Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1982-08-05

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VOL.60   NO.31
AUGUST 5,1982-AV1G
DLvotpd in American
.trul J( wish tilpoK
Ahavas Sholom Congregation announces the appointment of David Weisfogel as
Cantor for the forthcoming
High Holidays.
-, Cantor Weisfogel. from
New York, has had a wide
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©e?man KICK Becoming filo^e Active
BONN (JTA)— The Federal police have confirmed reports
that the German branch of the Ku Klux Klan has become increasingly active in the incitement of hatred toward Jews
and violent attacks on foreigners in West Germany. According to the Bonn office of The Democratic Initiative, a group
of anti-Nazi activists, well known West German neo-Nazis
operate within the framework of the "United Klans of Germany," the official title of the KKK in this country. According to the police, the German Klans are concentrated in the
-Federal States of Hesse and Rheinland-Pfalz.
Cantor David Weisfogel
range of experience chanting for synagogues, as well
as being Cantor for the'
Moshe piking Restaurant in
New York City.
He is a graduate of the
Hertzllah. School of Music
and, in addition has hijd
vocal training from Dr. Av»
shalom iZfira of Brooklyn.
The Synagogue has
available a limited number
of seats for those in the Columbus Jewish Community
who would like to hear Cantor Weisfogel during this
year's High Holiday Services. Non-memberemay attend for $36 a seat. Mail
checks and reservations'to:
-Ahavas Sholom, 2568 E.
Broad St., Columbus, O.
43209.
Activist Released from Labor Camp
NEW YORK (JTA>—Grigory Geishas, a Leningrad activist who completed a two-year sentence in a labor camp for
draft evasion, has been released and returned home, it was
reported here by Theodore Mann, chairman of the National
Conference on Soviet Jewry. Geishas was interned at the
Uhkta labor camp, in an isolated region more than 900 miles
from his home and family in Leningrad, Mann said. Geishas
first submitted his application for permission to emigrate to
Israel in December 197ft and was immediately expelled from
an institute where he was a second-year student. Ordered to
appear before a military draft board in May 1980, he refused
on the grounds that he had been denied the right to an education and that military service might expose him to state
secrets, thus delaying his emigration even further. He was
arrestedin July 1530 and triedandconvictedone monthlater.
' ItepQ^ tynbte Kiel Willi BolMdn President
PARIS (JTA)—A notorious Nazi war criminal, Klaus Barbie, twice sentenced to death in absentia in France for the
murder of thousands of civilians, recently met with the President of Bolivia, where he has been living in hiding since the
end of World War II. The French Foreign Ministry last week
expressed its "deep surprise" at the meeting between Barbie, wanted by several countries on charges of war'crimes,
and Gen Guido Vildoso. Barbie, who obtained Bolivian
citizenship in 1957 under the name of Klaus Altmann, was
quoted has having said in La Paz that he met the President
"to discuss judicial and administrative matters." The
meeting took place at the Presidential palace. Barbie's
extradition was requested by France in 1974 and again in 1979
and is to renew its request next month. On the two previous
occasions, the Bolivians turned down the extradition on
vague legal grounds.
WASHINGTON (JTA)-
A leading expert on Soviet
Jewry portrayed a bleak picture of Jewish life in the
Soviet Union, especially as
contrasted to conditions in'
Eastern Europe.    .
"Deprivation, disability
and disintegration charac-"
terize its status" Dr. William
Korey, B'nai B'rith director
of international policy -research told the House
Foreign Affairs, Subcommittee on Human Rights and
International Organizations.
"The most striking dif--'
ference, both with respect to
Judaism in East Europe and
with respect to other major
religious bodies in the USSR,
is the absence of a central or
federative structure."
Korey said this lack "results in-the fragmentation
and vulnerability of religious
life. It also.makes the enjoyment of specified and
unspecified rights difficult,
if not impossible."
Soviet Jews do not publish
periodicals as other religious
groups do and a Hebrew Bible has not been published
since the late 1920s, Korey
said. While the Russian
Orthodox Church and
various other churches in the
Soviet Union are affiliated
with the World Council of
Churches and other international religious groups,
Soviet Jewry, without a religious center, has no such formal connections.
Korey noted that, while in
1976 there were 450 synagogues, there are now only
50, half of them in Georgia,
the northern Caucasus and
the Central Asian Republic
where less than 10 percent of
Soviet Jews live. Rumania
and Humgary have mofe'
synagogues. In addition, the
USSR, has no facility for
training rabbis, and four
Soviet students are now
attending the Budapest
Rabbinical Seminary.
Korey noted that both the
state and Communist Party
assault Judaism. At the
same time during the last
few years, "Zionism has
been presented to the Soviet
media as the principal
enemy of mankind." But in
fact, -it is Judaism and
Jewish tradition that is particularly attacked; "this includes" an "extraordinary
assault on the Hebrew language," Korey said.
In contrast, he noted that
Hungary, with 80,000 Jews,
and Rumania, with 37,000,
permit religious, social and
educational Jewish activities. Elsewhere, in Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria and
Yugoslavia, Korey said that
Jewish life la deteriorating
because of a small population, mainly aged Jews.
BONN (JTA)-The Jewish
community   in  West  Germany is undergoing a crisis
of identity. The community
has  been  fractured  by
Israel's military actions in
Lebanon and buffeted by the\
German media and many
Germans who seem to take
delight in being  able  to
"demonstrate"  that  their
former victims have become
"nobetterthan our fathers." _
The agony and anguish'
permeating some sections of
the Jewish community are
not always the consequences
of newspaper headlines and
slanted articles which seek
to denigrate Israel. Sometimes these feelings result
from seemingly minor and
accidental encounters between individual Jews and
Germans.
For example, an Israeli v
journalist in Bonn accidentally met a German colleague whom he had not seen
for almost a year. Without
any of the uusuaL greetings,
she approached him and^
snapped-. "Why ate you
behaving in Lebanon as the
Germans did during, the
-Third Reich?" This assertion; in one way or anothers,
has become commonplace in
most of the German mediatf
A German journalist who
happens to- be a dedicated
friend of Israel was asked
the other day whether he
watched a television program on the Middle East. "I
did not," he answered, "and
I'm glad I didn't. That would
certainly have been another
nightmare. I just refrain
from such sort of things.''
Recently,   a  statement
critical of Israel was issued
by 43 "Berlin Jews" which
compared Israel's military
actions in Lebanon with German nationalism during the
Nazi era.  Both  state
operated German TV channels carried this statement
but failed to carry a statement by the chairman of the
Jewish community of West
Berlin, Werner Nachmann,
on behalf of the community,
defending Israel's action as
a means of safeguarding life
and security and as an act of
self-defense on the part of
Israel.
Resignation And Apathy   ■
Among the Jewish youth in
West Germany there is a
growing feeling of resignar
tion and apathy. An official
of the Central Organization
of the Jewish Communities
in Bonn said this is the first
time he has encountered this
feeling since  the  end of
World War II. "Israel's actions are the center of any^
political discussion nowadays," he said. "But the
-.question is no longer
whether, one is pro-Israeli or
not, but rather *>f how best to
preserve Jewish identity
altogether" in light of .
Israel's actions in 1 .ehannn.
A young Jewish activist in
Frankfurt said he was not
bothered by those Jewish
students who took a tough,
stance against Israel's
policies. "That is perfectly
normal," he observed, "and
besides, only a few students
take this stance. The problem is the mass of .Jewish
youth who just do not Want to
hear or know. They are practically in hiding."
A young Berlin Jew, who,
lity Crisis
has been volunteering his
free time to explain Israel's
cause, told me that he was
considering leaving the
country. "There is a real"
anti-Jewish, campaign
here," he said.: "Everyone
' can feel it. I detect it in every
television newsreel, in nearly every newspaper. But I
have encountered it in many
personal incidents, too. What
-1 have been through, in the
last few weeks has really
given me a lot to think
about." :
Oeiman Mewscash Distort Ship Incident
BONN (JTA)—Diplomatic
sources here have expressed
amazement at a deliberate
distortion of information by
the two West German television networks which made it
appear that a mercy ship
owned by the German Red
Cross was hit by Israeli fire
in Beirut harbor when it was
actually the victim of Paler
stinian rockets at the port of
Junielv 15 kiibmeters north
of .Beirut;: Qne of the: networks corrected the error,
but only after rcpnSideriable
delay. /;•'■ ■"";■ ".'.':.
The vessel, the Flora, was'
severely damaged last week
while off-loading medical
supplies and -, vehicles at
Junieh. One crew member
was killed and five were in-
Zdhe Envoy Presents
JERUSALEM (JTA)-
The new Ambassador from
Zaire to Israel, Mbuze N..
Somi Labwanabi, presented
his credentials last week to
President Yitzhak Navon. At
the ceremony, Navon
welcomed the envoy and
said this was a "historic and
great moment for Israel."
The President expressed
his confidence that other
Black African nations will
follow the "Zaire pioneers.",
Zaire is the first Black
African state to renew
diplomatic relations with
Israel since it and most other'
_Black African states broke
ties with Israel in 1973.
Mobutu announced last
March that with Egypt now
having diplomatic relations
with Israel, there was no
reason to continue its break.
Before the Yom Kippur
War of 1973, Israel had
strong relations, with Black
African nations and was instrumental in helping a
number of them in development projects. But in 1973, at
.the urging of the Arab
League, then headed by
Egypt, all but Malawi,
Swaziland, and Lesotho
broke off ties with Israel.
jured. The German Red-
Cross expressed outrage
over the incident, inasmuch
as the vessel was clearly
marked with, the Red Cross
symbol; The initial report by
the Red Cross said the ship
was in the port area of west
Beirut which was under intense Israeli gunfire from
land and sea.
'■'■■'That report was widely
'broadcast by the two networks, AUD .and ZDF, winch
refused requests by Israeli
officials here to present the
true facts. Hours after news
■ agency reports confirmed
that the Flora was hit by
Soviet-made Palestinian
rockets at Junieh, a high official of the Red Cross
repeated oh television that
the incident had occurred in
Beirut.
The ARD corrected the
information in its final newscast which appeared after
midnight when relatively
few people watch television.
The ZDF never carried a
correction.
Cots. Federation
Annual Meetin
Set For Seot. 12
"The 56th Annual Meeting
of Columbus Jewish Federation will highlight an
outstanding year—1982—in
terms of able and dedicated
leadership, campaign
achievement and responsible and responsive planning
and programming," stated
Bernard K. Yenkin, Federation President.
The meeting, chaired by
Selma Mellman, will be held
on Sunday evening, Sept. 12,
at Agudas A c h i in
Synagogue. It will feature
the third annual Abe I."
Yenkin Memorjal Address
delivered by Norman
Podhoretz, Editor of Commentary Magazine.
The entire Columbus
Jewish community is
welcome to attend.
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