Moral debt and Realpolitik : “Reconciliation” between Germany and Israel

Konrad Adenauer (1876-1967), the first chancellor of the Federal Republic of Germany, played the crucial role in achieving the conclusion of the German-Israeli Compensation Treaty (Wiedergutmachungsabkommen) of 10. September 1952. This treaty laid the foundations for “reconciliation” between Israel and the Federal Republic of Germany after the bitterness created as the result of Nazi persecutions of Jews during the Second World War. This paper examines the West German policy toward Israel during the “Adenauer era.” It is well known that Adenauer politics can be expressed in two keywords: “Kanzlerdemokratie (chancellor democracy)” and “Westbindung (integration into the West).” But these two words are rarely applied to the German Israelpolitik because of its moral characteristic. This paper shows that the German-Israeli Compensation Treaty of September 1952 actually provides a prime example of Adenauer’s “Westbindung”-policy through “Kanzlerdemokratie (unilateral action by the Chancellor without consulting his cabinet or parliamentary party).” Adenauer recognized that the FRG as the legal successor to the German Reich had a duty to accept responsibility for the crimes committed by the German government. Although Adenauer felt deep shame about Nazi persecutions of Jews, he was not simply concerned with German moral debt. A conclusive motive for the completion of the Compensation Treaty was the concern that without such an action Germany’s integration into the West would be endangered