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AMERICAN EDITION
April 2015
Dear Friends:
Greetings for the first time from the eastern shore of the Hudson River at Sleepy Hollow,
NY. While getting settled in our new digs the Executive Office of DuBow Digest was
established and we are ready to go with our April Edition.
A word about the March Edition – Late last month I found out that, because of the
change of our e-mail address, some of you did not receive the March Joint Edition. I am
terribly sorry about that. If you wish you may access it at www.dubowdigest.net. If you
want to contact me you can do so at eugenedubow@aol.com or
dubowdigest@email.com
While relatively quiet on the international political scene, Germany, especially its media,
was taken up in the last few weeks with the intentional crashing of the Germanwings
plane in the French Alps. As you might imagine, all sorts of questions have been raised
about the training and vetting of German pilots. The fact that a German pilot was
responsible had a devastating impact on a large segment of the population.
Though Germany commemorates the Holocaust in January ( International Holocaust
Remembrance Day, is an international memorial day on 27 January commemorating
the victims of the Holocaust. It commemorates the genocide that resulted in the death of
an estimated 6 million Jews, 1 million Roma, 250,000 mentally and physically disabled
people, and 9,000 homosexual men by the Nazi regime and its collaborators. It was
designated by the United Nations General Assembly resolution 60/7 on 1 November
2005 during the 42nd plenary session), many Jews (and others) recently celebrated
Yom HaShoah.this past week.
While the recent speech by FBI Director James B. Comey has nothing to do directly
with today’s Germany, Mr. Comey authored an article in the Washington Post entitled,
“Why I require FBI agents to visit the Holocaust Museum”. It is enormously touching and
should be required reading for everyone who is interested in the lessons of the
Holocaust. You can access it by clicking on the link below.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/the-scariest-lesson-of-the-
holocaust/2015/04/16/ffa8e23c-e468-11e4-905f-cc896d379a32_story.html?hpid=z3
Let’s get on to the news…
SUBMARINE UPDATE
Over the last couple of years I’ve tried to keep you updated on the submarines the
Israeli Navy is receiving from Germany. The latest report comes from Haaretz.

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They wrote, “The Israel Navy’s fourth submarine, the ISS Tanin, is expected to become
fully operational in a few weeks and participate in naval operations.
The navy’s fifth submarine, meanwhile, is expected to arrive this summer, and is now in
the final stages of construction at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) shipyards
in Kiel, Germany. Israel is expected to officially take control of the ISS Rahav in a few
weeks, when it will begin its maiden voyage from Germany to Israel.
The fifth submarine will only become fully operational some six or so months after it
arrives in Israel. During that time, various Israeli weapons and communications systems
are fitted to it, explained an officer in the submarine division.” The ISS Tanin (Crocodile)
was initially handed over to Israel in May 2012.
The navy said on Sunday it is prepared for the possibility of cyber-attacks against the
digital systems on its submarines. There are mechanical systems inside the submarine
alongside the electronic ones, in this case manufactured by Siemens in Germany.
Foreign media reports say the Israeli submarines can carry cruise missiles with a range
of thousands of kilometers. Reportedly, they can also be fitted with nuclear warheads.
Foreign media say the Israeli submarine fleet – which is planned to double in size by
2018 – is intended to provide a “second-strike” capability in case of a nuclear attack on
Israel.
Lt. Col. A., commander of the ISS Tanin, called the Dolphin II-class subs a new
generation of submarines that will enable Israel to carry out its missions better. “The
submarine penetrates deep into enemy [territory], on long and complex missions that
demand a large amount of experience and investment,” he said. Submarine officers
declined to provide details of the subs’ long-distance operations, in areas that the IDF
calls “the third circle.”
The navy is also preparing to receive new ships in coming years. These are intended to
help protect Israel’s offshore gas and oil platforms. These ships are also being built in
Germany, though the final contracts have yet to be signed, said a senior navy officer.
He expects four such ships to arrive within three years to protect the offshore drilling
platforms.
I have said many times that friendship is determined by actions and not talk. Supplying
Israel with a major weapon delivery system is about as crucial as anything in insuring
Israel’s security. Needless to say, Iran is certainly taking into consideration in any
military action they might hatch up the fact that Israel has nuclear subs sitting on their
doorstep. I hope Tehran is listening.
P.S. An article in Y –Net News on the Sub which gives some more information can be
accessed by clicking on the link below.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4642251,00.html
EUROPEANS & GERMANY

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It’s no secret that Germany is a strong and dominant economic force in Europe. How
does that go down with Europeans? With many – not so well.
De Speigel notes, “Following World War II, a German return to dominance in Europe
seemed an impossibility. But the euro crisis has transformed the country into a reluctant
hegemon and comparisons with the Nazis have become rampant. Are they fair?
Manolis Glezos is a 93 old Greek member of the European parliament. He is also a
national hero for ripping down a Nazi flag during the World War II occupation of Greece
and replacing it with one of Greece
…he fought against the Italian fascists, later he took up arms against the German
Wehrmacht, as the country's Nazi-era military was known. He then did battle against the
Greek military dictatorship. He was sent to prison frequently, spending a total of almost
12 years behind bars, time he spent writing poetry. When he was let out, he would
rejoin the fight. "That era is still very alive in me," he says.
Glezos knows what it can mean when Germans strive for predominance in Europe and
says that's what is happening again now. This time, though, it isn't soldiers who have a
chokehold on Greece, he says, but business leaders and politicians. "German capital
dominates Europe and it profits from the misery in Greece," Glezos says. "But we don't
need your money."
In his eyes, the German present is directly connected to its horrible past, though he
emphasizes that he doesn't mean the German people but the country's ruling classes.
Germany for him is once again an aggressor today: "Its relationship with Greece is
comparable to that between a tyrant and his slaves."
Glezos says that he is reminded of a text written by Joseph Goebbels in which the Nazi
propaganda minister reflects about a future Europe under German leadership. It's called
"The Year 2000." "Goebbels was only wrong by 10 years," Glezos says, adding that in
2010, in the financial crisis, German dominance began.
For a long time, it was primarily the Germans who obsessed about their country's Nazi
past, but recently, other countries in Europe have joined them. Chancellor Angela
Merkel with a Hitler moustache, German tanks heading south: There has been a flood
of such caricatures in Greece, Spain, Britain, Poland, Italy and Portugal in recent weeks
and years. And Nazi symbols have become de rigueur at anti-austerity demonstrations.
People have even begun talking about the "Fourth Reich," a reference to the Third
Reich of Adolf Hitler. That may sound absurd given that today's Germany is a
successful democracy without a trace of national-socialism -- and that no one would
actually associate Merkel with Nazism. But further reflection on the word "Reich," or
empire, may not be entirely out of place. The term refers to a dominion, with a central
power exerting control over many different peoples. According to this definition, would it
be wrong to speak of a German Reich in the economic realm?

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A Shadow over the Present Day
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras certainly doesn't have the impression that he is free
to steer his country's policy as he likes. This Monday, he is in Berlin for meetings with
the German chancellor, at which Germany's national-socialist past will be a topic of
conversation. Greece is demanding that Germany pay reparations for Nazi war crimes
visited on the country during World War II.
Those demands, of course, have much to do with the desperation now being felt by a
government that has thus far acted with a significant degree of amateurism. But it would
be a mistake to believe that the German past is no longer relevant. Again and again, it
casts its shadow over the present day.
A heavy accusation has been levelled at Germany -- by some in Greece, in Spain and
in France but also by some in Great Britain and in the United States. The euro crisis, a
certain breed of politicians, journalists and economists argue, has allowed Germany to
dominate Southern Europe and to suffocate it in order to impose its principles even as
its export policy has meant that the country has profited from that same currency crisis
more than any other country. Germany's image in some countries has become one of
an egotistical economic occupier flanked by smaller Northern European countries from
the same mold.
Perhaps the negative feeling about Germany is more prominent in Greece whose
economy is suffering from imposed austerity regulations brought about largely by
Germany. However, no nation likes to be pushed around even if the circumstances of
their weakness were caused by themselves.
During the last 100 years there has been very little love in Europe or anywhere else for
Germany. They have tried hard to improve the situation but it very difficult when one is
strong and its neighbors are weak. Resentment, whether fair or not, is a fact of life. So it
goes!
GERMANY & IRAN
The German government in the person of Foreign Minister Frank-Walther Steinmeier
was deeply involved in the Lausanne negotiations with Iran. However, with the initial
agreement “signed” (It’s not clear they actually signed anything) very little has been
heard from Berlin. Strange? Probably not! Germany was at best a peripheral player in
the negotiating process but it is far from that as far as the results are concerned.
Over many years Germany has been an important trading partner with Iran. According
to Wikipedia, “Around 50 German firms have their own branch offices in Iran and more
than 12,000 firms have their own trade representatives in Iran. Several renowned
German companies are involved in major Iranian infrastructure projects, especially in
the petrochemical sector, like Linde, BASF, Lurgi, Krupp, Siemens, ZF Friedrichshafen,
Mercedes, Volkswagen and MAN (2008)

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In 2005 Germany had the largest share of Iran's export market with $5.67 billion
(14.4%) In 2008, German exports to Iran increased 8.9 percent and comprised 84.7
percent of the total German-Iranian trade volume. The overall bilateral trade volume
until the end of September 2008 stood at 3.23 billion euros, compared to 2.98 billion
euros the previous year. The value of trade between Tehran and Berlin has increased
from around 4.3 billion euro in 2009 to nearly 4.7 billion euro in 2010. According to
German sources, around 80 percent of machinery and equipment in Iran is of German
origin.
The German Chambers of Industry and Commerce (DIHK) has estimated that economic
sanctions against Iran may cost more than 10,000 German jobs and have a negative
impact on the economic growth of Germany. Sanctions would especially hurt medium-
sized German companies, which depend heavily on trade with Iran There has been a
shift in German business ties with Iran from long-term business to short-term and from
large to mid-sized companies which have less business interests in the US and thus are
less prone to American political pressure. Around 100 German companies have
branches in Iran and more than 1,000 businesses work through sales agents, according
to the German-Iranian Chamber of Industry and Commerce.
That pretty much gives you the picture. German industry and businesses, I am sure, are
very much in favor of this primary agreement and hope that the final one will be signed
in June.
Having said that, one must also consider that Chancellor Merkel has said repeatedly
that Iran should not have nuclear weapons. I think she is genuinely opposed but the
realities of politics’ are such that she and Germany probably see the Lausanne
agreement as the best choice available. However, as we all know, they don’t have the
deciding vote.
HE’S STILL ALIVE
It is frequently said about someone who has faded from the public eye, “Out of sight, out
of mind”. I think that certainly goes for Germany’s most important leader in post-war
Germany (perhaps only after Konrad Adenauer). Of course, I’m talking about for
Chancellor Helmut Kohl. Well, he’s still very much alive
The former Chancellor recently celebrated his 85th birthday. According to DW, “Ahead of
Helmut Kohl's 85th birthday, German broadcaster ARD has serialized a lengthy
interview - recorded in 2004 - discussing the life's work of the country's longest-serving
chancellor. Deutsche Welle TV has collated and translated excerpts of the mammoth
discussion - Kohl's own chance to reflect on his 16 years at the helm first of the former
West Germany, and then of a reunited Germany.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel and German-US diplomat Henry Kissinger both
wrote guest articles for Germany's largest-circulation newspaper, "Bild," on Friday,
praising Helmut Kohl's political achievements.

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"We all know this: the two happiest moments of our recent past, European union and
German reunification, are also his life's work," Merkel wrote, saying Kohl followed his
goals "unwaveringly" - seeking a unified Germany in a united Europe, also "solidly on
the side" of the United States.
"That is the lesson, which he drew from the horror of National Socialism and the Second
World War," wrote Merkel, who many regard as Kohl's protégé.
"I would wish that Helmut Kohl can look back with satisfaction on his great political
legacy. Germany has much to thank him for," the current chancellor concluded.
In office as Germany's chancellor from 1982 to 1998 - when he lost to Social Democrat
challenger Gerhard Schröder, allied with a growing Green party - the straight-talking,
somewhat old-fashioned politician forged close ties numerous world leaders.
Most commonly lauded were his relationships with France's longstanding Socialist
President Francois Mitterrand, with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev and with US
President George H.W. Bush.
An expenses scandal, in which Kohl was revealed to have accepted a cash donation
from unknown sources eventually toppled him from his role at the head of the CDU.
Kohl has never revealed where the money came from, despite heavy pressure, and the
affair saw Merkel turn on her mentor. The chancellor insisted that breaking his silence
would harm the party.
An op-ed article Merkel wrote back in 1999 for the "Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung"
(FAZ) is broadly considered as the end of their amicable partnership - despite a
softening of ties in recent years. In the article, Merkel wrote that it was time for the CDU
to "learn to stand on its feet" without Kohl, saying the chancellor's silence during the
scandal "has done damage to the party."
Valuable footage, given unfinished memoirs
Kohl himself suffered a serious fall in 2008 and is confined to a wheelchair and now
rarely speaks in public. Kohl's first wife, Hannelore committed suicide in 2001. His
second wife, Maike Kohl-Richter, administers her husband's affairs.
Kohl's absence from the political stage has increased interest in the extended video
interview, particularly because the fourth and final volume of Kohl's memoirs might
never be published. After years working with ghost writer and journalist Heribert
Schwan, the relationship collapsed. Schwan - who last year published a book containing
snippets of his hundreds of hours speaking with the chancellor despite a legal challenge
from Kohl's lawyers - lays the blame for the breakdown squarely at the door of Maike
Kohl-Richter. At court in November last year, after the book's publication, Kohl's legal
representatives won a court order preventing the Heyne Verlag publishing house from
printing or issuing any further copies including quotes purportedly from Kohl.
The work drew the most international attention for some of Kohl's appraisals of Merkel
herself, when he complained of her being something of a political liability in her earliest

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days in the cabinet. Kohl told his ghostwriter how Merkel "couldn't use a knife and fork
properly," and hovered "like a specter" at inopportune moments.
Schwan also asked about Merkel's notorious FAZ article, with the former chancellor
replying that he needed say nothing more on the issue, but that Merkel might see fit to
comment herself, one day.
Kohl was expected to spend his birthday among close friends at his home in
Ludwigshafen-Oggersheim
I hope someday that Chancellor Kohl’s entire memoirs and reflections are completed
and printed in English. There is very little doubt that at the end of the Cold War he
developed into a major force that brought democracy to East Germany and secured
central Europe as an important part of the Western World.
In was during his time as Chancellor that the Soviet Union fell apart and that a great
number of Jews were admitted to Germany. His thoughts on that piece of Jewish history
are certainly critical to understanding the growth of the Jewish community in Germany
and its expansion from 28,000 to today’s 200,000.
REFUGEES, NEO-NAZISM & TODAY’S GERMANY
In the last few months I have been filling you in on the PEGIDA movement (Patriotic
Europeans Against the Islamization of the West German: Patriotische Europäer gegen
die Islamisierung des Abendlandes abbreviated PEGIDA and Pegida), is a German
right-wing anti-Islamist political organization founded in Dresden in October 2014 which
has gained strength in the eastern part of Germany. It has held large demonstrations
and triggered equally large or larger counter-demonstrations. It has attracted neo-Nazi
elements such as members of the NPD Party.
Recently, in the small village of Tröglitz a building that was to house 40 refugees was
attacked by arsonists and was mostly destroyed. The situation in this small community
has moved the Mayor to resign fearing for his own life and the security of his family.
As reported in DW, “For Markus Nierth, former mayor of Tröglitz, there's no doubt as to
who was behind the attack.
Markus Nierth: We've been hearing threats for a number of weeks now that something
would happen to the house in Tröglitz. We thought it was just about spreading fear, that
[the extremists] wanted to make us scared and that we would give up out of fear. Now,
it's clear that they have taken this whole thing to a new level.
I would hesitate to collate my situation with that of the refugee house. However, given
the support that my wife and I have demonstrated for the cause of housing refugees in
Tröglitz, I can see the link you are suggesting. As soon as the NPD and other [right-
wing] members showed up outside our house, I realized it was time to call it quits.
That's not funny anymore.

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DW asked the former Mayor, “Would you say that the average person on the street in
Tröglitz sympathizes with such a stance towards foreigners, not to mention asylum
seekers?
Most of my experiences with the people here have shown me that this simply isn't the
case. However, I must say that xenophobic attitudes are becoming more and more part
of what is accepted here. We are starting to encounter a real problem with what's known
as the "silent middle," a kind of latent xenophobia in broader society that threatens to
spread.
There is more to the story which you can read by clicking the link below. However, it is
“We are starting to encounter a real problem with what's known as the "silent middle," a
kind of latent xenophobia in broader society that threatens to spread.” That is most
frightening. It is the “silent middle” that turns their heads away from extremism and just
lets it happen. It is just too reminiscent of the 1930’s and that should worry all of
Germany and particularly its leadership. How both the local and national governments
and, more importantly, the overall population responds will tell us a lot about courage or
capitulation
http://www.dw.de/the-seeds-of-neo-nazism-are-germinating-says-tröglitz-ex-mayor-
after-arson-attack/a-18361580
After writing the above another article appeared in which the State Minister of Saxony
Anhalt (of which Tröglitz is a part) also addressed the issue. Reiner Haseloff, warned
against dismissing the attack on a refugee home in Tröglitz as a one-off case.
Politicians are calling for a ban of the right-wing NPD party. Haseloff said that the issue
of racism and xenophobia had become a nationwide problem, with protests against
asylum seekers and attacks on planned accommodation having also occurred in other
German cities.
"The number of attacks is growing across the country. Tröglitz is everywhere," Haseloff
said.
"We have to deal with this unspeakable development at a national level," the CDU
politician demanded.
Despite Saturday's suspected arson attack, Haseloff insisted that refugees will be taken
in by Tröglitz as planned.
"We will not go back, not one step," Haseloff said.
It is clear that we have not heard the last of Tröglitz. Stay tuned.
THE OTHER SIDE OF THE COIN
Following the Charlie Hebdo and Kosher Market terrorist attacks the media, especially
the Jewish media, was full of stories about Jews leaving Europe because of the rise of

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anti-Semitism. Some even talked about the end of a Jewish population in Europe. In no
way should anyone underestimate the importance of the attacks on Jews living in
Europe and the impact it had on individual Jews.
My guess is that almost all Jews in Europe had at least a little feeling of insecurity and
concern. However, there is another side to the story that should be pointed out. Almost
all Jews in Europe did not in any serious way contemplate leaving. To plumb the depths
of the feeling “Haaretz's Anshel Pfeffer set out to investigate how contemporary and
historical centers of Jewish life in Europe are responding to rising anti-Semitism.
Despite increased tensions, what he found were vibrant and engaged communities –
largely unafraid to be openly Jewish in Europe.
'The Cossacks aren't coming' - a series of dispatches from Jewish communities across
Europe - was born from a feeling that the true story of Jewish life in Europe is not being
told. It is obscured in both Israeli and international media due to a, perhaps
understandable, focus on terror attacks and perception of a rising tide of anti-Semitism
washing over the continent. The narrative which has emerged in recent years, to an
increasing degree since last summer's conflict in Gaza and in the wake of the Paris
killings in January, has been one of fearful and endangered Jews on the brink of
tragedy - that can only be averted by mass emigration to safer shores.
Much of the reporting on European Jewry in recent months has been tinged with
disbelief: Who are these foolhardy Jews that have failed to learn the lesson of the
Holocaust and are once again ignoring the coming storm in this cursed continent?
It fails to take into account that for a million and a half Jews across Europe, this is
home. They are part of the social fabric and national identity of the countries where they
were born and continue choosing to live their lives. While thousands of communities
were wiped out in the Holocaust and many others have since drastically dwindled in
numbers, Jews still live openly throughout Europe, both carrying on traditions and
creatively innovating new and fascinating Jewish experiences.
Very little of this has been reported, and the complex challenges the Jews do face, are
routinely reduced to the simplistic formulations of physical threat from the new
Islamization and a resurgence of old anti-Semitism. Most of the coverage has also
disregarded how in the wider upheaval occurring now in Europe, the Jews are not
victims of change, but also have a key role to play in the continent’s future.
Ten features cannot provide a broad picture of such a wide range of communities, each
facing its own particular set of circumstances and carving out a unique place in wider
national identities. It is intended to present a series of snapshots, illustrating how the
Jews of Europe are not only responding to tragedy and intimidation, but also busy
building a future. In addition to my research in five countries, chosen to give a cross-
section of regions and Jewish populations of different size and temperament, the
insights are informed by my reporting for Haaretz over the last eight years from all the
major Jewish communities in Europe and many of the smaller ones as well.

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It is an attempt at a clear-eyed appraisal of the dangers facing Europe’s Jews but also
an optimistic view of their future; which is why my journey began down the road from
Auschwitz, at the bright and new Jewish Community Center in Krakow.
The above introduction precedes ten articles by Pfeffer outlining what he saw during his
tour of cities in Europe
You can and should click on the attached link to access the Pfeffer pieces. Each and
every one is worth the time spent reading. If you can’t finish all ten, spend at least a little
time on No. 10 which serves as his summary.
http://www.haaretz.com/jewish-world/jewish-world-features/1.644038
By the way, none of Pfeiffer’s articles are specifically about Jews in Germany. However,
it doesn’t take much imagination to understand they are pretty much in the same
position as their co-religionists in other European countries.
MEIN KAMPF: SOON AVAILABLE IN GERMANY
In the last couple of years I have reported that Hitler’s Mein Kampf would finally be re-
published in Germany after a 70 year waiting period having to do with a copyright ban.
Of course here you could go to Amazon.com and get a paperbound edition for $12.07
or a Kindle Edition for .99 cents.
So? What’s the big fuss about now that it will be published in Germany? The flap, of
course, is two-fold. First, there is concern about the sensibilities of Holocaust survivors
and second, whether its appearance in German bookstores might trigger anti-Semitism.
Steve Lipman writing in The Jewish Week notes, “.Unlike the swastika and the Nazi
salute, the sale and reading of “Mein Kampf” are not banned in Germany, but the book,
subject to a 70-year copyright ban upon the death of an author, has remained largely a
shadowy presence there, largely unread outside of neo-Nazi circles and university
courses where it is studied in selected excerpts.
At the end of this year, the copyright ban on publication of “Mein Kampf” expires. For
the first time in 70 years it will be openly available.
An academic institute in Munich is preparing an annotated edition of the book, packed
with footnotes and explanations that will demystify Hitler’s words, putting Hitler’s claims
into a historical context and pointing out contradictions and factual errors. The new
edition, which is to come out early next year, will be expensive, out of financial range for
most readers; it will be geared for use by researchers and university professors. In
addition, Germany’s Federal Agency for Civic Education has indicated that it may create
special materials for teachers in case neo-Nazis start distributing the book.
A French publishing house also plans to issue its own heavily footnoted edition of “Mein
Kampf,” but some observers say the pending release of the book known as “the Nazi

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Bible” has the most resonance in Germany, which started World War II and coordinated
the Final Solution that wiped out two-thirds of European Jewry.
Copies of “Mein Kampf” could be displayed in the windows of German bookstores within
a year. “That’s the image one has to deal with,” said David Marwell, executive director
of the Museum of Jewish Heritage – A Living Memorial to the Holocaust in Manhattan.
“It could be shocking for German Jews to see. The issue is for people living in
Germany.”
However, other academicians and Jewish leaders say the uncontested publication of
“Mein Kampf” in Western countries for the first time in seven decades may be
problematic for Jews elsewhere, outside of Germany; while “Mein Kampf” has remained
available over the decades in libraries and antiquarian bookstores, it has also become a
bestseller in many countries throughout the Muslim world, especially popular in India,
Turkey and Russia.
The impending open availability of a book that inspired a generation of Nazi enthusiasts
raises many questions, which have special relevance on the eve of Yom HaShoah, the
annual commemoration of the Holocaust that is marked on April 15: Will “Mein Kampf”
in German bookstores be a danger? Will it fuel anti-Semitism? Will it disturb the
country’s aging Holocaust survivors?
“I think there’s a valid concern that the copyright expiration of ‘Mein Kampf’ could
contribute to making it more widely available to the public, especially though online and
digital publishing,” said Anti-Defamation League National Director Abraham Foxman,
pointing to “a sudden surge in digital downloads of e-book editions of Hitler’s manifesto”
a year ago.
“Everyone, even a neo-Nazi group, will be able to republish the book,” said Foxman, a
Holocaust survivor. “There is always the concern … that some people who are already
infected with anti-Semitism will misuse the book in an attempt to glorify Hitler or
reinforce their own warped views about Jews.”
Foxman said he endorses the publication of the forthcoming annotated edition. To
complement that effort, the ADL has posted background information on “Mein Kampf”
on its website and has contacted major booksellers in the U.S. about including
information from ADL on their websites if the book is offered for sale.
However, law professor Thane Rosenbaum, a child of Holocaust survivors who often
writes about Holocaust-related themes, said the publication of an annotated edition on
‘Mein Kampf” carries its own risk — it could offer anti-Semites the “imprimatur” of
academic respectability. “On the basis of [scholarly] authority, they will be able to invoke
the language of Hitler as well as his political theories.
“Any free society that is interested in human rights should be concerned,” Rosenbaum
said.

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Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress, wrote in a letter to The New
York Times that “We must do everything we can to prevent [its] publication. We owe it to
Hitler’s victims.”
On the other hand, a wide range of German-Jewish leaders, at both the national and
regional level, said they support the publication of an annotated edition of “Mein Kampf.”
Banning the book from being sold or published “gives it a status as something almost
mythical,” said Michael Brenner, a professor of Jewish Studies at the University of
Munich. The child of Holocaust survivors, he is an active member of the German-Jewish
community in addition to teaching Jewish studies at American University in Washington.
“I don’t see anything bad that a very serious institute will publish it. When you study the
historical period in college, you should have this available.”
In 2012, Bavaria allocated 500,000 euros ($544,000) to the Munich-based Institute of
Contemporary History, founded in 1949 to study the phenomenon of National Socialism,
for a team of scholars to prepare the annotated edition. The Bavarian government was
initially planning to publish the edition but decided against it after coming under attack
by some scholars and politicians. But it has not withdrawn its money or support for the
project. The Institute will publish the book.
Bavarian officials, after conversations with survivors, decided that it would be a mistake,
for “diplomatic and human” reasons, to publish “Mein Kampf,” a government spokesman
told The Jewish Week in an email.
Edith Raim, a member of the Institute’s research team, said via email that “everybody
with some common sense will understand that researchers/historians need to read Nazi
texts for their research — it is … sensible to deal with [‘Mein Kampf’] in a scholarly
fashion, showing the prejudices, the mistakes, the errors and the outright stupidity of
some of Hitler’s arguments.
“I doubt whether it will once again become a bestseller,” Raim said. “Times have
considerably changed since [the 1920-30s]. I doubt whether anti-Semites can make any
use of the book for current purposes.”
Experts point to the growing incidence of global anti-Semitism, especially following
Israel’s Operation Protective Edge against Hamas terrorists in Gaza last year, and
greater acceptance of neo-Nazi parties in some European countries.
Originally I thought that the re-publication of Mein Kampf in Germany would not be such
a big deal. After all, it’s available all over the world and anyone who wants to read it
could easily get a copy – though not in a German bookstore or, I guess, a German
bookstore website.
I now think I was wrong. Given the increase in anti-Semitic incidents and the high
degree of anti-Israelism gives the right wing extremists a new element to program
around. The public discussion is bound to be stoked with emotion. I hope I’m wrong
(again) in thinking that this rotten book will serve as a trigger for all kinds of anti-
Semitism in its many forms. In this case I’ll enjoy not being right,

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THE WIESENTHAL CENTER & GERMANY
Most of the Nazis (not the neo-Nazis) are in their late 80’s or 90’s.. It’s been 70 years
since “The War” ended so there aren’t many left. However, many feel that justice must
always be done so Holocaust perpetrators no matter what their age should located,
prosecuted and made to pay for their crimes.
One agency that remains committed to finding and bringing war criminals to justice is
the Simon Wiesenthal Center. It has a close ally in, perhaps, one that might be
surprising – the German Government.
Recently Germany’s DW News Bureau reported, “The Simon Wiesenthal Center has
praised Germany for making it easier to prosecute former Nazis. In a new report, the
human rights group also criticizes the US and Eastern European countries for not doing
enough.
Germany achieved the "most important, positive results" in bringing former Nazis to
justice over the past 12 months, the Simon Wiesenthal Center said in its annual report
released Monday.
The Los Angeles-based group dedicated to fighting anti-Semitism and promoting human
rights recognized Germany's efforts to relax the criteria needed to pursue suspected
war criminals, namely that prosecutors have evidence of suspects being involved in
specific atrocities against specific victims. But, as the report highlighted, a new legal
strategy in Germany had paved the way "for the conviction of practically any person
who served either in a Nazi death camp or in the Einsatzgruppen (mobile killing units)."
Efraim Zuroff, director of the center's Israel office, said two percent of "Nazi criminals"
are believed to be alive, and that half of them could still be tried.
"Despite the somewhat prevalent assumption that it is too late to bring Nazi murderers
to justice, the figures clearly prove otherwise," he said in a statement.
Zuroff added that over the past 14 years, at least 102 convictions against Nazi war
criminals have been obtained and more than 3,500 new investigations initiated. Since
the 1945-46 Nuremberg Trials, about 13,000 German or Nazi soldiers have been found
guilty of war crimes, and around half have been sentenced.
The center's report pointed out what it described as a "lack of political will to bring Nazi
war criminals to justice and/or to punish them" in post-communist Eastern Europe. The
group also lowered its ranking of Nazi-hunting efforts in the Unites States from an A to a
B. It's the first time the US has been given such a low grade.
Zuroff said the ranking had slipped partly because the US failed to act against Michael
Karkoc, allegedly the former commander of an SS-led Ukrainian squadron, who has
been living in the state of Minnesota since 1949. A German investigation revealed that

14. 14
Karkoc led a unit accused of burning villages, then lied to American immigration officials
to get into the country after World War II.
The Simon Wiesenthal Center publishes an annual list of most-wanted Nazis. Former
SS lieutenant Gerhard Sommer is currently at the top of the list. He is under
investigation in Germany for his alleged involvement in the massacre of 560 civilians in
Italy's Tuscany region in 1944.
There is no doubt that there is strong feeling among some both in Germany and
elsewhere that the hunt for Nazi war criminals should be brought to an end since the
perpetrators are all very old. I’m not in that category. I believe crime is crime and there
should not be a halt in prosecutions because of age. There is no statute of limitations on
murder nor should there be.
See you again in May.
DuBow Digest is written and published by Eugene DuBow who can be reached at
dubowdigest@email.com
Both the American and Germany editions are posted at www.dubowdigest.net