The proposed visit Reagan was scheduled to attend the
G7 economic summit in
Bonn the week of the 40th anniversary of
V-E Day. Chancellor Kohl saw an opportunity to demonstrate the strength of the friendship that existed between
West Germany and its former foe. During a November 1984 visit to the
White House, Kohl appealed to Reagan to join him in symbolising the reconciliation of their two countries at a German military cemetery. It was suggested that the Kolmeshöhe Cemetery, near Bitburg, was both suitably close and relevant, as 11,000 Americans attached to a nearby airbase lived in harmony with the same number of Germans. Reagan agreed, and later told an aide he felt he owed Kohl, who despite considerable public and political opposition had stood steadfast with Reagan on the deployment of
Pershing II missiles in West Germany. In February 1985, then White House Deputy Chief of Staff
Michael Deaver made a planning visit to Bitburg. At Kolmeshöhe Cemetery, the 32 rows of headstones were covered with snow. Deaver and his team failed to notice that among them were 49 members of the
Waffen-SS. A decision was made by the Reagan team not to include a visit to a
concentration camp, as had been previously suggested by Kohl. The President said he did not want to risk "reawakening the passions of the time" or offend his hosts by visiting a concentration camp. On April 11, 1985, then White House Press Secretary
Larry Speakes informed the media of the planned visit to Bitburg. When asked who was buried at Kolmeshöhe, Speakes said he thought both American and German soldiers were there. Reporters soon discovered that no American servicemen were in the cemetery (in fact, the remains of all U.S. soldiers had long since been removed from German soil) and that Waffen-SS graves were located close to the proposed ceremony. When questioned, Bitburg Mayor Theo Hallet stated that all German military cemeteries were likely to contain some SS graves. Decorations and memorials on the Waffen-SS graves were removed just prior to Reagan's visit.
American response This planned visit caused a great deal of anger within the United States. Many prominent government officials,
U.S. Army officers and celebrities, each with ties, or friends with ties to their respective Jewish communities, all protested the planned visit. Fifty-three senators (including 11 Republicans) signed a letter asking the president to cancel, and 257 representatives (including 84 Republicans) signed a letter urging Chancellor Kohl to withdraw the invitation. Chancellor Kohl responded in an interview with
The New York Times: "I will not give up the idea. If we don't go to Bitburg, if we don't do what we jointly planned, we will deeply offend the feelings of [my] people." A poll revealed that 72% of West Germans thought the visit should go forward as planned. Kohl admitted that rarely had German–American relations been so strained, and in the days leading up to the visit, the White House and the Chancellery were each blaming the other. The White House claimed that the Germans had given assurances that nothing in the Bitburg visit would be an "embarrassment" for the President: "As clumsily as we handled it, Kohl and his Co. have surpassed us in spades." A German official said: "The Americans also have a responsibility toward the president. They must also check on the history that is beneath their ground. It was not very intelligent." Reagan defended himself by saying:These [SS troops] were the villains, as we know, that conducted the persecutions and all. But there are 2,000 graves there, and most of those, the average age is about 18. I think that there's nothing wrong with visiting that cemetery where those young men are victims of
Nazism also, even though they were fighting in the German uniform,
drafted into service to carry out the hateful wishes of the Nazis. They were victims, just as surely as the victims in the
concentration camps. Reagan was criticised for this statement by opponents of the visit. Equating Nazi soldiers with Holocaust victims, responded Rabbi
Alexander M. Schindler, president of the
Union of American Hebrew Congregations, was "a callous offence for the Jewish people". Some believed Communications Director
Pat Buchanan had written the statement, which he denied in 1999. They were shown live on TV networks across the country. Reagan made one last appearance with Kohl at the airbase, before 7,500 spectators waving American and West German flags. Kohl thanked the President for staying the course: "This walk... over the graves of soldiers was not an easy walk. I thank you personally as a friend that you undertook this walk with me". Reagan responded: "This visit has stirred many emotions in the American and German people too. Some old wounds have been reopened, and this I regret very much, because this should be a time of healing". ==See also==