"My Objective Was Reconciliation"

In a moving 90-minute meeting with TIME Bonn Bureau Chief William McWhirter, West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl replied to criticisms of the Bitburg visit with an emotional assessment of his country and its relations with the U.S. The Chancellor, in his only formal interview on the subject with the U.S. press, was firm and assertive as he explained why the ceremony must take place. Excerpts:

Q. Mr. Chancellor, why Bitburg? Why is it important to you and to the German people?

A. In these days and hours I have suffered as I have rarely suffered before in my life. Ronald Reagan is a friend. He is a man for whom I would like to do only good. When the President is in Bitburg, he will encounter a wave of sympathy such as he has rarely experienced in his life. This may be more < important than the occasional editorial he has to read these days.

If we don't go to Bitburg, if we don't do what we jointly planned, we will deeply offend the feelings of our people. There are letters on my desk that are heartrending outcries. A woman wrote how her 17-year-old brother was picked up and taken away with his classmates by military authorities and put into an SS uniform in which he was later killed. The Germans consist of more than minds. They also have hearts and souls.

I too have asked myself whether the alliance of the past 30 years has been without consequence. This has nothing to do with a glorification of the Nazis. I have no need for anything of that kind. At the end of the war, I was 15 years old. Thank God, I was not involved in any guilt. Thus I can speak openly. My brother was killed at the end of the war at the age of 18. My own sons are now soldiers. We have a conscript army. What are our young servicemen to think if our remembrance of the dead 40 years later is distorted in a way that does not do justice to the dead at all? Around 2,000 former servicemen are buried at Bitburg. Included among them are 49 members of the Waffen SS. Of these 49, more than half were under the age of 20. If these young people had survived, they would have been amnestied under Allied regulations.

My objective was reconciliation over the graves of the past. We have never forgotten what the Marshall Plan did here. The Germans experienced the Americans as their friends. In 1946, as half-starved schoolchildren, we saw American trucks drive onto our school playground at 11 o'clock every morning with food. I met my wife at a dancing class where I wore a suit that was a Quaker donation. My wife wore a dress that was much too big for her and also an American donation. And now it was in November 40 years later that I was at the White House. I told (President Reagan) this May 8 would be a very difficult time for us, when we would look back to our own liberation from the Nazis, but also to a day that was the revelation of national shame. I said we wanted to commemorate the day as one of remembrance, and far from denying the horrible acts perpetrated by Nazism, to do everything to see that they may never occur again.

Q. Your critics here and in the U.S. say that the time may not be right for this kind of symbolism, that such intended reconciliation will only reopen old wounds.

A. You may very well be right. A part of the American public, in contrast to the German public, feels the time is not right. I would like to ask a question in return. American freedom, not just German freedom, is now being defended in this country. In a few weeks we will even extend the compulsory military service of our own youth from 15 to 18 months. Can you tell me what I am supposed to say to our soldiers when they ask why they are supposed to make this personal sacrifice? Many of my fellow citizens have told me recently that it was right for us to have supported the U.S. over its missile deployment. However, they also ask me if it is also right for us to be totally alone when it comes to our feelings.

Q. Yet are you concerned that the controversy could have a detrimental effect on the upcoming summit and even on personal relations between Germans and Americans?

A. I hope not. If you are right, then we would have to ask ourselves whether or not we have been building on sand these past decades. I don't think so. When a hurricane suddenly comes up and threatens to destroy the landscape, I am not willing to accept the idea that what I have been doing and believed in for decades is wrong. What I have to do is everything necessary to contain the storm and protect myself. I know this is a difficult situation, but I am sure of myself.

Q. Do you recall a time when German-American relations have been so tested?

A. No. What is involved affects more than just a rational argument. The debate over deployment also had its strong emotional elements. I remember a Saturday when I flew in a helicopter away from the Chancellery grounds over 300,000 people who were demonstrating against my decision to deploy the Pershings. Like anyone in politics, you must always ask yourself whether you have acted correctly. But you can't govern by the numbers. Otherwise, we could replace a Chancellor with a polling institute. I consider the most important task I have is to contribute toward making the ties between the Federal Republic and the Western community irreversible and part of our basic political philosophy. This is, if you will, a declaration of love for the Americans. The only thing is that, as we see in everyday life, declarations of love that are only unilateral can cause feelings of frustration.

Q. You have referred to yourself as the first West German Chancellor of the postwar generation. Can this be perceived as an attempt to escape from history?

A. Why do I mention this? In order to signal that there has been a change of / generations in our country. Two-thirds of our people did not experience May 1945 and this has to have consequences. Even as a young boy, I heard and saw horrible things. As was customary at the time, I was in one of those groups that put out fires after bombing raids. I can still show you the house where at the age of 13 I had to dig bodies out from under the rubble. The house has been rebuilt, but I still think of that day whenever I drive past it. At the age of 15, only 18 days before Germany surrendered, I was asked if I wanted to join the SS. I could refuse because of my age. But they hanged a boy from a tree who was perhaps only two years older with a sign saying TRAITOR because he had run away. I can still see it now.

Q. The U.S. has seen moods of penitence and humility from postwar Germany. Now it seems to be hearing from you a tone that is more aggressive and insistent on Germany's right to be accepted and forgiven.

A. You are quite right. Isn't that actually a perfectly natural process, particularly among friends? More important, is this not proof that we are coming out of the dark ages of the Nazi era?

Q. What issues will be most important for your government at the summit?

A. We should all be aware of the supreme importance of free world trade. It is not a specific German-American problem. It is the Japanese who should open their market. I have suggested to my friend (Japanese Prime Minister Yasuhiro) Nakasone that we engage in genuine competition. I am not afraid of the Japanese. They don't have any more gray cells than we do. A return to protectionism would have disastrous consequences.

With reference to SDI (Reagan's Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly called Star Wars), I strongly support the idea. In this, I would like to insist on two basic conditions: that it should not be a one-way street and that what we do together should be for our common benefit. The research carried out will not only be of military value; three-fourths of the research will have civilian applications. We can add a lot to this effort, in sophisticated optics, for example. I would like other Europeans to cooperate with us in this effort, like the French, British and Italians.

Q. If there is a slowing of the U.S. economy, how should Europe respond?

A. Of course, there is concern over the irregular pace of the American economy. You need only to look at the dollar exchange rate. We must continue to steer the course we are now on: consolidation of public finances and bringing interest rates under control to achieve a lower inflation rate and freedom for the economy to move away from governmental restrictions. We are cutting taxes by 20 billion marks ($6.4 billion) as part of the recovery process.

Q. Finally, do you think there is anything more you can do personally to ease the controversy over the ceremony at Bitburg?

A. No. I will not give up the idea. I suggested it. I stick to it.