritage of
German music from Bach to Brahms and
Bruckner, with an " extension" as far as
Hindemith. Like Bruno Walter, he was not in
sympathy with the more radical trends in
twentieth-century music, and he also saw in
German music—except for Chopin and Verdi—
the culmination of the art. (It is worth
noting that he included Mendelssohn and
Mahler in the German heritage.) Hand in hand
with this went a strong—but not narrow—
German patriotism. All this has to be borne
in mind when one judges his decision to stay
in Germany in spite of his genuine aversion
to the inhumanity of the Nazi regime.
" Ich habe offenbar . . . als Kiinstler wie als
• WUhelm Fnrtwaengler, Briefe.
Brockhaus, 1964.
Deutscher ein reines Traumleben gefiihrt", he
writes in 1949, and continues: " Umso
unbarmherziger ist das Erwachen, von dem
mir jetzt im vorgeriickten Alter nichts erspart
bleibt". This bitter self-criticism contains an
apologetic note which may well be the clue
to his case. Not prepared to sever all ties
with his native country, he persuaded himself
that he could help to keep alive the spirit of
the " other Germany " through his art—a case
of "inner emigration", as it were. In 1947
he writes to Thomas Mann : " Wenn Sie etwa
sagten, dass der Fidelio Beethovens im
Deutschland Himmlers nicht erkUngen diirfe,
so werden Sie das heute nicht aufrecht
erhalten. Denn ein Deutschland Himmlers hat
es nie gegeben, nur ein von Himmler
vergewaltigtes Deutschland". Had he not
indeed Uved the Ufe of a dreamer ? For
Thomas Mann, the issue was clear, and he felt
unable to condone Furtwaengler's attitude.
Furtwaengler, on his part, saw no need for
repentance ; he remained convinced that he
had acted rightly. But he concluded his letter:
" Und wenn ich persbnlich Ihren Briefe
entnehmen musste, dass zwischen uns gegenwartig das Trennende noch allzusehr im
Vordergrund steht, so gebe ich die Hoffnung
nicht auf, dass das einmal anders wird ". Here
is the longing to be accepted again by the
leading representative of the " other
Germany " whom he respects in spite of the
gap that separates them.
Furtwaengler could justifiably claim : " Und
was Kampf gegen den NationalsoziaUsmus
heisst, weiss ich noch immer ebenso gut, wie
einer derer, die heute in Deutschland zu
Gericht sitzen ". His early plea for his Jewish
fellow-musicians, in 1933, is well known, and
so is his later fight for Hindemith which led to
his resignation from all his posts. Besides
these public actions, there were numerous
others which must not be forgotten: attempts
to save Jewish musicians from dismissal;
letters of recommendation to help them
abroad (Dr. Ludwig Misch received such a
letter even after the November pogrom) ; an
interview with Himmler on behalf of a
"Halbjude" who had fallen foul of the
Gestapo. Himmler's comment speaks better
than anything else for Furtwaengler: " Ja,
ja, Herr Staatsrat, von Ihnen wissen wir ja,
dass Sie sich gerne fiir Verbrecher einsetzen ".
In spite of this impressive record, Furtwaengler was more bitterly attacked after
1945 than many of his colleagues who had
served the regime much more wholeheartedly.
The reason may well lie in a " noblesse
oblige" conception on the part of his
opponents. Here was no mere musical craftsman, here was an artist possessed by a lofty
idealism, who had once represented all that
made Germany lovable. No doubt he had
made a better stand than many in his position,
but it was felt that he ought to have gone
further and not have stopped short of a complete break with a regime which he abhorred
but appeared to serve. Yehudi Menuhin supported him in his afterwar struggles, and
Schoenberg, for whom he had once interceded
with Nazi Minister Rust (and whose widow he
later assisted with her compensation claim)
spoke warmly of him in one of his letters.
Thomas Mann, who had himself " gone the
whole way ", thought otherwise.
Opinions on the issue will continue to differ
—meanwhile, Furtwaengler's letters will at
least enable us to understand him.
Already during the Second World War, in
1944, three men joined together to commemorate the Jewish community of their
home town in a book. But it was not to be
vouchsafed to these three men. Dr. Josef
Gelernter, Dr. Jizchak Mann and Chaim Klagsbald, to witness the fulfilment of their initiative. Fourteen years more were to elapse
until, initiated by Yad Vashem in 1958, an
editorial combine was formed anew with the
object of bringing to a successful conclusion
the project of the three deceased.
We have before us an impressive work*,
magnificently planned and produced. The
editorial staff comprised: Matitjahu Gans,
Joseph Altbauer, Eliahu Bloch, Leopold Goetz,
Hanoch Hand, Arjeh Menczer, Dov Nitzani
(Knopf), Mordechai Schattner and Hanan
Trau; their work was conscientious, work of
intellect and heart. The book reminds us that
important men, of worldwide reputation, have
come from Przemysl. We read about Dr.
Hermann Liebermann, Deputy in the Austrian
Parliament and later in the Polish Sejm. He
was a Minister in the Polish Government in
Exile in London. Just how pre-eminent Dr.
Liebermann was may be judged from the fact
of his burial next to Karl Marx in London. In
this list of Jewish celebrities we find Dr. Leib
Landau, Counsel for the Defence in the Steiger
lawsuit. Another sturdy fighter against antisemitism and racial hatred was the writer
Matitjahu Mieses. His brother. Dr. Josef
Mieses, Chief Rabbi of the Polish Army, translated the Pentateuch into Polish. There is an
account of two other brothers: Jakob Mann,
the scholar and historian, who wrote, inter aUa,
about the Jewish sect, the Kareans. His
brother. Dr. Jizchak Mann, translated Karl
Marx's " Capital" into Hebrew, for which he
received the Tschemichovsky Prize. From
Przemysl comes the poet, Abraham Ben
Yizchak Sonne, who has been described by
BiaUk and Leah Goldberg as the father of
modern Hebrew poetry. We cannot mention
all. We must, however, speak of Professor
Schorr, the Assyriologist at Warsaw University. He was at the same time Chief Rabbi of
the Liberal Tlumatzky Temple in Warsaw. He
was called to the Polish Senate.
After Lemberg and Cracow, Przemysl was
the third largest town in Galicia, an important
centre of Jewish culture that saw its noblest
task in the erection and maintenance of
schools and social welfare centres, as well as
in the cultivation of intellectual interests.
With the awakening of Zionism the need to
found youth associations and sports clubs was
naturally also realised here at once. In a
contribution Hanan Trau reports jointly with
Dov Mitzani on the Rabbis who put their
stamp on the Jewish community of Przemysl
during the course of 400 years. The greater
part of the historical material has been supplied by Dov Mitzani, whilst Hanan Trau has
described interesting figures of the " grosse
Klaus ". For centuries up to the days of the
disaster the Jews numbered about one-third
of the population there.
Przemysl was once the fortress of a great
kingdom. " Viribus Unitis " was the motto
chosen by its ruler. Involuntarily we think of
it, because only united efforts succeeded in
erecting to the destroyed Jewish community
this monument, which is in every way
exemplary.
FRITZ GERSTMANN.
• Sefer Przemysl, History of the Jewish Community
of Przemysl. 552 pp., 232 illustrations. Published
privately by the Irgun Josej Przemysl be Jisrael.
Under the direction of Dr. Zwi Hubenfeld. Editor :
Dr. Arje Menczer.
Page 9
Hans Jaeger
SCHREIBTISCHMOERDER Nr. 1
A Himmler Biograjihy
With the publication of a biography of
Heinrich Himmler,* the authors' trilogy of
biographies which started with Goering and
Goebbels has now been completed.
It is not the first time that Himmler has
been the subject of thorough investigations.
Willi Frischauer and Josef Wulf dealt with
him before, and the memoirs of Felix Kersten,
Himmler's masseur, offered much material, as
did the works of Gerald Reitlinger. But the
authors of the present biography, Manvell and
Fraenkel, have opened up new sources. These
consisted of documents handed over by the
American Government to the German
Federal Archives at Koblenz, and others in the
Institute for Contemporary History in Munich,
the Berlin Document Centre, the Wiener
Library in London and the Institute for War
Documentation in Amsterdam. The authors
have also been able to interview a number of
persons, including Himmler's daughter,
Gudrun, and his elder brother, Gebhardt;
Karl Wolff, the former S.S. General who is
now serving a prison sentence; SchwerinKrosigk, Hitler's Minister of Finance ; Otto
Strasser, Himmler's assistant in the earUest
days of the Party; Wemer Best, third in the
S.S. hierarchy; Heydrich's widow; the widow
of FeUx Kersten ; a bodyguard of Himmler's ;
his former Secretary; two former fellowstudents in Munich and two British officers
in charge of Himmler after his arrest.
The result of this research is to some extent
meant to serve as a waming, because men
such as Himmler are not always easily recognised for what they really are until it is too
late. This aspect widens the extent of the
book. The enemies of democracy argue that
democracy breeds mediocrity. A book like
that under review shows that dictatorships are
the real breeders of mediocrity. In his brilUant introduction Manvell states that the
story of persons who rose from insignificance
and comparative penury to absolute mastership in the course of eight years and who were
dead and utterly discredited twelve years
later, is unique in modern history.
Wealuiess Overcompensated
The problem of how it was possible that
persons who were unsure, nervous to the
point of timidity and lacking aU initiative the
moment they came into contact with stronger
personaUties could, at the same time, be militant and hold a great part of the world to
ransom, has fascinated many biographers and
sociologists. The answer will be found only
gradually. One such person, Skorzeny, was
once described as a soulless robot; this may
be one element. Another is a certain obsession ; the belief in one's own mission. And
finally, frustration comes in as well.
This we learn from the description of
Himmler's youth. His father was a pedantic
schoolmaster in Munich, then in Landshut.
Social prestige meant everything to him and
the pride of his life was that he was once
tutor to a Bavarian prince. This prince had
to be godfather to Himmler who was named
Heinrich after him. It does not call for much
imagination to visuaUse the pompous, stiff,
authoritarian, deadly serious atmosphere of
Himmler's parental home. This mixture of
serviUty and arrogance, of worship and oppression, can only produce cripples and monsters.
Himmler's diaries indicate primitivity but
* Roger Manvell and Heinrich Fraenkel : Himmler.
Heinemann. London. 285 pp. 30s.
also some other traits which are illuminating.
He scorns the " timid people" of Landshut
who " dislike the war" and who are
" chicken-hearted ". Otherwise he notes that
he is " frightfuUy bored ". Was he already at
that stage longing for the hero he could worship ? And is there a kind of self-hatred when
he blames the petty bourgeoisie of Landshut ?
His claim that he " led people into action "
in the First World War is not confirmed by
his miUtary papers. All the same, he joined
the local Free Corps. When he fell ill he
started studies at Munich University and he
took good care that he " received the traditional cut in the face". The diaries show
him as a conventionalist, an ardent nationalist ; he avoided human relationships, he
despised women, but he was socially ambitious.
He concealed his shyness under a certain
arrogance. In the Apollo Club, the students'
society of which he was a member, he showed
his strong antisemitic feelings as early as 1922,
and violently demanded that the Jews should
be excluded. His fellow-students looked
down on him because his weak constitution
prevented his drinking beer.
Then, at a rifle-club meeting, he met Captain Ernst Roehm, who was 13 years his
senior and who became a decisive influence
on him. He joined the " Reichskriegsflagge "
and as one of Roehm's men took part in the
Munich putsch in November, 1923.
He had already become a member of the
Nazi Party in August, 1923. By that time his
antisemitism had grown. He persecuted
Wolfgang Hallgarten, a fonner fellow-pupil
who had become a pacifist (he emigrated later
to the U.S.A. and is now a well-known sociologist). To the annoyance of his parents
Himmler refused to look for work. He wanted
to engage in politics and was active on behalf
of Gregor and Otto Strasser. Gregor Strasser
found him useful because he was " full of
frustrated ambition to be a soldier ". When
the Strasser brothers moved to BerUn,
Himmler found different work. He surveyed
the secret arms dumps which were kept concealed from the Inter-Allied Control Commission. He Uked this kind of work. In contrast
to Goebbels, who then became a public figure,
he preferred desk-work and pedestrian
activities to speaking and writing. He suggested to Kurt Luedecke, who later went to
the U.S.A., that the names of all Jews and
their Christian friends in Lower Bavaria be
published. This, already at that stage, indicated how his mind worked.
The fly was
evolving into a stinging wasp !
Whilst Goebbels treated Himmler as the
local manager of his star-speaking tours.
Hitler thought otherwise, appointing him
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Reichsfuehrer of the S.S. in 1929. The reason:
" Something in this clerk-like man with his
miUtary ambitions and self-discipline revealed
to him the kind of perfectionism necessary
to create a reUable counter-force to the
undisciplined mob of storm-troopers."
The few examples so far referred to show
the comprehensiveness of this book, both
with regard to hitherto unknown details and
to the psychological approach.
We leam that Himmler's wife, Marga, whom
he married in 1928, was of Polish origin;
her maiden name was Concerzowo. Both
beUeved that " their common interests in such
matters as medicine and herbs amounted to
love". Himmler the crank becomes manifest from an essay on agriculture. He dreams
of a farming community, entirely self-supporting, abolishing money within the community,
orgamsed on an hierarchic basis, designed by
a " deep communion with the soil", and
reviving ancient folk-lore and folk-dancing.
Wealth of New Material
The amount of material presented by the
authors is ovei-whelming: the encounter with
Darre, who hardened Himmler's prejudices
into obsessions, organised the Race and
Settlement Office and influenced Himmler's
Marriage Law for the S.S.; the meeting with
Heydrich who influenced him so much by his
" Nordic appearance " that, within 20 minutes,
he made him head of the Security Service
(their relationship is masterly described); the
part played by Wilhelm Keppler, whom
Himmler introduced to Hitler and who was
the link between the Fuehrer and the industrialists. We learn details about the ways in
which Himmler dealt with his rivals or
opponents: he outsmarted Frick, the Minister
of Interior, but found this much more difficult with Schacht.
His affair with his Secretary, Hedwig, by
whom he had two children, may have been
added reason for his propagation of bigamy
as a prime measure to be taken after the war
—officially to replace war losses—and to
break with the Catholic Church whose attitude towards marriage he called " satanic".
The last part of the book is dedicated to
the " systematic" side of Himmler's sinister
activities: The creation of the Reich Commissariat for the Consolidation of German
Nationhood (settlement of Germans in the
East), which brought 566,000 Germans in after
the expulsion of 1.5 million Poles and Jews;
the campaign for the extermination of the
Polish intelligentsia; the euthanasia programme (" mercy-killing " of 60,000 Germans),
the acceptance of genocide as Nazi policy;
the
organisations
" Lebensborn"
and
" Ahnenerbe ".
Himmler's infiltration tactics are a chapter
on their own. He knew about Hitler's illness.
He contemplated defection and toyed with the
idea of a separate peace, hoping that this
might secure his succession. But in the end
he hesitated.
When Kersten told him that the annihilation of the Jews was regarded by the Allies as
the worst crime and that those responsible
would have to face a court trial, he denied
that such action could be considered as
criminal, since it was decreed by law. Hitler's
orders were the supreme law, and he had
only carried out these orders. Thus, neither
he nor the S.S. could accept any responsibility.
The end is known: the extension of the
S.S., the attempt of the Resistance to approach
Himmler via Popitz, the final blow against
Canaris, Himmler's short-lived military command, his negotiations with Bernadotte, and
finally his arrest and suicide.
The authors have succeeded in producing
a masterful book on a most compUcated
subject.
Page 10
Jacob
Maillis
JOSEPH CARO AND THE
SHULCHAN ARUCH
The year 1492 was one of the most tragic in
Jewish history. It was the year of the ruthless
expulsion of Spanish Jewry, which finally
sealed the fate of that once-flourishing community. What had been the greatest spiritual
centre of the Diaspora was at one blow utterly
destroyed. Now the Jews of Spain had to take
to the wanderer's staff, and at the cost of
immense material and spiritual sacrifice leave
the land that had for many centuries been
their second home. For the exiles from Spain
it set off a period of intense and bitter suffering. Multitudes of homeless Jews, wretched
and destitute, wandered over land and sea
seeking a place of refuge, where they could
at least save their bare lives. It was a comfortless picture, recalUng only too clearly the
memories of the Hitler era, which we of our
generation still retain so vividly before our
eyes.
Joseph ben Ephraim Caro, the later great
codifier and towering representative of Rabbinic Judaism in his day, was born in Toledo,
in Spain, four years before the expulsion. As
a child he already knew the injustices and
the perils of an unsettled wandering life. Like
many of his unfortunate brethren, his family,
too, after long and painful shifting from place
to place, found refuge and protection in Turkey, which was at that time friendly to Jews.
The Ottoman Empire offered peace and hospitality to the harassed victims of the terrors
of the Spanish Inquisition. Joseph Caro's
parents settled first in Salonica, then in
Adrianople and Nicopolis, where he devoted
himself assiduously to the study of the Talmud
and Rabbinic literature, in which he showed
from early youth extraordinary ability. An
unforgettable impression, indicating his early
incUnation to mysticism, was made on him by
the fascinating figure of Shlomo Molcho, the
young Marrano returned to Judaism, who,
through his exalted visions, openly proclaimed
the coming of the Messiah. Molcho's martyr's
death, which was surrounded by the people
with a halo of sanctity, fired the imagination
of the young Joseph Caro.
He started work very early on his monumental commentary to the code of Jewish law,
his " Bet Joseph". What he had in mind,
as Maimonides had 400 years before him, was
(to examine the entire Rabbinic law-giving
from its sources to his own time, and to put
it in systematic order.
His work, which
evolved slowly, and after thorough critical
investigation, is a commentary on the
" Arba'ah Turim ", " The Four Roads ", of
Rabbi Jacob ben Asher, in which, after the
most careful critical investigation of the whole
immense material and all the relevant sources,
he laid down definitely the final authoritative
Halacha. Only a man with his astonishing
range of reading, his phenomenal memory
and his exceptional knowledge in all departments of Halachic Uterature could have produced this colossal compilation. He worked
on it for twenty years, only to put it aside
at the end. For another fourteen years he
was busy re-examining the sources before he
made his final decisions in religious and civil
law. In specially difficult cases he based himself on the great Halachic deciding authorities
Uke Aifasi. Maimonides and Asheri.
So 32 years passed since the young Joseph
Caro had started on his gigantic work till he
could give it the final shape he had envisaged.
Beginning with the Talmudic literature and
going on to Rabbi Israel Isserlein, one of the
great authorities of German Jewry in the
15th century, Caro drew, in all, on 32 major
sources for his legal decisions. The fact that
he based himself little on the Ashkenazic
authorities naturally roused opposition to his
work among the great contemporary Rabbinical authorities in Poland. For Halacha is the
living development of the legal code. And
so the Rabbinical authorities of the time
demanded rightly that the jurisprudence of
the Ashkenazic Jews, especially of the circle
of the great Franco-German rabbis, should be
taken into account in the final determination
of the religious decisions. No less a man than
Rabbi Moses Isserles (Rema), the great Rabbinical authority of the 16th century, drew
attention in his commentary on the " Turim ",
" Darke Moshe'", to certain shortcomings in
Caro's work, and made additions in accordance with the latest decisions of the Ashkenazic authorities. Joseph Caro's magnum opus,
the " Bet Joseph ", appeared in the years 15511559 in Venice and Sabbionetta.
Yet the work that left its unique imprint
on the life of the Jewish people was his
practical and generally comprehensible code
that became known as " Shulchan Amch"
(" The Prepared Table").
Not since
Maimonides's " Mishne Torah " has any work
been privileged to enjoy such an influence on
the spiritual shaping of Judaism as the Shulchan Aruch. As a compendium of Jewish
ritual and law, the Shulchan Aruch is a handbook for daily use that regulates the reUgious
and the private life of every single Jew,
accompanying him from early morning till
late at night, weekday and festival, in joy and
sorrow. It was also a shortened version of
his earlier work, " Bet Joseph ", omitting the
evidence as well as the indication of the
sources. In this form it became a generally
understood concise handbook for all the
eventualities of life, in which all the assembled
legal material is presented briefly and
precisely. In his Shulchan Aruch, too, Joseph
Caro followed the systematic arrangement of
Reb Jacob ben Asher's " Turim "; so his work
falls into four main parts—" Orach Chaim "
(" The Way of Life ") about daily duties (mitzvot), " Yoreh Deah" (" He Learns Understanding ") about the ritual law, " Eben HaEzer " (" The Stone of Help ") about the matrimonial laws, and " Hoshen Mishpat " (" The
Shield of Justice ") deaUng with the civil law.
The Shulchan Aruch which appeared for the
first time in 1565 in Venice, became an unparalleled success. In 35 years, from 1565 to
1600, it went through no less than eight complete editions. But it, too, soon encountered
opposition from the great rabbis and sages
of the Ashkenazic world. They objected
partly to the fact that Joseph Caro, in making
his legal decisions, had given no consideration to the Ashkenazic authorities. That was
why the Light of Polish Jewry, Rabbi Moses
Isserles (Rema) of Cracow, made corrections
and additions to the Shulchan Aruch, under
the title " Mappah" ("The Tablecloth"), in
consonance with the Halachic decisions and
incorporating the old-estabUshed Ashkenazic
practices and traditions. He often used the
words, " This is the custom in our countries "
(kach nohagin), to make his decision for the
validity of the custom, as against the disputed
law (Din). The first edition of the Shulchan
Aruch with Isserles's corrections appeared in
Cracow in 1571, and in this form it became
the authoritative code of Jewish law, and as
such is still recognised by Orthodox Jews
throughout the world.
Joseph Caro was also known as a mystic,
and he belonged to the group of Cabbalists
in Safad headed by R. Isaac Luria (Ari), the
founder of practical Cabbalah. Caro's book,
" Maggid Mesharim" (" Announcer of the
Truth ") is a clear sign of the dark ascetic
mood of the time. It is a kind of mystic intimate diary in which Joseph Caro records his
discussions with his heavenly mentor (Maggid),
who had revealed himself to him. The Maggid
rebukes him for his sinfulness, because he has
not renounced the physical pleasures of this
world, with its eating and drinking and sleeping, and tells him to submit to the ascetic discipline. Maggid instructs him and teaches him
the mysteries of the Torah. He informs him
that he has been found worthy of being burned
at the stake, Uke "my chosen Shlomo, whose
name here is Molcho ", who went with joy and
ecstacy to his martyr's death for the Sanctification of God's Name.
The whole period was overshadowed by the
tremendous catastrophe of the Spanish Jews.
Restless minds were moved by profound pessimism and mystic speculative thought, preaching in consequence aversion from this world,
which was presented as a delusion, as a disconsolate vale of tears, where sinful man is
surrounded by demons lying in wait to destroy
his soul. What he had to do, therefore, was
to be God-fearing and pious and not to transgress the Law of God. This was fully set out
with careful systematisation in the Shulchan
Aruch.
The Cabbalists added further mystical practices and symbolic actions, which man should
perform for the good of his soul. This soon
led to the production of a supplementary
" Shulchan Aruch Ari," which extended Joseph
Caro's compendium with newly arisen
practices.
Jewish life was deep in the Middle Ages.
Judaism was having a hard fight for its existence. A hostile world still confronted it
menacingly. Therefore the spiritual leaders
of the people and their teachers wanted to
direct the crises and the storms of the time
towards quieter waters, so as to survive
through inner concentration and the erection
of new dams and dykes. Joseph Caro's Shulchan Aruch was one of these architecturally
imposing dykes and walls that preserved historic Judaism. In his works rabbinic legislation attained its grand culmination. It was
the supreme expression of a period that in
its concentration and its hindsight was carried
along by a grand foresight, that sought to
secure the threatened future of the people.
REPORT ON INDIAN JEWRY
Professor Walter J. Fischel, Professor of
Semitic Languages and Literature at the California University, visited London en route to
Jerusalem to represent his university at the
World Congress of Jewish Studies. There he
delivered a paper on his research into Indian
Jewry.
He spoke of Indian Jewry as " good Jews,
Jewish-conscious and very tradition-bound "•
He did not see any future for them in India.
They were emigrating en masse to Israel and
there were only about 18,000 left. There was
no persecution in India, but life was hard
economically and they were cut off from the
mainstream of Jewish life.
Dr. Fischel has found much of his material
in the Public Record Office in Chancery Lane,
London, which he discovered to be a particularly rich source of Indian-Jewish archives.
He is planning to do further research in The
Hague, Lisbon and the Vatican.
Page 11
KAEMPFER FUER HUMANITAERE
DEMOKRATIE
Zum 8 0 . Geburtslag von Kurt Hiller
Kurt HiUer, den das Exil Uber die Tschechoslowakei nach England brachte, wurde vor
kurzem in Hamburg, wo er seit etwa zehn
Jahren lebt, 80 Jahre alt. Die Staats-und
Universitatsbibliothek Hamburg veranstaltet
aus diesem Anlass eine Ausstellung von
Schriften, Briefen und Dokumenten, die bis
zum 30. September gebffnet ist.
Hiller ist einer der grossen Apostel der
Vernunft und Kampfer des Humanismus, ein
Geist von europaischem Format. Er selbst hat
sich als " Politosoph " bezeichnet, was sagen
will, dass er in jenen Bezirken zuhause ist, in
denen PoUtik und Philosophie sich mischen.
Seine Neupragung des Begriffes " Demokratie "
ist vielleicht die bedeutendste seiner staatspoUtischen Definitionen.
Hiller Ibst das
liberale Element der Demokratie von dem
Prinzip der Majoritat. Das eine—Diskussion,
Recht der Persbnlichkeit, Maximum an Freiheit—ist die Weiterfiihrung der Ideen Platens;
das andere—die absolute Herrschaft der
Mehrheit—eine
Verfallserscheinung,
die
immer zum Sieg der Dummheit und manchmal
sogar der Barbarei gefiihrt hat. Viele seiner
Arbeiten sind der verfassungsrechtlichen
Frage gewidmet, wie man zur " Auslese der
Besten" kommen kann, um die humanitare
Demokratie durchzusetzen.
In seiner Konzeption eines " freiheitlichen
Sozialismus"—Aktivist, der er ist, versuchte er,
dieser Konzeption organisatorische Form
zu geben—distanzierte er sich von Karl Marx,
insbesondere von dessen Materialismus und
bkonomischem Determinismus, denen er den
menschlichen Willen, die Idee, den Geist,
entgegensetzt. Mehr noch distanzierte er sich
von den Marxisten, und von den Kommunisten
wurde er verfolgt, verleumdet, denunziert und
geohrfeigt. Niemals hat er den Kampf gegen
die Despotic, auch gegen die rote, aufgegeben.
Dr. Hiller ist ein gliihender Bejaher ebenso
wie ein fanatischer Verneiner, einer, der
Ehrfurcht vor dem Grossen und Schoenen hat
und Hass und Verachtung fUr Dummheit,
Stumpfheit, Luge. Er hat seit fast 60 Jahren
gekampft und gestritten, gewettert und gelitten, kompromisslos und unkompromittiert,
parteiisch, aber unparteilich, mit dem Mut zum
Nonkonformismus und zur Unpopularitat, und
mit der Kraft zum gerechten Zorn, ebenso wie
zur Liebe und Begeisterung.
Schon vor dem Ersten Weltkrieg nahm er
sich die Misstande der gesellschaftlichen
Realitat vor, von den Bezirken der Justiz und
SexualpoUtik, iiber das Parteiwesen und die
Presse, bis zu Literatur und Kunst, Als
Herausgeber der " Ziel"—Jahrbucher setzte
er einer ganzen Generation den Stempel seiner
Persbnlichkeit auf. Gleich nach dem Ersten
Weltkrieg war er aktiv im Rate der Geistigen
Arbeiter, im Ausschuss fuer Strafrechtsreform,
im Deutschen Friedenskartell, in der Liga fuer
Sexualreform. Bald darauf erschien sein
" Sprung ins Helle ", ein Werk, das eine neue
Sprache in die politische Philosophie jener
Tage brachte. Jahrelang gehbrte er zu den
profiliertesten
Mitarbeitern
der " Weltbuehne ". Schaffend und schbpferisch fand er
in England ein Forum, als sich voriibergehend
der deutsche Sprachkreis ihm verschloss. Zu
den meisterlichsten seiner Biicher zahlen die
Essaysammlung
" Kbpfe
und
Tropfe"
(Rowohlt, 1950) und das Thesenbuch " Der
Aufbruch zum Paradies" (Kurt Desch, 1952).
Kurt Hiller ist heute einer der grbssten
lebenden Stilisten der deutschen erbrternden
Prosa.
HERBERT FREEDEN.
ERNST MULLER—80 YEARS
On September SOth, 1965, our friend, Mr.
Ernst Miiller, will celebrate his 80th birthday.
Born in Paderborn, WestphaUa, of an old
Jewish family, he became a pupil at the
famous Gymnasium of his birthplace. Thus
he was educated in the old humanistic spirit,
acquiring a very good knowledge of the
classics, especially Greek and Latin languages.
This education guided him through all his Ufe
up to the present day, so that his interests
lie especially in history of the classic and
even prehistoric ages. He became a student
of Law at the University of Munich, where
he joined the Licaria, the Jewish fraternity
of the K.C. Even now, as an " Old Boy," he
is still in contact with the K.C. friends all
over the world. In 1913 he established himself as a solicitor in Hanover, and after the
First World War he became one of the leading lawyers, specialising in Civil and Company Law. In 1939 he came to London, where
life was very difficult for him, but his wellknown humour and his abiUty to cope with
every situation helped him to overcome all
hardship. After the war he practised as an
international lavi^er and offered his help to
his many friends, and especially to the A.J.R.
In this, his 80th year of life, he has not lost
any of his many interests, and an evening at
his home together with his dear wife Kathe,
is always full of highly inspiring discussions,
ranging from the old Hethites and even prehistoric caves up to the most modern discoveries in physics and Astronomy. May good
health never fail him in the future, and may
his knowledge and interests accompany him
for many years to come.
W.D.
BECHSTEIN
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APIOOB
AWARD FOR MUSIC PUBLISHER
Mr. Max Hinrichsen was awarded an
Honorary Fellowship of Trinity College of
Music in London, " in recognition of his considerable contribution to the art of music."
This is the first award of this kind made by
any music academy to a music pubUsher. The
award was conferred upon Mr. Hinrichsen at
a ceremony at Wigmore Hall, when Yehudi
Menuhin and Sir Malcolm Sargent were also
made Fellows.
Mr. Hinrichsen's family has been connected
with music publishing since 1863, and his
father was the owner of the well-known firm
of Peters Edition in Leipzig. Mr. Hinrichsen
settled in England in 1937 and, a few years
later, established his own firm, while his
brother set up a publishing house in the U.S.A.
The production of the English firm includes
the first pubUcation of 30 volumes of English
keyboard music. For six years Mr. Hinrichsen
edited, in a voluntary capacity, a magazine
called " On Leave in London," for the benefit
of members of the Forces spending their leave
over here.
Mr. Hinrichsen, who Uves in Hampstead, has
been a member of the AJR since its inception.
FRENCH HONOURS
Many Jews received awards in the Bastille
Day Honours List. M. Andre Maurois was
awarded the Grand Cross of the Legion of
Honour. Darius Milhaud, the composer, became
a Grand Officer of the Legion, as did ViceAdmiral Jacques Traub. M. Andr6 Blum,
vice-president of the Association of Free
French, was made a Commander of the Order.
The award of Officer of the Legion of Honour
was made to M. Jean-David Weill, conservator
of the national museums of France.
TSARIST ARTIST DISCOVERED
Mr. Joseph Tepper, a well-known Jewish
painter in Tsarist Russia, now in his eighties,
has been discovered living in the Eishel home
for the aged in Cuemavaca, near Mexico City.
Portraits of famous people whom Mr. Tepper
painted in his time included the Russian singer
Chaliapin and the Yiddish author and poet,
I. L. Peretz.
1
With the Compliments
of
DICK & GOLDSCHMIDT
LTD
London
W.l
Page 12
OBITUARY
MRS. HANNA PHILIPP
It is learned with deep regret that Mrs.
Hanna PhiUpp passed away suddenly. She
was a member of the AJR Board. During the
last war years and the early post-war period
she was also a regular voluntary helper at the
AJR head office. In those days of anxiety she
worked for the " Transmare" scheme, then
estabUshed by the AJR for recording the
names of relatives who had not been able to
leave Germany before the war. She also helped
to organise the AJR Clothing Collection for
survivors on the Continent. By her capable
and unassuming participation in the team
work, she gained the affection of all her colleagues on the staff.
Mrs. Philipp was also actively associated with
the efforts of Youth Aliyah and of Self-Aid for
Refugees. The urge of working for the benefit
of her fellow-refugees and fellow-Jews was part
of her personality, and she did what she considered necessary or was asked to do without
being prompted by any feelings of personal
ambition. At the same time, she enjoyed good
company and the beauties life has to offer. By
her sincerity and charm she acquired a wide
circle of friends, all of whom feel united with
her husband, our friend, Mr. Ernst Philipp, in
his bereavement.
ERWIN SEEGALL
Mit Erwin J. SeegaU, der am 8. August
wahrend eines Erholungsurlaubs in Bad
Schwalbach/Taunus gestorben ist, ist einer der
wenigen judischen Mitarbeiter des bundesdeutschen Auswartigen Dienstes dahingegangen. Mehr als ein Jahrzehnt war Seegall im
Wirtschaftsreferat der Deutschen Botschaft in
Neu-Delhi (Indien) tatig. Er hat sich in dieser
wichtigen Stellung viel Ansehen und Anerkennung erworben. Der Nachruf des Bundesaussenministers Dr. Gerhard Schroder spricht von
einem " vorbildlichen Mitarbeiter ".
Das Fliichtlingsschicksal hatte Erwin Seegall
Ende der 30er Jahre von Deutschland in das
nbrdliche Indien, damals noch britische
Kolonie, verschlagen, wo der Aufbau eines
neuen Erwerbslebens manches Schwere mit
sich brachte. Aber, ausdauernd und zuversichtlich, wie dieser von jeher arbeitsame Mann
war, vermochte er sich auch in der Fremde
durchzusetzen.
Wer Erwin Seegall als von seiner pommerschen Heimatssphare wie vom jiidischen KleinstadtmiUeu gepragten jungen und im judischen
Leben aktiven Juristen vor 30 und mehr Jahren
kennenlernte und ihm dann, vor wenigen
Jahren, in seinem sonnendurchgluteten Botschaftsbiiro gegeniibersass, fand ihn im Kern
seines Wesens fast vbllig unverandert. Die
Anhanglichkeit und das Interesse an alten
Freunden, insbesondere aus der einstigen
judischen Jugendbewegung, waren geblieben.
Er hat ein Alter von nur 62 Jahren erreicht.
E. G. LOWENTHAL.
DR. MARGARETE BERENT
The lawyer. Dr. Margarete Berent, died in
New York in her 78th year. She had studied
law and taken her doctorate before the
First World War, but was only admitted
to the State examinations when the ban on
female candidates was lifted, under the
Weimar Republic. In 1925 she became the
first woman lawyer to take up practice in Berlin. She was also a well-known author and
lecturer and took a leading part in the fight
for equal rights of women.
In 1933, when she was barred from practising, Margarete Berent became the responsible
official of the Rhineland District of the
" Reichsvertretung." She left Germany only a
few days before the outbreak of war and, after
a short stay in Chile, re-emigrated to the
U.S.A. in 1941. Under great difficulties she
took up legal studies again and, after having
passed her American examinations with distinction, worked with the legal department of
the New York Municipal Administration. At
the same time, as in Germany, she took an
active part in Jewish affairs.
ANNA HERZ
Mrs. Anna Herz died in Switzerland after a
long illness at the age of 70. For many years,
until her retirement through ill-health, she was
a welfare worker with Self Aid of Refugees.
She will be gratefully remembered by her
many friends, her former colleagues and all
who knew her.
Hers was a colourful personality, and she
was able to impart some of her enjoyment of
life to all who came in contact with her. This
rare gift will be sadly missed.
WOECHENTLICHE JET-FLUG GRUPPEN-REISEN
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CORDIAL TRAVEL
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Unter personlicher Leitung von Mr. L. Hersh.
Unser Biiro ist ieden Sonntag ron 10 o.m.-l p.m. geoffnet, an
Wochentogen von 9.30 a.m.-6 p.m., Geschlossen am Sabbath.
Such pretty things at Reasonable
Prices
MANtTFACTUREKa OF
Flasticisers and Stabilisers for P.V.C.
WetanCM
PiKinents, Finishes and Fatllquors
for Leather
Emulsifiers, Detergents and
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Polyethers for P o l y u r e t h a n e Foami
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CABLES LANMttO ECCLES U A N C H E S T E K
CCCLIt
Letters to the Editor
GERMAN-JEWISH DENTAL SURGEONS
Sir,—I have been approached by Dr. F. H.
Witt, who is in charge of the West German
" Forschungsinstitut fuer Geschichte der Zahnheilkunde " im Bundesverband der Deutschen
Zahrmerzte e.V." in Cologne-Lindenthal.
He informs me that it is intended to deal
either in a doctor's thesis or in a special publication, with the achievements of the following former members of the dental profession :
Dr. Konrad Cohn, born 1870, Berlin;
Dr. Oskar Pulvcrmacher,
Berlin, Potsdamer Str.;
Dr. Moritz Lipschitz, Berlin,
Tauentzienstr. 9.
Any reader who can supply
biographical
details, especially about the last period of the
lives of these three persormlities, should kindly
write to me.
Yours, etc.,
DR. F. G. SALOMON.
10 Newbridge Road,
Bath.
VIER EINSTELLUNGEN ZUM JUDENTUM ?
In Menachem Gersons Aufsatz " Martin
Bubers
Werk
im Deutschen
Judentum"
(August 1965) findet sich eine Theorie iiber
die deutschen Juden, die keiner
Wirklichkeit
entspricht.
Nach dieser Theorie gab es
" vier Einstellungen: Assimilation . . . der das
Judentum nicht der Fortfiihrung wert zu sein
schien",
"die
jiidischen
Kommunisten",
" den
politischen
Zionismus
und
die
Orthodoxie ".
Bei dieser Aufstellung
fehlen
mindesteris
80% der deutschen
Juden, ndmlich
die
durchschnittlichen,
die so jiidisch waren wie
sie einen rechten Arm hatten. Sie lebten in
ihrem jiidischen Kreis, sie hielten
Freitag
Abend, und wenn nicht Freitag
Abend
mi
imwettt
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Page 13
Pessach, und wenn nicht Pessach die Hohen
Feiertage^-das
Wort iiber die " Drei-TageJuden " ist nur toricht gewesen. Eine christliche Heirat gait ah Ungliick, und nichts ist
falscher als zu sagen, " dass ihnen das Judentum nicht der Fortfiihrung wert schien ". Sie
lebten mit den Sulzbachers
und
Feuchtwangers und Goldschmidts, sie
interessierten
sich fixr die Ulmer
Gotzens
und
die
Steppacher
Hirschmanns,
und sie
wussten
ganz genau, oder sie fiihlten, dass sie kein
Leben ausserhalb dieser Gemeinschaft
hatten.
Ernst Rowohlt sagte einmal zu mir: " Ich
bekomme
nie
genug
jiidische
Biicher.
Judisches Buch ? " Schon ein Erfolg ! Allein
die Bar-Mizwahs. Und falls es jemand nicht
wissen sollte, Ernst Rowohlt hatte nichts mit
Juden zu tun. Diese Bucher-Kdufer loaren die
80% ausserhalb der Gersonschen Juden.
Yours, etc.,
GABRIELE TERGIT.
London,
S.W.IS.
ALUMNI SOCIETY
Sir,—I wonder whether you could draw the
attention of your junior readers to the Alumni
Society (affiliated to the Liberal Jewish Synagogue, St. John's Wood). The basic aim of this
Society is to create a social atmosphere where
young people, from the ages of 17-18, of similar
and varied interests can meet. Our activities
include debates, dramatics, discussions and
parties. At present we have an active membership of 80, of which a large percentage are
at universtty.
I shall be happy to answer any enquiries.
Yours, etc.,
DIANA H. MOHR.
(Hon. Sec. Mem.)
I I Brim Hill,
London, N.2.
" MEIN KAMPF "
Copyright Refused
Last February, the Jewish Chronicle made
reference to Hutchinson's plan to publish
" Mein Kampf", debating the wisdom of
making it available in a cheap edition. The
Board of Deputies at that time also made
representations to Hutchinsons.
Now the Bavarian State Government, which
owns the copyright, has refused to grant permission for its publication because it regards
the book as antisemitic Uterature.
Mr. R. A. A. Holt, chairman of Hutchinsons,
confirmed that his firm had decided not to
pubUsh " Mein Kampf ", but declined to give
any reasons for the decision. He also refused
to comment when asked whether Hutchinsons
feared that a cheap edition might elicit the
wrong type of reaction from certain kinds of
reader. Hutchinsons are said to have told the
German Embassy that they felt they were discharging a duty to history by publishing the
book and that their action would be approved
by the general pubUc.
In advance publicity for the new edition
Hutchinsons stated that the introduction to the
book by Mr. D. C. Watt, senior lecturer in
international history at the London School of
Economics, would present the background to
Hitler, the origins of history of " Mein
Kampf " and a critical assessment of that book.
FILM ON RESCUE WORKERS
A feature film is to be made about the lives
of the Misses Ida and Louise Cook. The
sisters' bravery in rescuing Jews from Nazism
during the war was recently marked by a
presentation at the Israeli Embassy.
Page 14
DEPUTIES APPROACH SOVIET MINISTER
Round and About
Swastika Stamps
Private Schools' Discrimination
Despite protests in Parliament, postage
stamps incorporating the swastika in the
design, which the Post Office proposes to issue
this month to commemorate the Battle of
Britain, are not to be withdrawn. Mr. Anthony
Wedgwood-Benn, the Postmaster-General, told
M.P.s that the stamp was one of a block of six
designs depicting different aspects of the Battle
of Britain.
" The broken swastika, half-covered by the
sea, is shown on the shattered tail-fin of a
Luftwaffe bomber that has been shot down and
is sinking into the English Channel. Above,
four R.A.F. fighters ride triumphant. Since
that is what the Battle of Britain was all about,
I do not propose to withdraw the stamps."
M.P.s pointed out that the design would be
offensive to many who suffered under the
symbol of the swastika and that there was concern among many people at the appearance of
the swastika on a British stamp. Sir Barnett
Janner declared that the swastika was a recognised emblem of the advocates of genocide.
A protest was also made in the Lords. For
the Government. Lord Hohson replied that the
public was under no obligation to buy the
stamps, as normal stamps would be on sale at
the same time.
Mr. S. Teff, president of the Board of Deputies, sent a letter of protest to Mr. Benn before
the debate in Parliament. He stated that the
Board had received numerous complaints from
members of the Jewish community, to whom
the sight of the swastika in any form is offensive in the extreme. In a further letter the
Board, through Mr. Teff, pointed out that
the P.M.G.'s reply to M.P.s failed to meet the
objections raised. Mr. Teff added that the
swastika was being used by " neo-Nazis of this
and other countries with the most hateful
propaganda "—(J.C.)
In the House of Lords, Lord Brockway
demanded that private schools should not
discriminate against Jewish pupils. The occasion was the second reading in the House of
Lords of the Race Relations Bill. In schools
under pubUc authorities children were educated together whatever their colour or race,
said Lord Brockway. This principle should,
he believed, be extended to private schools.
In no schools in this country should racial
discrimination be practised.
FAMILY EVENTS
Birthday
No Separate Jewish Teachers' CoUege
A request to set up a State-aided Jewish
denominational college for the training of
teachers has been rejected by the Minister of
Education and Science, Mr. Anthony Crosland.
The conclusion reached by the Department of
Education and Science was that there were
not enough Jewish non-graduates to justify
setting up a separate Jewish college of
education.
Ex-Mayor Honoured
Mr. Arthur Howitt, a former Mayor of Richmond, celebrated his 80th birthday. He was
the founder of the Richmond Hebrew Congregation and is a former president of the Western
Synagogue. Ministers and laymen from all
sections of the Jewish community gathered at
the Western Synagogue to pay Mr. Howitt
tribute on the occasion.
Bamett Stross to Retire
Sir Barnett Stross. Labour M.P. for Stokeon-Trent for the past 20 years, will not be
contesting the next General Election. Sir
Barnett, aged 65, has decided to retire for
reasons of health.
Schwabach.—On July 31 in her
76th year, Mrs. Marianne Schwabach (nee Block), of 98 Princes
Park Avenue, N.W.ll.
Deeply
mourned by her family and the
many refugees to whom she opened
her house before and after the war.
Winterburgh.—Mr. Eugen Winterburgh, 64 King Edward's Gardens,
London, W.3, will celebrate his
75th birthday on September 27th.
" AJR Information ", to which Mr.
CLASSIFIED
Winterburgh has often contributed,
Situations Vacant
joins his relatives and friends in
conveying its heartiest congratula- Women
tions to him.
EXPERIENCED COOK Required
twice weekly, private household
Silver Wedding
N.W.B. Box 594.
Goodfriend.—Mr. and Mrs. F.
Situations Wanted
Goodfriend, of 11 Shirehall Lane,
London, N.W.4, celebrated their Men
silver wedding on August 22nd.
GERMAN
TRANSLATIONS,
typing, etc., by man of 62. Prompt
Deaths
and reliable. Box 601.
IMPORT-EXPORT OFFICE MANGottsehalk.—Mr. Adolf Gottschalk AGER due to retire end of month,
passed away peacefully on July reUable in all work of Home/InterSOth. Deeply mourned by his wife national Trade, intends carrying
Marga, brother and sister.
59
working and still good for conFleetwood Road, London, N.W.IO. on
siderable time, wishes to hear from
Philipp.—On August 16th, sud- well-known people interested in
denly at 87 Holland Park, London, capable man. Box 604.
W.ll, Hanna, dearly beloved wife FORMER BUSINESSMAN, middleaged, seeks work up to 6 hours per
of Ernst PhiUpp.
day as salesman, messenger or in
Rosenbaum.—Miss Recha Rosen- warehouse. Best references. Box
baum passed away on August 4. 605.
Deeply mourned by Margot RosenADAPTABLE
MAN,
baum, Anita, Walter and friends. A G I L E
25a Belsize Park Gardens, London, sixties, good references, seeks fulltime or part-time position as clerk,
N.W.3.
storekeeper, etc. Box 610.
Rubner.—Mrs. Paula Rubner, of 25
Grange Court, Leeds, 6, (formerly Women
of Vienna), passed away after a PERSONAL ASSISTANT/SECREshort illness in her 70th year. TARY. Position required by very
Deeply mourned by her twin efficient, experienced and reliable
daughters. Mrs. Liesl Dunston and lady.
English/German/French,
Mrs. Gretl Swanson, relatives and some Spanish, bookkeeping. Box
many friends.
603.
In a letter sent by the Board of Deputies to
the Soviet Embassy, an appeal was made to
Madame E. Furtseva, the Soviet Minister of
Culture, during her visit to London. The Board
asked for clarification of the cultural life and
situation of the estimated three million Jews
in the U.S.S.R. It was stated that the situation
gave the impression that it was the result of
administrative measures employed apparently
in an arbitrary way. These were intended to
estrange Jews from their own cultural and
traditional past, and to bring about their
assimilation by means contrary to the Soviet
practice, to the Constitution of the U.S.S.B..
and to the declarations of the Communist Party
on the cultural problems of minorities.
The Jewish Youth Committee for Russian
Jews also sent a letter putting eight questions
to the Soviet Minister.
MAX ROSTAL 60
The violinist. Max Rostal, recently celebrated his 60th birthday. A pupil of Arnold
Rose and Carl Flesch, he was awarded the
Mendelssohn Prize at the age of 20 and
appointed Professor at the Staatliche Hochschule fiir Musik when he was 25. He emigrated in 1933 and, from 1944 to 1958, taught
at the Guildhall School of Music in London.
Since 1953 he has been associated with the
Konservatorium der Musik in Berne. He is
also in charge of the annual tuition courses
for vioUn and viola, held in Adelboden
(Switzerland).
E.G.L.
LORD COHEN'S POST
Lord Cohen of Brighton has accepted an
invitation from the Minister of Public Building
and Works to be chairman of the independent
authority which the Government is to set up
to test and assess new building products and
innovations. He has expressed the wish that
he should be allowed to carry out this work
in an honorary capacity.
SECRETARY,
English/German/
French, bookkeeping, seeks parttime position. Box 600.
COMPANION — HELP / SITTERIN for adults and children seeks
part-time work. Good references.
Box 606.
ELDERLY WIDOW, skilled in
handicraft work (machine knitting,
finishing, pearl stringing) seeks
homework. Box 607.
HOMEWORK, typing or unskilled
work, wanted by middle-aged
woman. Box 608.
BOOKKEEPER/WAGES CLERK,
Import/Export,
German
correspondence,
seeks
change
of
position after 25 years, due to
firm's moving. Box 609.
Acconunodation Vacant
CAMBRIDGE—Luxurious accommodation in cultured private house
with gardens and deckchairs, bath,
h. & c , TV, radio, telephone, central heating, use of kitchen, fridge,
etc. 30s. per person per night.
Meals and service if desired. Box
596.
NICE BEDSITTING ROOM to let,
central heated block of flats, constant hot water, lift, use of
kitchen. Hampstead, 5 gns. per
week. Box 599.
VERY NICE BEDSITTING ROOM,
h. & c. w., gas fire, gas ring. One or
two persons, N.W.2. area. 'Phone :
GLAdstone 4641.
Accommodation Wanted
ELDERLY ORTHODOX Gentleman, seeks room with part or full
board, ground or 1st floor, near
Finchley Road or Frognal stations.
Box 597.
ELDERLY
BACHELOR,
very
active, seeks pleasant home with
central heating and partial board
in London. Box 602.
Personal
ELDERLY WIDOWER (not an
invalid) wishes to share his comfortable house, on favourable
terms, with middle-aged lady and
one or two of her female relations.
Two kitchens, two bathrooms,
home help and car kept. Box 598.
WIDOW, good-looking,
middl^
aged, wishes to meet educated
gentleman, object friendship and
companionship. Box 595.
AJR Needlewomen Service
WOMEN available for alterations,
mending, handicrafts. 'Phone MAI4449.
Miscellaneous
RADIO SET wanted for Old Age
Pensioner. AJR Social Services
Department, MAI. 4449.
A L T E R A T I O N S WANTED ?
'Phone experienced dressmaker for
best work. HAMpstead 8775.
MISSING PERSONS
Enquires by AJR
Kaiser.—Heirs or relatives of the
late Dr. Sigismund Kaiser, who
died on August 4, 1961 (last
address 11a Eton Rise. Eton College Road, London, N.W.3), sought
in connection with restitution
claim.
Katz.—Siegfried Katz, last known
address 776 Finchley Road, London, N.W.ll.
Wanted in connection vvith a restitution claim.
Page 15
NEWS IN BRIEF
SECRETARY-GENERAL OF W.J.C.
Dr. Gerhart M. Riegner, member of the
World Jewish Congress Executive, Consultant
to the European Headquarters of the United
Nations and specialised agencies, was elected
Secretary-General of the W.J.C. Dr. Riegner
was born the son of a Berlin lawyer in 1911
and studied law and political science. He
emigrated in 1933. When the W.J.C. was
founded in 1936 he was appointed legal secretary to its Geneva office. He became Director
of "that office in 1939 and, during the war,
played an historic role in uncovering the extermination plan of the Nazi regime. He passed
on to AlUed headquarters the information he
had received from a reliable German source,
but the warnings were not heeded. After the
war Dr. Riegner co-ordinated the work of the
W.J.C. Isranches.
WHO CAN HELP?
Grand Piano for Home Required
As readers know, the House Committees of
the Homes for the Aged, jointly run by the
AJR and the C.B.F., regularly arrange concerts and other functions for the benefit of
the residents. These functions are always
greatly enjoyed by the old people, many of
whom are no longer able to leave their house.
It would be of great help, if for one of the
Homes a grand piano could be made available.
Readers or friends of theirs who wish to
dispose of their instrument and are prepared
to donate it to the Home should kindly contact
the AJR (8 Fairfax Mansions, London, N.W.3).
Donations towards the costs for necessary
repairs are also welcome.
JEWISH COMMUNITY MEMBERSHIP
IN GERMANY AUTOMATIC
The local federal administration court gave
its ruUng in a test case between the West Berlin community and a former local Jew now
living in Italy, who refused to pay communal
taxes.
The Jewish community took its stand on the
Prussian law of 1847, still in force, and the
community's statutes. According to this law,
every citizen born of a Jewish mother automatically becomes a member of the Jewish
community in his place of residence.
The West Berlin court has now supported
this view.
AUSTRLVN JEW HONOURED
The Gold Decoration of Honour for Services
to the Republic of Austria has been awarded
to Dr. Wilhelm Krell, executive director of the
Viennese Jewish Community Council. The
honour was accorded for Dr. Krell's contribution to the country's compensation laws.
Dr. Krell has been secretary-general of the
Austrian Jewish community since 1947, a member of the committee for the restitution of
victims of Nazism since 1949 and a member of
the managing board of their assistance fund
since 1956.
BEN URI ART FUND
The Ben Uri Art Society council has
announced that a special fund is to be established to purchase paintings by contemporary
Jewish artists for the Ben Uri permanent
collection. It is also intended to mount an
annual exhibition of Israeli paintings and
sculpture.
SIMAR HOUSE
DICTIONARY AMENDMENT
Following a complaint by a Jewish purchaser, Odhams Books Ltd. are to expunge an
offensive definition of the word " Jew " from
all future editions of their Concise English
Dictionary. The present edition describes a
Jew as " member of the Hebrew branch of the
Semitic race; Israelite; believer in the Hebrew
religion; (slang) extortionist, bargainer or
moneylender; Jew, to cheat, outwit".
Similar definitions appear in the Concise
Oxford Dictionary and other standard reference books. A spokesman of the Oxford
University Press stated that the definition had
been included on historical grounds and would
therefore not be removed. He pointed out,
however, that certain emendations had been
made in the most recent edition of the dictionary. Terms such as " rich as a Jew " and
" unbeUeving Jew" had been deleted. The
definition of the verb " to jew " as " cheat",
" overreach " had been entirely removed.
The editor of the Chambers's Dictionary
declared in a statement to the Jewish Chronicle
that the function of a dictionary is to record
what people say. The meaning of the noun
" Jew " could not be taken out but he thought
that when the dictionary was reset a different
comment should be put on it.
JEWISH STUDENTS' SETTLEMENT IN
STRASBOURG
A Jewish Students' Settlement will be
opened in Strasbourg shortly. It will provide
accommodation for 120 residents and also comprise premises for cultural activities, a library
and a kosher restaurant. The settlement,
which is run under the auspices of the Strasbourg Jewish community, bears the name of
" Cite Laure Weil."
TADLEY COURT
The private Continental Hotel
TADLEY COMMON, BASINGSTOKE
10-12 Herbert Road
BOURNEMOUTH WEST
KOSHER REST & CONVALESCENT
HOME FOR GENTLEFOLK
As always, the House with the
home-like atmosphere
and its beautiful gardens.
CENTRALLY HEATED
Open the whole year
DIETS on request
IDEAL FOR A SHORT HOLIDAY OR HOME FOR YOUR RETIREMENT
within easy reach of Sea and Town Centre
Visit us or write for Brochure.
Mrs. MARGOT SMITH
'Phone: Westbourne 64176
'Phone : Heath End 312
In four acres of beautiful grounds, between Reading and Basingstoke, this charming
house combines all the amenities of a country hotel with day and night attention
by a qualified Nursing Staff.
SUN-LOUNGE.
BRIDGE ROOM.
FULL CENTRAL HEATING.
SPECIAL DIETS.
C a t e r i n g with a difference
foods of all nations for formal or
informal occasions—in your own home
or any venue.
Free consultations—please 'phone
The Exclusive
Salon de Corseterie
Mrs. ILLY LIEBERMAN
Mme H. LIEBERG
WEStern 2872
'THE HOUSE ON THE HILL'
Nursery and Kindergarten
5 NETHERHALL GARDENS, N.W.3
871
Newest shades in hosiery.
EXPERT CT QUALIFIED FITTERS
ARLET"
77 ST. GABRIEL'S ROAO. N.W.Z
visitors to London and permanent guests
are welcomed in my exclusively furnished
and cultivated Private Hotel.
Occasional meals provided.
Central heating throughout.
Garden,
TV. etc.
Good residential district.
'Phone : GLA. 4029
MRS.
LOTTE SCHWARZ
169a Finchley Road, N.W.3
(MAI.
6301)
COMFORTABLE HOME
FOR OLD LADIES
Moderate Terms
68 Shoot-up Hill, N.W.2
'Phone : GLA. 5S3S
Mr. & Mrs. H. Schreiber,
THE CONTINENTAL HOTEL
9 Church Rood,
Southbourne, Bournemouth
'Phone ; Bournemouth 48804.
AJR CHARITABLE
TRUST
PARTIES CATERED FOR
These ore the ways in which you
can help :
HARROGATE
CONTRIBUTIONS UNDER
COVENANT
Comfortably furnished bed-sittingrooms for short or long periods.
Central heating. Meals by
arrangement.
MRS. M. EGER.
3
•"••ospectus from the Principal, H A M . 1662
HOUSE
THE DORICE
Continental Cuisine—Licensed
FINCHLEY ROAD, N . W . l l
'Phone : SPEedwell 8673
Ready-made and to measure.
HOME PRODUCE.
We are fully booked from 1st Sepfember, 1965, to 15th April, 1966,
with winter residents but would
welcome enquiries for the summer
season 1966.
SPRINGFIELD AVENUE,
HARROGATE
Do you want comfort and
every convenience,
First-Class Accommodation
On lieu of your membership subscription
to the AJR)
A Covenant commits the covenanter
for a period of seven years or for his
titetime. whichever period is shorter.
GIFTS IN YOUR LIFETIME
A BEQUEST I N YOUR
WILL
Ask for particulars from :
The Secretary. AIR Charitable Trust.
S Fairfax Mansions. London, N.W.S.
room with own bath, excellent Continental
food, TV. lo'-nge. gardens ?
Mrs. A. WOLFF,
3 Hemstol Road, N.W.6
(MAI.
8521)
Space donated bv
TRADE CUTTERS LIMITED.
Britannia Wsrki, 2S St. Pancras Way,
N.W.1.
Page 16
NEWS A B O U T
ROCKET SCIENTISTS
ISRAEL
Protest to Austrian Foreign Minister
BELSEN LIBERATION ANNIVERSARY
GERMANY'S MORAL DUTY
In Tel Aviv, Mr. Josef Rosensaft, of New
York, the president of the World Union of Survivors of Bergen-Belsen, addressed the opening meeting of a week-long series of events in
Israel marking the twentieth anniversary of
the liberation of the concentration camp. In
his address he alleged that Jewish leaders had
allowed survivors to linger there for five years
after the Liberation. " These same leaders ",
he said, " failed to attend the week-long celebrations and they are also absent tonight ".
Brigadier H. L. Glyn Hughes, who commanded the British unit which took over the
camp at the end of the war, said that thousands
of Germans now visiting the national park
opened on the camp site stated that they knew
nothing of its function. " But they knew, all
Germans knew, and we must not forget", he
declared.
Mr. Levi Eshkol, the Israeli Prime Minister,
and Brigadier Glyn Hughes, addressed a meeting in the Habimah Theatre in Tel Aviv, as
part of the ceremonies. The Prime Minister
told the Brigadier : " We owe to you and your
nation, and to all nations which took part in
crushing Nazism, a debt of gratitude. Perhaps
your presence here carries a grain of atonement for the great sin committed by those
nations which had the power to prevent the
Holocaust and did nothing."
Ernst Simon Addresses Church Congress
BRASSIERES, CORSETS
AND CORSELETS
All made to measure
MRS. A. MAYER
'Phone No.: SPE. 1451
Professor Ernst Simon, of the Hebrew University, in Cologne addressed an audience of
some 3,000 at a session of the twelfth congress
of the German Evangelical Church, dealing
with Christian-Jewish issues.
He put forward the view that had it not been
for the Nazi persecution of the Jews the State
of Israel might well have been established
without open military conflict with the Arabs,
although it would have taken much longer.
The chaotic conditions accompanying the
establishment of the State of Israel were, he
said, a consequence of the Nazi regime, which
had also supported the former Mufti of Jerusalem. Hitler's Germany had thus done more
than commit mass murder and other crimes.
All these facts imposed on Germany the moral
duty to aid Israel's security and to do the
utmost possible to promote peace in the Middle
East. A German policy of peace in the Middle
East would be an act of reparation for Nazi
wrongs. The German people could not bring
back the dead to life, said Professor Simon,
but it could help prevent new wars and new
murders. His speech was warmly applauded.
M. SULZBACHER
JEWISH Si HEBREW BOOKS (aiso purchased)
4 Sneath Arenue, Golders Green Rd.,
London, N . W . l l . Tel.: SPE. 1694
DEUTSCHE BUECHER
SHIPPING ORDER TO BRITISH FIRM
An Israeli shipping company. Cargo Ships
El Yam (Haifa), has ordered four bulk-cargo
carriers from the Tees-side Furness Shipbuilding Company. The total value of the contract,
£11 million, represents the second largest
order ever given to a single British shipyard.
(The largest, valued at £14 million, was placed
a week earlier by Norway. )The ships, to be delivered during 1967 and
1968, will be powered by diesel engines. They
will be used for transporting general cargo
(including coal, sulphur and grain).—(J.C.)
PHOTOCOPIES
HIGHEST PRICES
QUICK and RELIABLE
paid for
GOLDERSTAT
25 Downham Rood, N.l
•Phone : CLIssold 5464 (5 lines)
54 Golders Gardens, N . W . I I
'Phone: SPEedwell 5643
FOR THE HIGH FESTIVALS
Machsorim, Taleisim, Cops,
Luachs 5726 (at 1/-)
All ritual requisites.
Professor Wolfgang Pilz, the West German
rocket scientist who headed the research team
working for Egypt, is now living in Austria.
It is understood that his contract ran out and
he declined to renew it. Professor Pilz is the
last leading German rocket expert to return
from Cairo. Professor Goerke and Professor
Kleinwaechter preceded him some time ago.
The A ustrian-Jewish community has protested to the country's Foreign Minister at the
presence in Egypt of Austrian scientists working on Cairo's armament programme. The
Minister stated that the matter would be put
before the Cabinet when it reconvenes after
the summer holidays.—(J.C.)
K«
Q L
(ELECTRICAL I
INSTALLATIONS)!
U .
Wir interessieren uns ouch
fiJr Ihre mitgebrachten
deutschen Bucher und
Autographen
T Q
199b Belsize Road, N.W.6
MAI. 2646/KIL. 2646
Electrical Contractors & Stockists
of oil Electrical Appliances.
OFFICIALLY APPOINTED HOOVER
SERVICE DEALERS
LIBRIS (LONDON) LTD.
38a BOUNDARY ROAD,
LONDON. N.W.S
Director : Dr. I. Suschltzkv
'Phone : M A I . 3030
5 Garson House, Gloucester
Terrace, London, W.2
Tel.: AMBassador 1564
18 CRAWFORD STREET, BAKER STREET, W . l
Large selection of all typts of travel goods,
especially Air Travel Cases.
A.'l travel goods repaired.
Old trunks and cases bought.
FAIRFIELD & FUCHS
267 West End Lane. N.W.6
GRANGE TRAVEL SERVICE LTD.
59 COLDHARBOUR LANE, HAYES, MIDDLESEX
Tel.:
MR.
HAYes 5517-9.
J. G.
Cables:
Grange, Hayes. Middx.
Under the personal supervision of
J. BARON. M.T.A.l.. DIRECTOR & GENERAL
MANAGER
FOR ALL TRAVEL. TOURS, CAR BOOKINGS AND INSURANCE,
AIR AND RAIL TICKETS, HOTEL RESERVATIONS, TRAVELLERS"
CHEQUES & FOREIGN CURRENCIES, SIGHTSEEING & EXCURSIONS,
THEATRE TICKETS, AGENTS FOR ALL TOUR OPERATORS.
TOURS TO ISRAEL A SPECIALITY
The WIGMORE LAUNDRY Ltd.
RICH'S SHOE REPAIR SERVICE
now at 250 Finchley Rd. (Palace
Court), N.W.S, and 133 Hamilton
Rood, N . W . n
WE COLLECT A N D DELIVER
•PHONE H A M . 1336. SPE. 7463
(HAMpstead 0748)
H. KAUFMANN
Painting & Decorating
Specialising in
High-class Interior Decorating
Built-in Furniture, General Woodwork, Formica work
(off Edgware Road)
'Phone HAMpstead 2602
SHOE REPAIRS
S. DIENSTAG
99 FRAMPTON ST., N.W.S
ALWAYS A T YOUR PERSONAL SERVICE
LUGGAGE REPAIRS
TIME
F. FRIEDLAND
INTERIOR FITTINGS
WEL. 2S28
All Makes Bought, Sold & Exchanged.
Repairs, Maintenance.
STETS GESUCHT!
R. & E. STEINER (BOOKS)
WE GO ANYWHERE, ANY
201 Wembley Hill Rood,
Wembley, Middx. (ARNold 5525)
STANDARD SEWING MACHINE SERVICE Ltd
ELITE TYPEWRITER Co. Ltd.
Aus
alien
Wissensgebieten,
Bibliophile und Erstousgoben,
Autographen, Illustrierte Werke
Gentlemen's cast-off Clothing,
Suitcases, Trunks, etc.
CONTINENTAL LAUNDRY SPECIAUSTS
Most London Districts Served
SHE. 4575 brings us by radio
Write or 'phone the Manager,
24-hour telephone service
MR. E. HEARN, 1 STRONSA ROAD, LONDON, W.12
Printed at the Sharon Press, 31 Furnival Street. E.C.4
Phone:
PAD. 3714/GLA. 8917
RABENSTEI^ Ltd.
Kosher Butchers, Poulterers
and
Sausage Manufacturers
Under supervision of the Beth Din
Wholesalers
of
and
Retailers
first-class
Continental
Sausages
Daily Deliveries
11 Fairhazel Gardens, N.W.6
'Phone : MAI. 3224 and MAI. 9236
GERMAN BOOKS
bought by
Continental Book Supply
Write to :
F. Steiner, 96 Greencroft Gardens.
London, N.W.6.
or 'phone M A I . 6892
DAS ENTSCHAEDIGUNGS-SCHLUSSGESETZ
dargesteUt von
Dr. ERICH COHN (London)
und
MARTIN STRANZ (London)
Sonderbeilage zu „AJR Information"
September 1965
Dr. Erich Colm (London)
DAS ENTSCHAEDIGUNGS-SCHLUSSGESETZ
Durch das Bundesentschaedigungsgesetz (BEG) vom Jahre 1956 sollte die Entschaedigung der Verfolgten ihre abschliessende Regelung
erfahren. Im Verlauf der Durchfuehrung hat sich jedoch die Notwendigkeit ergeben, das Gesetz in einer Reihe von Punkten zu ergaenzen.
Das nunmehr geschaffene Schlussgesetz ist daher nicht ein vollkommen neues Gesetz. Es ist ein Aenderungsgesetz, das zum Ziele hat,
das BEG zu verbessem, bestehende Luecken zu schliessen und Unklarheiten zu beseitigen. Daraus folgt, dass Verfolgte, denen bereits nach
dem BEG Ansprueche auf Entschaedigung zustanden, die bisher aber nicht mindestens einen Anspruch rechtzeitig angemeldet hatten, die
versaeumte Anmeldung jetzt nicht nachholen koennen. Sie koennen nur solche Ansprueche geltend machen, die erst durch das Schlussgesetz
vollkommen neu geschaffen sind.
Dagegen kann ein Verfolgter, der rechtzeitig, d.h. bis zum 1. April 1958, irgend einen Antrag auf Entschaedigung fuer eigenen Schaden
gestellt hatte, oder dem Wiedereinsetzung in den vorigen Stand gewaehrt war, noch andere eigene (nicht ererbte) Ansprueche, die ihm schon
nach dem bisherigen Gesetz zustanden, deren Anmeldung er aber versaeumt hat, bis zum 31. Dezember 1%5, also sehr kurzfristig,
nachschieben. Ebenso kann ein Berechtigter, der rechtzeitig einen ererbten oder einen Hinterbliebenen—Anspruch nach einem bestimmten
Verfolgten angemeldet hatte, innerhalb derselben kurzen Frist noch weitere ererbte Ansprueche nach demselben Verfolgten nachmelden.
Die Grundlage der Entschaedigung bildet somit das bisherige Gesetz, dessen Inhalt von K. Friedlander in der Beilage der „ AJR
Information " vom August 1956 ausfuehrlich wiedergegeben ist. In der nachfolgenden Zusammenfassung kann es sich nur darum handeln,
die Abaenderungen und Verbesserungen in dem Schlussgesetz in den wesentlichen Grundzuegen darzustellen. Soweit diese Abaenderungen
neue oder erweiterte Ansprueche oder Beweis—Erleichterungen gegenueber dem bisherigen Gesetz gewaehren, ist fuer deren Beruecksichtigung
ein Antrag erforderUch, der bis zum 30. September 1%6 zu stellen ist.
Bei alien eingereichten Antraegen hat eine Darstellung des Sachverhaltes mit Angabe von Beweismitteln und Angaben ueber Art und
Umfang des Anspruchs zur Vermeidung des Ausschlusses bis zum 30. September 1966 zu erfolgen.
Nach dem BEG sind grundsaetzUch nur die aus Deutschland stammenden Verfolgten voll berechtigt, waehrend Verfolgte aus Gebieten,
die nicht am 31. Dezember 1937 zum Deutschen Reich gehoert haben, z.B. aus den ausserdeutschen Vertreibungsgebieten, nur beschraenkte
Oder auch gar keine Entschaedigungs-Ansprueche haben. BezuegUch dieser ..Besonderen Verfolgtengruppen" wird auf die gesonderte
DarsteUung (S. 7 und 8) ueber ,,Ausserhalb des frueheren Deutschen Reichs verfolgte Personen" verwiesen.
I. ERWEITERUNG DES KREISES DER
VOLLBERECHTIGTEN
1. Danzig
Die Verfolgten aus Danzig hatten bisher nur beschraenkte
Anspnieche, weil Danzig nicht zu dem Deutschen Reich in den
Grenzen vom 31. Dezember 1937 gehoerte. Durch das Schlussgesetz
werden sie mit rueckwirkender Kraft voU anspruchsberechtigt und
zwar auch dann, wenn sie frueher weder deutsche Staatsangehoerige
noch deutsche Volkszugehoerige waren. Fuer sie gilt die neue
Anmeldefrist bis zum 30. September 1966. Hat ein dem deutschen
Sprach- und Kulturkreis zugehoeriger Verfolgter aus Danzig bereits
unter dem bisherigen Gesetz nach den Vorschriften fuer die Vertriebenen rechtzeitig Entschaedigung beantragt, so kann er weitere
Ansprueche, die ihm bereits nach den Vorschriften fuer die Vertriebenen zustanden (z.B. wegen Koerperschadens) nur bis zum
31.12.65 nachschieben (hierueber siehe Vorbemerkung). Hat aber
ein solcher Verfolgter unter dem bisherigen Gesetz keine Anmeldung
vorgenommen, so wird er mit Anspruechen, die ihm nach dem
bisherigen Gesetz wegen Freiheits- oder Koerperschaden bereits
zustanden, wegen Fristversaeumung ausgeschlossen sein.
Neu sind fuer sie nicht nur die fuer alle anderen VoUberechtigten
neu geschaffenen Ansprueche, sondern insbesondere auch der
Anspruch wegen Ausbildungschadens, Eigentum- und Vermoegensschadens einschliesslich Auswanderungskosten, und wegen
Geldstrafen und Bussen. Wegen der Gleichstellung mit den anderen
VoUberechtigten ist die Erhoehung der Berufschadensansprueche
(Kapitalentschaedigung oder Rente) von besonderer Bedeutung.
Die GleichsteUung von Danzig mit dem Reichsgebiet kann auch neue
Entschaedigungsansprueche fuer die Verfolgten aus dem Reichsgebiet
schaffen, soweit fuer sie ein Schaden, der zur Entschaedigung
berechtigt, in Danzig entstanden ist.
2. „ Rueckwanderer "
Durch die Rechtsprechung wurde die Uebersiedlung eines verfolgten
Auslaenders aus dem Reichsgebiet in das Land seiner Staatsangehoerigkeit nicht als Auswanderung anerkannt. Diese sogenannten
Rueckwanderer waren daher nach dem BEG ueberhaupt nicht
anspruchsberechtigt. Die neue gesetzliche Regelung gibt ihnen die
voUen Ansprueche, wenn sie vor dem 8. Mai 1945 aus Verfolgungsgruenden ihren Wohnsitz oder dauemden Aufenthalt aus dem
Reichsgebiet oder aus Danzig verlegt haben.
3. Tod des Verfolgten in Mittel- oder Ostdeutschland
Nach dem BEG hatten die Erben eines Verfolgten, der in Deutschland verstorben war, nur dann Ansprueche, wenn sein Tod iw
jetzigen Bundesgebiet erfolgt war. War er dagegen in dem fnieheren
Reichsgebiet ausserhalb des jetzigen Bundesgebiets (also Mitteldeutschland und Ostdeutschland) oder Danzig verstorben, so hatten
seine Erben keine Ansprueche, mit Ausnahme etwaiger Ansprueche
fuer Schaden an Leben. Auch hier erweitert das Schlussgesetz den
Kreis der Berechtigten. Die Anspnieche sind zwar nach wie vor
nicht vererblich. Ist ein Verfolgter bis zum 31. Dezember 1952 in
diesen Gebieten verstorben, so hat aber die nicht wiederverheiratete,
von der Verfolgung mitbetroffene Witwe einen eigenen Anspruch
auf Entschaedigung insoweit, als ein etwaiger Anspruch des Verfolgten
auf sie im Erbwege uebergegangen waere. Ist z.B. ein Verfolgter in
Magdeburg verstorben, so kann nunmehr seine Witwe Kapitalentschaedigung fuer Berufschaden, Schaden an Vermoegen und
Eigentum, Freiheitsschaden und alle weiteren Ansprueche, die das
BEG gibt, bis zum 30. September 1966 anmelden. Sie kann auch
wegen des Berufschadens die Rente waehlen, wenn beim Tode des
Ehemannes die allgemeinen Voraussetzungen fuer die Rentenwahl
vorlagen.
Die Ansprueche der Witwe sind nicht vererblich.
4. Zwangsweise Zurueckfuelu'ung eines Deportierten in
das Reichsgebiet
Der Anspruch entfaeUt im Gegensatz zur bisherigen Rechtsprechung nicht deswegen, weil ein deportierter Verfolgter zwangsweise ins Reichsgebiet zurueckgebracht wurde und damit der
Zustand der Deportation ueber die Grenzen des Reichs hinaus sein
Ende gefunden hatte.
n.
NEUE UND
ERWEITERTE ANSPRUECHE
In der nachfolgenden Darstellung werden die Aenderungen, die
fuer die Berechtigten von besonderer Wichtigkeit erscheinen, vorweg
behandelt.
1. Witwen der Verfolgten
Das Schlussgesetz bringt erhebliche Aenderungen fuer die
Rentenberechtigung der Witwen der Verfolgten.
(a) Lebensschaden
Bei Schaden am Leben haengt die Hoehe der Rente von den
wirtschaftlichen Verhaeltnissen des Hinterbliebenen ab. Aendern
sich diese z.B. durch neue oder erhoehte Sozialrenten oder andere
Einnahmen, aber auch durch Ertraege aus der Aniage von Ent-
schaedigungszahlungen, so kann die Rente neu festgesetzt werden,
wenn die neu zu errechnende Rente um mindestens 10% von der
zuletzt festgesetzten Rente abweicht. Grundsaetzlich ist diese
Bestimmung aufrecht erhalten, ebenso wie die Pfiicht der Berechtigten,
wirtschaftliche Aenderungen der Behoerde alsbald anzuzeigen und
ausserdem die jaehrlichen Fragebogen zu beantworten. Jedoch
findet in Zukunft (nicht fuer die Vergangenheit) bei Hinterbliebenen,
die das 68. Lebensjahr vollendet haben, eine neue Festsetzung nur
dann statt, wenn die neu errechnete Rente um mindestens 30% von
der festgesetzten Rente abweicht. Das wird fast ausnahmslos dazu
fuehren, dass eine Aenderung der Renten der Witwen, die dieses
Alter erreicht haben, nur noch insoweit eintreten wird, als sie an
einer aUgemeinen Rentenerhoehung teilnehmen werden. Dabei
hat der Wiedergutmachungsausschuss die Erwartung ausgesprochen,
dass die Entschaedigungs-Behoerden die Befragung der Verfolgten
(Fragebogen) so weit wie moegUch vermeiden oder einschraenken
werden.
Das Bundesfinanzministerium hat zugesagt, die Durchfuehrungsverordnung dahingehend zu aendern, dass Ertraege aus nutzbringend
angelegten Entschaedigungsleistungen kuenftig nicht mehr zu einer
Herabsetzung der Rente fuehren.
Eine weitere Verbesserung wird nur einen kleinen Kreis von
Berechtigten, insbesondere die Witwen von Beamten einschUessUch
der juedischen Gemeindebeamten, betreffen. Haben diese wegen
des Todes des Verfolgten ausser der Beamtenwitwenpension oder
anderen nicht entschaedigungsrechtlichen Versorgungsbezuegen aus
deutschen oeffentUchen Mitteln einen Anspnich auf Rente wegen
Schadens am Leben, so wurde ihnen bisher von der ihnen zustehenden
Lebensschadensrente der Betrag abgezogen, um den die Beamtenpension DM 200,—monatUch ueberstieg. Insoweit „ nihte " die
Rente. Diese Bestimmung ist mit Wirkung von der Verkuendung
des Schlussgesetzes (also nicht fuer die Vergangenheit) aufgehoben.
Das wird zu einer nicht unerheblichen Erhoehung der Zahlung fuer
die Rente wegen Schadens am Leben fuehren. Ein Antrag an die
Entschaedigungs-Behoerde wird die Aufnahme der erhoehten
Zahlung beschleunigen.
Die Rentenwahl ist bis zum 30. September 1%6 zu erklaeren.
(cc) Hoehe der Berufsschadens-Witwenrente.
Die Witwenrente
betraegt 60% der Rente, die dem Ehemann zugestanden hat oder
zugestanden haette. Soweit beim Zusammentreffen mit anderen
Renten nicht eine Sonderregelung, wie z.B. beim Zusammentreffen
mit Lebensschaden oder Gesundheitsschaden getroffen ist, gilt nach
dem BEG folgender Gnindsatz:
,, Auf die Rente sind andere Versorgungsbezuege aus deutschen
oeffentUchen Mitteln anzurechnen, die den Betrag von DM 150,—
uebersteigen."
Solche Versorgungsbezuege sind z.B. eine Rente fuer eigenen Benifsschaden und eine Rente aus der Angestellten- oder Invalidenversicherung. Durch die Anrechnung aUer Betraege ueber die
Freigrenze von DM 150,—fuehrte das zu einer Kuerzung, bisweilen
sogar zum Wegfall der Berufsschadens-Witwenrente.
Hier bringt das Schlussgesetz zwei Verbesserungen :
1. Der Freibetrag von DM 150,—wird ab 1. Januar 1%1 auf
DM 200,—, ab 1. Oktober 1964 auf DM 230,—, erhoeht.
2. Eine deutsche Sozialrente aus eigenem Recht wird nicht mehr
angerechnet.
Obwohl auch diese Verbesserungen erst mit der Verkuendung des
Schlussgesetzes in Kraft treten, folgt doch aus den angefuehrten
Daten (1.1.1961 und 1.10.1964) eine rueckwirkende Kraft.
(b) Berufsschadens-Witwenrente
(aa) Tod des Ehemannes nach dem 1. Oktober 1953. Nach dem
BEG hatte die Witwe nur dann einen Anspruch auf Rente, wenn die
Ehe bis zum 1. Oktober 1953 geschlossen war. Nach dem Schlussgesetz steht auch denjenigen Witwen die Rente zu, die erst nach dem
1. Oktober 1953 bis zum 29. Juni 1956 die Ehe geschlossen haben.
War die Rente fuer den Ehemann vor seinem Tode bereits festgesetzt, so kann seine Witwe jetzt die Witwenrente verlangen.
War die Rente, zu deren Wahl der Ehemann noch berechtigt gewesen
waere, bei seinem Tode noch nicht festgesetzt, so kann die Witwe
das Wahlrecht ausueben, falls sie selbst Verfolgte oder von der
Verfolgung mitbetroffen ist.
In der neuen Bestimmung wird bei Eheschliessung nach dem
1. Oktober 1953 bis zum 29. Juni 1956 auch eine rueckwirkende
Erweitening des Rentenanspruchs des verstorbenen Ehemannes
Uegen, weil er nunmehr auch die Versorgung seiner Witwe umfasst.
Hatte er bereits die fuer ihn festgesetzte Kapitalentschaedigung
angenommen und die Frist zur Rentenwahl vor seinem Tode verstreichen lassen, so wird die Witwe noch jetzt die Rentenwahl bis
zum 30. September 1966 erklaeren koennen.
(bb) Tod des Ehemannes vor dem 1. Oktober 1953. Starb der
Ehemann vor dem 1. Oktober 1953, so stand der Witwe nach dem
BEG keine Rente wegen seines Berufsschadens zu. Die Erben hatten
nur einen Anspruch auf Kapitalentschaedigung. Hier bringt das
Schlussgesetz eine wesentUche Verbesserung. Lagen beim Tode
des Mannes fuer ihn die gesetzhchen Voraussetzungen fuer die
Rentenwahl vor, so hat seine Witwe nunmehr einen Anspruch auf
Rente, wenn sie selbst Verfolgte ist oder von der Verfolgung mitbetroffen war. Der Antrag der Witwe, mit Begruendung, ist ebenfalls
bis zum 30. September 1966 zu steUen.
Es wird darauf hingewiesen, dass diesen Witwen eine Rente nicht
immer, sondem nur dann zusteht, wenn die besonderen genannten
Voraussetzungen vorliegen. Wird die Rente bewilligt, so beginnt
sie vom 1. Januar 1960. Eine an die Erben bereits gezahlte Kapitalentschaedigung wird angerechnet, mit der Massgabe, dass der Witwe
mindestens drei Viertel der laufenden Rente verbleiben.
Die Bestimmung gilt auch fuer die Witwen der Verfolgten, die
bis zum 31. Dezember 1952 in Ost- oder Mitteldeutschland oder
Danzig verstorben sind.
(b) Vererblichkeit
Nach dem bisherigen Gesetz war der Ausbildungsschaden nicht
vererblich. Nach dem Schlussgesetz geht der Anspruch, wenn er
dem verstorbenen Verfolgten zugestanden haette, auf die Erben
nach den aUgemeinen Grundsaetzen ueber, bei Tod vor dem
1. Oktober 1953 nur auf bestimmte privilegierte Erben. Auch diese
Verbesserung hat rueckwirkende Kraft.
Auch hier ist der Antrag bis zum 30. September 1966 zu steUen
und zu begruenden.
2. Ausbildungsschaden
(a) Pauschalentschaedigung
Beim AusbUdungsschaden ist die bisherige Unterscheidung
zwischen denjenigen Geschaedigten, die ihre AusbUdung nachgeholt
haben und denjenigen, die sie nicht nachgeholt haben, weggefaUen.
Nach dem Schlussgesetz erhaelt jeder, der in seiner Ausbildung nicht
nur geringfuegig geschaedigt ist, eine Pauschalentschaedigung von
DM 10.000. Auch diese erhoehte Entschaedigung wird nur auf
Antrag, der bis zum 30. September 1966 zu stellen ist, gewaehrt.
Der bisher fuer den Ausbildungsschaden gezahlte Betrag ist auf die
DM 10.000 anzurechnen.
3. Erweiterung des Begriffs der abgeschlossenen
Berufsausbildung
Eine weitere Verbessening betrifft zwar nur einen sehr kleinen
Kreis von Verfolgten, insbesondere Aerzte und Apotheker, sie wird
hier aber vorweggenommen, weil sie einen ganz neuen Anspruch
schafft.
Nach der Rechtsprechung zum BEG war die Berufsausbildung
derjenigen Personen nicht abgeschlossen, die zwar aUe fuer ihren
Beruf erforderlichen staatUchen Pruefungen bestanden hatten, aber
aus Verfolgungsgruenden ihre praktische Ausbildung nicht ableisten
konnten und die staatliche Zulassung nicht erhielten. Nach dem
Schlussgesetz steht ihnen nicht, wie bisher, nur die Entschaedigung
auf den Ausbildungsschaden zu, sondem sie erhalten mit rueckwirkender Kraft die voUe Bemfsentschaedigung.
Eine aehnliche Bestimmung gilt fuer einen Verfolgten, der den
Beruf eines Lehrers an einer wissenschaftUchen Hochschule erstrebt
und die dafuer vorgeschriebenen oder uebUchen Pmefungen abgelegt
hat und dem die in Aussicht gesteUte Zulassung zur HabiUtation aus
Verfolgungsgmenden versagt worden ist.
Antrag ist ebenfalls bis zum 30. September 1966 zu steUen und zu
begruenden.
4. Schaden im beruflichen Fortkonunen
Die Kapitalentschaedigung fuer Schaden im berafUchen Fortkommen wird nicht ueber den Zeitpunkt hinaus geleistet, in dem der
Veifolgte eine Erwerbstaetigkeit aufgenommen hat, die ihm eine
ausreichende Lebensgnindlage bietet.
(a) ,, Ausreichende Lebensgrundlage "
Der Entschaedigungszeitraum endete nach dem BEG sobald das
Nachverfolgungs-Einkommen des Verfolgten nachhaltig gewisse
Saetze erreichte, die in einer Durchfuehrungsbestimmung zum
Gesetz festgelegt sind. Diese Vergleichssaetze wurden lediglich dann
um 20% erhoeht, wenn seine Altersversorgung z.B. durch eine
deutsche oder auslaendische Sozialversicherung oder auf andere
Weise nicht,, hinreichend " sichergestellt war.
Im Einzelfalle konnte die genannte Erhoehung der Vergleichssaetze
zu Gunsten des Berechtigten dazu fuehren, dass der Entschaedigungszeitraum weiter lief und sich somit die zu errechnende Kapitalentschaedigung erhoehte.
Das Schlussgesetz bringt dem gegenueber zwei Verbessemngen.
Eine Abweichung von den Vergleichssaetzen, die bisher nur ,, in
der Regel " anzuwenden waren, ist nicht mehr zulaessig.
WesentUcher ist, dass der um 20% erhoehte und daher guenstigere
Vergleichssatz auch dann anzuwenden ist, wenn eine hinreichende
Altersversorgung besteht. Mit rueckwirkender Kraft wird bestimmt,
dass dieser erhoehte Vergleichssatz nur dann nicht zur Anwendung
kommt, wenn der Verfolgte einen Anspruch oder eine Anwartschaft
auf lebenslaengliche Versorgung nach beamtenrechtlichen Gmndsaetzen oder auf Ruhelohn sowie auf die HinterbUebenen-Versorgung
hat. Ein solcher Anspruch nach den Grundsaetzen der Beamtenpension wird einem Verfolgten fast nie zustehen.
Der Zuschlag erhoeht sich femer auf 30% bei Maennem von dem
Zeitpunkt an, in dem sie das 65. Lebensjahr, bei Frauen, in dem sie
das 60. Lebensjahr erreicht haben. Durch Einsichtnahme in den
fnieheren Bescheid muss daher festgestellt werden, ob diese Aenderung
des Gesetzes eine Ausdehnung des Entschaedigungszeitraums und
damit eine Erhoehung der Kapitalent-schaedigung herbeifuehrt.
(b) Zuschlag zur Kapitalentschaedigung
Bei denjenigen, die aus unselbstaendigem Bemf verdraengt sind,
kommt eine Erhoehung der Kapitalentschaedigung noch aus einem
anderen Grunde in Betracht.
Bisher erhoehte sich die fuer sie errechnete Kapitalentschaedigung
nur dann um 20%, wenn sie keine Rente aus der deutschen Sozialversicherung (AngesteUten-oder Invalidenversicherung) hatten oder
zu erwarten hatten.
Das Schlussgesetz sieht dem gegenueber mit rueckwirkender Kraft
vor, dass dieser Zuschlag zur Kapitalentschaedigung stets hinzukommt, wenn die Verfolgten nicht, wie oben, eine Pension nach
beamtenrechtlichen Grundsaetzen zu erwarten haben oder beziehen
und wenn sie auch keine Ansprueche nach dem BEG wegen Versorgungschaden haben, der darauf beruht, dass sie eine von dem
fmeheren Arbeitgeber in Aussicht gestellte Versorgungsleistung
nicht erhalten konnten.
Diese Verbessemng wird bei Geschaedigten aus unselbststaendigem
Dienst in einer Reihe von Faellen eine Erhoehung der Kapitalentschaedigung bringen. Auch hier kann nur aus dem Bescheide
festgesteUt werden, ob der Zuschlag bereits frueher gewaehrt worden
ist. Antrag ist bis zum 30. September 1966 zu stellen.
(c) Rentenwahlrecht bei Verdraengung aus selbstaendigem Beruf
Der Verfolgte aus selbstaendigem Bemf hat ein Rentenwahlrecht
nur, wenn er im Zeitpunkt der Entscheidung keine ausreichende
Lebensgmndlage hatte.
Die Bestimmungen ueber die ausreichende Lebensgmndlage sind
hier in genau derselben Weise verbessert wie bei der Kapitalentschaedigung. Die Begruendung des Gesetzentwurfes bringt zum
Ausdmck, dass der Berechtigte nicht auf Gmnd der verbesserten
Bestimmungen das ihm fnieher versagte Rentenwahlrecht ausueben
kann.
(d) Renten bei Verdraengnng aus unselbstaendigem Benif
Erhoeht sich die Kapitalentschaedigung nach den obigen Grundsaetzen zu (a) oder (b), so fuehrt dies bei unselbstaendigem Beruf
auch zur Erhoehung der Entschaedigungsrente, da diese von der
Hoehe der festgesetzten Kapitalentschaedigung abhaengig ist. Es
ist in solchen FaeUen demnach die Erhoehung der Rente under
Neufestsetzung der Kapitalentschaedigung zu beantragen.
(e) Eheschliessung zwischen 1.10.1953 und 26.6.1956
Ein Rentenwahlrecht duerften auch diejenigen haben, die frueher
die Kapitalentschaedigung der ihnen zustehenden Rente vorzogen,
weil bei Eheschliessung nach dem 1.10.1953 ihre Ehefrau keine
Rente erhalten konnte. Voraussetzung ist, dass sie selbst Verfolgte
oder von der Verfolgung mitbetroffen ist.
(f) Hoehe der Benifschadensrenten
Die Rente fuer Berufschaden bei Verdraengung aus selbstaendigem
Dienst wird auf der Grundlage von zwei Dritteln der Versorgungsbezuege eines vergleichbaren Bundesbeamten berechnet. Die Bundesregiemng hat bei Erhoehung der deutschen Beamtengehaelter auch
die Renten entsprechend anzugleichen. Es ist jedoch eine Hoechstgrenze festgesetzt, die zur Zeit monatlich DM 785.—betraegt. Das
hatte zur Folge, dass diejenigen, die in den hoeheren Dienst eingestuft
waren und am 1.10.1953 ueber 45 Jahre alt waren, wegen dieser
Begrenzung nicht zwei Drittel der Versorgungsbezuege eines
hoeheren deutschen Beamten erhielten. Das Schlussgesetz setzt mit
Wirkung vom 1.1.1966 die Hoechstrente auf DM 1000.— herauf.
Diejenigen, die jetzt Anspruch auf die Hoechstrente von DM 785.—
haben, werden daher, wenn sie am 1.10.1953 ueber 45 Jahre alt
waren, etwa DM 867.—und wenn sie ueber 55 Jahre alt waren,
DM 1000.—erhalten. Sind sie bereits verstorben, so werden die
Renten ihrer Witwen entsprechend erhoeht werden.
Die Heraufsetzung des Hoechstbetrages kann auch bei Geschaedigten aus unselbstaendigem Dienst, die bisher DM 785.— erhalten,
eine Erhoehung der Rente bis zu DM 1000.— zur Folge haben.
Dies haengt von der fuer die Rentenbemessung errechneten
Kapitalentschaedigung ab.
Bisher nahmen die Renten der im privaten Dienst Geschaedigten
an den allgemeinen Rentenerhoehungen gmndsaetzlich nicht teil.
Die Bundesregierung ist jetzt ermaechtigt, in Zukunft auch diese
Rentenbetraege angemessen zu erhoehen, wenn sich die Dienst-und
Versorgungsbezuege der Bundesbeamten auf Grund gesetzUcher
Vorschriften erhoehen. Die Ermaechtigung bezieht sich nicht auf
die sehr geringen Mindestrenten.
(g) Zusammentreffen von Renten und Beamtenpension
Hat ein Verfolgter fuer denselben Schadenstatbestand und denselben
Entschaedigungszeitraum Anspruch auf Rente wegen Schadens im
berufUchen Fortkommen sowie Anspruch auf Wiedergutmachung
nach den Vorschriften des oeffentlichen Dienstes (Beamtenpension),
so steht ihm der Anspruch auf die Berufsschadensrente nur insoweit
zu, als diese die Beamtenpension uebersteigt. Diese Vorschrift wird
insbesondere bei juedischen Gemeindebeamten in Betracht kommen,
denen beide Anspmeche zugebilligt sind.
5. Schaden am Leben
(a) Verschulden des Taeters
Die Grundsatzbestimmung des § 15 Abs. 1 BEG lautete:
,, Anspmch auf Entschaedigung fuer Schaden am Leben
besteht, wenn der Verfolgte vorsaetzlich oder leichtfertig
getoetet oder in den Tod getrieben worden ist. Es genuegt,
dass der ursaechUche Zusammenhang zwischen Tod und
Verfolgung wahrscheinlich ist."
Die Worte ,, vorsaetzlich oder leichtfertig" kommen nach dem
Schlussgesetz in WegfaU, sodass es auf ein Verschulden des Taeters
nicht mehr ankommt. Da schon nach der bisherigen Fassung des
Gesetzes ein Verschulden der nationalsozialistischen Machthaber
fast immer als vorliegend angesehen wurde, wird die Aendemng
nur wenig Faelle betreffen.
(b) Eltemrente
Einen Anspmch auf Hinterbliebenenrente hatten Verwandte der
aufsteigenden Linie nach dem BEG nur dann, wenn der Verfolgte sie
vor seinem Tode unterhalten hat oder, wenn er noch lebte, unterhalten wuerde. Diese einschraenkende Bestimmung ist weggefallen.
Nach der Neufassung steht ihnen auch dann die Rente zu, wenn
andere Kinder noch am Leben sind. Voraussetzung des Anspruchs
ist jedoch weiterhin, dass die Verwandten der aufsteigenden Linie
beduerftig sind.
6. Schaden an Koerper oder Gesundheit
(a) Beweiserleichterung bei frueherer Konzentrationslagerhaft
Anspruch auf Rente fuer Gesundheitsschaden besteht nur dann,
wenn die verfolgungsbedingte Minderung der Erwerbsfaehigkeit
niindestens 25% betraegt. Der Anspruch scheitert trotz jetzt bestehender Leiden oft an Beweisschwierigkeiten, weil von medizinischem
Standpunkt nicht mit Wahrscheinlichkeit festgestellt werden kann,
dass die Herabsetzung der Erwerbsfaehigkeit um mindestens 25%
verfolgungsbedingt ist. Das Schlussgesetz bringt fuer einen eng
begrenzten Sonderfall eine Erleichterung des Beweises :
„ War der Verfolgte mindestens ein Jahr in Konzentrationslagerhaft und ist er in seiner Erwerbsfaehigkeit um 25% oder
mehr gemindert, so wird fuer den Anspruch auf Rente zu seinen
Gunsten vermutet, dass die verfolgungsbedingte Minderung der
Erwerbsfaehigkeit 25% betraegt."
Die Bundesregierung wird durch Rechtsverordnung bestimmen,
welche Haftstaetten als Konzentrationslaeger anzusehen sind. Nur
bei Haft in diesen Konzentrationslaegem gilt die Beweiserleichterung
und nicht fuer irgendwelche anderen Faelle der Freiheitsentziehung.
Sie erstreckt sich nicht einmal auf den Rentenanspruch der HinterbUebenen, faUs der Verfolgte an den Folgen der Gesundheitsschaedigung verstorben ist.
In den FaeUen, in denen sie zur Anwendung kommt, endet auch
hier die Antragsfrist grundsaetzlich am 30.9.1966, fruehestens aber
6 Monate nach Verkuendung der Rechtsverordnung.
(b) Neufestsetzung von Renten
Ebenso wie beim Lebensschaden kann sich die Hoehe der Renten
bei Aendemng der persoenlichen und wirtschaftlichen Verhaeltnisse
des Verfolgten, insbesondere seiner Einkuenfte, aendern. Das
Schlussgesetz bringt aehnliche Verbessemngen wie sie bei den
Witwenrenten dargelegt sind, insbesondere findet in Zukunft eine
Neufestsetzung bei Rentenberechtigten, die das 68. Lebensjahr
voUendet haben, nur dann statt, wenn die neu errechnete Rente
mindestens 30% von der festgesetzten Rente abweicht.
(c) Altersmindestrente
Gegenueber dem bisherigen Gesetz enthaelt das Schlussgesetz
folgende Verbessemng :
Die Mindestrente, welche bei einer Erwerbsminderung von
50% an Frauen, die das 60. Lebensjahr und Maenner, die das
65. Lebensjahr voUendet haben, zu zahlen ist und ab 1. Oktober
1964 DM 340.— monatUch betraegt, konnten Frauen bisher
beanspmchen, wenn sie vor dem 1. Januar 1905 geboren sind.
Dies ist unveraendert. Bei Maennern war bisher Voraussetzung,
dass sie vor dem 1. Januar 1900 geboren waren, waehrend
nach dem geaenderten Gesetz auch bei Maennern nur Voraussetzung ist, dass sie vor dem 1. Januar 1905 geboren sind. MaennUche Verfolgte koennen also noch bis zum 31. Dezember 1969
in die Altersmindestrente fuer Koerperschaden ,,hineinwachsen",
wenn die sonstigen Anspnichsvoraussetzungen erfueUt sind.
8.
Schaden an Eigentum und Vermoegen
Fuer Schaden an Eigentum bringt das Gesetz eine Klarstellung.
Sachen gelten dann als im Stich gelassen, wenn sie ohne eine die
Interessen des Verfolgten wahrende Aufsicht zurueckgelassen sind.
Eine weitere Bestimmung betrifft die Auswanderungskosten.
Ist ein Verfolgter nach abgeschlossener Auswanderung wegen ihm
drohender
nationalsozialistischer
Gewaltmassnahmen
weitergewandert, so wird er auch wegen der dadurch entstandenen Kosten
entschaedigt.
Die Aenderungen haben rueckwirkende Kraft.
9.
Zusammentreffen von Entschaedigimgsrenten
Das bisherige Gesetz enthielt ueber das Zusammentreffen von
Entschaedigungsrenten nur wenige Bestimmungen.
Das Schlussgesetz enthaelt eine sehr eingehende Regelung des
Zusammentreffens von zwei, drei oder vier Renten. In den meisten
Faellen wird eine Rente voU und die anderen gekuerzt gewaehrt.
Die Bestimmungen sind so umfassend, dass sie hier im einzelnen
nicht wiedergegeben werden koennen.
Die Aendemngen werden bei zukuenftigen Bescheiden von Amts
wegen beruecksichtigt werden.
10.
Juristische Personen, Anstalten und
Personenvereinigungen
Nach dem Gesetz haben GeseUschaften und Personenvereinigungen
(z.B. wegen Vermoegensschadens) nur sehr beschraenkte Anspmeche.
Ansprueche der einzelnen GeseUschafter waren dabei nach der
Rechtsprechung des Bundesgerichtshofes ausgeschlossen. Diese
Regelung bleibt gmndsaetzlich bestehen, insbesondere auch fuer
Offene HandelsgeseUschaften, GeseUschaften mit beschraenkter
Haftung und Aktiengesellschaften. Bisher wurde aber in aUen
FaeUen der Anspmch fuer Schaden an Eigentum und fuer Schaden
an Vermoegen nur insoweit beruecksichtigt, als er raeumlich in dem
jetzigen Bundesgebiet eingetreten ist. Mit rueckwirkender Kraft
wird nunmehr bei Offenen HandelsgeseUschaften und KommanditGesellschaften, deren saemtliche GeseUschafter im Zeitpunkt der
Verfolgung natueriiche Personen gewesen sind, der Anspmch auf
Entschaedigung auf diejenigen Schaeden ausgedehnt, die im Reichsgebiet nach dem Stande vom 31.12.1937 oder im Gebiet der Freien
Stadt Danzig eingetreten sind.
Das ist die einzige Verbesserung, welche die Offenen Handelsgesellschaften und Kommanditgesellschaften betrifft.
Dagegen
faUen Personenvereinigungen des Buergerlichen Rechts (z.B. AnwaltsSozietaeten) nach dem Schlussgesetz uberhaupt nicht mehr unter
die einschraenkenden Bestimmungen und im Bericht des Wiedergutmachungsausschusses wird zum Ausdruck gebracht, dass bei
ihnen die einzelnen Gesellschafter ihre Anspmeche (z.B. wegen
Verlusts des GoodwiUs) nach den allgemeinen Voraussetzungen ueber
Eigentums-und Vermoegensschaden geltend machen koennen, und
zwar in Hoehe des AuseinandersetzungsanteUs. Diese Bestimmung
hat ebenfalls rueckwirkende Kraft.
11.
7. Schaden an Freiheit
(a) Freiheitsentziehung
Fuer Freiheitsentziehung durch auslaendische Staaten wird Entschaedigung nur dann gewaehrt, wenn deren Regierung dazu von
der nationalsozialistischen Regierung veranlasst ist. Der Beginn
der Veranlassung ist insbesondere bei den Balkanstaaten schwer
festzusteUen. Das Schlussgesetz setzt daher fuer Bulgarien,
Rumaenien und Ungam bei jiidischen Verfolgten den 6.4.1941 als
Beginn der Veranlassung fest.
(b) Freiheitsbeschraenkung
Hat ein Verfolgter unter menschenunwuerdigen Bedingungen in
der lUegaUtaet gelebt, so hat er Anspruch auf Entschaedigung. Zur
Erleichtenmg des Beweises wird nach dem Schlussgesetz vermutet,
dass diese Voraussetzungen gegeben sind, wenn er unter falschem
Namen gelebt hat.
Haerteausgleich
Die Bestimmungen ueber den Haerteausgleich sind erweitert.
U.a. kann er bei einem Schaden an Koerper oder Gesundheit
gewaehrt werden, wenn die Verfolgungsbedingtheit mit Wahrscheinlichkeit nur deshalb nicht festzusteUen ist, weil ueber die Ursache
des Leidens in der aerztlichen Wissenschaft Ungewissheit besteht.
Die Laender haben sich bereit erklaert, den Haerteausgleich auch
in einer Reihe von Faellen zu gewaehren, die im Gesetz nicht besonders
erwaehnt sind. Das bezieht sich nach dem Bericht des Wiedergutmachungsausschusses z.B. auf Ausgleichsleistungen fuer Witwen,
die nach dem 29.6.1956 geheiratet haben, sofern sie von dem Verfolgungsschicksal ihres Ehegatten erheblich mitbetroffen sind.
Erwaehnt werden femer u.a. Ansprueche von Verfolgten, die die
Antragsfrist versaeumt haben, wenn sie eindeutig und zweifelsfrei
begruendet sind und die Gewaehrung lediglich an der Versaeumung
der Antragsfrist scheitert.
Antraege auf Haerteausgleich sind an keine Frist gebunden.
Eine Entschaedigung nach diesem Haerteausgleich steht nur den
Verfolgten aus dem Reichsgebiet, Danzig und den Vertreibungsgebieten zu.
12. Verfahren
Die Vorschriften ueber das Nachschieben von Antraegen und
ueber die Antragsfristen fuer die Anmeldung neuer oder erweiterter
Anspmeche oder auf Renten gelten fuer aUe Verfolgtengruppen.
Wie schon betont wurde, koennen einem eigenen Entschaedigungsantrag nur weitere eigene Ansprueche nachgeschoben werden. Es
ist aber durchaus moeglich, dass in dem Aktenstueck wegen der
eigenen Ansprueche ein nicht weiter substantiierter Antrag nach
bestimmten Verfolgten enthalten ist, sodass damit die Anmeldefrist
auch fuer diesen ererbten Anspruch gewahrt war. Das gilt auch
fuer den umgekehrten Fall, dass aus den Akten wegen ererbter
Anspmeche zu entnehmen ist, dass der Antrag auch eigene Anspmeche
umfassen sollte.
Bei der Entscheidung ueber neue Antraege nach dem Schlussgesetz
sind die Entschaedigungsorgane an die tatsaechlichen FeststeUungen
gebunden, auf denen der fmeher ergangene unanfechtbare Bescheid
bemht. Soweit bei Anspraechen fuer Schaden im bemflichen
Fortkommen das Bestehen oder die Hoehe des Anspmchs, seine
Vererblichkeit oder das Bestehen eines Wahlrechts von den Verhaeltnissen im Zeitpunkt der Entscheidung abhaengig ist, ist von den
Verhaeltnissen auszugehen, auf denen die fruehere Entscheidung
bemht.
Das Gesetz enthaelt femer eine sog. Besitzstandsklausel, die
sichert, dass bei neuen Antraegen dem Berechtigten auf jeden FaU
das verbleibt, was ihm fmeher zugesprochen worden war. Diese
Vorschrift gilt aber nur fuer fruehere Bescheide oder Urteile. War
ein Anspmch durch Vergleich, Verzicht oder Abfindung geregelt und
wiU der Berechtigte erweiterte Anspmeche auf Gmnd des Schlussgesetzes geltend machen, so muss er diese Regelung bis zum 30.9.1966
anfecht en. Die Begmendung zur Regiemngsvorlage bemerkt dazu:
,, Da durch die Anfechtung der Vergleich rueckwirkend
wegfaeUt, besteht jedoch kein Anspruch darauf, dass mindestens
an der bisherigen Regelung festgehalten wird. In diesem Falle
haben die Entschaedigungsorgane vielmehr wieder voelUg
neu ueber den gesamten Anspmch zu entscheiden."
Somit kann mit der Anfechtung ein Risiko verbunden sein.
Es seien ergaenzend noch zwei Faelle erwaehnt, in denen die
MoegUchkeit besteht, einen neuen Antrag zu stellen.
Durch das Schlussgesetz sind die Gerichte in Zukunft an die
Entscheidung der Entschaedigungsbehoerde gebunden, durch die
diese bei Versaeumung der Antragsfrist Wiedereinsetzung in den
vorigen Stand gewaehrt hat. Ist fmeher abweichend entschieden
worden, so kann nunmehr ein neuer Antrag gesteUt werden.
Der andere FaU betrifft die sog. ueberholende Kausalitaet.
Ein Anspmch ist von den Behoerden oder Gerichten oft abgelehnt
oder gekuerzt worden, weil der Schaden ,, mit WahrscheinUchkeit "
auch ohne die Verfolgung eingetreten waere. Nach dem Schlussgesetz ist das nur zulaessig, wenn diese Wahrscheinlichkeit an
Sicherheit grenzt. Solche Kuerzungen sind z.B. erfolgt, weil angenommen wurde, dass ein Berechtigter, wenn er nicht verfolgt
worden waere, durch Einziehung zum Wehrdienst waehrend des
Krieges Verdienstausfall gehabt haette oder dass Verfolgte aus
Ostpreussen, Schlesien oder Pommern infolge Vertreibung zeitweise
ihrem Bemf nicht haetten nachgehen koennen. Abgeleluit wurden
Anspmeche von Verfolgten aus diesen Gebieten wegen GoodwiUs
und wegen Imstichelassens ihrer Wohnungseinrichtung, weil der
AntragsteUer den gleichen Verlust, auch wenn er nicht verfolgt
worden waere, bei einer spaeteren Vertreibung erlitten haette.
SteUt die fruehere Entscheidung bereits tatsaechlich fest, dass der
Schaden auch ohne die Verfolgung mit einer an Sicherheit grenzenden
Wahrscheinlichkeit eingetreten waere, so wird ein Neuantrag nicht
in Betracht kommen.
13. Angleichung
1st aus medizinischen Gmenden ein Antrag auf Rente fuer Gesundheitsschaden in voUem Umfange abgelehnt, also ueberhaupt keine
Rente bewilUgt worden, so ist auf Antrag emeut ueber den Anspruch
zu entscheiden.
Ein neuer Antrag kann auch dann gesteUt werden, wenn bei
Freiheitsentziehung durch auslaendische Staaten ein Anspmch fuer
Schaden am Leben und fuer Schaden an Koerper oder Gesundheit
mit der Begmendung abgelehnt worden ist, dass die durch die
Freiheitsentziehung eingetretene Schaedigung nicht durch nationalsoziaUstische Gewaltmassnahmen veranlasst worden ist.
Ein weiteres neues Antragsrecht besteht bei Bemfsschaden, wenn
die Kaufkraft auslaendischer Waehrung fuer die Bewertung des
Nachverfolgungseinkommens im Widerspruch zu der staendigen
Rechtssprechung des Bundesgerichtshofes steht. Fuer Einkuenfte
in Grossbritannien ist diese Bestimmung ohne jede Bedeutung.
Sie kommt aber z.B. fuer diejenigen Berechtigten in Betracht, die
in den Vereinigten Staaten oder in Israel eine Erwerbstaetigkeit
ausgeuebt haben. Die Vorschriften, wie sie fuer die Entscheidimg
ueber neue Antraege massgebend sind, gelten auch hier. Insbesondere bleibt dem Berechtigten mindestens das, was ihm in dem
frueheren Bescheid oder Urteil zugesprochen ist.
Sind die hier (unter Angleichung) genannten Anspmeche durch
Vergleich, Verzicht oder Abfindung geregelt, so kann der Berechtigte
diese Regelung bis zum 30.9.1966 anfechten.
14. Wiedergutmachimg in der Sozialversicherung bei
Beitragserstattung wegen Heirat
Wenn einer Verfolgten oder der Ehefrau eines Verfolgten waehrend
der Zeit vom 30.1.1933 bis zum 8.5.1945 Beitraege zu den gesetzlichen
Rentenversichemngen wegen Heirat erstattet worden sind, so kann
sie sich durch Nachentrichtung von Beitraegen fuer die Zeit vor
Vollendung des 65. Lebensjahres weiter versichern. Aus welchen
Gruenden die Beitragserstattung verlangt worden ist, ist unerheblich.
Durch die Weiterversicherung erwirkt die Verfolgte den ihr verloren
gegangenen Anspmch auf die Versichemngsrente.
m . SCHLUSSBEMERKUNG
Die vielen Verweisungen und Einschiebungen, die das neue Gesetz
enthaelt, erschweren eine leicht verstaendUche Darstellung.
Die zahUosen Bestimmungen des Gesetzes enthalten nicht durchweg
Verbesserungen, sondern auch in einigen FaeUen Verschlechtemngen
gegenueber dem bisherigen Rechtszustand.
So stand z.B. bei Bemfsschaden nach einem eingehend begmendeten
Urteil des Bundesgerichtshofes auch vor Festsetzung der Rente fuer
den Ehemann seiner Witwe eine Rente in jedem Falle zu, faUs er
vor seinem Tode das ihm zustehende Wahlrecht ausgeuebt hatte.
Das Schlussgesetz gewaehrt ihr in diesem Falle die Rente aber nur
dann, wenn sie selbst Verfolgte oder von der Verfolgung mitbetroffen
ist.
Die Verbesserungen werden sich wesentlich auf Ausbildungsschaden, auf Witwenrenten und manchmal auch auf Entschaedigungen bei Bemfschaden auswirken.
Neue Gesetze schaffen neue Zweifel, die erst durch die Rechtssprechung endgueltig geklaert werden koennen. Die Schvrierigkeit
der Gesetzesauslegung laesst es geboten erscheinen, dass die
Berechtigten sachkundige Beratung suchen. Aber auch wenn sie
das tun, ist es ihre Pflicht, den Berater zu unterrichten, welche
zusaetzlichen Antraege ihrer Meinung nach verfolgt werden soUen.
Wer sich um seine Angelegenheiten nicht kuemmert, hat sich den
Schaden selbst zuzuschreiben. Darueber hinaus ist es notwendig,
auch nach erfolgter Anmeldung auf Aufforderung rechtzeitig den
Tatbestand zu schildern und die Beweismittel anzugeben. Die im
Gesetz enthaltenen Fristen sind nur kurz, und ohne Mitarbeit der
Berechtigten ist auch der Berater ausserstande, die Ansprueche
durchzufuehren.
Fristen
Folgende Fristen sind zu beobachten:
1. 31. Dezember 1965 fuer „Nachschieben" weiterer Ansprueche
(vgl. Vorbemerkung Abs. 3).
2. 30. September 1966
(a) fuer Antraege wegen neubegmendeter oder erweiterter
Anspmeche;
(b) fuer Begmendung bisher nur formeU ohne naehere Angaben
angemeldeter Ansprueche (vgl. Vorbemerkung vorletzter
Absatz);
(c) fuer Antraege auf ,,Angleichung" (vgl. oben in Ziffer 13);
(d) fuer Antraege auf ,,Beihilfen" aus Sonderfonds fuer Spaetauswanderer (vgl. hiemeber die nachfolgende DarsteUung).
3. Ein Jahr nach Anspruchsentstehung fuer die seltenen Faelle,
in denen die Tatsachen, auf die ein Anspmch gestuetzt werden kann,
erst nach dem 31.12.64 eintreten.
Martin Stranz (London)
AUSSERHALB DES FRUEHEREN DEUTSCHEN REICHS
VERFOLGTE PERSONEN
Die im Vierten Abschnitt des BEG unter der Ueberschrift
,, Besondere Gruppen von Verfolgten" behandelten Entschaedigungsberechtigten sind in aUer Regel ausserhalb des Reichsgebiets
wolmhaft gewesene Personen, die in den waehrend des Krieges von
den Deutschen besetzten Gebieten von der nationalsozialistischen
Verfolgung ergriffen wurden. Sie zerfallen in die Verfolgten aus
den Vertreibungsgebieten (§§ 150 bis 159 BEG) und die Staatenlosen
und FluechtUnge (§§ 160 bis 166 BEG).
bei
I. VERFOLGTE AUS DEN
VERTREIBUNGSGEBIETEN
Als Verfolgte aus den Vertreibungsgebieten (d.h. aus denjenigen
Staaten, aus denen die deutschsprachige Bevoelkerung nach dem
Kriege vertrieben wurde) werden nur diejenigen angesehen, welche
zur deutschen Minoritaet in diesen Staaten gehoerten.
1. Begriffsbestimmung
Waehrend im bisherigen Gesetz (§ 150) auf die Begriffsbestimmung
des Vertriebenengesetzes verwiesen war, ist dies in der Neufassung
unterbUeben und statt dessen bestimmt, dass der Verfolgte dem
deutschen Sprach-und Kulturkreis angehoert haben muss. Damit ist
die bisherige Zweifelsfrage ausgeraeumt, ob der Verfolgte ,, wegen "
dieser Eigenschaft das Vertreibungsgebiet verlassen haben muss ;
dieser Nachweis ist nicht mehr erforderlich. Andererseits ist die
Anspmchsberechtigung nach der Neufassung des Gesetzes (§ 159
Abs. 2) davon abhaengig, dass der Verfolgte die Vertreibungsgebiete
vor dem 1.10.1953 endgueltig verlassen hat. Dieser Stichtag war im
bisherigen Gesetz nur bei der Gruppe der Politischen Fluechtlinge in
§ 160 genannt, sodass nach der herrschenden und vom Bundesgerichtshof gebUligten Ansicht Verfolgte aus den Vertreibungsgebieten, die die sonstigen Anspmchsvoraussetzungen erfueUten, von
der Berechtigung nach §§ 150 ff nicht deshalb ausgeschlossen waren,
weU sie erst nach dem 1.10.1953 ihr Heimatland verlassen hatten.
Nach der jetzigen Fassung des Gesetzes haben diese Spaetauswanderer
nur Anspmch auf „ Beihilfe " aus dem neuen nach Artikel V des
Schlussgesetzes errichteten Sonderfonds (vergl. Abschnitt III).
(c) Vererblichkeit
Vererbung der Anspmeche ist (nach dem neuen § 159a) nur
zugelassen, wenn der Verfolgte nach dem 1.1.1945 und nach endgueltigem Verlassen der Vertreibungsgebiete verstorben ist. Obwohl
das bisherige Gesetz keinen solchen Stichtag nannte, ging die
Rechtsprechung dahin, dass bei Tod vor der ,, aUgemeinen Vertreibung " keine vererblichen Entschaedigungsansprueche bestanden,
sodass z.B. die Erben eines 1939 aus der Tschechoslowakei ausgewanderten und im Jahre 1942 in der Emigration verstorbenen
Verfolgten keinen Anspruch auf die Berufsschadensentschaedigung
hatten. Es bleibt also im wesentlichen bei dieser unerfreulichen
Regelung.
Im uebrigen ist wie bisher die Entschaedigung fuer Berufsschaden
nur auf die Witwe und Kinder, evtl, Eltem des Verfolgten und deren
Abkoemmlinge vererblich (§ 158 in Verbindung mit § 140).
(d) Ausbildungsschaden
Ausbildungsschaden wird nach wie vor auch bei Vertriebenen
nicht entschaedigt. Jedoch kann nunmehr nach § 171 Abs.
2 Buchstabe d ein Haerteausgleich an Vertriebene aus den im Jahre
1938 an das Reich angegliederten Gebieten (z.B. Sudetengebiet) und
aus dem Protektorat Boehmen-Maehren gewaehrt werden, die das
Vertreibungsgebiet vor dem 1.8.1945 endgueltig verlassen hatten.
n.
STAATENLOSE UND POLITISCHE
FLUECHTLINGE
Die Bestimmungen ueber die Entschaedigung der Staatenlosen und
Politischen FluechtUnge sind nur unwesentlich geaendert. Fuer die
Begriffsbestimmung der FluechtUnge wird wie bisher auf die Genfer
Konvention vom 28.7.1951 verwiesen, obwohl der Bericht des
Bundestagsausschusses anerkennt, dass diese Verweisung nicht
befriedigend ist. Auch bei dem Stichtag (1.10.1953), vor dem der
Verfolgte staatenlos oder politischer FluechtUng gewesen sein muss,
verbleibt es, sodass fuer die nach diesem Zeitpunkt aus ihrem Heimatland ausgewanderten Verfolgten nur ,, Beihilfe " aus dem nach Art. V
errichteten neuen Fonds in Frage kommt. (vergl. Abschnitt III).
2. Ansprueche
1. Ausschluss frueherer Oesterreicher
Trotz zahlreicher redaktioneUer Aendemngen sind die dieser
Verfolgtengruppe zugestandenen Berechtigungen im wesentlichen
unveraendert gebUeben. Bemerkenswert sind aber die folgenden
Neuregelungen.
Der Ausschluss der fmeheren Oesterreicher durch den jetzt gestrichenen Satz 2 in § 160 Abs. 2 des bisherigen Gesetzes wird durch
den neuen § 166 c herbeigefuehrt, welcher diese einschraenkende
Bestimmung nunmehr auf die Verfolgten aus den Vertreibungsgebieten ausdehnt und von der Entschaedigung nach Bestimmungen
ueber die ,, Besonderen Verfolgtengmppen " (nicht dagegen nach den
allgemeinen Vorschriften des I. Abschnittes des BEG) aUe ausschliesst, die oesterreichische Staatsangehoerige ,, sind oder waren,"
es sei denn, dass diese Staatsangehoerigkeit erst nach Beendigung der
Verfolgung erworben wurde. Die neue Vorschrift ist so unglueckUch
formuUert, dass der Bundestagsausschuss dazu bemerkt hat, sie
beziehe sich nicht auf diejenigen fmeher oesterreichischen Staatsangehoerigen, die nach 1918 nicht mehr Oesterreicher, sondem
Staatsangehoerige eines Nachfolgestaats (z.B. Tschechoslowakei)
geworden sind.
(a) AnqtmdisToraassetzang
Waehrend der Anspruch auf Entschaedigung fuer Sonderabgaben
und Berufsschaden nach den bisherigen Bestimmungen davon
abhaengig war, dass der Verfolgte ,, vor der aUgemeinen Vertreibung
in das Ausland ausgewandert " war, genuegt es jetzt, dass er die
Vertreibungsgebiete ,, vor dem 1.8.1945 endgueltig verlassen hat."
Die Neufassung beseitigt nicht nur Streit ueber den Beginn der sog.
aUgemeinen Vertreibung, sondem deckt auch Verfolgte, welche aus
dem Vertreibungsgebiet in ein Land uebersiedelt sind, dessen
Staatsangehoerigkeit sie bereits besassen, und Deportierte, die nach
ihrer Befreiung in ihr Heimatsland nicht mehr zurueckgekehrt sind,
ohne ihren dortigen Wohnsitz vorher im Rechtssinne aufgegeben zu
haben.
(b) Berufsschadensrente
Die Bemfsschadensrente (eine Pauschalentschaedigung von
DM 200.— monatUch) ist endUch mit Rueckwirkung ab 1.1.1961 auf
DM 250.— monatlich erhoeht worden. Sie kann in Zukunft wie die
lueisten anderen Entschaedigungsrenten durch blosse Verordnung
der Bundesregiemng (statt durch Gesetz) weiter erhoeht werden
(neuer § 166 b).
Die Witwe hat nach wie vor kein Recht auf Rente, wenn der
Verfolgte nicht bereits selbst vor seinem Tode Rente gewaehlt hatte
und, faUs die Rente nicht bereits vor dem Tode des Ehemannes
zugesprochen war, hat sie jetzt Anspmch auf Rente nur, wenn sie
selbst verfolgt oder von der Verfolgung mitbetroffen war und die
Ehe vor dem 29. Juni 1956 geschlossen war. Die Rente der Witwe
betraegt ab 1.1.1%1 monatlich DM 190.— (statt DM 150.—).
2. Haerteausgleich
Haerteausgleich wird den Staatenlosen und PoUtischen Fluechtlingen nur nach der Sondervorschrift des § 165 gewaehrt, wobei
Antragsstellung in der aUgemeinen, am 1.4.1958 abgelaufenen
Antragsfrist Voraussetzung ist, bzw. ,, Nachschieben " des Haerteantrages gem. § 189a bis zum 31.12.1965. Sind die Voraussetzungen
fuer den Haerteausgleich erst nach dem 31.12.1%5 entstanden, so
bleibt zur Anmeldung eine weitere Frist von einem Jahre (§189 a
Abs. 2), jedoch sind Anmeldungen nach dem 31.12.1969 gem.
Art. VIII des Schlussgesetzes ausgeschlossen.
Unter der Voraussetzung, dass der Verfolgte aus der gewaehrten
Entschaedigung in Verbindung mit seinem Vermoegen und sonstigen
Einkuenften seinen Lebensunterhalt nicht bestreiten kann, besteht
ein Anspruch auf Haerteausgleich. Die im Regiemngsentwurf
enthaltene Bestimmung, dass hoehere Betraege nicht gezahlt werden
soUen als die fuer die Vertriebenen bestimmte Entschaedigung, ist
gestrichen worden.
ra. SONDERFONDS FUER
SPAETAUSWANDERER
Diese in Art. V unter der unklaren Ueberschrift ,, Sonderregelung
fuer ueberregionale Verfolgtengmppen ,, bezeichnete Bestimmung ist
das Kemstueck des neuen Gesetzes (so : Bericht des Bundestagsausschusses S. 21).
In poUtischer Beziehung trifft dies zweifeUos zu, weil die Bestimmung des § 160, nach welcher politische FluechtUngseigenschaft vor
dem 1.10.1953 Anspmchsvoraussetzung ist, alle diejenigen ausserhalb
des deutschen Reichsgebiets Verfolgten leer ausgehen liess, die erst
nach dem 1.10.1953 aus ihrem Heimatland ausgewandert sind. Der
grossen Zahl solcher Spaetauswanderer aus den Laendem des Ostblocks, die schwere Naziverfolgung durchgemacht und vielfach gegen
ihren WiUen ihr Heimatland nicht frueher verlassen konnten, musste
dieser Ausschluss von Entschaedigung unverstaendUch erscheinen,
und seit vielen Jahren ist auf diese Luecke der deutschen Entschaedigungsgesetzgebung hingewiesen worden. Diesen Spaetauswanderern aus Laendern des Ostblocks steht nunmehr unter bestimmten
Voraussetzungen Anspruch auf eine „ Beihilfe " zu, die allerdings
weit hinter den nach § 160 ff BEG zu leistenden Entschaedigungen
zumeckbleibt, obwohl der hierfuer bestimmte ,, Sonderfonds " nach
langen Kaempfen auf DM 1.200 MUlionen erhoeht worden ist.
1. Berechtigter Personenkreis
Ansprachsberechtigt sind nur solche Personen, welche nicht unter
die Bestimmungen der besonderen Verfolgtengmppen (§§ 150, 160)
—insbesondere wegen Fehlens der Stichtagsvoraussetzung (1.10.1953)
—faUen, auch nicht nach den allgemeinen Bestimmungen des
§ 4 BEG zu einer der dort genannten Gruppen gehoeren. Wer wegen
Versaeumung der Anmeldefrist die ihm nach den bisherigen Vorschriften zustehende Entschaedigung nicht erhalten kann, hat also
keinen Anspmch auf Beihilfe aus dem neuen Fonds.
AusgeschJossen sind solche Verfolgte, welche zu einem Personenkreis gehoeren, zu dessen Gunsten besondere (sog. globale)
Wiedergutmachung stattgefunden hat.
Wer nach der Auswandemng aus seinem Heimatland noch keine
neue Staatsangehoerigkeit vor dem 31.1.1965 erworben hat, muss
nachweisen, dass er zu diesem Zeitpunkt entweder staatenlos oder
,, politischer Fluechtling" im Sinne des Genfer Abkommens vom
28.7.1951 ist bezw. war. Politischer Fluechtling ist, wer sich aus
begruendeter Furcht vor emeuter Verfolgung infolge von Ereignissen,
die vor dem 1.1.1951 eingetreten sind, ausserhalb des Staates befindet,
dessen Staatsangehoerigkeit er besitzt, und den Schutz dieses Staates
nicht in Anspmch nimmt (z.B. auch nicht durch Benutzung eines
Reisepasses seines Heimatlandes). Als Fluechtling kann also nicht
angesehen werden, wer sein Heimatland verlassen hat, um mit
seinen bereits im Ausland befindlichen Verwandten zusammen zu
leben, oder aus aehnlichen persoenlichen Gmenden nicht in das
Land, dessen Staatsangehoeriger er ist, zumeckkehrt oder sich nur
besuchsweise ausserhalb seines Heimatlandes aufhaelt.
2. Beihilfe
Beihilfe ist in folgenden Faellen zu leisten :
(a) Bei mindestens 6 Monate langer Freiheitsbeschraenkung
(durch Tragen des Judenstems oder iUegales Leben)—
Beihilfe DM 1000.
(b) Bei mindestens 6 Monate langer Freiheitsentziehung (z.B.
Zwangsarbeit unter haftaehnUchen Bedingungen im ungarischen Arbeitsdienst)—Beihilfe DM 2000 bezw (bei Alter
ueber 65) DM 2500.—.
(c) Bei nachhaltiger Erwerbsminderung um mindestens 80%
(auch wenn diese nicht durch die eriittene Verfolgung
herbeigefuehrt ist)—BeihUfe wie zu (b).
(d) Bei Toetung des Verfolgten erhaelt die nicht wiederverheiratete Witwe (gleiches gilt unter besonderen Umstaenden
fuer den Witwer einer getoeteten Frau) eine Beihilfe von
DM 3000. Wenn der Witwe selbst die Freiheit fuer
mindestens 1 Jahr entzogen war, betraegt die Beihilfe
DM 5000.
Diese ,, Grundbeiraege " sind nach Festsetzung sofort zahlbar.
Zu den genannten Grundbetraegen treten unter bestimmten
Umstaenden, insbesondere bei laengerer Freiheitsentziehung,
,, Steigemngsbetraege," deren Hoehe nach dem Verhaeltnis des nach
Auszahlung der Grundbetraege verbleibenden restlichen Fonds zu
der Zahl der fuer Steigemngsbetraege Berechtigten durch spaetere
Verordnung festgesetzt werden soU.
3. Vererblichkeit
Der Anspruch auf Beihilfe ist auf den Ehegatten bezw. Kinder
vererblich aber nur, wenn der Verfolgte erst nach Verkuendung des
Gesetzes verstorben ist.
4. Antragsfrist
Die Antraege sind bis zum 30.9.1966 bei den Entschaedigungsbehoerden des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen zu steUen, d.h. beim
Regiemngspraesidenten Koeln, faUs keine andere Behoerde hierfuer
von der Regiemng des Landes Nordrhein-Westfalen bestimmt wird.
Supplement to "AJR Information " September 1965, published by the Association of Jewish Refugees, 8 Fairfax Mansions, London, N.W.S. Further copies
may be ordered at 2/- per copy, plus postage.

information - The Association of Jewish Refugees

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