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Subject: Germany Pledges to Curb Extremists; Crowds Turn Out to Commemorate Anti-Jewish
Date: Tue, 10 Nov 92 04:53:22 EST
Message-ID: <44.1992Nov10.045323@AmeriCast.com>

Germany Pledges to Curb Extremists; Crowds Turn Out to Com-
memorate Anti-Jewish Rampage in 1938<By Steve Vogel<Special to
The Washington Post=

BERLIN, Nov.  9 - Shaken by the sight of their president being
pelted with eggs as he tried to deliver a message of peace, Ger-
mans today gloomily marked the third anniversary of the fall of
the Berlin Wall amid pledges by politicians to take decisive ac-
tion against the extremists of the left and right who are dis-
rupting the country.

Ceremonies today also recalled a grimmer day in German history -
the 54th anniversary of Kristallnacht, the night in 1938 when
Nazi thugs went on a rampage across Germany, beating, abducting
and killing Jews, and destroying their shops and synagogues.

A march Sunday by more than 300,000 Germans demonstrating against
neo-Nazi violence was marred by a well-coordinated attack by
about 300 leftist anarchists hurling objects and abuse at politi-
cians.

President Richard von Weizsaecker, the much-revered ceremonial
head of state who has urged more tolerance for foreigners, had to
deliver his speech from behind a column of riot police holding up
shields to ward off projectiles.

Eggs, rocks and tomatoes also were thrown at German Chancellor
Helmut Kohl and other politicians participating in the march.
Despite the violence, seen by the nation on live television, pol-
iticians from most major parties today declared the largely
peaceful march to be a success.  The huge turnout, three times
that expected, was cited as evidence that the vast majority of
Germans are appalled by the far-right violence that has been
directed against foreign asylum seekers and Jewish memorials.

An estimated 180,000 people participated today in ceremonies
across Germany decrying racism and Nazi terror. It was the larg-
est number ever to take part in Kristallnacht observances, offi-
cials said.

Kohl said pictures of the anarchist attack seen around the world
gave a false impression of the demonstration, which he described
as "peaceful and cheerful."

But combined with the continuing violence by neo-Nazis, the anar-
chist attack has fed a growing impression that the state is un-
able to do anything to stop the extremism.

"We don't want our president to have to speak under police pro-
tection," Rita Suessmuth, president of the parliament, said on
television.

Immediately after Sunday's violence, the chancellery was flooded
with an unprecedented number of calls from Germans demanding ac-
tion, Friedrich Bohl, Kohl's chancellery minister, said.

The conservative daily Die Welt labeled the attack as "Black Sun-
day" while the left-of-center Frankfurter Rundschau called it a
"catastrophe."

Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel said today in Brussels that reports
of the attack had created a "devastating" impression of Germany
in other European countries.  There was widespread criticism of
the police for letting the leftist anarchists get as close to the
politicians as they did. Fourteen of the anarchists have been
arrested, a police spokesman said.

The leftist anarchists today were celebrating their action as a
"victory for democracy," the German news agency DPA said. "We
rained on the propaganda show," said an unidentified spokesman
for the anarchists, who seek the breakup of Germany.  Kohl de-
clared today that the government will battle against left-wing
extremists, whom he called "street rabble," as decisively as
against right-wing extremists. "We will not bend before violence
and terror of the street," he said. "Our rule of law will not al-
low radicals to terrorize our state or even exercise political
power."

Another major demonstration against racism is scheduled for Sa-
turday in Bonn, and organizers pledge that it will be free from
the violence that marred Sunday's march in Berlin.

In observing Kristallnacht, officials today laid the foundation
stone for a new Jewish museum in Berlin.

Ceremonies here and elsewhere in Germany commemorated the victims
of the night of horror in which 190 synagogues were set ab-
laze.02:33 11-101C9999-----

Copyright 1992, The Washington Post.  This story is from the
Washington Post's Capitol Edition On-Line and is not to be ar-
chived or redistributed.

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