German Unification and World Peace

Recently The Times has published several letters expressing concern about Germany’s imminent unification, citing that nation’s dark past as a reason. It is true that in the post-war era East German officials have kept that past alive, in spirit if not in name: their gray-uniformed, goose-stepping military, their huge secret police force, their refusal to accept any responsibility for the Holocaust and their border guards robotic willingness to shoot their own people trying to flee are all examples.

Luckily for Europe, and for the world, the government that is responsible for those things will soon vanish, having been absorbed by a nation that has been a peaceful and prosperous member of the world community for over 40 years. Anyone who truly wants to see the sins of Germany’s past gone forever should cheer unification, not oppose it; for only when East Germany is gone will those sins exist only in history books.

LEE ECKHARDT

Newhall