ID Transcript
mare0902_01 "JAN 3 1983 JOSEPH MfrERHOFF LIBRARY J MARTYRDOM AND RESISTANCE Newsletter for the American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates, and Nazi Victims, Inc. uvx& i>a auanp ftx Wvnw />V*»v? jwi"" \ia wwm w&pnyaa Vol. 9 - No. 2 Nov.-Dec. 1982 — Heshvctn-Kislev 5743 Large Numbers Sign Up For American Gathering Of Holocaust Survivors More than 1,000 survivors and their children frbni throughout the United States and Canada have enrolled for the American Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, which will be held in .Washington, D.C., April 11-14. Benjamin Meed, president of the American Gathering, also announced that over 25,000 names of survivors in the U.S. and Canada have been entered in the computerized National Register of Jewish Holocaust Survivors. In preparation for the Gathering, the leaders of survivor groups met recently at Hebrew Union College/Jewish Institute of Religion to discuss highlights of the April program: A Scroll of Appreciation will be signed by participants and given to President Reagan at a White House ceremony. Another scroll will be presented to a representative of the Canadian government. RICH CULTURAL HERITAGE Sessions will be devoted to the concerns of the children of survivors. Another feature will be a cultural evening to commemorate the rich heritage of the European Jewish community before and during the Holocaust. Samuel R. Mozes, executive director of the Gathering, said that the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council will sponsor the program and be an active participant. In addition to Mr. Meed and Mr. Mozes, others taking part at the planning meeting at Hebrew Union College were: Sam E. Bloch, senior vice president of the Gathering, who is secretary-general of the World Federation of Bergen-Belsen Associations; Eli Zborowski, senior vice president of the Gathering and past president, American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates, and Nazi Victims; Michael Berenbaum, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Greater Washington; Miles Lerman, vice president of the Gathering; Mrs. Vladka Meed, chairwoman of the Gathering's Cultural Commission; Azaria Rapoport, special advisor to the Israeli Embassy in Washington; Menachem Rosensaft, chairman of the Second Generation Committee; and Sigmond Strochlitz, honorary chairman of the Advisory Board of the American Gathering. Valley of Destroyed Communities Yad Vashem Project Reaches a Milestone More than one million dollars has been committed for a memorial to the 4,500 Jewish communities destroyed during the Holocaust. The memorial is being planned at Yad Vashem on the Mount of Remembrance in Jerusalem. The Valley of the Destroyed Communities is a five-year project, at a cost of six million dollars. The one million dollar milestone was reached during a whirlwind visit to the U.S. by Dr. Yitzhak Arad, chairman, Yad Vashem Directorate.. Dr. Arad noted that the destruction of 4,500 Jewish communities in 22 European countries ""meant the destruction of an entire Jewish world, Jewish culture, and Jewish way of life that was formed in the course of a thousand years."" The Valley of the Destroyed Communities,"" he added, ""will memorialize a world that has been annihi- New York City to House Major Holocaust Center New York City will house a Holocaust memorial center that will include a museum, archives, and educational facilities. Towards this end, Mayor Edward I. Koch named a permanent commission. Prof. Elie Wiesel and former U.S. Senator Jacob K. Javits are honorary chairmen of the Commission. Among those on the commission are Eli Zborowski, past president, and Solomon Zynstein, president of the American Federation of Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates, and Nazi Victims, among a number of other survivors, who include Samuel Bloch, John Klein, Leon Jolson, and Benjamin Meed. George Klein, chairman of the Task Force that did the initial planning and recommended a permanent commission, and New York County District Attorney Robert M. Morgenthau were named co- chairmen of the commission. Noting that New York City was home to the largest number of survivors, Mayor Koch said that the mandate of the commission was to set up a memorial ""as rapidly as possible."" The Task Force recommended computer data banks, videoconsoles to encourage active participation by visitors, and a special archive for personal collections and written oral testimony of New York City survivors. (Continued on Page 7) ""...even unto them will give in mine house and within my walls a place and a name... that shall not be cut off"". Isaiah, LVI, 5 0%$ > V Artist's design of ""Valley of the Destroyed Communities."" latecl which has sunk beneath the earth leaving only its ruins as an indication that it once existed in all its greatness."" The names of the Destroyed Communities will be engraved in stone on rock forms according to their location in Europe. The project is being furthered in the U.S. through the Society of Fellows of Yad Vashem, whose chairman is Eli Zborowski. Prof. Eli Wiesel is honorary chairman. 'The significance of the Valley of the Destroyed Communities,"" according to Mr. Zborowski, ""lies in its perpetuation of the grandeur of Jewish life that once was. The cause of remembrance, the memorialization of the Six Million, is effected by realizing that together with our martyrs 4,500 Jewish communities were wiped out by the Nazis in their barbaric war against Jews and against Judaism."" Mr. Zborowski reported that committees for the project are being organized throughout the U.S. Much of the initial success, he said, has been due to farsighted individuals, dedicated to the cause of remembrance who have hosted parlor ■ meetings. They include: Mr. and Mrs. Sam Skura, Flushing, N.Y;; Mr. and Mrs. Isaac Levenstein, Hillside, N.J.; Mr. and Mrs. Israel Krakowski, Manhattan; Mr. and Mrs. Sam Halpern, Hillside, N.J.; Mr. and Mrs. Idek Rosenblum, Fair Lawn, N.J.; and Mr. and Mrs. Ben Mellen, Lake Success, N.Y. Further information on the project can be obtained by contacting William Kaufman at (212)' 697-5670. European Anti-Semitism Has Increased Sharply At least 55 incidents of anti-Semitism — ranging from anti-Jewish graffiti to bombing and machine-gunning of Jews — occurred in 13 Eu^ ropean countries during this past June, July, and August. According to a survey prepared by the European office of the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, more than half the incidents were in France and Greece. Other acts took place in Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Great Britain, Holland, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, West Germany, Norway, and Spain. The report does not include the machine gunning of congregants in front of a synagogue in Brussels, on the Jewish New Year, and the killing of a Jewish boy and the wounding of 34 others during an attack at a Rome synagogue. Both incidents were after completion of the report. Abraham H. Foxman, ADL's associate national director, said that the list is ""by no means exhaustive"" because many acts of anti-Jewish vandalism go unreported and unrecorded. Mr. Foxman added that the compilation does not include large numbers of threatening calls and letters received by Jewish leaders and institutions during the months after Israel entered Lebanon in June. The volume and pervasiveness of the anti-Semitic assaults were ""a disturbing indicator for European Jewry,"" according to Mr. Foxman. "