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Nazi row mars German leader vote
Germanyâs ruling party and Jewish groups have criticised the conservative oppositionâs selection of a Nazi-era judge to help elect a new president. The Christian Democratic Union (CDU) chose Hans Filbinger to sit on the assembly selecting the next president. The 90-year-old is a former military judge accused of ordering the execution of German deserters in World War II. Chancellor Gerhard Schroederâs Social Democrats and the leaders of Germanyâs Jewish groups criticised the CDU move. "This is a tasteless act," said Klaus Uwe Benneter, a deputy leader of the Social Democrats, on German TV. "No-one will ever forget his past as a terrible judge..." said government spokesman Thomas Steg. âPuzzlingâ "I cannot understand why the CDU has decided to send him," said Paul Spiegel, a Germany Jewish community leader also sitting on the special federal assembly. "There are surely other worthy candidates without a past like this." The Nazi-hunting Simon Wiesenthal Center in America launched an online petition calling for his removal as an elector. But CDU leader Angela Merkel said she found the outcry "puzzling". "I donât understand why heâs being criticised," she said, adding that he had been on a number of previous federal assemblies. Mr Filbinger was forced to resign as the premier of Baden-Wuerttemberg state in 1978 after he was quoted as saying of Hitlerâs dictatorship, "what was right then cannot be wrong now". What the hell this sort of maggot is doing in German (or any sort of) politics goes beyond imagination and into the realm of pure outrage. That, even today, Germany is unable to make a total dosconnect from its Nazi past is symptomatic of much more significant issues, not the least of which are persistent anti-Semitism and institutionalized discrimination against Muslim "guest workers." This level of denial properly justifies extreme concern that Europe in general may be breeding up terrorist resentment in ways that affect the entire west. The comments sparked a furore, but he claims they were taken out of context. Itâs pretty d@mn difficult to take something like, "what was right then cannot be wrong now" as being "out of context." He also insisted he never actively sentenced anyone to death, and in fact saved lives by handing out mild verdicts. Collaboration with Nazis is just that, collaboration with Nazis. The federal assembly, which selects the president, is made up of 1,205 people. Around half are from the Bundestag lower house of parliament, and the rest are chosen by state parliaments. It was the CDU in Baden-Wuerttemberg who chose him to sit on the assembly. Despite the row, CDU candidate Horst Koehler is expected to beat Mr Schroederâs nominee Gesine Swan as the CDU and its allies have a majority of seats. Are they handing out stupid pills in Germany these days? I donât recall appropriate cututral tolerance ever being extended to include Nazi members or collaborators. As Muslim resentment brews up more Euro-terror, one need only look to incidents like this for its sources. People in my motherâs family died at the hands of the Nazis during the occupation of Denmark. Others in her family actively fought in the resistance. Iâll be triple-d@mned-in-hell if Iâm going to let this one slide under radar. Naziism, like terrorism, is one of those things that you cannot simply "forgive and forget." Posted by: Zenster 2004-05-21 |
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