VOLUME 1 No.12 DECEMBER 2001

Monotheism's eternal triangle

^i the three great monotheistic faiths - foreign intervention, showed how far is the key to the whole sorry saga - from Judaism, Christianity and Islam - tiie first that decline had gone. the rejection of partition plans to the 's undoubtedly tiie oldest and tiierefore, In Christian Europe, meanwhile, two spurning of Ehud Barak's olive branch however much tiiey may deny it, tiie divergent tendencies emerged. One was last year. "aspiration for the other two. It is also, secularisation, which allowed baptised, In Europe, meanwhile, white racists ^d has been for well over a millennium, or even unambiguous, Jews (Benjamin who target Muslims and Jews alike ^6 numerically smallest and thus the Disraeli, Adolphe Cremieux) to enter benefit from Muslim Judeophobia. In niostvuberable. governments. The opposite trend was France, the police chief Maurice Papon, f^rom the Destruction of the Temple to the increasing recourse to religious having deported Jews to the gas "le War of Israeli Independence, Jews dogma in Tsarist Russia and the appeal to chambers during the war, literally ^•"c not subjects, but near-passive racist gut feeling in Germany. drowned Algerian demonstrators in the "•ejects, of history. First Christianity tiien Seine in January 1961. But how could a ^lam swept triumphantly over case against Papon for Holocaust-related °ntinents, bringing vast swathes of the crimes ever be mounted if, according to Slobe under their dominion. (Today Muslim propaganda, the Holocaust is a 3tholicism and Islam number roughly 1 Zionist invention in support of a 'bogus' 'llion adherents each worldwide.) claim to a Jewish state in Palestine? ^ize matters, but it does not Another piece of hard-line Muslim ^cessarily confer commensurate power, propaganda is the depiction of Islam as a "ough backed by most of Europe, the faith transcending race and nationality. In •"Usades made little lasting difference to fact, Arabs fought the Turkish Sultan, ^s Middle East. Islam was predominant who, as Caliph, was Mohammed's Globally, and the Christian West successor in 1917-18. Bangladesh fought PPeared on the periphery. Pakistan in 1971 and fought in Hie year 1492 marked a turning point tiie 1980s. ^ the history of aU three religions. In that What flows mevitably fromth e alleged I'ear the 'Catholic Majesties' re­ By the 1900s the secular United States, primacy of Islam over an individual conquered Andalusia from the Moors a polity in which church and state were Muslim's nationality is the problem of ^d expelled tiie Jews. Their dispatch of strictiy separated, had become an arbiter dual allegiance. Whereas Christians olumbus to America set in motion a of the world's, and Jewry's, fate. America glossed over the confradiction that their lain of events that half a millennium not only settied the outcome of the two priests blessed the arms of both sides in ^^r made tiie USA not only the world's world wars, but also served as a haven for the world wars, Islam allegedly admits of '^ superpower, but also the chief target 2 million impoverished, pogrom-haunted no such 'fudge'. British Muslims who festering Islamic resentment Russian Jews, whose grandchildren profess to see the as an Jewish expellees from Spain found today constitute just under half of the anti-Muslim crusade are therefore ^ 'Uge in Muslim Turkey at a time when world's Jewish population. impaled on the horns of a sharp dilemma. R ^ice and Tudor were Though has rather fewer Jews It is poignant under the circumstances *>cially judenrein, and Germany still than the US, it is the endangered Jewish to recall that the 'dual allegiance' issue allowed in the aftermath of the heartiand. For all that some of the split British Jewry at the time of the ''fderous Crusades. In the subsequent dangers which beset it are undoubtedly Balfour Declaration (which Edwin "turies the Muslim Turks' initially 'home-made', the ultimate responsibility Montagu opposed - unsuccessfiilly - in ^•"ant attitude towards the Jews for the 50-year-old Middle East ciisis the Cabinet). For today's UK Jews, 'dual •^eriorated, while their empire went rests with the Palestinian leaders - from allegiance' has long ceased to be an issue. ij^*^ an irreversible decline. TTie 1840 tiie Mufti of Jerusalem to Arafat - and Britain and Israel, both being ^ascus Affair', triggered by ritual their Arab backers. Hannah Ashrawi's democracies, could not conceivably be "fder accusations and prompting phrase 'We are an all-or-nothing people' on opposing sides in a military conflict Facing Mecca London Holocaust Exhibition Richard Grunberger draws record number of visitors During the Second World War all Britons abhorred Nazism, but a The Holocaust Exhibition at the minority - dubbed Vansittartites after Imperial War Museum will have the head of the Foreign Office - received a total of half-a-million visitors abhorred all Germans. , by the end of the year, said Suzanne a contemporary mindset deemed Bardgett, the Exhibition's Director, important enough for the BBC to when she spoke to over 50 people at the devote half a dozen programmes to AJR-KT Luncheon Club. combating it, is roughly comparable Suzanne Bardgett described how she to Vansittartism. In saying this I am not and her young team had set about equating the Muslim world with the putting the Exhibition together. They Third Reich - although some Islamic had consulted the Central European fundamentalists are indeed as hate- Jewish community in this country via filled, anti-Western and fanatical as the AJR and other groups. the Nazis. The creation of the Exhibition had The analogy with Nazi Germany posed a number of challenges: how to does, however, hold good if one views convey the terror of the camps and the Suzanne Bardgett the recent BBC2 series Islam, Empire of evils of Nazism in a contemporary Faith as an attempt to fill in the exhibition; what artifacts could be found visitors. She emphasised that film was historical background to the present documenting the process of mass the medium for educating young people troubled East-West relations. On destruction; whether visitors would about the Holocaust, mentioning the screen, the medieval societies of stick with a narrative which had so little Steven Spielberg film Shindler's List- Cordova, Baghdad and Isfahan were 'light relief; and how the Exhibition Moreover, the Exhibition worked with portrayed as multicultural havens of would sit alongside the museum's other young people in the wider community- scholarship and the decorative arts - displays. Above all, it was essential to notably with the Southwark police in afl with due tribute paid to the Arabs as 'get the history right'. anti-racism campaign. transmitters of Europe's lost classical Early visitors to the Exhibition Suzanne Bardgett said the Exhibition heritage. They also added to it greatly included Cheri Blair and her children maintained links with institutions (though they were helped in this by and and Betty Boothroyd- worldwide, including Yad Vashem in the proximity of India and China). The Delegations had come from countries Jerusalem, the United States Holocaust baton of Muslim leadership eventually such as Lithuania and Belgiuin Memorial Museum in Washington, the passed to the Turks, at which point the where analogous exhibitions were Wiener Library, and the Centre for tone of the commentary changed: in being planned. contrast to the encomia on the Arabs' German-Jewish Studies at Sussex mastery of the arts of peace, the University. Suzanne Bardgett said she read Ap^ Journal regularly: it was an 'excellent commentators now lauded the Turks The Holocaust Exhibition was publication'. She was pleased to have for creating a 'perfect fighting receiving 1,000 visitors per day. The joined AJR's Project Development machine'. response to the Exhibition had been Committee, creating an exhibition 'overwhelmingly positive'. And then at a point where that planned for 2002 to mark the cultural perfect fighting machine failed to Suzanne Bardgett stressed the contribution to the UK of Jewisl' capture Vienna early in the sixteenth Exhibition's educational value: school immigrants from Central Europe. MJ century, the series abruptly stopped. children comprised 10 per cent of all The last half-millennium, during which Islam regressed to its present AJR Journal state - exemplified by censorship, Richard Grunberger Editor-in-Chief JACKMAN • religious frenzy, harsh intolerance, Ronald Channing Executive Editor Howard Spier Editorial and Production SILVERMAN martyrs' cemeteries, public executions, AJR Journal, 1 Hampstead Gate, COMMERCIAL PROPERTY CONSULTANTS schools for pre-teen suicide bombers la Frognal, London NW3 6AL and relegation of women - was simply Tel: 020 7431 6161 Fax: 020 7431 8454 e-mail: [email protected] glossed over It was as if, in the 1930s, 26 Conduit Street, London WIR 9TA www.ajr.org.uk BBC radio had broadcast a history Telephone: 020 7409 0771 Fax: 020 7493 801? series on Germany featuring Bach, Kant and Goethe, praising Frederick the Great and omitting Bismarck, the The AJR wishes all its members a happy Chanukah Kaiser and Ludendorff. •The Under Nelson's blind eye Trafalgar Square was recently the venue from his Afghan hideout. What militant NEWTONS for an 'interpenetration of opposites' not Islam envisages - one shudders to write Leading Hampstead Solicitors Equalled since Communists and Nazis it - is a Holocaust Mark Two, with five 22 Fitzjohn's Avenue, jointly engineered the Berlin transport million Israelis following the six million London NWS SNB strike of November 1932. European Jews. This is to be taken • All English legal work Seven decades on, the role of the literally: the Al-Muhajiroun group undertaken Communists was taken up by a CND- pasted 'Kill the Jews' leaflets around • Assistance given with German, wokered confederacy of pacifists, Green London and Birmingham last year. Swiss & Austrian matters ^ti-globalists, 'Trot' class warriors, Meanwhile, the demonstrators • German spoken oleeding hearts' and bloody-minded marched side by side past Landseer's 'iiilitants, and that of the Nazis by a lions - British peace lovers and Muslim • Home visits arranged Powerful contingent of UK Muslims. jihad warriors, British ex-protesters Tel: 020 7435 5351 ^ike the Nazis of yore, British hard-line over NATO action against Serbia and Fax: 020 7435 8881 'Muslims nurse a fierce resentment Muslims enraged by Serb massacres of "ecause the hitherto unstoppable Bosnians, British feminists and Muslim advance of their faith towards khilafa - advocates of polygamy and female Slobal dominance - has been halted and circumcision, British gays and Muslim Sone into reverse. The sores of homophobes, British hedonists and PARTNER •^rsailles and the Polish corridor which Muslim heresy-hunters. in long established English ^he Nazis delighted to scratch are CND, who constructed this whole Solicitors (bi-lingual German) "•^plicated by the seething resentment peripatetic Tower of Babel, has scored a would be happy to assist clients °^er Bosnia, Kashmir and Chechnya sorry hat trick. Remember the two with English, German and ''^ the contemporary Muslim previous peaks of CND perversity: Austrian problems. 'Consciousness. The fact that over while they were castigating Washington Contact Henry Ebner b °osnia the West sided with the Muslims over the build-up of its atomic arsenal, Myers Ebner & Deaner Against Serbia is conveniently glossed Moscow nearly pulled the nuclear 103 Shepherds Bush Road '^^cr, in accordance with Hitler's trigger in the 1961 Cuban crisis and, London W6 7LP advocacy of'the big lie'. while they conjured up images of Telephone 020 7602 4631 However, total convergence is Western nuclear disaster, typical Soviet ALL LEGAL WORK achieved on the Jewish issue'. Hitler's disregard for safety triggered the UNDERTAKEN 'ast message from the bunker preached Chernobyl catastrophe. Do they really ^dying hatred for the Jews as did bin deserve the epithet useful idiots? '-aden's notorious first video appeal RG I • AUSTRIAN and GERMAN German-Jewish cultural PENSIONS centre planned for Israel PROPERTY ^ the late 1930s immigration into the exhibition floor, an auditorium and RESTITUTION CLAIMS ^^ti Palestine from Germany, Austria advanced electronic facilities for EAST GERMANY-BERLIN ^d Czechoslovakia reached its peak. educational presentations and other On instructions our office will | f^nown as the Fifth Aliyah, the visiting groups. assist to deal with your I ^^igrants accounted for some 20 per The AJR's 'twin sister' in Israel, the applications and pursue the matter ^^it of the total population of an area Irgun Olej Merkas Europa, is the main with the authorities. "ich, in 1948, was to become the State initiator of this project. Both . Israel. The importance of these organisations serve on the Council of For further information ^niigrants to the cultural and economic Jews from Germany Thanks to the Leo and appointment please contact: ^^elopment of the country cannot be Baeck Institute, a major partner in the ^^ggerated. project, a library and research facilities ICS CLAIMS flans are well advanced for a new will also form an important part of the 146-154 Kilburn High Road ^Itural centre which will relate to new Centre, as will academic workshops, London NW6 4JD "^^Herations of Israehs and others the exchange programmes, seminars and tory of the values that were brought by guided tours for the many visitors who Tel: 020 7328 7251 (Ext. 107) !;;^se immigrants from Central Europe. are anticipated. Fax: 020 7624 5002 Th^, Heritage Centre will include an RDC Who is privileged to enter Heaven grim and downtrodden daily existence according to Islam? Does a suicide while watching television and movie bomber who kills innocent people merit Islam portrayals of Western wealth and entrance into Heaven? Islam is decadence, it is not difficult to conceive unambiguous on these questions. hijacked of the US and Israel as the greater and The four schools of Islamic law Part Two lesser Satans. Of course, local corrupt expressly forbid the harming of non- Reuven Firestone leadership often takes advantage of such combatants. These include women, sentiments in order to prop up crooked children, monks and hermits, and the regimes. The secular leaders of Muslim aged, blind and insane. In the most (FadaHl al-Jihad, 26, #1663). He is also countries have always tried to authoritative collection of , the forgiven all his sins and has the right to manipulate Islamic symbols and images Sahih al-Bukhari (The Book of Jihad, intercede on behalf of his own family to in order to manage their populations. chapters 147-47, expressly enter Heaven. Islam is a noble and compassionate forbids the slaying of women and So suicide is forbidden and the killing religion but it may be cynically children. This message, found in a of non-combatants is forbidden, but manipulated. It may also be manipulated number of authoritative collections, has martyrdom is rewarded with entrance in good faith by misguided people. The t)een formalised in the legal literature. into Heaven and, therefore, with great unstable political situation in the Middle Islam also expressly forbids suicide, the material rewards in the World to Come. East, the terrible economic situation, punishment for which is eternal re- The complexity of the problem rests to a the lack of freedoms and of a tradition oi enactment of the suicide and great extent on interpretation and the open inquiry for the past six centuries all revisitation of the pain. authority of those who make the contribute to an environment oi interpretations. One stable person's bitterness. Who can you trust if not in Martyrdom for the Islamic definition of suicide may be interpreted God? But God has also been cause as martyrdom by a fanatic. All these manipulated, and this is the saddest On the other hand, martyrdom in war for categories may easily be manipulated by aspect of the complex we call the Middle the Islamic cause is praised extensively fanatical, desperate or evil people. A East. God has been hijacked by throughout the literature. The Qur'an reasonable person's obvious terrorists. Islam is not the problem- teaches (3:169): "Do not consider those identification of innocent non- Terrorism is the problem, and terrorists killed [while engaging] in God's cause combatants may be categorized as have hijacked both Islam and God. dead. Rather, they live with their Lord, Satan's hordes by someone who is The author is Professor of Medievd who sustains them!" The qur'anic idiom desperate and confused. Add to this the Judaism and Islam at Hebrew Union "killed while engaging in God's cause" is fact that most suicide bombers are in College in Los Angeles. The first part of a reference to martyrdom for acting on desperate economic straits. this article appeared in the November being a Muslim, whether as a issue o/AJR Journal persecuted and powerless individual or God hijacked by terrorists We need to add one more ingredient to =T1 as a warrior fightingfo r the expansion of Ol I \o\\ "Where the world of Islam. Perhaps the most an afready complex soup: the perception "Where [If ilo yoii compelling expression of this sentiment of the West (which includes Israel) do you come from?" are the idioms found in the most among many Muslims who live in the Hitler refugees authoritative sources and attributed to Middle East. The West prides itself on in Great Britain the Prophet: "Paradise is [found] under having brought many gifts to the then and now: The happy compromise! the shade of swords", or "Paradise is civilised world: tolerance, democracy, under the gleam of swords" (Sahih pluralism, freedom. To the natives of Carl F. Flesch ISBN 1 900796 79 1 Bukhari, Jihad, ch. 22, #73). many parts of the world who have been UK £9.99 Muhammad's companion Abu Hurayra exploited by colonialism, imperiaUsm What the critics say: said that he heard the Prophet say: "By and today's 'globalism', these noble '...enjoyable, thought provoking ...a wealth of the One in Whose hands is my soul [i.e. contributions are meaningless. Many material.. .Many readers will enjoy this book, ofteP with a wry smile of recognition as they find their own God], I would love to be martyred [while Muslims in the Middle East see them as experiences.. mirrored in it. a good read.' no more than slogans that attempt to -AJR Journal engaged] in God's cause, then be '(Flesch has an) extraordinary capacity to see resurrected, then martyred, then hide the West's true intent: political and things from a different perspective... often hilarious... entertaining.' resurrected, then martyred, then religious domination and economic -Edinburgh Star resurrected, and then martyred" (Sahih exploitation. 'A delightful new book...' -Norman Lebrecht, Jewish Chronicle Bukhari, Jihad 7, #54). A hadith in To a poor peasant or even a middle- Available via all good bookshops or direct from the publishe'^ Sunan al-Tirmidhi states that in class urban dweller who suffers the loss by sending cheque for £10 99 iinctp&pito contrast to the suicide, the martyr does of children to disease, the lack of PEM PRESS PUBLISHERS LTD ' not even feel the pain of his death opportunities for improvement, and a 39-41 NORTH ROAD, ISLINGTON, LONDON N7 9DP Were the refugees to be repatriated in 1945? Anthony Grenville during the war, a major concern for the than a mere matter of form would advocate of adopting the ungenerous and Jews from Central Europe who had fled that anyone should be forced to resume obstructive stance that allowing to Britain was the possibility that they citizenship of a nation with which he no refugees the right of permanent longer is connected through any formal or "light be compelled to return to their emotional ties whatsoever. Even less would residence was undesirable and would countries of origin once hostilities they advocate the idea of forced repatriation. provoke an antisemitic backlash. ended. The Jewish refugees had No one should be compelled to return to his Indeed, her accoimt sets out to cast the contributed to the war effort and had former country after having experienced entire process of the refugees' reception shared the dangers and privations of such dreadful persecution as was and still is in Britain as one more chapter in official imposed on the Jews by the Nazis. Wartime life with the British. They had British inhumanity and callousness "egun to settle here, and in most cases In April 1944 the AJR seized on a towards asylum seekers. But there is a "ad no desire to return to the lands broadsheet issued by PEP (Political and notable omission in Dr London's book, Where Jews had been systematically Economic Planning) which sought to and a very important one. On 15 May murdered. The circulars through which dispel the misapprehensions that 1945 himself "e AJR communicated with its surrounded the 'refugee problem'. It answered a parliamentary question from •"embers reflected this fear of demonstrated that the number of Jewish Austin Hopkinson MP asking whether repatriation. From late 1943 the AJR refugees who wished to stay in Britain arrangements could be made for the Sought to impress upon the British would be a tiny fraction of the population immediate repatriation of all Jewish Authorities that the Jews from Germany and hardly likely to increase refugees. Churchill's reply was ^d Austria did not regard the prospect unemployment; on the contrary, their unambiguous: 'No, Sir. Quite apart from ^* returning to their native lands as skills and labour would be urgently other considerations there would be Anything remotely resembling a needed for post-war reconstruction. very considerable practical difficulties "Omecoming, given the complicity of The survey concluded by demanding in carrying out this suggestion.' The "eir former fellow countrymen in the that an end be put to the state of Jewish Labour MP Sydney Silverman Persecution and extermination of their uncertainty and homelessness that the interjected that 'it would be difficult to entire communities. refugees had endured for so long. In conceive of a more cruel procedure than June 1945, following the liberation of the ''^portance of British to take people who have lost everything concentration camps, the AJR issued a they have - their homes, their relatives, citizenship press statement that clarified its their children, all the things that made A attitude to Germany unequivocally: ^ Vital step towards permanent life decent and possible - and compel ResidencB; e in Britain was the acquiring of To the Jews from Germany their former them against their will to go back to the '•^tish nationality, without which the country is the graveyard of their families. scene of those crimes.' This drew a crisp There are no bonds left between them and erugees would have remained stateless prime ministerial one-liner: 'I agree Germany. In their overwhelming majority with that.' ^d liable to have their former German they have no desire to return to the country Ationality reimposed on them against where these atrocities were committed and That spelt the end of any plans for ^•^eir will. The wartime British be compelled to live amongst people who compulsory repatriation. Anyone can ^^Vernment refused to grant British perpetrated the murder of the Jews or see that such a statement, issued with "^izenship to the refugees, even if they connived at these crimes. They prefer to live the full force of the prime minister's anywhere else in the world than in Germany. ere serving in the Forces. The AJR's authority, settled the matter; and the Ocular of November 1944 quotes with incoming Labour Government kept to approval from a letter to the New York Churchill intervenes on behalf 7" Churchill's policy. The fact is that the '*^es from the President of the of refugees K erican Federation of Jews from What was the attitude of the British refugees were never subjected to a "-entral Europe: Government? In her exhaustive account policy of deportation to their former homelands. Instead, they were allowed "ere will be no doubt that among the Whitehall and the Jews: British to stay, and over the next few years golems which Jewish refugees from Immigration Policy and the Holocaust, acquired British nationality. That, "'i'al Europe all over the world will be Louise London is severely critical of however, is the next chapter in the "fronted after the war, the problem of their government policy on refugee 'onality will be of great importance. history of their settlement in Britain. settlement. She accuses successive Ould they, against their will, automatically /^onie German citizens again? I believe home secretaries , Dr Anthony Grenville is Historical '• nobody who considers nationality more R.G. Somervell and Researcher to the AJR. wishful thinking had been made. Nor was anything of the kind ever made in The Editor reserves the right my case. The idea that the family who to shorten correspondence exploited me, did not pay me, and only I TO THE ) submitted for publication returned my family's valuables after a \ EDITOR^ court case, would even have considered supporting an old woman - my mother - for an 'undetermined I TOO AM A REFUGEE complex'of the German Jews, of whom number of years' is ludicrous. Sir - I was very moved by Moise I am one. It must have been hard for Dr Lytton suggests that historians are Rahmani's article in the October issue. some of my contemporaries to work as obliged to carry out a scientific survey We can probably agree on answers to domestics, a job they were neither before publishing their findings. I some of his questions. Kuwait expelled trained for, nor accustomed to. suggest that Dr Lytton, instead of Palestinians because they supported However, I think it is unfair to bring up pontificating about some point he Saddam, who had fired Scud missiles unpleasant experiences from the obviously did not read correctly, should into Israel. They are not integrated by distant past and blame Anglo-Jewry for accept that for every bad case there their host countries because that the ill-treatment or different customs was bound to be a place where the would stop the pot from boiling, and they encountered. If we, who were domestic servant was treated well- Israel provides a good alibi for these being persecuted, attribute lack of Seeing that he is already Prof Emeritus, countries' failings. The Palestinians are culture and finesse to our own I think that his mother was perhaps poor for the same reason. Arab money brethren, should we be surprised that older and more mature than the could enable the Gaza strip to live in the other factions do similar things to us? average girls who came, and could lap of luxury but poor conditions and Margot Wallace, cope better dependence on UN handouts make for Sarasota, USA Polly Zimran, self-pity, hatred and chanting crowds Charlbury waving Hamas banners to be seen on Sir - It makes me see red to world-wide TV. continuously read letters from German Sir - I was saddened to read the letter Frank Bright, refugees about the treatment they from my anonymous colleague in the Ipswich received in this country. People still October issue. I practised at the complaining after all this time would Revenue Bar from 1958 until 1996 and Sir - Certainly the Palestinians have have been in a very sorry state, if not cannot recollect a single occasion when been guilty of terror and bloodshed. dead, if the 'unsophisticated' people in I became aware that a Jewish solicitor Israel's provocative policies and this country had not opened their had not instructed me because I was a actions, however, have continued to 'lower middle-class' households to Yekke. I therefore suggest that my stir up hatred, increasingly producing them. I don't mind whether you publish colleague's experiences may not be young recruits for Hamas's terrorism. this letter or not, but I had to get my typical. The sins of the Arabs do not absolve the views across to your organisation. CIV Koenigsberger, Jews who support Israel from S Muller, London NW^ responsibility. We also have a Banbury responsibility as human beings to the Dr Grenville comments: Arabs and we have a responsibility to Sir - I have had the pleasure of being There are some serious misreadings O' pursue peace. Dr Otto Fleming worries interviewed by Dr Grenville, and I have my articles on Anglo-Jewry and the (July issue) that if Israel were to read the articles and letters published refugees from Central Europe in ^o^^ dismantle its Jewishness, 'we need be in the AJR Journal. Dr Grenville gave a October letters column. While it is clear no more concerned about its existence resume of bad cases of exploitation of that the cultural interests of the tW than that of Guatemala.' Is peace not young girls who came as domestic groups differed, this is far fro^ more important? The generation which servants. One can assume that he is asserting the 'superiority' of one over created Israel following its persecution engaged in further research, which he the other, as Mr Persky seems to in Europe has all but died out. The will publish at a later date. His articles imagine. In fact, I was scrupulously present Israeli population is not are only part of a whole, contrary to careful not to make any such assertior^- entitled to use that generation's what Dr Lytton suggests. The imputation of'inferiority'to Englis"^ suffering as an excuse for its actions. Dr Lytton is also mistaken in his Jews derives from Mr Persky, not fro^ Eric Sanders, comments about families acting as my text. London W12 sponsors to get the parents of refugee Nor do I use the term 'lower midd'^ domestics out of Germany. At no point class' in a derogatory sense; ' ANGLO-JEWRY AND THE REFUGEES did Dr Grenville mention that a naive academic discourse it is the only terrr* Sir - I am in total agreement with Mr and unreasonable demand, available to describe the social straturi^J Persky's views on the 'superiority expectation or any expression of that lies between the proletariat an the affluent upper middle class. The Sir -1 met Werner Rosenstock in the last •underlying point actually reflects years of his life at Heinrich Stahl House. ARE YOU ON A LOW favourably on Anglo-Jewry: it was far I was ignorant of the important role he INCOME AND IN NEED 'ess excusable for domestics to be had played in the AJR, but chatting to subjected to poor conditions in him I soon became aware that he was a OF HOMECARE HELP? vvealthy British homes than in those of very impressive, though modest, man. AJR might be able to offer Jewish families in modest He was as active as his health allowed, financial assistance. circumstances. gave lectures to other residents and Members who might not The reason why there are no positive kept up with his world-wide contacts otherwise be able to afford Accounts of refugee domestics in and interests. homecare please contact: Anglo-Jewish households is that I have Stella Curzon, Estelle Brookner, Secretary ^0 far encountered none, and am not Middx AJR Social Services Dept prepared to invent some simply to Tel: 020 7431 6161 please Dr Lytton. I stated explicitly that Sir - The article on Belsize Square "^y articles were based strictly on the Synagogue brought back memories of "material that I had so far gathered its architect, H J Reifenberg "myself; that is why I was careful to limit (incidentally he was the husband of 'ne scope of any conclusions to be Gabriele Tergit). He was meticulous to Companions ^rawn. The 'by and large' which Dr the point of madness and I well of London '•ytton misreads as if it were a general Incorporating remember that the builder was Conclusion refers in reality solely to Hampstead Home Care instructed to dismantle one of the four Conclusions drawn from my own concrete columns supporting the roof A long established company "Material. If Dr Lytton is going to fling of the structure because there was a providing care in your home Ground accusations of casual practice, I twist of 1/16th of one inch in its 20ft ^^ggest that he starts with his own Assistance with personal care height. Likewise, at the end of the General household duties "•eading of texts. Respite care monthly site meeting, all the Medical appointment service contractors on the project went to the ^'TLER'S LOSS Cosmo for coffee and cakes. 'OUR CARE IS YOUR CARE' "• - The question asked by Tom Reifenberg insisted that he pay the bill, 020 7483 0212/0213 '^Tibrose - whether the exiles achieved '^ore after emigration than 'at home' - so that he could not be accused of Can be answered with a resounding corruption. yes. The Nobel Laureate Dr Max Perutz F Goldberg, ^^ SPRING ^^- FRS implied in print that he could W Sussex S3> GROVE '^ot have done in Vienna what he did 214 Finchley Road ^ere, using the memorable three words TO BALDLY GO London NWS Cambridge made me'. Sir - You may have your own political London's Most Luxurious Francis Steiner, views 'ex' and present, but what gives RETIREMENT HOME Deddington you the right to make fun of other • Entertainment-Activities peoples' physical disabilities? • Stress Free Living ^Oth ANNIVERSARY ISSUE • 24 Hour Staffing • Excellent Cuisine A Goldsmith, • Full En-Suite Facilities "' - I became a member of the AJR in Wembley ^•^e early 1940s, but at that time there Call for more information or a personal tour ^as no Werner Rosenstock as general BOUQUET ^^cretary. Whatever happened to the 020 8446 2117 Sir - I have just read the September ^en secretary Dr Kurt Alexander from or 020 7794 4455 issue of the Journal from cover to cover ^refeld? Why is he never mentioned? [email protected] As a 'non-Jewish' Jew (Mischling grade (Mrs) Ilse Shindel, 1), I must congratulate you on the high Wembley Park quality and objectivity of the magazine. Simon R Rhodes M.Ch.S. It is one of the few publications I receive STATE REGISTERED CHIROPODIST "^ • In your lengthy reminiscences of that I read from beginning to end. Surgeries at: ^e AJR's history not once is mention Although my religious beliefs differ, I 67 Kilburn High Road, NW6 (opp M&S) ^ade of the Society of Jewish Refugees Telephone 020 7624 1576 feel strongly connected to my nich was founded in Glasgow a few 3 Queens Close (off Green Lane) maternal, Jewish roots. ^^ars before. Edgware, Middx HA87PU Dr W Levy, (Mrs) U Dumke, Telephone 020 8905 3264 London NW6 Ex-Kindertransportee Visiting chiropody service available RG'5 INTERFACE In some work you see the same solid dream-states captured by Chagall, stars of the 1930s NOTES under whose influence he fell. Things Diisseldorf-born Louise Rainer, flying in the air without perspective or winner of two Hollywood Oscars, Gloria Tessler depth. You could call it primitive art, was profiled in an interview session simplistic, but for its power. at the Austrian Institute in October. The American-born Alfred Cohen It takes courage to launch a new arts On 9 December Hungarian-born spent 40 years in his adoptive Britain magazine in today's times of cutbacks singer Martha Eggert will appear at until he could no longer call any other and redundancies, but Janet Levin has place home. He died earher this year London's Wigmore Hall to talk done it. Janet, who comes not from a and his retrospective exhibition is on about, and show clips of, the filmsi n journalistic but a market research show at the London Jewish Cultural which she partnered her husband, background, had a no-nonsense, focused Centre until 13 December. The the Polish operatic tenor Jan approach on the direction of the much- immediate impact of his Commedia heralded quarterly Jewish Kiepura. dell'arte, including The Entrance of Renaissance. It strikes a lighter, more Verdi centenary Punch and Polichinelle Rex, sends you colloquial note than the Jewish The worldwide celebrations reeling, but then the power of the work, Quarterly, and its well-designed and terminate in a blaze of glory with a the hidden depths, the sense of the whimsical front cover suggests hugely popular Rigoletto at the Royal person behind the mask, becomes something earthier and less intellectual- Opera House, Covent Garden. The apparent. A certain brutishness in his At its festive laimch party at the Jewish current focus on the incomparable work adds poignancy and personality to Museum, Lionel Gordon, the Chairman composer prompts a reminiscence his subjects. Thus his Toreador has a of the Management Committee, spoke as well as a question in my mind. The slight displacement of head and hands. of 'the great flowering of Jewish reminiscence is of 1930s Vienna You wonder whether he is crippled. The creativity in this country'. In the midst of when the opera buff Franz Werfel, face, though Spanish or Jewish, has such terror and uncertainty, the launch of this who once whiled away the best part sad, knowing eyes that you understand magazine was an oasis of bonhomie. In of a night singing Verdi arias with he is not a matador at all. her editorial Ms Levin asks the same James Joyce, published a Verdi Cohen's work, most of which is in question. Referring to the events of U biography as a counterblast to the private collections, has an eerie September, she writes 'Without doubt prevailing Wagner-mania fostered by perspective, as though all his subjects there is a new interest in learning about the Nazis. The question is: why does are really somebody else. So Colombine the richness of Jewish heritage; a neW the plot of Rigoletto, adapted from is a chaotic, wide, lidless-eyed diva with desire to see Jewish culture take a Victor Hugo's Le Rot samuse, bear a wire-spnmg hair. The subjects' sheer confident place in our multi-cultural society.' strong resemblance to Leon physicality makes them appear both Feuchtwanger's Jud Siiss, which is static and energetic, creating an electric The first issue includes an interview derived firom a story by Wilhelm sense, as though the despair within his with the actress Janet Suzman on Hauff? work has become solid. growing up under apartheid and, in 3 In a sense, Alfred Cohen's landscapes reference to the Asylum Bill, a double- Peter Zadek and waterscapes are even more page spread on comparisons with the The famous theatre director who interesting. What is exciting is that, treatment of today's asylum-seekers came to Britain as a child refugee and after closer observation, you begin to with Jewish refugees of the 1930s re-migrated to postwar Germany is realise that all his subjects, animate or pointing out the frightening similarities about to tackle Marlowe's The Jew of inanimate - earth, sky, people and of rejection and suspicion. There is also Malta at Vienna's Josefstadter objects - are of equal density. Thus a an excellent, down-to-earth overview of Theater. He says 'the play is always red and blue ship sails into a red sunset Kabbalah teachings, so popular among described as antisemitic but is and a red sea. Where is it really going? Jews and non-Jews today, in the form oi actually about antisemitism'. So now Three men in a boat with roughcast questions and answers hy Jeremy we know! fishermen faces stare at us with a look of Rosen, which helps readers to immobility. They are not busy, they are discriminate between genuine research watching us. And the clouds emerge like and that peddled by cultist salesmen- Annely Juda Fine Art flags flying from the roofs. Or are the There is a listings section, a childrens clouds really airships? We cannot say. section and a section dealing with the 23 Dering Street (off New Bond Street) We only know they move at the same arts in Israel, plus an in-depth report on Tel: 020 7629 7578 pace, slowly and heavily through space Iraqi Jews, which may well have paid fof Fax: 020 7491 2139 and time and a brilliance of colour the entire issue. Work needs to be done conveyed through thick impasto on design and layout, but there is CONTEMPORARY PAINTING daubing. Cohen handles paint well, with certainly an unusual and refreshing fe^' AND SCULPTURE confidence and an iconoclastic touch. to this welcome debut.

8 Retribution for conversion? Shy exhibitionist

WAHLER'S CONVERSION, BESIDE MYSELF, Ronald Harwood, REVIEWS Antony Sher, -A/ofvyych Theatre Hutchinson, 2001

Gustav Mahler's Vienna was a city elude him if he does not take the road Antony Sher was born with a caul to Christianity. Conversion to distorted by antisemitism. At the time round his neck, so his mother 'knew' Catholicism was unusual in those times of his birth in 1860, the Famitiengesetz he was going to be a great man. We and indeed Mahler remained a deeply laws of the Austro-Hungarian Empire see a picture of her, red in claw if not in permitted only the eldest son of a religious man who never took tooth, basking in the nakhes of his Jewish family to marry. Gustav's Catholicism to his soul. Even fame. The first, and perhaps the most domineering father Bernhardt was conversion did not stop him being interesting, part of the book deals '"egitimate according to this law but, vilified as 'that dwarf Jew'. The respite the ensuing social stigma, he Viennese premiere of his First with growing up in a Jewish family in W'as determined to build up a Symphony in the winter of 1900 was South Africa under apartheid. No successful liquor business, one of the hissed and booed, as was the Munich doubt the Jews, only one generation 'ew trades open to Jews. An premiere of his Fourth Symphony. removed from penniless immigrants, ^iJthoritarian father, Bernhardt Anthony Sher gives a compelling had their own insecurities. However, •^ecognized Gustav's extraordinary performance as the tormented Mahler that black people should be "Musical talent early and made the in Harwood's play, ably directed by subservient to whites seemed as sacrifices necessary to send him to the Gregory Doran, which considers his life acceptable to the young Antony (Ant '''enna Conservatory, where he studied after conversion. And indeed, for short) as the ABC. Not until he ^'th Anton Bruckner. But Gustav's disappointment and tragedy follow came to England did he see the Volatile nature and his radical ideas hard upon it. He rejects the deep, if situation from a different perspective. 'requently courted trouble, a tendency possessive, love of his young violinist- ^nat was to haunt him throughout biographer Natalie Bauer in favour of With a remote but successful his life. the outspoken society belle Alma businessman father, an adoring Graduating in 1878, Mahler began Schindler. In the play. Alma insults his mother, three siblings, a large h's first mature work. Das klagende music, his lifestyle and his supportive extended family and a considerable ^'ed, the Song of Lament, but he was friends. Natalie, in real life, broke off all personal talent in the performing arts, relations with Mahler on his marriage. '^ot psychologically attuned to the life he doesn't strike us as an object of In the play, Alexandra Mathie gives a °' solitary creativity and soon fell into pity. Nevertheless, he describes depression. He earned prestige in the creditable performance of her total himself as "a shy, self-hating person [°'e of conductor, in various opera mental breakdown. uncomfortable in his own skin" for hoUses , from Prague to Leipzig, In the same vein. Alma, an intelligent whom acting was an escape from that Bud,apes t and Hamburg. However, he woman, is portrayed as a capricious, self. Fired by ambition (that caul b&'Cam e embroiled in sexual scandal, hard-headed flirt, with musical ^^s criticised for his innovative work aspirations that Mahler forces her to seems to be doing its job), he decides ^^

10 room. This meant that every afternoon Remembering the Holocaust the slip of a girl had to wash blood, in post-communist Russia Richard Grunberger faeces, spilled brains, splintered bones and lumps of flesh off the walls and the In Russia, as elsewhere in Eastern floor of the torture chamber. What she Europe, memorialising the Holocaust is Lisette Watson found even harder to endure was 'fraught with difficulty', John Klier said hearing the cries of the victims. in a lecture to the Wiener Library on 31 October This unendurable chore Klier, Professor of Modern Jewish paradoxically saved Lisette's (and her History at University College London, parents') life. They were put on the stated that as early as 1942 Moscow Auschwitz list only in August 1944. As announced a competition for the their cattle-truck stood on a siding, design of a memorial celebrating the American soldiers slid open the doors victorious outcome of the war. 'No one and told them to 'go home'. shall be forgotten!' was the slogan of They had no home to go to, but a the time. Swiss Protestant charity provided At the end of the war, the Red Army them with accommodation. All their liberated some of the most notorious relatives in Europe had disappeared in concentration camps. In 1946 one of the Holocaust; however, the mother the first Holocaust memorials had a sister in Uruguay so they anywhere was erected in the Belarusian capital of Minsk. Subsequently, in a eventually went to South America, change of the party line occasioned by where Lisette acquired her third a mix of factors, not excluding language, started work and met her antisemitic sentiment, the Jewish Anti- According to one of the basic tenets of English husband Laurence, which .Fascist Committee, founded to Judaism, 13-year-old boys can mutate necessitated her learning a fourth publicise among Western Jews the into men. At the age of 13, lisette language. She eventually became so Nazis' anti-Jewish atrocities, was closed •^atson had already completed her proficient in English that she took a down. Moscow declared that 20 Journey into adulthood - not in the TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign million 'Soviet citizens' had perished in Physiological, but the emotional, sense Language) diploma. the Great Fatherland War. The ^i the word. TTiis journey had begun, Together with her mother, husband Holocaust became a taboo subject. ''Metaphorically and literally, six years and four children, Lisette moved to In 1961 Evgeny Evtushenko wrote his ^^lier in post-Anschluss Vienna. From London a quarter of a century ago. One celebrated poem Baby Yar, a plea to the authorities to commemorate the '"cre she, a first-year primary school daughter now lives in Israel, which special suffering of the Jews, but only piipil, fled with her mother and father they visit regularly. Another journey in 1974 was an 'anodine' memorial initially to Czechoslovakia, then to the Watsons undertook recently was to erected in that location, the site of a '*^y, and finally to south-east France. Horn, an Austrian backwater, where massacre of Jews near Kiev. Nice was their way station en route to Lisette remembers having spent At the present time, official ^e notorious camp at Gurs set up by idyllic summer holidays in her memorialising of the Holocaust is •Me Daladier government on the grandparents' garden. focused on the Poklonnaia Gora '^'^tbreak of war. At the fall of France, This nostalgia for the sights and memorial complex in Moscow. *M6 internees were set free and sounds other early childhood co-exists Currently, the complex contains a "^^turned to Nice. Here, two years later, uneasily in lisette's mind with an Russian Orthodox church, a mosque ^^r the Nazi takeover of unoccupied awareness that Austrians were even and a synagogue, including a •"ance, they were apprehended by the more deeply implicated than Germans Holocaust museum and what ^^stapo. The next stop was a suburb of in the Nazi horror. (All three Professor Klier described as a 'funky" Jewish museum. ^11 named Drancy from which trains commandants of Drancy, for instance, "^^gularly left for Auschwitz. came from the country of lisette's Memorialising of the Holocaust in the former Soviet Union is funded birth.) Though scarred forever by ^t Drancy the Austrian camp almost exclusively by Israeli and Jewish what she experienced as a pre- '^iiimandant (and mega-murderer) Diaspora support. In Russia, as ^ois Brunner observed the 12-year- adolescent, as well as later - her ailing elsewhere in the former communist 'd lisette taking a shortcut to the mother committed suicide - lisette is a Eastern Europe, Professor Klier atrines, which was forbidden. He hit survivor. Over and above that, she concluded, the process of ^1" around the face with a piece of much prefers arranging her features in memorialising the Holocaust remains ^od, which impaired her hearing in a smile rather than a scowl. I emerged 'contentious and fraught with th,e left ear, and sentenced her to fi-om the interview depressed by her difficulty'. cje;anin g duty in the SS interrogation tale, but uplifted by her spuit. HS 11 Manchester: Claims for Next meeting: 6 December 'Donuts and Latkes' compensation On 16 October Michael Newman West Midlands: From cap outlined the latest position on maker to Lord Mayor compensation claims from Germany, The 30 September meeting was a great Austria and elsewhere. Time is running success. Sir Bernard Zissman spoke on Bournemouth: 300-year out (the deadline is 31 December). the subject 'From cap maker to Lord Michael answered questions from the musical journey Mayor'. The atmosphere was extremely floor and made notes for further On 23 October Alf Keiles took us on a informal and I don't think there was information from his office. Susanne 300-year musical journey anyone present who did not enjoy the Green, the new Northern Group's Co­ encompassing the Jewish contribution talk. We also managed to raise £74 ordinator, introduced herself. She will to Jazz. Over 40 people were present, towards a scanner appeal by the local clearly be a great asset to us. including visitors from London. The hospital, of which Sir Bernard is music was wonderful. Many pieces Werner Lachs president, to show our gratitude to him were sung in Yiddish and English. The for coming to speak to us. North London: The AJR in quality of reproduction was exceptional Henny Rednall given that some of the pieces were the 21st century recorded over 50 years ago. Next meeting: 9 December AGM; Theresa Patrick and accordion Robert Grant Brighton and Hove Sarid: Willing to share Jewish life on film When I firstgo t there I found that, apart The speaker at our October meeting from the girls Carol and Sylvia, I didn't was Judy Ironside, a director of the know anyone. I more or less decided to The group's first meeting, at the Brighton Jewish Film Festival. Judy told go back home immediately. However, Southgate and District Reform us there are some 70 Jewish film the people who were there were so Synagogue, was attended by over 30 agreeable and Carol and Sylvia so helpful festivals in the world. A project of the members. Ronald Channing outlined and pleasant that I decided to stay- Brighton and Hove Festival is to build the AJR's objectives in the field of I'm very glad I did. an archive of Jewish life in the city. A welfare and social services. His views The entertainment for our five-day film made last year at the unveiling of on future activities embracing wider stay was superb. On our first evening, the Holocaust Memorial in Brighton's educational facilities for the community we had a wonderful one-man-band; Jewish cemetery was shown. at large - not only the Jewish one - whatever we asked him to play, he did- provoked a Uvely exchange. Rudi Simmonds Other events included a quiz evening, a bingo session and another musical Herbert Haberberg Next meeting: 17 December. evening. There was also an outing to a Chanukah Party Next meeting: 20 December (NB not talk with tapes on the Jewish 27 December). Post-Chanukah Event, contribution to Jazz. Some of us went Leeds: How the Holocaust is including a Nostalgia Quiz. Convenor to see the musical West Side Story'< seen today Walter Woyda. I went out with an old friend instead. 'The Holocaust - A Message for Today' On a coach trip to the New Forest, we Pinner: Insight into Poland was the subject of a talk by Bill enjoyed the beautiful countryside and George Vulkan provided an intriguing Willliams, a lecturer in Jewish studies at paid a visit to an excellent tea shop. insight into Poland in the light of three Manchester University, on 28 October. Carol and Sylvia looked after us as u visits to the country. The first was in The Holocaust today, he said, is we had been their mothers and joined i" 1979 in the depressing Soviet era. The depicted mainly in terms of the history everything we did. I can't thank second was in 1993 to commemorate them enough. of Nazi Germany alone and takes little the Warsaw ghetto uprising, by which Since the next outing to account of fascism elsewhere in Europe time the local synagogue had been Bournemouth, in May 2002, is likely to and of the inactivity of other countries. restored. On his third visit, in 2000, A highly thought-provoking afternoon. be oversubscribed, I've put my nam^ undertaken with his son Daniel to trace down already. I'm even willing to share- the family's history, he took part in a Henny Redrufi Thea Skyte moving Sukkot service with many Next meeting: 2 December. Jon younger people, toured the country and KT-AJR Luncheon made several fascinating contacts. Silverman, BBC Home and Legal Monday 7 January, Correspondent Walter Weg Evelyn Friedlander: Bavarian Jewery

12 AJR GROUP CONTACTS Central Office For FIFTH GREAT SEASON! North London Holocaust Claims Jenny Zundel 020 8882 4033 AJR-KT Michael Newman South London Ken Ambrose 020 8852 0262 LUNCHEON CLUB Pinner (HA Postal District) ^1 December 2001 deadlines Vera Gellman 020 8866 4833 Wednesday 19 December 2001 former slave and forced labourers Edmee Barta 01372 727 412 15 Cleve Road NW6 3RL have until the end of December to Brighton & Hove (Sussex Region) 11.45 am for 12.15 pm submit applications for compensation Fausta Shelton 01273 688 226 'rom the German foundation Wessex (Bournemouth) Guest speaker: Mark Goldflnger 01202 552 434 Ernest Kaye remembrance. Responsibility and the East Midlands (Nottingham) Future. Those eligible to claim include Bob Norton 01159 212 494 'Songs my mother ^fiy labourer under Nazi occupation West Midlands (Birmingham) ^nd those who were interned in a place Henny Rednall 0121 373 5603 taught me' ^bere labour was performed. North (Manchester) Reservations Werner Lachs 0161 773 4091 December is also the last month to £7.50 for everyone! Leeds HSFA Trude Silman 0113 225 1628 ''e an application in respect of From Sylvia and Susie Liverpool, Glasgow, Edinburgh and Tel: 020 7328 0208 P''operty owned in the former Newcastle Susanne Green 0151 291 5734 ^echoslovakia. Those eligible to a ^hare in the CZK 100 million Endowment Fund for Victims of the Day Centre AJR 'Drop in' "olocaust must support their claim Reunion Advice Centre at the ^ith an extract from the relevant local Paul Balint AJR Day Centre '3nd registry office in the Czech 'Republic. 15 Cleve Road, London NW6 3RL The children of parents deported as a between 10 am and 12 noon consequence of French collaboration "during the Second World War have on the following dates: ^NIN C ^"tilBi December 2001 to claim either ^ life pension or a lump sum in Thursday 6 December Compensation. Applications are Tuesday 11 December ''^stricted to victims who were under 21 Thursday 17 January rO : RONAL D CHA f ^^ars old when their parents were No appointment is necessary, but PH O Reported and who are not now please bring along all relevant See October issue, page 16: (from left) documents, such as Benefit Books, "^^ceiving a German or Austrian state Harry Rudel, Mella Segal, Lore Heinemann, letters, bills, etc. Pension. Herbert Wolff The deadline for making an Application to the Stichting Maror- ^slden Overheid also expires at the Paul Balint AJR Day Centre 15 Cleve Road, West Hampstead, NW6 ^id of December Close relatives of Tel: 020 7328 0208 ^Wish victims of Nazi persecution in Monday • Thursday 9.30am - 3.30pm, Sunday 2pm - 5.30pm ^e Netherlands qualify as substitutes if ^^e victim died on or after 8 May 1945. DECEMBER Afternoon entertainment Sun 2 DAY CENTRE OPEN - No Entertainment ^ deadline extension allows Mon 3 Kard & Games Klub Applicants under the Refugees class of Tue 4 Gloria Moss ^e Swiss bank settlement to file claims Wed 5 Cantor Stephen Robins ntil the end of the year Compensation Thur 6 Jenny Kossew on accordion ^ Paid to those 'who were either denied Sun 9 DAY CENTRE OPEN - No entertainment "^try or expelled from Switzerland, or Men 10 Kard & Games Klub ^fe admitted into SwitzeHand but Ibe 11 Katinka Seiner & Laszio Easton ^"^Used or mistreated there'. Wed 12 Shelley Weldon ,7"^herhelp Thur 13 Francoise Geller - The Bagatelles •^itten enquiries should be sent to Sun 16 DAY CENTRE OPEN - No Entertainment f^tral Office for Holocaust Claims Mon 17 Kard & Games Klub Tue ^), 1 Hampstead Gate, la Frognal, 18 Opera Pops Wed 19 ^fidon NWS 6AL. For assistance with LUNCHEON CLUB Thur 20 Sylvia Eaves e completion of application forms Please telephone 020 7431 6161 for an THE DAY CENTRE WILL REOPEN ON WEDNESDAY 2 JANUARY 2002 appointment.

13 Announcements University of Sussex SOPHIE'S NURSES Deaths Centre for German-Jewish Studies 4 Stadon Offices, Stadon Road Kochmann. Max Kochmann. Hilde and family Assistant Director want to thank members and staff of the AJR for Willesden Junction, The Centre intends to appoint an Assistant Director their support in so many ways during Max's long for a period of three years to support Professor London NWIO 4XA fight to regain his health. Unfortunately he died Timms in expanding its activities. The person Telephone 020 8961 4401 on 24 September. His memory lives on. appointed will have completed a doctorate in a relevant field. S/he will be a well-qualified and Fax 020 8961 0875 Bowman. Wilfred (bom Werner Baumann, creative person capable of contributing to the email: [email protected] Berlin 26.9.15) passed away peacefully on 10 longer-term development of the Centre. November in UCHL after a short illness, which The salary will be on the Research and Analogous Sophies (SRS) Healthcare at home all the loving care and attention could not avoid. Scale lA between £17,626 and £26,491 will enable people to live full and depending on age and qualifications. The closing Will be greatly missed by his partner, family and date is Monday 10 December 2001. Letters of independent Uves within their own many friends. application accompanied by a CV and the names of homes and continue to enjoy two referees should be sent to Professor Edward comfort and security Brenner. Clive Max passed away peacefully on 2 Timms, Arts B, University of Sussex, Brighton BNI November after an illness borne with great 9QN, from whom further particulars are available. courage. Sadly missed by his wife Ellen and son Email: e.timms©sussex.ac.uk. Anthony. A Memorable Gift - A portrait in bronze Brett. Gretel Brett passed away suddenly on 16 Sculptor specialising in portraiture September after a short illness. She will be ACACIA LODGE welcomes commissions for greatly missed. Forever in our thoughts. Her Mrs Pringsheim, S.R.N. MATRON life size heads or bas relief. loving husband David and son Michael. For Elderly, Retired and Convalescent (Licensed by Botvugtt ot BjmeV Reasonable fee. David. Rose David nie Lewkowitz passed away • Single and Double Rooms. Hilary Roodyn 020 8346 6566 on 25 July aged 97 after a lengthy illness. Bom in • H/C Basins and CH In all rooms. Kreutzburg. Sadly missed by her family in Israel • Gardens, TV and reading rooms. and England and all her friends. • Nurse on duty 24 hours. Colette M Fit^erald MSSCh. MBCHa. • Long and short term and respite, Qualified Surgical Chiropodist Jaray. Rudolf Josef Jaray from Vienna and including trial period If required. Prague. Passed away suddenly on 3 October. He Registered Member of The Britisti Chiropody From £300 per week and Podiatry Association was 92 years old, a retired civil servant and 020 844S 1244/020 8446 2820 office hours known for his intellect and gentleness. A great 020 8455 1335 other times Visiting Practice 0-15 Northwood Hall loss to all his family in England and abroad. The 37-39 Torrington Park, North Finchley, Hornsey Lane, Highgate, London N6 5PF light went out for me. Dora. London N12 9TB Tel: 020 8341 2611 Sekules. My dear husband Kurt Sekules passed away peacefully on 27 September 2001 in his Leo Baeck Housing Association Ltd 94th year. He is deeply missed by his wife Edith, Clara Nehab House son Walter, daughters Ruth, Leah and Esther as Residential Care Home # well as his 15 grandchildren and great­ grandchildren and his many friends and staff. He All single rooms with en suite bath/shower BELSIZE SQUARE led an active life with work and travel until very Short stays/Respite and 24 hour Permanent Care Large attractive gardens recentiy. Ground Floor Lounge and Dining rooms SYNAGOGUE Lift access to all floors 51 Belsize Square, NW3 4HX Personal Easy access to local shops and public transport We offer a traditional style of religious River Cruises (continental) and other holidays. Enquiries and further Information service with Cantor Choir and organ Widower (Amersham) seeks travelling please contact: The Manager companion for 2002. Please contact Box Clara Nehab House Further details can be obtained from 13-19 Leeslde Crescent No. 1263. the synagogue secretary London NWII ODA Telephone 020 7794 3949 Wdower elderly but still active is looking for a Phone: 020 8455 2286 skiing companion of either sex for one week's Minister: Rabbi Rodney J Mariner skiing around the middle of next March. For Cantor: Rev Lawrence H Fine preliminary contact, please phone me on 01883 BELSIZE SQUARE APARTMENTS Regular Services 715304. 24 BELSIZE SQUARE, NWS Friday evenings at 6.45 pm Can anybody invisibly mend cashmere Tel: 020 7794 4307 or 020 7435 2557 Saturday mornings at 10 am Religion School: Sundays at 10 am to 1 P^ cardigans? If so please call 020 7435 2289. Modern Self-catering Holiday Rooms, Resident Housekeeper, Moderate Terms Nursery School: 9.15 am to 12.15 pm Classified Near Swiss Cottage Station Belsize under 3's: 9.30 am to 11.30 am Space donated by Pafra Limited Miscellaneous Services Maniciu* & Pedicure in the comfort of your SWITCH ON ELECTRICS own home. Telephone 020 8343 0976. Rewires and all household BELSIZE SQUARE SYNAGOGUE electrical work 51 Belsize Square, London NW3 DayCentre PHONE PAUL: 020 8200 3518 Our communal hall is available for Shirley Lever at the Paul Balint AJR Day cultural and social functions Centre. New clothes for sale, dresses, underwear, cardigans, etc Tuesday 4 ALTERATIONS Tel: 020 7794 3949 December 9.45 am-11.45 am. OF ANY KIND TO LADIES' FASHIONS Optician. Dr Howard Solomons will be at the I also design and make children's clothes The AJR does not accept Paul Balint AJR Day Centre on Wednesday 12 responsibility for the standard of December from 10 o'clock. West Hampstead area 020 7328 6571 services offered by advertisers

14 Esteem of the team Arts and Events Diary 3s performed by Kit and ttie Widow at the Obituaries •"•^R's 60th anniversary tea (slightly abridged) December And so let us praise the team Ihe ones who realised the dream Rudolph S Lenk November 2001 until April 2002 In please let 'em know of the esteem Vienna-born Rudi Lenk, who has died in commemoration of one-time inmates They've earned from members near and far California at the age of 80, spent most of his and victims and survivors of Toast them all in cream concentration camps and their families, a ^nd shout a rousing hip-hoorahl adult life in the UK. Of middle-class •^or these, the stalwarts of the glorious AJR. background, he had attended grammar programme of lectures and events under school before emigrating with his mother the aegis of Arbeitskreis der NS- ^irst off there's Bertha Leverton Gedenkstatten in Nordrhein-Westfalen. "Miraculous the things she's done and brother; the father went - '^'l those little Kinder at her knee involuntarily - to Mauritius. In London Rudi John Chillag 01937 844353 (evenings) Oh how they praised her to the heights combined industrial employment with Sun 2 Professor Edward Timms, Jhose darling, fluffy, tiny mites assiduous evening class attendance and 'Souvenirs of Vienna 1924: The David From 90 to as young as 73. eventually, now married, gained a doctorate Josef Bach Collection (a lecture with J^hen there's Ludwig Spiro, 'cos in chemistry. He became an academic with slides and music, based on a collection of yis the first idea it was intermittent teaching engagements abroad. illustrated manuscripts, including works 1° set up this much needed, splendid place A man of wide interests, which included by Kokoschka, Schoenberg and Kad 'he long-term plan is still encoded zoology, he did some composing and wrote Kraus)' (Centre for German-Jewish ^hey're still trying to download it (and pubhshed) bi-hngual poetry, mainly for Studies), 3 pm Leo Baeck Lodge, ^t '•ight now it's lost in cyber-space. children. Another self-pubhshing venture 11 Fitzjohn's Avenue London NW3 ^ext there's Marx, the um-no-er was a book on Mauritius, where his father 02083814721 don't mean the philosopher had died in intenmient. In addition, he once ^is um-he's-er-he's Theo, that's the one Sun 9 A Night in Pre-War Bedin: ^"d his daughter, Engels-Angels-yes stood as a Liberal council candidate, and Cantabile Cabaret - Chanukah Special, no' she's already left, I guess latterly organised the aimual reimions of Highgate School 7.30 pm £45 including ^^s Eleanor left early? Yup - she's gone. UK-based ex-members of Young Austria. reception. Tickets and information He will be missed. 'eel that I must warn you: Sadie's from London Jewish Cultural Centre ^ost persuasive of our ladies. RG 020 74310345 he can sell you anything in stock Tues 11 Clive Marks, 'Are You an 'bonder if this hotel cares Manfred Landau he's flogged their carpet and their chairs Vienna-bom Manfred Landau has died, Educated Jew or a Jew Who is Educated?' "d Widow's in for quite a nasty shock. aged 76. After the Anschluss he emigrated London Jewish Cultural Centre 8 pm 02074310345 ^ufman, who you'd not have thought a via England to South Africa, where a great- 'ypical football supporter uncle was a rabbi. In 1948 he rejoined his Until 16 Dec Exhibition of Jewish 1 the terraces, he turns quite bad mother in England and began work as an Cartoonists. Jewish Museum, Finchley '•lad Watford fan, yes, aren't you pal? industrial chemist. His career peaked with a 19 July 2001 extended to 31 March ^f course, that's tautological: key job at Pilkington Glass Works in St 2002 Exhibition focusing on the '•atford fan; the poor boy must be mad.) Helens. In his retirement he and his wife Blechners, the fate of a Jewish family Last, the catering girls: my dear! Mabel worked a plot of land in North Wales during the Holocaust, Munich Jewish Th.ey'r e better than the Grosvenor here until illness struck. Fred was a man of Museum t^^ eat like kings: we eat like Billy Bunters heart-warming generosity, deeply ut G-(j] tf,g noise! You have to laugh 26-27 January 2002 'Generations of conscious of the refugees - indeed all Jews - ^usie shrieking at the staff Genocide', a conference by the Institute '' Worse yet, Judy yelling at the punters. forming a conamunity of fate. of Contemporary History and the Wiener RG Library on National Holocaust Memorial Day focusing on the Holocaust, the Armenian genocide, and genocide in the Balkans and Rwanda. 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15 Genocide on trial: War crimes trials and the Newsround formation of Holocaust history and memory Retirement of Nazi hunter Donald Bloxham Simon Wiesenthal says he has found ail Despite the historical emphasis on the with examining specific crimes. There was the Nazis he has searched for and, in prosecution of the 'major war criminals' also a marked reluctance to use fact, 'outlived them all'. 'Even if there (Hermann Goring and his co-defendants), eyewitnesses - particularly Jewish ones - are any that I had not looked for that the Nuremberg trials were only the greatest which hindered the examination of the many are still alive, it is too late to bring thetn of a large number of trials of Germans and undocumented murders in Eastern Europe. to justice... my work is done.' collaborators across Europe. Following the four-power prosecution of Goring et al, Fate of Jews marginalised TV bans tower ad Nuremberg became the scene for a further Following the Goring trial and with the onset Berlin public broadcaster SFB has 12 trials under US auspices of 'major war of the Cold War, British and American rejected an ad by the far-right National criminals of the second rank': SS leaders, diplomats were instrumental in scuppering Democratic Party of Germany showing industriahsts, professionals, civil servants plans for a second four-power trial of major Berlin's TV tower being blown up. The and soldiers. Alongside these, in each of the war criminals in order not to be associated NPD said the aim of the ad was to warn Alhed zones of occupation in Germany and in with the USSR. The trial programmes were people of the consequences oi every country that had been occupied under gradually scaled down, and revealing Germany being 'a devoted accomplice Hitler, the local post-war authorities changes occurred in the occupation re­ of American imperialism'. established courts to try defendants whose education schemes. The concentration wartime actions, as distinguished from the camps, which had first served as symbols for Argentina bombing and al-Qaeda crimes of the major war criminals, were the crimes of Germany as a whole, were now In the trial over the 1994 bombing oi specific to those geographical regions. held up as places where Germans had been the Jewish cultural centre in Argentina, evidence has emerged possibly linking In my book Genocide on Trial, I examine victimised by the Nazi regime. Finally, in each of these trial programmes, focusing some cases, to emphasise the general evils Osama bin Laden to the attack- particularly on British and American of anti-democratic totalitarianism, Argentine authorities said a man policies. I have sought to assess the trials comparisons were drawn between the claiming to represent al-Qaeda had according to the criteria established by the Soviet Gulag and the Nazi camps. In this telephoned Argentina's embassy in trial planners themselves. Alongside process, the Eastern extermination centres Saudi Arabia in September 2000 and punishment of the guilty, the most powerful were completely ignored, and the fate of delivered a message assuming argument for holding trials in 1944-45 was to Jews as primary victims of the German camp responsibility for the explosion. record what had happened in Europe, system was marginalised, as indeed thereby informing the world of the horrors occurred in the press reporting of the trials Croatian president apologises f<"^ Nazism had unleashed. Since the trials were, themselves. It was not judged useful to Holocaust then, to be a part of a grand didactic emphasise Jewish victimhood when the President Stipe Mesic has addressed programme, it was necessary to place them Allies were seeking to influence the Israeli apologising for the in the context of international politics and of German attitudes. actions of the Nazi puppet government the occupation regimes in Germany, with Into the 1950s what remained of Allied in Croatia. Mesic said the Holocaust their propaganda and 're-education' punishment policy played increasingly into was a monstrous crime which could programmes. the rhetoric of Germany's emerging postwar not be compared to any other event in What emerges is how much was left out of leaders. The latter sought to estabhsh a history. the record in the post-war period, with dividing line between 'Nazis' and 'Germans', Court rejects rehabilitation o' ramifications for the subsequent and contended that the Wehrmacht was General Vlasov understanding of Nazism. The definitive innocent of the crimes of the SS. Adenauer's The Russian Supreme Court has upheld 'crime against humanity' - the 'final solution CDU government played off the a decision rejecting the rehabilitation of the Jewish question' - was largely absent, requirement for West German contributions of General Andrei Vlasov and 11 of hi5 and the sheer extent of German participation to West European rearmament against the officers who fought on the side of th^ in atrocities was unaccounted for. The black record of the German military. British punishment programme was Churchill was directly implicated in the Germans against the Soviet Union in restricted by a legal conservatism which premature release of a number of prominent the Second World War. The appeal wa* only allowed victims to be seen in terms of convicted soldiers on spurious medical launched by the monarchist Faith and their nationality and not their 'racial' identity, grounds as the simplest route to placating Fatherland movement. while, as with the Allied responses to the German opinion. Such was the effect of the US intelligence officer clainii* 'final solution' itself, British and American Cold War that by 1958 war criminals were antisemitic discrimination officials did not wish to be seen to be putting nowhere to be found in British and American An intelligence officer in the US armV too great a stress on Jewish suffering. Even jails. The attempt to assert the rule of law has claimed antisemitism underlies ^ at the trial of Goring, the magnitude of the over international affairs had been Holocaust was not brought out despite decision by army officials to strip him O' profoundly compromised. sufficient potential evidence, because the his security clearance. Major ShaWn American-led prosecution strategy was Genocide on Trial is pubhshed by Oxford Pine claims the decision was based o<^ concerned more with outlawing war than University Press. his close ties to the Jewish state.

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