Germany's dirty Nazi diplomats

After five years of work a team of German historians will present its final report on the behaviour of the German Foreign Office during the Third Reich today. The almost 900-page report confirms the deep involvement of the diplomats in the Holocaust, but this will interest only a few, the conservative daily Neue Zürcher Zeitung writes: "The way Germany has confronted its Nazi past is regarded as exemplary, but new entanglements which stir up memories are still coming to light. The most recent debate shows parallels with the dispute over the Wehrmacht exhibition in the 1990s, which aimed to dispel the 'myth' of the 'clean' Wehrmacht [the armed forces of Germany under the Nazis]. Once again we must ask: Why has it taken so long for this information to come to light? But the debate will never be as heated as back then. There were millions of soldiers in the 'Third Reich'. The diplomats were only a small caste. Most Germans won't feel tainted by the guilt of the Foreign Office."

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