E. Germany Wants to Form Israel Ties
Premier Hans Modrow of East Germany said today that his country wants to establish diplomatic relations with Israel and is prepared to discuss reparations for Nazi victims.
East Germany has never had full diplomatic relations with Israel because it refused to accept any responsibility for the Holocaust. But Modrow said at a news conference after meeting with Austrian leaders that East Germany has proposed negotiations on establishing ties.
“There will probably be negotiations, and the problem of reparation will be aired,” he told reporters asking about ties with Israel, now being revived throughout East Europe as more liberal governments take over from orthodox Communist regimes.
Unlike West Germany, East Germany has refused to pay reparations for Nazi atrocities and confiscations, claiming that its people constituted the anti-Nazi resistance during the war and bore no responsibility for Hitler’s actions.
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