Simon Wiesenthal Center Urges German Foreign Minister to Instruct his Ambassador to the Netherlands not to Attend a Memorial that Includes 3,000 Members of the Waffen SS

November 13, 2014

Jerusalem – "We urge the German government to instruct their ambassador to the Netherlands, Franz Josef Krem, not to attend the memorial slated for this Sunday, November 16th at the Ijsselsteyn Cemetery. No German government official should participate in a memorial to people killed in World War II that includes among them thousands of members of the Waffen SS, many of whose members were responsible for murderous crimes during the WWII Nazi Holocaust," states Rabbi Abraham Cooper, Associate Dean of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, and Dr. Efraim Zuroff, Director of the Wiesenthal Center's Jerusalem office and the Center's chief Nazi hunter.

"At a time when anti-Semitism is at a record level across Europe, and when German Chancellor Merkel has publicly committed Germany to take a leadership role in combatting anti-Semitism and Holocaust denial, it is simply unacceptable that the German ambassador should bow his head in respect to 3,000 members of the Waffen SS," they added.

"We note media reports that this cemetery has been the site of recent neo-Nazi demonstrations where young bigots carried swastika flags and paraded with the black banners of the SS,” Cooper and Zuroff concluded.

For further information: Rabbi Cooper 052.431.6448 or Dr. Zuroff 050.721.4156, join the Center on Facebook, www.facebook.com/simonwiesenthalcenter, or follow @simonwiesenthal for news updates sent direct to your Twitter page or mobile device.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is one of the largest international Jewish human rights organizations with over 400,000 member families in the United States. It is an NGO at international agencies including the United Nations, UNESCO, the OSCE, the OAS, the Council of Europe and the Latin American Parliament (Parlatino).