Desecration of the synagogue in Cologne
The synagogue in Cologne was desecrated on Christmas Eve 1959. Two DRP members smeared the Cologne synagogue, which only reopened on September 20, 1959, with swastikas and the inscription “Germans demand: Jews out”. A wave of anti-Semitic graffiti followed throughout the Federal Republic.
Reactions
In his speech at the memorial ceremony in the former Bergen-Belsen concentration camp on January 2, 1960, Chancellor Konrad Adenauer regretted the incident and assured him that he would do everything he could to ensure that the National Socialist crimes would not repeat themselves. On January 16, 1960, Adenauer issued a radio declaration on the desecration in Cologne, which was printed under the title In the German People, National Socialism Has No Root . In the spring of 1960 the federal government published a white paper entitled The Anti-Semitic and Nazi Incidents from December 25, 1959 to January 28, 1960 , which documents almost 700 attacks.
The two perpetrators from Christmas Eve 1959 were sentenced to ten and 14 months in prison for property damage. In 1960, under the influence of these incidents, the Bundestag passed a law against sedition .
Web links
- Michael Lausberg : Desecration of the Cologne synagogue 55 years ago - a critical review , Hagalil , 12/2014
Individual evidence
- ↑ Hakenkreuzschmiererein in the FRG , Deutschlandradio on December 24, 2009, accessed on October 15, 2016.
- ↑ National Socialism has no roots in the German people , Bulletin of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Government No. 11, January 19, 1960, p. 89.