“For more than 50 years, the German state has struggled to regain normalcy in its relations with world Jewry. No country in Europe has done more for the cause of Israel, nor been a steadfast supporter of Israel than the German state. Further, one would be hard-pressed to find any European country or its political leadership that has grasped the lessons of its own past better than Germany.

“Yet, no country carries the weighty historical burden more than Germany. Responsible for the extermination of some 6 million Jews, Germany is forever confronted with its past, painful as it may be. It is within this context of memory, responsibility and reconciliation that the troubling comments [of Martin Hohmann] are so worrisome.”