Merkel Holds Cabinet Meeting in Jerusalem

German chancellor speaks to lawmakers of Holocaust 'shame'

(NEWSER) - Angela Merkel addressed the Knesset today, speaking to Israel's parliament about Germany's shame over the Holocaust. "I bow to the victims. I bow to all those who helped the survivors," said the chancellor. Five MPs boycotted to protest the speaking of German in the legislative chamber, but Merkel began and ended her address by speaking Hebrew, Reuters reports. More»

Mission to trace assets of murdered Jews facing resistance from Israeli government, businesses

(NEWSER) - The quest to return assets of Holocaust victims to their heirs, instigated by the Israeli parliament, is now focusing on Israel itself, the Wall Street Journal reports, and it's meeting as much resistance at home as it did in Europe. Many European Jews invested in what was then Palestine during the '20s and '30s, only to die at the hands of the Nazis before they could realize their dream of emigration. Israeli banks, and even the government, are accused of short-changing their heirs. More»

Papers praise leader's Holocaust treatment, but level accusations of bias

(NEWSER) - The German press is praising Chancellor Angela Merkel’s historic visit to Israel and her diplomatic handling of the two countries' shared history, Der Spiegel reports. But Merkel has also been chastised by commentators who feel her focus on German-Israeli unity in remarks yesterday to Israel's parliament gives the impression of a German bias against the Palestinians. More»

(AP) - German prosecutors formally charged John Demjanjuk today with 27,900 counts of being an accessory to murder at a Nazi death camp during World War II, reports the AP. The 89-year-old retired auto worker, who was deported from the US in May, faces 15 years for every count. Prosecutors accuse Demjanjuk of serving as a guard at the Sobibor camp in Nazi-occupied Poland in 1943, but he insists he spent the war in prison. More»

(NEWSER) - President Obama blasted Holocaust deniers today on a tour of a Nazi concentration camp, Reuters reports. At Buchenwald, Germany, the president called Holocaust denial “baseless, ignorant and hateful.” Obama did not mention Mahmoud Ahmadinejad by name, but after Iran's president called the Holocaust a "great deception" this week, Obama suggested he visit Buchenwald himself. More»