Evening star., 1949-04-23
Nuremberg Sentence
OF Won Weizsaecker
Called Unjustified
German DipIomot Never
Wos Nozi; His Warnings
Unheeded by Britoin

To- SStutou AtPtSuSt fNS'S
Wos kozi; His Mornings
: Unheeded by Bitoin
- By Dorothy Thompson
r LONDON (By AirmaD Il In
terrupt the series on Great Britain
= to comment on the sentencing OF
Ernst Won Weizsaecker. former
-Undersecretary of State in the
German Foreign ONCE and later
Ambassador to the Vatican, by the
United States tribunal in Nuern-
berg. I believe this is a miscar-
rage of justice.
Herr Won Weizsaecker has been
I'm prison for many months and
mere nominal sentence, making it
coextensive with what he has al
ready served. would have satisfied
the prosecution. Instead he got
seven years.
But Baron Won Weizsaecker Is a
special case and any sentence, in
the opinion Of this columnist-
and of British diplomatists most
familiar with German affairs-is
iInjustified. In these circles there
is considerable discomfort over
the Baron's imprisonment.
=, Never Was a Nazi.
- Herr Won Weizsaecker never was
q Nazi. Lord Halifax, former
British Minister for Foreign At
fairs, himself intervened in his
behalf. and for good reasons. For
Won Weizsaecker, through persons
In London, warned the British
Foreign ONCE of Hitler's war plans.
He warned that the opposition in
side Germany could do no more
without strong British resistance.
He hoped that such resistance
would stop Hitler-as it might
have done, by encouraging the OPP
position In Germany itself-and
certainly overstepped the limits OF
his office out of concern for the
fate of Europe. Tt Is to be re-
gretted that his warnings were
not sufficiently needed in London.
70 If the Baron committed any
crime, 1t was to remain in Office
under the regime; but that he
remained there for the sake OF
whatever good he might do is, I
think. unquestionable. The Ger
man opposition-all of whose
leading figures were executed. and
therefore could not speak for him
counted him as belonging to
themselves. And 1t is we'll to re-
call that q number of these re-
NAMED in office-for the same
reason Won Weizsaecker did
until arrested by Hitler.
= He was properly acquitted OF
aggressive war against the ST.
detenland - which country was
handed Hitler. anyhow, by agree
ment. But he was convicted for
o"crimes against humanity in not
"opposing or preventing" the fore
'ible movement of Jews to concen-
'tration camps. where they were
exterminated.
That Won Weizsaecker could
have done anything to prevent"
the atrocities for which he was
charged as an accomplice Is un-
thinkable. Several thousand Ger
mans went to the gallows for OPP
Aposing Hitler. Some were, or had
been, In high Office. But none
could prevent" the regimes mas
sacres. To oppose would mean to
Join the concentration camps in
mates; 1t would save nobody. Won
Weizsaecker could only have re-
signed-and thereby opened his
post to . Nazi.
Double Standard Seen.
This columnist, in this case, is
concerned about impeccability of
Justice, and about the double
standard OF morality that has
grown up in Judging citizens OF
one country or another. The anti
Soviet Russian, Victor Krav-
chenko, recently won his case for
libel against the French Com
f1unist review, Les Lettres Fran
caises. But the Judgment referred
TO "the just and severe reproba-
ton which, from a national point
of view. always follows whoever
abandons his country"
Weizsaecker did not abandon
his country, but within the limits
of his opportunities tried to con-
travene its policies. Among other
things, he tried to hold off the at
tack on Poland. And when 1t
comes to atrocities against Jews,
the most sensational testimony in
the Kravchenko case came from
Margarete Buber, widow of the
German Communist leader. Heinz
Neumann. She fed with him from
Hitler to Russia, saw her husband
led away and disappear forever
because he was suspected to be
hostile to Stalin's pact with Hitler,
suffered herself for years in a
Russian concentration camp, and
then was delivered over to Hitler
by the Russian police. She was
Jewish, and this must stand as
one of the most cynical crimes
against Jews in the history Of this
war.
1.-THE aim of the Nuremberg trials
was to create new standards OF
international law. Such standards
demand common criteria of judg-
ment. It seems to this columnist
that such standards were over
looked in the case of Baron Won
Weizsaecker. Had Hitler known
of some of his diplomatic moves,
he would have been greatly en-
\ -