Nightline Closing Thought Dec. 3, 2003

W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 3 -- There's a holocaust memorial — a vast, sprawling memorial — going up in Berlin, Germany these days; which, in the overall scheme of things is probably a good and appropriate thing.

A German chemical corporation has offered to donate one of its products: a coating that repels graffitti and can be applied to buildings or monuments. But another branch of the corporation was responsible, during World War II, for the production of Zyklon-B gas, which was used for the murder of several million Jews.

Berlin's tiny Jewish community is divided: satisfied, on the one hand, that no one working for the corporation today played any role in the Holocaust, but unable, nevertheless, to get past the hideous historical connection.

The offer is what counts.

A generation without direct responsibility for the crimes of another generation has offered, nevertheless, to make a small voluntary reparation of sorts. It is unlikely that any court would have ordered it.

It may be that today's Jewish community in Berlin rejects the offer. But at least it was made. Perhaps the example can be instructive here at home.

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