Dershowitz was alluding to a 1985 New YorkTimes article which reported that some of thepresident's colleagues thought, "Weizsacker wasdetermined to become president of West Germany,and remains determined to become a greatpresident, in order to rehabilitate his familyname."

"It is not we who are blaming him, but he whois defending his family name," Dershowitz said,adding that the German president was not deservingof the honor of speaking at Commencement.

The noted civil rights lawyer said he had"received dozens of phone calls" from alumni who,in light of the Globe piece, were disturbed byHarvard's decision to name von Weizsacker as theCommencement speaker.

Loewenheim and other critics say that theproblem with choosing von Weizsacker is not hisown service in the German army during World WarII, where he rose to the rank of captain, but hisdefense of his father's actions as Germany's topprofessional diplomat.

Prosecutor for the allies during the Nurembergtrials charged the elder von Weizsacker withassisting in the deportation of 6000 French Jewsto the Nazi death camp Auschwitz. Loewenheim alsoclaims that the elder von Weizsacker's own filesshow that the foreign minister assisted in sendingPolish priests to Nazi concentration camps.

As his father's chief attorney, Richard vonWeizsacker presented a defense based on thepremise that his father was not aware of theexistence of the death camps. In an interview withthe Times he reiterated those feelings when hesaid, "I really believe that he did not know aboutthe existence of the gas chambers and systematicmass killing. I believe that he knew a lot ofpeople were dying, but not how."

"The important point is that in all thespeeches he has made, he has never admitted that[his father] was an integral part of the Naziregime," Loewenheim said in an interview. "He hasdissembled and lied about his father's role,"Loewenheim said.

If Harvard's Corporation had known this, Idoubt that this invitation would have beenextended," he said