Word: barzel
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...fever is at a higher pitch in West Germany today than at any time since the war. Triggered by the proposed Red-neraustausch (speakers' exchange) between West German Social Democrats and East German Communists tentatively set for July 14, the fever was further heated by Christian Democrat Rainer Barzel's sweeping proposals for reunification in his "Unity Day" speech in New York (TIME, June 24). Barzel's concessions for reunification included leaving Soviet troops within a reconstituted Germany as a protection of Soviet interests in the "northern tier" of Warsaw Pact nations. Barzel believes that even...
...quite an accomplishment for a man of 40 in a nation that seldom considers a man fit for high public office until he is well past his 50s. But Barzel had long since established himself as a comer. He joined the Neues Deutschland young Catholic movement while still a law student at the University of Cologne, and by the time he was elected to the Bundestag from a heavily Catholic Rhineland district in 1957, was already spokesman for an influential group of young Catholic laymen...
...Apologies. A native of East Prussia (now part of Poland) and a wartime student in a Berlin Jesuit Gymnasium, Barzel soon impressed his fellow Ministers with his command of his portfolio. He broadcast regularly to East Germany and negotiated the first ransom arrangements for East German prisoners. Much of his interest in reunification dates from that time, but his proposals last week served a more immediate purpose as well. They were bannered on Page One of every major West German newspaper and were the topic of furious debate throughout the nation. A reporter in Washington asked Barzel, shortly after...
...good many politicians, in fact, think Barzel has come too far too fast. Last February, when Konrad Adenauer resigned the C.D.U. chairmanship and Erhard showed reluctance to take it, Barzel suddenly announced that he would run for the post. Outraged at what they considered a grab for power, party leaders talked Erhard into taking it in order to keep Barzel out-even though Erhard himself has a well-known dislike for backstage politics. After last week's bombshell, Erhard met with his party presidium in Bonn, heard Foreign Minister Gerhard Schroder argue angrily that Barzel's proposals would...
What concerns Barzel is public opinion. The opposition Social Democrats have grabbed the initiative from the C.D.U. and harvested potential voting strength by accepting an East German invitation to a speakers' exchange. As a result, the Social Democrats are given a fighting chance to unseat the Christian Democratic state government in the July 10 elections in North Rhine-Westphalia, where nearly a third of West Germany's voters live. "These things have to be said," Barzel maintained last week. "My feet are firmly planted." What he meant is that they have to be said by a Christian Democrat...