Word: vashem
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Dates: during 1973-1973
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...astonishing gaffes in Jerusalem, Waldheim managed to erode a fair amount of the goodwill that his visit was supposed to generate. First, at Yad Vashem, the shrine in memory of the 6,000,000 Jews killed by the Nazis, Waldheim refused to cover his head with a yarmulke. That offended even non-Orthodox Jews. Later at a State dinner, he expressed pleasure at being "here in your capital"-although the U.N., far from recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, has demanded that it be internationalized. That raised the Arabs' hackles. Apologies followed, but neither side was likely...
During the 30-mile helicopter flight from Lod to Jerusalem, Brandt-who had visited the city in 1960, when he was mayor of West Berlin -donned earphones so that his Israeli companions could point out the sights. Later, he was taken to Yad Vashem, a solemn memorial to Jews killed by the Nazis. Standing near such names as Auschwitz, Dachau, Buchenwald, spelled out in English and Hebrew on the memorial's floor, Brandt heard the cantor chant: "Let the Lord remember the souls of our brethren ... who were put to death, and who were killed and choked...
After his emotional visit to the Yad Vashem memorial, Brandt went to Mrs. Meir's office for some unemotional talks about his policy of reconciliation with the East-including his effort to win back Arab states that broke off relations with West Germany when it dispatched an ambassador to Israel in 1965. (So far six of the ten countries that severed ties have sent their ambassadors back to Bonn.) Brandt, in his turn, listened to a detailed explanation of Israel's stand in the Middle East...