German Foreign Ministry orders removal of Nazi-era portraits from embassies

German Foreign Ministry orders removal of Nazi-era portraits from embassies

2010-11-24 23:58:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

BERLIN (BNO NEWS) -- German Foreign Ministry ordered its embassies around the world to take down Nazi-era portraits of ambassadors who represented the country before 1951.

German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle issued the instruction, which stated that only portraits of ambassadors appointed after the creation of the German Federal Republic's Foreign Ministry in 1951 could remain.

The order comes as an effort to disassociate modern-day Germany from its Nazi era following a study conducted by a team of investigators led by Eckart Conze, which revealed the Ministry's participation in Nazi activities.

According to the report, the Ministry acted as a "criminal organization," that participated in Adolf Hitler's genocide of Jews.

The report also said that the Ministry struggled to hide its past, and even helped several war criminals flee Nazi Germany.

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