Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Bitburg
Other Titles: discussion of August 1985 article, Bitburg: who forgot what
Personal Author: Decter, Midge
Journal Name: Commentary
Source: Commentary v. 80 (December 1985) p. 2+
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0010-2601
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Readers respond to Midge Decter's article "Bitburg: Who Forgot What": Although some roundly praise her analysis of the Bitburg controversy, others accuse Decter--who criticized President Reagan's visit to the German war cemetery--of opposing the security measures that are needed to prevent another Holocaust. Some readers regard the Bitburg episode as the opportunity for the West Germans to acknowledge their culpability and for the wronged to forgive and let the healing on both sides proceed. Readers disagree as to West German chancellor Helmut Kohl's motivation for insisting on the Bitburg visit, and some readers challenge Decter's claim that no one in the media questioned Kohl's role in the controversy. One reader points out that no matter where on the political spectrum supporters of the Bitburg visit fall, the episode demonstrated the reality of anti-Semitism. Decter's response is included.
Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Bitburg: who forgot what
Other Titles: 1985
Personal Author: Decter, Midge
Journal Name: Commentary
Source: Commentary v. 80 (August 1985) p. 21-7
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0010-2601
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan was surprised to find himself embroiled in a dispute over his visit to the German military cemetery at Bitburg. Protests were raised from every quarter, including his own, especially when it was discovered that the cemetery contained the graves of some members of the SS, Hitler's genocidal corps. Reagan then walked straight into the moral quagmire the trip was designed to avoid. He said that few Germans from the Nazi era are still alive, and that the SS men were as much victims as the Jews. The media wrongly considered Bitburg a solely Jewish issue. Although "reconciliation" was a word much bandied about, Chancellor Helmut Kohl was really asking Reagan to undo German history, turning World War II into a war like any other. Reagan was forced to make the abstract generalizations that more often come from his liberal opponents, rather than to look at the brutal reality. Jews must remember the Holocaust by clearly seeing today's dangers to democracy.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Germany after Bitburg
Personal Author: Garton Ash, Timothy
Journal Name: The New Republic
Source: The New Republic v. 193 (July 15-22 1985) p. 15-17
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-6583
Language of Document: English
Abstract: German chancellor Helmut Kohl's political bumbling is causing political disarray in Germany and confusion elsewhere. His tactlessness may be rooted in his attitude toward Germany's Nazi past. Today, Kohl and many West Germans do not feel responsible for Nazi crimes, although Kohl preaches historical responsibility. In his view, Germany will overcome nationalism by working for human rights and surrendering its sovereignty to the European Union. In practice, however, Kohl's blunders belie his intent. He has offended Poland, for example, by disputing its borders and insisting that 12 million Germans still live in Poland, which that government denies. Despite appearances, nationalism is as alive in Germany as it is in Britain or France.
Subject(s): World War, 1939-1945/Germany; National socialism; Political attitudes/Germany (West); German reunification; Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Kohl, Helmut, 1930-
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Bitburg: must we forgive?
Personal Author: Kantzer, Kenneth S.
Journal Name: Christianity Today
Source: Christianity Today v. 29 (July 12 1985) p. 14-15
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0009-5753
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's visit to Bitburg was motivated by a desire to affirm the mutual respect and good will between the United States and Germany. It was appropriate for the President to express the forgiveness of the American people, though ultimately only God can forgive. Despite our anger and horror at the Holocaust, which was a crime not only against the Jews but against all humanity, we must forgive and seek reconciliation. The demand for justice is also legitimate. It is unfortunate that Reagan and his advisers were not more sensitive to the feelings of the Jewish community. In the matter of justice, both Germans and Americans are guilty of either ignoring the Holocaust or not moving quickly enough to stop it. But Germany has been diligent in bringing war criminals to justice. President Reagan found that forgiveness also entails accepting responsibility for others' wrongdoing. Justice is important, but forgiveness and reconciliation are greater virtues.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Forgiveness; Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Bitburg Air Base, May 5, 1985
Other Titles: address
Personal Author: Reagan, Ronald
Journal Name: Department of State Bulletin
Source: Department of State Bulletin v. 85 (July 1985) p. 8-10
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration
ISSN: 0041-7610
Language of Document: English
Abstract: PART OF A SPECIAL SECTION ON PRESIDENT REAGAN'S VISIT TO THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY, SPAIN, FRANCE, AND PORTUGAL. During a visit to Bitburg Air Base, President Reagan reflects on the spirit of hope and reconciliation that has triumphed over the enormous evil of nazism.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Document Type: Speech
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Words, for the president, upon laying a wreath
Other Titles: alternative Bitburg speech
Personal Author: Marin, Peter
Journal Name: Harper's
Source: Harper's v. 271 (July 1985) p. 11-12
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0017-789X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: In a speech sent to President Reagan in May, a contributing editor to Harper's argues that it is right to mourn the Nazi dead because they fell prey to an inhumanity to which all of humankind is vulnerable: All people should realize the fragility of the bonds that link the human community, and should vow to teach their children the virtues of conscientious resistance. The Nazi Holocaust will be the last only if we identify not only with its victims, but also with their executioners.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Inquest
Other Titles: Bitburg visit
Personal Author: Buckley, William F.
Journal Name: National Review
Source: National Review v. 37 (June 14 1985) p. 54
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-0038
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The furor over President Reagan's visit to the Bitburg cemetery, where forty-nine former SS soldiers are among those buried, represents the perplexing nature of American politics. Although the public was evenly divided on whether the president should cancel the trip, members of the House and the Senate, who are much more aware of the trip's political importance, failed to support Reagan almost unanimously: the Senate voted 82-0 to oppose the trip and the House vote was 390-26. Not one senator supported a trip that would bolster the standing of Germany's Christian Democratic Party at a time when the Left is gaining ground. Come election time, no senator need worry about having to explain his position. So the Senate did what was safe, and the president what was necessary.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Thoughts after Bitburg
Personal Author: Krupnick, Mark
Journal Name: The Christian Century
Source: The Christian Century v. 102 (June 5-12 1985) p. 573-4
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0009-5281
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's controversial decision to visit the German military cemetery at Bitburg has been a rallying cause for American Jewry. While Reagan claimed that the visit, clearly a political move, was justified by his forgiveness of German actions against Jews in World War II, American Jewish citizens spoke out against the president's action. For Reagan to forgive the Germans in the name of Jews is both inappropriate and unethical. According to a New York Times survey, most Americans felt indifferent about the Bitburg visit, but Bitburg has united American Jews in a remembrance of the past as no other modern event has. It has reminded Jews that they must be constantly vigilant against a repeat of past injustices. The appearance of a new link with the victims of the Holocaust is a positive result of the embarrassment of Bitburg.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The Bitburg bombshell
Other Titles: Russian view
Personal Author: Sturua, Melor
Journal Name: World Press Review
Source: World Press Review v. 32 (June 1985) p. 50-1
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0195-8895
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Excerpted from the April 26 issue of the government daily Izvestia of Moscow. The controversy over President Reagan's visit to the Bitburg cemetery is indicative of a deeper international conflict. The United States is engaging in self-serving revisionism when it labels the Soviet Union a "evil empire." As the fortieth anniversary of the victory over Hitler's Germany neared, the Pentagon announced it would sell West Germany 866 supersonic missiles. Meanwhile, furor raged over the discovery that the cemetery contained no graves of American servicemen but did contain the graves of Hitler's Wermacht soldiers, who killed tens of thousands of Americans, and SS members who murdered U.S. prisoners. A major aspect of the "Bitburg bombshell" was ignored: Bitburg hosts many U.S. servicemen and families, is home to a U.S. Air Force base, and will soon contain cruise missiles. President Reagan's visit was intended to strengthen Western Europe's dependence on Washington.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Letter from Washington
Other Titles: controversy over remarks by P. Buchanan concerning Reagan's visit to Bitburg
Personal Author: Cato
Journal Name: National Review
Source: National Review v. 37 (May 31 1985) p. 11
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-0038
Language of Document: English
Abstract: After an NBC report imputed anti-Semitism to White House director of communications Patrick Buchanan, Jewish leaders who witnessed the incident stepped forward to clear Buchanan's name. While meeting with Jewish leaders to discuss the Bitburg crisis, Buchanan had been observed doodling a slogan that turned out to be innocuous in context. This incident highlighted Buchanan's poor relations with the press, which he has since taken steps to improve. In Vermont, the GOP believes it can win the Senate seat from Democrat Pat Leahy by pitting former governor Richard Snelling against him. If liberal Republican Jim Jeffords runs instead, the Democrats will probably retain the seat.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Jews/United States/Political activities; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West); Buchanan, Patrick
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Voting on Bitburg
Other Titles: Congress
Journal Name: National Review
Source: National Review v. 37 (May 31 1985) p. 12-13
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-0038
Language of Document: English
Abstract: When Congress voted 390 to 26 in the House and 82 to 0 in the Senate against President Reagan's proposed visit to the Bitburg military cemetery, it was motivated by partisanship, ethnicity, and opportunism. This vote reveals Congress's neglect of the national interest.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); United States/Congress/Voting; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Liberalism berserk
Other Titles: Bitburg controversy
Personal Author: Buckley, William F.
Journal Name: National Review
Source: National Review v. 37 (May 31 1985) p. 54-5
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-0038
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Although there has been a national outcry against President Reagan's decision to visit a German graveyard where Nazi soldiers are buried, there is no equivalent resistance to the current abuses of communism. Communism uses the same tactics as nazism, and its victims number at least 20 million, possibly even 65 million. The Soviet shooting of an American officer in East Germany, the Soviet downing of a Korean airliner, and events in Afghanistan and Nicaragua provide evidence that communism is only nazism by another name. Yet the American people and their representatives, in moral blindness, refuse to help communism's victims.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Pack of lies
Other Titles: P. Buchanan's gaffe concerning R. Reagan's Bitburg cemetery visit
Journal Name: The New Republic
Source: The New Republic v. 192 (May 27 1985) p. 4+
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-6583
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The news sometimes appears to be composed of lies that no one is expected to believe. An example is President Reagan's request to Congress for $14 million in humanitarian aid for the Nicaraguan contras. This aid would clearly free other funds for the purchase of weapons. The pretense of charitable motives was taken up by Democrats, who voted in favor of the measure for fear of seeming soft on communism. In another instance of official hypocrisy, Patrick Buchanan publicly scribbled a note to himself about the Bitburg controversy and then denied its obvious meaning.
Subject(s): Jews/United States/Political activities; Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Buchanan, Patrick; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Notes and comment
Other Titles: R. Reagan's visit to Bitburg
Journal Name: The New Yorker
Source: The New Yorker v. 61 (May 27 1985) p. 27-8
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-792X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's trip to Bitburg, West Germany, caused a public-relations crisis with serious ramifications for the nation's political life. Communication, the tool so successfully used by Reagan, was turned against him when it was learned that he would lay a wreath at the graves of German soldiers killed during World War II. Images work best when they evoke one or two simple ideas with emotional appeal. Before the Bitburg trip, Reagan had used images to oppose the bad theme of the Vietnam War and the limits of power to the positive one of World War II and the infinite possibilities of the American Century. But in visiting Bitburg, Reagan tore apart those images. He said that Nazi soldiers were as much victims as the people murdered in concentration camps. Reagan tried to minimize Hitler's totalitarianism while emphasizing that of the Soviet Union. The incident leaves many questions that cannot be answered in images.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Washington diarist
Other Titles: R. Reagan's visit to Bitburg
Personal Author: Wieseltier, Leon
Journal Name: The New Republic
Source: The New Republic v. 192 (May 27 1985) p. 43
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-6583
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's meaningless stop at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp is another example of his tendency to reduce difficult moral questions to mere formulas. The president didn't want to stop--he was merely listening to his advisers, and his tears flowed for effect. Sad to think that a president of the United States could be unaware of the horrors of the Holocaust at this late date; sadder still that he could then give a maudlin and dishonest speech claiming kinship with various suffering peoples from around the world. Happily, the president did not politicize the Holocaust, although he had many apologists who pointed out that Germans also suffered under Nazism. That is a truism that hardly demands that the Holocaust be relegated to ancient history. Norman Podhoretz was right in saying that the stake in the president's visit was, in the end, the correct interpretation of totalitarianism.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Next time
Other Titles: reflections on Bitburg
Personal Author: Marty, Martin E.
Journal Name: The Christian Century
Source: The Christian Century v. 102 (May 22 1985) p. 543
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0009-5281
Language of Document: English
Abstract: During a visit to Germany to trace his family's roots, the writer comes across a distant relative who still grieves for the son she lost during World War II, buried in some unknown grave having died for a cause so remote from her simple life. He concludes that a state tribute to people such as her would have more meaning than wooden ceremonies like the one at Bitburg.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The burden of Bitburg
Personal Author: Brown, Robert McAfee
Journal Name: The Christian Century
Source: The Christian Century v. 102 (May 22 1985) p. 525-6
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0009-5281
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The emotional speech that Ronald Reagan delivered at the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp in preparation for his visit to the cemetery at Bitburg was a case of delivering too little too late. It came after Mr. Reagan ruled out a stop at Dachau; persisted in his plan to attend a ceremony at the Bitburg cemetery after it was learned that SS soldiers were buried there; publicly stated that the German soldiers were as much victims of the war as were those killed in concentration camps; and denied responsibility for the series of blunders. The president's insensitivity has tarnished his image, hurt many Jews, and made others feel that the White House is no place to turn for moral leadership.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: "Forgiveness to the injured doth belong"
Other Titles: Reagan's visit to Bitburg
Personal Author: Morrow, Lance
Journal Name: Time
Source: Time v. 125 (May 20 1985) p. 90
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration
ISSN: 0040-781X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's recent controversial visit to the Bitburg cemetery where Nazi soldiers are buried raises the moral issues of reconciliation and forgiveness. Reagan showed a peculiar insensitivity to the power of the past and gave the impression that he was conferring forgiveness on Hitler's soldiers. However, as both Simon Wiesenthal and the poet John Donne have pointed out, only the victim of an outrage is qualified to forgive its perpetrator. While reconciliation can be a political transaction, forgiveness is a clearing of the moral slate between individuals. Such forgiveness seems all but impossible in the case of Nazi Germany. Although there have been other great outrages in history, the Third Reich is particularly abhorrent because its actions represent a profound perversion of the Western cultural heritage.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Forgiveness; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The rebound begins
Other Titles: aftermath of R. Reagan's Bitburg visit
Personal Author: Chaze, William L.
Journal Name: U.S. News & World Report
Source: U.S. News & World Report v. 98 (May 20 1985) p. 26-30
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0041-5537
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan returned from his controversial ten-day, four-nation trip through Europe to some encouraging signs on the domestic front. He had failed to achieve a unanimous agreement on new trade talks at the economic summit in Bonn and had encountered opposition nearly everywhere to his trade embargo against Nicaragua. Most damaging to his support in the United States was his participation in a wreath-laying ceremony on May 5 at the Bitburg cemetery in Germany, where fifty Nazi SS troopers are buried. American Jews and some veterans continue to express outrage over the Bitburg ceremony, but many other Americans support the president. Reagan returned to the United States to see the Senate pass a compromise budget and the House shift on proposals to aid Nicaraguan contras. The president hopes to bolster his image further by taking the initiative on tax reform. Excerpts from Reagan's speeches at Bitburg and the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp accompany the text.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Betrayal of the intellectuals
Other Titles: neoconservative supporters of R. Reagan keep silent about the Bitburg visit
Personal Author: Cockburn, Alexander
Journal Name: The Nation
Source: The Nation v. 240 (May 18 1985) p. 582
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0027-8378
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Neoconservative intellectuals such as Norman Podhoretz, Midge Decter, Michael Novak, Irving Kristol, and Jeane Kirkpatrick gathered in Washington for a conference on political affairs supported in part by the U.S. State Department. The speakers predictably reaffirmed their opposition to communism, totalitarianism, and intellectual treason, but none of them, including Podhoretz, was willing to question President Reagan's praise of the Nazi war dead in Bitburg. Elliott Abrams's intellectual treason as the State Department's apologist for human-rights violations was also tolerated.
Subject(s): Conservatism; Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The Bitburg summit
Personal Author: Shapiro, Walter
Journal Name: Newsweek
Source: Newsweek v. 105 (May 6 1985) p. 20-1+
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0028-9604
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Last week, furor continued over President Reagan's planned visit to a military cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany, which contains forty-seven SS graves. Despite numerous appeals, including a nonbinding Senate resolution asking Reagan to change his plans, the president stands firm, probably from loyalty to West German chancellor Helmut Kohl, who has supported Reagan's Pershing II and Star Wars policies. Some pundits suggest that the Bitburg controversy indicates a slippage in presidential leadership, especially in the light of last week's House rejection of Reagan's aid package for the Nicaraguan contras and the Senate's continuing reluctance to pass his budget resolution. Yet such reports may prove premature. According to Newsweek's own poll, Reagan remains a popular president. The issue of tax reform could yet provide him an effective rallying cry for his second term.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Ronald Reagan is tutored on the Holocaust by one who survived it, writer Elie Wiesel
Other Titles: protest against Bitburg Cemetery visit
Personal Author: Levin, Eric
Journal Name: People Weekly
Source: People Weekly v. 23 (May 6 1985) p. 46-7
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0093-7673
Language of Document: English
Abstract: While at the White House to accept the prestigious Congressional Gold Medal of Achievement, author Elie Wiesel, a concentration camp survivor, eloquently tried to dissuade President Reagan from visiting a German military cemetery on his trip to West Germany. Wiesel, who has written thousands of words about the horrors of the Holocaust, was distraught that he appeared to have failed in his mission. He had thought about refusing the highest civilian award to protest the proposed trip to the Bitburg cemetery, but decided to use the occasion to make a personal plea to the president to also visit a university. He and other Holocaust survivors were especially disturbed by the president's remarks that equated German soldiers with concentration camp inmates as "victims of Nazism." Wiesel says he has faith in Reagan's sincerity and hopes he will "come around."
Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Wiesel, Elie, 1928-; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Biography; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: "My objective was reconciliation"
Other Titles: interview with H. Kohl
Personal Author: McWhirter, William
Journal Name: Time
Source: Time v. 125 (May 6 1985) p. 15+
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Portrait
ISSN: 0040-781X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: In an interview, Helmut Kohl explains his insistence that President Reagan visit the military cemetery at Bitburg, where some Nazi SS members are buried. The visit is not intended to honor Nazis but to symbolize reconciliation between Americans and Germans. Although the visit is not popular with some Americans, German public opinion is favorable. Most Germans are too young to have experienced Nazism and know the United States only as a close ally. Kohl also explains his position on issues to be discussed at the Bonn Economic Summit, endorsing Reagan's "Star Wars" initiative and free world trade.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Kohl, Helmut, 1930-/Interviews; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Interview
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Reagan in Germany: coming to terms with the past
Other Titles: visit to Bitburg Cemetery
Personal Author: Powell, Stewart
Journal Name: U.S. News & World Report
Source: U.S. News & World Report v. 98 (May 6 1985) p. 24-6
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0041-5537
Language of Document: English
Abstract: As President Reagan prepares to leave for a visit to West Germany, controversy has arisen over his plans to lay a wreath at a Bitburg military cemetery. Among those buried in the cemetery are about fifty members of the SS, the organization largely responsible for the deaths of 6 million Jews under the Nazi regime. Many American Jews are offended by what they take to be symbolic deference to the Nazis. West Germans, however, would like to put the war behind them, and the United States is anxious to reinforce German ties with the Western alliance. The controversy has drawn attention away from the major purpose of Reagan's visit to Germany: to attend the Western economic summit at Bonn and to extend a gesture of goodwill to the United States's former enemy and current ally.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The morality of Bitburg
Personal Author: Greenfield, Meg
Journal Name: Newsweek
Source: Newsweek v. 105 (May 6 1985) p. 88
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration
ISSN: 0028-9604
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's decision to visit the Bitburg cemetery results from three common misconceptions: first, that no grievance is lasting, which tends to trivialize even the most serious of issues; second, that any dispute can be settled by making conciliatory gestures toward the other side, in this case by adding a death-camp visit to the Bitburg ceremony, which undercuts any ability to make moral distinctions; third, that all moral grievances can be answered by invoking other instances revealing equally horrific circumstances, which suggests that ultimately nothing matters. Moreover, the "monster theory," which blames the Holocaust upon a few demented leaders, ignores the pervasive complicity of the German people in that tragedy and hence inhibits understanding of the real lessons of the Holocaust.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Cemetery politics
Other Titles: R. Reagan's visit to Bitburg
Personal Author: Diamond, Stanley
Journal Name: The Nation
Source: The Nation v. 240 (May 4 1985) p. 516-17
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0027-8378
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's decision to visit the German Bitburg military cemetery reflects efforts to court the German right and a resurgance of anti-Semitism at home. The ceremonies at Bitburg will vindicate an increasingly reactionary Germany of its past, and strengthen relations with Chancellor Helmut Kohl's Christian Democratic Union, the guardian of U.S. nuclear, strategical, and ideological interests in Europe. Such a move can be expected to please Germans and improve the administration's position at the nuclear arms talks. The American Jewish establishment appears to be without sufficient political leverage to sway Reagan, a sinister sign of rising anti-Semitism.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Springtime for Hitler
Other Titles: Reagan's Bitburg visit
Personal Author: Cockburn, Alexander
Journal Name: The Nation
Source: The Nation v. 240 (May 4 1985) p. 518-19
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0027-8378
Language of Document: English
Abstract: White House communications director Patrick Buchanan is encouraging the delusionary departures from reality behind President Reagan's insistence on memorializing S.S. troopers as morally equivalent to Jewish concentration camp victims. Reagan's upcoming visit to Germany is meant to convey to the viewing public that in World War II, free world defenders--Germany, the United States, and England--joined to battle Soviet totalitarianism. Reagan's story that he already visited a death camp after the war, which he has repeated several times to the press and Israeli and Jewish leaders, is another complete fantasy of the sort that others are usually committed for.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Reagan's brush with history
Other Titles: plan to visit Bitburg
Personal Author: Manson, Tycho
Journal Name: Maclean's
Source: Maclean's v. 98 (April 29 1985) p. 33
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0024-9262
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The Reagan administration emerged rather bloodied from a week that included two mortifying incidents. First, the president failed to win approval for a plan to give military aid to the Nicaraguan contras should negotiations with the Sandinista government collapse. Members of Congress as well as Latin American leaders denounced the president, and the Vatican contradicted a White House claim that the pope had approved the plan. Meanwhie, the administration was much criticized for the president's proposed trip to the Bitburg cemetery in West Germany. The visit is intended as a gesture of reconciliation on the fortieth anniversary of the end of the Second World War. Jewish leaders in particular have opposed the trip, as the cemetery contains the graves of several SS officers.
Subject(s): Military assistance, American/Nicaragua; Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The Bitburg fiasco
Personal Author: Krauthammer, Charles
Journal Name: Time
Source: Time v. 125 (April 29 1985) p. 90
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0040-781X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's proposed visit on V-E day to a cemetery in Bitburg , West Germany, that contains the graves of forty-seven SS members is morally wrong. The visit was suggested by West German chancellor Kohl as a gesture of reconciliation between the United States and Germany, but laying a wreath where Nazis are buried is a poor political move and historically indefensible. Reagan is also incorrect in his claim that the German soldiers buried at Bitburg were as much victims as those who died at German hands. The Bitburg disaster illustrates some of the problems of Reagan's presidency: a fondness for drama, a disregard of history, and a narrow view of politics.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004; Kohl, Helmut, 1930-
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: When the "gates of hell" were opened
Other Titles: Days of Remembrance marking 40th anniversary of death camps' liberation
Journal Name: U.S. News & World Report
Source: U.S. News & World Report v. 98 (April 29 1985) p. 10
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration
ISSN: 0041-5537
Language of Document: English
Abstract: As Jews across the United States and around the world marked the fortieth anniversary of the liberation of Nazi concentration camps, President Reagan reaffirmed his decision to visit a Bitburg, West Germany, cemetery where forty-seven SS members are buried. In a ceremony during which he received the Congressional Gold Medal, Elie Wiesel, chairman of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Commission, urged the president not to go to Bitburg and reminded him of the horrors of the concentration camps. Later, the White House announced that it would visit a concentration camp site as well as the Bitburg cemetery. Most Jewish leaders found little comfort in the compromise. East German speakers took advantage of the situation to denounce the United States and to praise the Marxist inmates, but not the Jewish victims, of the Buchenwald concentration camp.
Subject(s): Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Judgment at Bitburg
Other Titles: Reagan trip
Personal Author: Morganthau, Tom
Journal Name: Newsweek
Source: Newsweek v. 105 (April 29 1985) p. 14-17
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0028-9604
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Instead of promoting reconciliation between Germany and its former World War II enemies, Ronald Reagan's proposed trip to Bitburg, West Germany, opened old wounds. As soon as the White House announced Reagan's trip to the Bitburg military cemetery, American Jews and World War II veterans expressed outrage that the president would visit a place where forty-seven Nazi SS officers are buried. Jewish leaders also maintained that Reagan's belated decision to visit the Bergen-Belsen concentration camp was little more than a clumsy move to rectify the situation. American veterans reminded the president that Bitburg was a staging area for the Battle of the Bulge. Normally strong relations between Reagan and West German chancellor Helmut Kohl were shaken by the growing controversy. Even so, the president remained firm in his decision to make a gesture of peace.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: A misbegotten trip opens old wounds
Other Titles: Reagan's plan to visit Bitburg Cemetery
Personal Author: Magnuson, Ed
Journal Name: Time
Source: Time v. 125 (April 29 1985) p. 18-22+
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0040-781X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: PART OF A SPECIAL SECTION ON V-E DAY. President Reagan's proposed visit to a cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany which includes the graves of forty-seven of the Third Reich's SS troops, infuriated Jewish leaders and U.S. veteran's groups, among others. The president had planned a wreath-laying ceremony in response to an appeal for American-German reconciliation by West German chancellor Helmut Kohl. Reagan and his staff had not initially realized that SS members were buried at Bitburg, but they decided to proceed with the ceremony anyway, despite accusations of insensitivity. Reagan was also criticized for suggesting that German soldiers buried at Bitburg were victims of the Nazis. A last-minute decision to visit Bergen-Belsen concentration camp did not stem concerns about Reagan's poor handling of the controversy and his apparent lack of knowledge of history.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The ghosts of World War II
Other Titles: furor over Reagan visit to Bitburg Cemetery
Personal Author: Will, George F.
Journal Name: Newsweek
Source: Newsweek v. 105 (April 29 1985) p. 78
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration
ISSN: 0028-9604
Language of Document: English
Abstract: President Reagan's decision to visit a German military cemetery has raised an undeserved furor among both Americans and Germans. In 1945, the victorious Allies looked squarely at the face of collective German guilt and turned away. Churchill understood that totalitarianism destroys individual will and placed the blame for the horrors of World War II on those in charge of the Nazi regime. The average German soldier, like typical soldiers everywhere, was an insignificant part of a huge military machine. Then as now, military discipline guided the soldiers' actions. The victors balanced passion and reason in 1945; in today's furor, that accomplishment seems to have been ignored.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Storm over a presidential trip
Other Titles: R. Reagan's plan to visit military cemetery at Bitburg
Journal Name: Newsweek
Source: Newsweek v. 105 (April 22 1985) p. 20
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-9604
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The White House landed itself in a heated controversy last week when President Reagan announced his plans to lay a wreath at a German cemetery whose dead include Nazi soldiers. He had earlier declared that his itinerary would not include a visit to Dachau concentration camp, which is now a Holocaust memorial. White House officials are implying that the president's plans might change.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Old furies
Other Titles: R. Reagan's plan to visit Bitburg military cemetery
Journal Name: Time
Source: Time v. 125 (April 22 1985) p. 21
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration
ISSN: 0040-781X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The plans for President Reagan's upcoming trip to Germany seem to have been ineptly handled, causing offense to various parties both in the United States and abroad. Representatives of the American Legion and the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith are offended by Reagan's plans to visit a German military cemetery near Bitburg rather than Allied gravesites or a concentration camp. In addition, West German chancellor Helmit Kohl was not consulted about Reagan's plans to address the European Parliament on V-E Day. Vague and conflicting statements from the White House seem to suggest some disarray in Reagan's usually competent staff.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Letter from Washington
Other Titles: Bitburg controversy
Personal Author: Cato
Journal Name: National Review
Source: National Review v. 37 (May 17 1985) p. 11
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-0038
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Two brief items: Ronald Reagan's insistence that his visit to Bitburg, Germany, proceed as planned stems from his desire to stand by German chancellor Helmut Kohl. Reagan's staff contacted Kohl to inquire about a different site, but Kohl indicated that an itinerary change at that point would create as many problems as it would solve. Pentagon efforts to reform defense contract policies only treat "symptoms of the disease." Poor workmanship and dishonest billing are caused by the Pentagon preference for monopoly suppliers. Navy Secretary John Lehman, who believes in competitive bidding, claims that prices drop dramatically when a second source starts producing. The real question is why the Pentagon doesn't see this "single-source storm" looming and start to reform itself.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); United States/Dept. of Defense/Contracts and procurement; Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The Bitburg phenomenon
Journal Name: National Review
Source: National Review v. 37 (May 17 1985) p. 12-13
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-0038
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Considering Bitburg purely as a political event, a key question is whether the rhetoric used to discredit Ronald Reagan and diminish his power has spread beyond the spokesmen and lobbyists. Probably not. Soldiers are usually more willing to forgive than politicians, and it seems unlikely that those who fought in Normandy are "outraged" by Bitburg. Actually there is very little substance to the Bitburg affair. No one really believes that Reagan is insensitive to the crimes of the Nazis, and surely he can be expected to say the right thing at Bitburg.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Bitburg & the century of ash
Journal Name: Commonweal
Source: Commonweal v. 112 (May 17 1985) p. 293-4
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0010-3330
Language of Document: English
Abstract: No one knows whether the ashes of the Holocaust are still settling on the globe, but they have sunk deeply into the consciousness of modern man. Ronald Reagan's visit to West Germany's Bitburg military cemetery must be remembered because it revealed his internal conflicts. Such instances of self-revelation can lead to new understanding or evasion. Although he abhors the Holocaust, the president also showed the common human desire to cast off the horrors of the past and present. Though memories soften with time, the process should not be hastened, because memory is the only way of preventing a repetition of horrors. The symbolic reconciliation sought by Chancellor Kohl proved empty, because only God and the dead can grant the forgiveness we all seek. The issue is one of morality, not politics. The recurrence of anti-Semitism can be avoided only by conscientiously remembering the past.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Bitburg: Reagan's magnanimous gift
Personal Author: Haeger, Robert
Journal Name: U.S. News & World Report
Source: U.S. News & World Report v. 98 (May 13 1985) p. 26
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0041-5537
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Ronald Reagan's plan to visit a German military cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany, angered a lot of people in the United States, but it won him the admiration of many Germans. The German people appreciated Reagan's resolve to stop at the cemetery, where German soldiers and some SS members are buried, despite the uproar that surrounded the decision in America. The gesture seemed to mark the end of Germany's World War II outlaw status. It was also seen as a show of support for German chancellor Helmut Kohl, who has backed Pershing missile deployment in his country. The Bitburg visit was generally applauded in Germany by politicians, the public, and the media, but some fear that the controversy may damage U.S.-German relations.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Symbolism and public relations
Other Titles: R. Reagan's visit to Bitburg
Journal Name: The New Republic
Source: The New Republic v. 192 (May 13 1985) p. 7-8
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-6583
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The Reagan administration was hoisted on its own petard by its bungling of the president's trip to Germany for the fortieth anniversary of World War II. Preoccupied with symbolism, the administration saw the anniversary as just another public relations job. Reagan's major mistake was not his decision to visit the Bitburg military cemetery, but rather announcing that a concentration camp would not be on the itinerary. He displayed how superficial his emotions about the Holocaust are by saying that German guilt feelings are "unnecessary." Michael Deaver came up with a visit to Bergen-Belsen but this was just a ploy to placate Jews and veterans. The president was correct in saying that German soldiers were victims of Nazism, but he went on to claim that their plight was equivalent to that of the Holocaust victims. Reagan has worked himself into an impossible corner, which is where he belongs.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Paying homage to history
Other Titles: R. Reagan's visit to Bitburg Cemetery
Personal Author: Doerner, William R.
Journal Name: Time
Source: Time v. 125 (May 13 1985) p. 16-19
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0040-781X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: What began as a gesture of friendship became the most passionate dispute of the Reagan presidency and strained relations between the United States and West Germany. President Ronald Reagan and German chancellor Helmut Kohl's reconciliation ceremony at the military cemetery at Bitburg, West Germany, generated a public outcry because the cemetery contains the graves of SS members. During a visit to the Bergen-Belsen concentration-camp site, Reagan's emotional commemoration was an artful example of eulogy mixed with political pacification. In spite of the unease that had been building for two weeks, demonstrators at the cemetery were smaller in number than expected and expertly controlled. However, Chancellor Kohl's quest for West German international legitimacy only rekindled old antagonisms. In the end, the chancellor and President Reagan were more prisoners of their initiative than its benefactors.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004; Kohl, Helmut, 1930-
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Journey to Bitburg
Other Titles: special section
Personal Author: Alpern, David M.
Journal Name: Newsweek
Source: Newsweek v. 105 (May 13 1985) p. 20-6+
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration; Portrait
ISSN: 0028-9604
Language of Document: English
Abstract: A cover story addresses President Reagan's trip to Bitburg cemetery and the economic summit in Bonn, West Germany. Despite the president's eloquent speech at Bergen-Belsen, the controversy surrounding his trip has not abated. The Bitburg affair has probably been the most difficult episode of Reagan's presidency. Included are excerpts from his speech at the concentration camp, a profile of the German anti-Nazi Resistance, a look at the summit meeting--in which French president Francois Mitterrand refused to compromise--and the response to Bitburg from Germans.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004; Kohl, Helmut, 1930-
Document Type: Individual biographies; Symposium
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: The cheap price of anti-Nazism
Other Titles: Bitburg controversy
Personal Author: Amiel, Barbara
Journal Name: Maclean's
Source: Maclean's v. 98 (May 13 1985) p. 9
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Illustration
ISSN: 0024-9262
Language of Document: English
Abstract: The feverish search for old Nazis and the protests over President Reagan's visit to the cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany, may prove injurious to today's Jews and even help the totalitarian cause. Attempts to focus attention on nazism include the passage of laws that may weaken free societies, block due process, and limit free speech and dissension. In addition, the uproar over the Reagan visit to Bitburg has heightened tensions between West Germany and the United States and has served to divert attention from the real oppressor--the Soviet Union.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004/Visit to Germany (West)
Document Type: Feature Article
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: Reflecting on memory and morality
Other Titles: furor over R. Reagan's visit to Bitburg Cemetery
Personal Author: Sidey, Hugh
Journal Name: Time
Source: Time v. 125 (May 13 1985) p. 25
Publication Year: 1985
Physical Description: Portrait
ISSN: 0040-781X
Language of Document: English
Abstract: Ronald Reagan conveys feelings of shock and horror upon remembering a film showing Holocaust victims that he saw forty years ago. In the wake of these memories, he plans for a controversial trip to a cemetery in Bitburg, West Germany. Criticism of his visit has been more severe than any that has Reagan yet received. However, he is committed to finding ways to signal reconciliation and has praised the German government for its commitment to peace and its dedication to democratic ideals.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
Readers' Guide Full Text
Title: A Bitburg footnote
Personal Author: Goldhagen, Daniel
Journal Name: The New Republic
Source: The New Republic v. 192 (May 13 1985) p. 16-17
Publication Year: 1985
ISSN: 0028-6583
Language of Document: English
Abstract: During the controversy over President Reagan's trip to Bitburg cemetery, a false distinction was made between the SS and the German army with regard to the Holocaust. The army willingly assisted in the extermination of Soviet Jewry and on occasion did the actual killing. In Serbia, the army shot nearly five thousand Jews and sent fifteen thousand others to concentration camps. German generals praised the SS. German troops killed Jews without being ordered to and frequently photographed executions. The defense of Reagan's Bitburg visit on the grounds that only forty-seven SS men are buried there ignores the guilt of the German army. Not every soldier and officer condoned the murder of the Jews; some even helped them. But to say that the German soldiers were as much victims of Nazism as the Jews were is a distortion of history and an insult to human dignity.
Subject(s): Bitburg Cemetery (Germany); Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945); Reagan, Ronald, 1911-2004
Document Type: Feature Article; Individual biographies
