- BERLIN (IslamOnline.net)
-- A German member of parliament caused a political furor, expected to
increase in coming days, for a speech in which he played down the Holocaust
and described Jews as a "race of perpetrators".
-
- On its website Thursday, October 30, the weekly news
magazine Der Spiegel reported that lights were shed on Hohmannís
speech - almost a month later - after a transcript of the speech was published
on the web site of the CDU in his hometown of Neuhof.
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- Deputy Martin Hohmann of the conservative opposition
Christian Democrats (CDU) said in a speech to constituents on the 13th
anniversary of German reunification October 3 that "primarily Jewish
Bolsheviks were responsible for crimes against civilians during the Russian
revolutionî.
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- "Jews were active in great numbers in the leadership
as well as in the Cheka (Soviet secret police) firing squads," Hohmann
said according to a transcript of the speech on the web site of the CDU
in Neuhof.
-
- "Thus one could describe Jews with some justification
as a Taetervolk (roughly translated by Agence France-Presse (AFP), race
of perpetrators).
-
- "That may sound horrible. But it would follow the
same logic with which one describes the Germans as a race of perpetrators."
-
- The head of Germany's Jewish community, Paul Spiegel,
fiercely attacked Hohmann calling his speech "political disgraceî
and "a reach into the lowest drawer of disgusting anti-Semitism".
-
- Spiegel said he had spoken to CDU leader Angela Merkel
and "she shared my views", according to AFP.
-
- Dieter Graumann, a leading member of the Jewish community
in Frankfurt, the largest city in Hohmann's home state, said he was appalled
by the remarks.
-
- "Anti-Semitism in Germany has gone beyond the pub
tables and arrived at the German Bundestag," he told public radio
Hessischer Rundfunk.
-
- The Hesse state chapter of the CDU was quick to distance
itself from Hohmann's views. The chapter's general secretary, Michael Boddenberg,
demanded that Hohmann "refrain from such unhistorical, false and unacceptable
comments".
-
- Deputies from Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's Social Democrats
called for Hohmann's dismissal from the Bundestag, the lower house of parliament.
-
- Hohmann now faces anti-Semitism charges and his speech
was removed from the Internet soon after the story broke, according to
AFP.
-
- Hohmann defended himself by asserting that his speech
about the Jews was no more "a reproduction of similar statements by
the late U.S. industrialist Henry Ford.
-
- It is widely expected, though, that the Jewish Community
in Germany - about 100,000 and enjoys overwhelming influence and unusual
advantages within the German society - would launch a tense campaign against
Hohmann.
-
- During the first half of this year, the Jewish community
has mobilized all their potentials and waged a fierce campaign against
former Economy Minister and Head of the Arab-German Society Jurgen Moellemann
for his anti-Israel views.
-
- Moellemann, who died Thursday, June 5, in a controversial
parachute jump, has always accused Israel of "state terrorismî
and defended the Palestiniansí legitimate rights.
-
- It is not yet known whether Moellemann committed suicide
or has been murdered.
-
-
- Comment
- From John Anast - USA
- 11-2-3
-
- Jeff- I sent this to Spiegel in Germany and realized
that it applies to America as well.
-
- Why does your magazine attack Mr. Hohmann? In all deference
to the man, he spoke the truth. For all that Germany has suffered throughout
the years, it is odd that as a nation you persecute yourselves and place
the self-serving interests of a people who hate you above your own interests.
Germany and German innovation deserve the nationalism and the free expression
thereof of a great people and culture. Mr. Hohmann deserves praise for
his courage to tell the truth. It time that Germans free themselves from
the bondage of a repressive propaganda opposed to the free expression of
German ideas and thoughts. Be at peace with yourselves and realize you
are a great people capable of free expression beyond that which foreign
interests seek to control. I wish Mr. Hohmann well.
-
- Regards,
- John Anast
- America
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