US embassy cable - 04FRANKFURT6445

UNCLAS FRANKFURT 006445 
 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: PGOV, PHUM, GM 
SUBJECT: Hesse CDU Expulsion Marks Latest Chapter of Hohmann 
Scandal 
 
REF: 03 FRANKFURT 9873 
 
Sensitive but unclassified  not for internet distribution 
 
1.  (U) SUMMARY: Hesse Christian Democrats (CDU) expelled 
Fulda member Martin Hohmann from the party on July 20 for an 
October 2003 speech comparing the actions of Soviet 
Bolshevist Jews during the Communist Revolution to Nazi 
involvement in the Holocaust.  The CDU federal parliamentary 
caucus expelled Hohmann last November for the remarks. 
Hohmann will appeal the decision to the CDU's national party 
court.  END SUMMARY. 
 
2.  (U) Hesse CDU members stressed in their decision that 
Hohmann's greatest failure was refusing to distance himself 
from the speech after negative reaction from the media and 
the party.  Hesse CDU General Secretary Michael Boddenberg 
noted that Hohmann could have prevented his expulsion by 
renouncing the anti-Semitic elements of his speech following 
the public uproar.  Boddenberg added that he expects Hohmann 
to wage a long legal battle against the expulsion order. 
 
3.  (U) Hohmann indicated that, given the widespread 
negative public reaction, he now regretted giving the 
speech.  He refused, however, to apologize for his remarks 
and maintained that the comparison of Soviet Bolshevist Jews 
to Nazis was historically accurate.  Hohmann, who ironically 
received the most support of any Hesse CDU MP in the 2002 
Bundestag elections, underscored his wish to stay in the CDU 
and called upon local members to remain in the party (NOTE: 
After Hohmann's exclusion from the national caucus in 
October, 150 Fulda Christian Democrats resigned in protest. 
END NOTE.)  Hohmann ascribed the controversy to a "media 
witchhunt" and said that he would appeal the decision to the 
CDU's national party court. 
 
4.  (SBU) COMMENT: CDU head Angela Merkel solidified her 
hold on party leadership last year by making it clear 
through Hohmann's expulsion from the national caucus that 
the CDU would not tolerate anti-Semitism.  Consequently, the 
Hesse CDU's decision to remove the Fulda MP comes as no 
surprise.  What we do find surprising, however, is not only 
that the popular and traditionally-moderate Fulda MP was the 
one to make these anti-Semitic remarks, but also that some 
within the party so vocally defended Hohmann's assertions 
when the scandal broke.  Hohmann remains in the Bundestag as 
an independent and his popularity within Fulda is largely 
undiminished.  Although Hohmann has expressed his wish to 
remain with the CDU and fight expulsion proceedings, his 
support base in Fulda remains strong enough to make re- 
election to his seat as an independent in 2006 a real 
possibility.  END COMMENT.