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Last update - 19:27 27/05/2008 Jewish group slams German award for ex-Nazi doctor By The Associated Press Tags: Nazis, Germany, euthanasia Germany's top Jewish organization on Tuesday condemned a medical organization's decision to bestow its top honor on a prominent physician who was once a member of the SS and the Nazi party, saying it was a scandal. Dr. Hans-Joachim Sewering, 92, was one of four physicians honored with the top award of the Professional Association of German Internists, known as the BDI, on March 30. Advertisement Der Spiegel magazine then publicized the tribute in this week's edition, noting that Sewering in 1933 - the year Hitler came to power - joined the SS, a paramilitary organization loyal to Nazi ideology. He joined the Nazi party a year later. "It was a history that should have caused the BDI to rethink the award," said Stephan Kramer, general secretary of Germany's Central Council of Jews. He pointed out that Sewering's Nazi past was well known - having led him in 1993 to publicly decline the presidency of the World Medical Association before he was to assume the honorary role after the World Jewish Congress threatened to lead a boycott of the international association. "The BDI is not facing the history of the medics during the Nazi period..." he said. "It is a very, very bad sign that people are not eager nor open to looking into the past... This is absolutely the wrong signal and it's a scandal." The BDI, which has some 25,000 members, issued a statement defending its decision, saying that Sewering had been investigated by German prosecutors and was never charged. Munich prosecutors in 1993 opened an investigation of Sewering, who has never denied that he joined the SS and the NSDAP (Nazi party) as a young man, the organization said. The prosecutors classified Sewering's statements as 'completely believable.' According to the BDI's Web site, Sewering was presented with the Guenther-Budelmann Medal for being an experienced and understanding point of contact for years to German physicians and with the BDI during his time as president of the German Medical Association. In a statement, BDI President Wolfgang Wesiack said that Sewering made decades-long contributions to the freedom of the medical profession in Germany and the national health service. The statement made no mention of his past during the Nazi era, but noted that the elderly doctor was not able to attend the award ceremony. When the controversy surrounding his past came up in 1993 with his election as president to the World Medical Association, Sewering did not dispute his involvement with the Nazis. But he denied the further accusation that in 1943 he had knowingly approved the transfer of a 14-year-old mentally retarded girl to a place where she was killed under the Nazis' euthanasia program. Sewering asserted that the Nazis had stopped the killing of the mentally retarded in 1941. He said the Roman Catholic nuns at the clinic where he worked would not have agreed to the transfer if the girl was to be killed. A year later, the United States put Sewering on their watch-list of possible Nazi criminals, barring the prominent doctor from entering the country. The Bavarian justice ministry, however, noted amid further accusations in 1995 that prosecutors had investigated Sewering and found no grounds for any criminal charges. Still, Kramer said his membership alone in the SS and Nazi party should have given BDI enough cause to decide against honoring him. "When you join those organizations you can't just have a membership card and say I'm here," Kramer said. "It shows a certain mentality and a certain attraction to the Nazis - it is more than someone who just floated with the crowd." Related articles: Despite protest from the right, 'Hitler's airport' to close down German Jewish leader backs publication of Hitler's 'Mein Kampf' 'Writing the tragedy' Bookmark to del.icio.us   Fight club Jerusalem camera catches brutal attack by Jewish teens on Arab youths. Unbrotherly behavior Rights group: Palestinian governments violate human rights in quest for control.   1.   Shame and taking responsibility for poor choices 19:11  |  Jane 27/05/08   2.   SS not only "paramilitary" organization 19:39  |  Oma Kruse 27/05/08   3.   Surprise, surprise 21:35  |  Jack 27/05/08   4.   Surprise, surprise 21:35  |  Jack 27/05/08   5.   #3,4 - Jack from Hegemonistan 22:55  |  Fritz 27/05/08   6.   Nazi Doctor 22:57  |  siegfried buchwalte 27/05/08   7.   boycott germany! this is unacceptable! 23:18  |  Igor D. 27/05/08   8.   What a wonderful award 23:46  |  Award giver 27/05/08   9.   #5 Fritz 23:49  |  Moshe 27/05/08   10.   # jane 23:56  |  Axel 27/05/08   11.   # 7 moshe 00:49  |  Axel 28/05/08   12.   moshe 01:05  |  Michael 28/05/08   13.   HENCE IT IS NEITHER A CRIME 01:38  |  Helmi 28/05/08   14.   poor Fritz 02:25  |  Jack 28/05/08   15.   #10 Axel 02:59  |  Moshe 28/05/08   16.   DRESDEN BY NIGHT 03:05  |  Ruth 28/05/08   17.   #12 Michael 03:50  |  Moshe 28/05/08   18.   #12 Michael 04:25  |  Moshe 28/05/08   19.   CHRIST DOESNT WANT HIM 04:35  |  TOBIA 28/05/08   20.   #5 04:38  |  Jane 28/05/08   21.   WHO WROTE RULES OF WAR 04:40  |  T 28/05/08   22.   #13 Helmi 04:41  |  Moshe 28/05/08   23.   Axel 04:51  |  Jane 28/05/08   24.   Yet they worship a man just as depraved 05:00  |  Mark Lincoln 28/05/08   25.   #8 05:01  |  Jane 28/05/08   26.   To Mark of Lewiston 05:10  |  Mark Lincoln 28/05/08   27.   Moshe and other ignorants 15:26  |  Helmi 28/05/08   28.   # 23 jane 19:06  |  Axel 28/05/08   29.   # 7 igor 21:42  |  Axel 28/05/08   30.   # 18 moshe 21:48  |  Axel 28/05/08

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