Swagger
Gold Member
After recovering from the 1948 Arab-Israeli war, the Israeli economy was facing deep crisis, which led to a policy of austerity. In 1951 after pressure from various organisations demanding moral and material endemnity on behalf of Holocaust (Shoah in Hebrew) survivors, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Germany addressed his Parliament: "
unspeakable crimes have been committed in the name of the German people, calling for moral and material indemnity
The Federal Government are prepared, jointly with representatives of Jewry and the State of Israel
to bring about a solution of the material indemnity problem, thus easing the way to the spiritual settlement of infinite suffering."
One month following Chancellor Adenauer's statement, Nahum Goldmann, co-chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and president of the World Jewish Congress, convened a summit in New York of 23 organisations focused on Jewish interests. The result of this meeting saw the creation of The Claims Conference. This new organisation's remit was to seek material compensation for Holocaust survivors. Ensuing negotiations were held between Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. There was, I hasten to add, strong opposition to the reparations from across the entire Israeli political spectrum, on the basis that receipt of material endemnity would be the equivalent of forgiving the Nazis for their crimes. Though Israel's economy was in such dire straights that the Knesset saw no other alternative other than to accept the offer made to them, thus saving their economy and the fledgling state of Israel.
The agreement was signed by Adenauer and Moshe Sharett on September 10, 1952 in the town hall of Luxembourg, and West Germany paid Israel a sum of 3 billion marks over the next fourteen years; 450 million marks were paid to the World Jewish Congress. The payments were made to the State of Israel as the heir to those victims who had no surviving family.
Now, I have absolutely no problem with the original settlement between Israel and Germany. I do, however, seriously question the validity - not to mention the bare-faced audacity - of further material claims of compensation by Israel against the people of Germany. Demanding more by citing - or tacitly inferring, as is mostly the case - the pain and suffering of victims of the Holocaust is shameful. It's emotional blackmail. The Israelis accepted the offer that was made to them, and now they're demanding more. It's as though certain beneficiaries (or potential beneficiaries) have turned the Holocaust guilt into something resembling an industry - further profitting from the suffering endured by the actual victims. This is a highly contentious topic in Germany, especially after the emotional strong-arming during the '90s of industrial giants Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens AG, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Volkswagen AG, and Adam Opel GmbH, who, the Israelis claim, benefitted from slave labour. Not to mention Israeli MK Rafi Eitan suggesting, in 2007, the establishment of "a German-Israeli work team that would examine how Germany could help the financially struggling [Holocaust] survivors." Or Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz demanding, in 2009, a further 450 million to 1 billion Euros in reparations from Germany on behalf of some 30,000 Israeli forced labor survivors. As well as seeking large discounts on two state-of-the-art, German-built MEKO warships.
This further, ongoing emotional blackmail being perpetrated against the people of Germany by Israel is disgraceful and must be stopped.
One month following Chancellor Adenauer's statement, Nahum Goldmann, co-chairman of the Jewish Agency for Israel and president of the World Jewish Congress, convened a summit in New York of 23 organisations focused on Jewish interests. The result of this meeting saw the creation of The Claims Conference. This new organisation's remit was to seek material compensation for Holocaust survivors. Ensuing negotiations were held between Israeli Foreign Minister Moshe Sharett and West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer. There was, I hasten to add, strong opposition to the reparations from across the entire Israeli political spectrum, on the basis that receipt of material endemnity would be the equivalent of forgiving the Nazis for their crimes. Though Israel's economy was in such dire straights that the Knesset saw no other alternative other than to accept the offer made to them, thus saving their economy and the fledgling state of Israel.
The agreement was signed by Adenauer and Moshe Sharett on September 10, 1952 in the town hall of Luxembourg, and West Germany paid Israel a sum of 3 billion marks over the next fourteen years; 450 million marks were paid to the World Jewish Congress. The payments were made to the State of Israel as the heir to those victims who had no surviving family.
Now, I have absolutely no problem with the original settlement between Israel and Germany. I do, however, seriously question the validity - not to mention the bare-faced audacity - of further material claims of compensation by Israel against the people of Germany. Demanding more by citing - or tacitly inferring, as is mostly the case - the pain and suffering of victims of the Holocaust is shameful. It's emotional blackmail. The Israelis accepted the offer that was made to them, and now they're demanding more. It's as though certain beneficiaries (or potential beneficiaries) have turned the Holocaust guilt into something resembling an industry - further profitting from the suffering endured by the actual victims. This is a highly contentious topic in Germany, especially after the emotional strong-arming during the '90s of industrial giants Deutsche Bank AG, Siemens AG, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG (BMW), Volkswagen AG, and Adam Opel GmbH, who, the Israelis claim, benefitted from slave labour. Not to mention Israeli MK Rafi Eitan suggesting, in 2007, the establishment of "a German-Israeli work team that would examine how Germany could help the financially struggling [Holocaust] survivors." Or Israeli Finance Minister Yuval Steinitz demanding, in 2009, a further 450 million to 1 billion Euros in reparations from Germany on behalf of some 30,000 Israeli forced labor survivors. As well as seeking large discounts on two state-of-the-art, German-built MEKO warships.
This further, ongoing emotional blackmail being perpetrated against the people of Germany by Israel is disgraceful and must be stopped.