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WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation
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marriage, I am a French citizen. If you put me in
jail, I will demand that my lawyer immediately get in touch with the French
Commander in Berlin and discuss with him whether I should not be tried by a
French court in Berlin. We shall then see whether in West Berlin, which is
under international law, my French citizenship is not of greater validity than
my West German nationality."
I had touched one of the sore points in
the relationship between the Federal Republic and West Berlin. The intervention
of one of the occupation powers would definitely not be appreciated in Bonn,
especially in so ticklish a case.
My argument struck home dramatically.
The judge and his counselors left the courtroom without adjourning the session.
The tactics that Serge had devised before I left Paris had had the anticipated
effect. When the judge returned, he announced that my sentence was suspended. I
was free. I
I left the court with Horst Mahler and a reporter. It
was after 8 P.M. We went straight to the large auditorium of Berlin's Free
University, where several thousand students had been gathered to celebrate the
fizzling out of the Christian Democratic Union Congress and Kiesinger's
departure from Berlin with a black eye. A tremendous burst of applause greeted
us. Mahler's name was chanted over and over again. His prestige among the youth
of Germany was very great.
Into a microphone I declared how glad I was
that I had kept my word. I asked the young people to take advantage of the
extraordinary circumstances I had been able to create in order to intensify the
campaign against Kiesinger throughout the whole country.
The radical
youth groups took my slap, that victory in extremis, as their own. It
had released thousands of students from the frustration they had felt during
the previous three days when the police suppressed all their demonstrations.
The meeting continued, but I was hauled off to a press conference the
Republican Club had called at the last minute. While I was replying to
questions, Serge appeared. I was so glad to see him that I didn't care if the
press saw me throw myself into his arms.
On the morning of November
8, I was sure that we had won. At breakfast our friends in the Wannsee commune
gave us sev […eral]
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WHEREVER THEY MAY BE
© 1972, The
Beate Klarsfeld Foundation |
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Page 61 |
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