Reagan’s Visit to West Germany

I am staying here in Escondido as a foreign exchange student from West Germany. So far I have had a great time, and I have enjoyed America a lot. It is a wonderful country with very nice people.

The subject I would like to comment on is the noise that is made about President Reagan’s visit to the Bitburg cemetery.

I can understand that many people, especially those who were victims of Nazism, still have bad feelings about Germany. But I think after 40 years it should be realized that the Germany of today has nothing in common with Hitler Germany. I don’t say we should forget what happened, but the Germans get tired of being expected to be ashamed about what their fathers did, and thus feel as a second-class people.

It is obvious that the President didn’t visit Bitburg to honor the dead SS men, but to honor those who died for their country, believing that they did the right thing. It is a misconception to think that every German was a Nazi.

Instead of strengthening the bonds between the United States and its most loyal ally, and that is what Reagan intended to do, the unbelievable publicity devoted to this subject makes us Germans feel that we still aren’t accepted among the brotherhood of free nations.

So, I say, let the dead rest and the living act like compassionate human beings.

RAINER BAUER

Escondido