AjR Information

Volume XLVI No. 2 February 1991

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Don't miss ... i Lingering malady Es gibt mir p2 j The truth shall \ prevail p4 New strains of an old virus The changing face of Shylock p/2

ntisemitism, like the Hydra in Greek myth, has Mazowiecki; here the intellectuals were pilloried as Time of trial sprouted many heads: religious, economic, Jews. When Bishop Orszulik offered evidence to Acultural, nationalist, racist-biological. Since show that Mazowiecki's forebears had been Polish he Gulf War the last-mentioned head was cut off two new ones and Catholic for centuries the prelate was himself is a crucial have grown in its place: antisemitism without Jews, 'accused" of being a Jew. Tturning and punk antisemitism. Antisemitism without Jews Walesa claimed to fight the election as a 'true point. Having has been particularly prevalent in the country which Pole". Nor did he scruple to denounce Professor learnt the lesson of experienced greater Jewish bloodletting in recent Gcremek - who had been smuggled out of the the 1930s, the times than any other, namely Poland. During the Warsaw ghetto as a child and formally adopted by his democracies have Presidential elections phantom Jews were conjured Polish rescuers - of hiding his Jewish identity under elected to deploy out of thin air. The first round saw man-of-the-people an adopted name. force before the Walesa pitted against the intellectually inclined When history repeats itself, said Karl Marx, it accretion of power occurs first as tragedy and then as farce. After to Saddam makes Walesa's demagogic, and antisemitically tinged, anti- an even larger intellectualism which destroyed the Solidarity conflict un­ consensus, came the farce of his run-off with avoidable later on. Stanislaw Tyminski in the second round. Tyminski, The pundits who Poland's counterpart to Screaming Lord Sutch, pooh-poohed AJR RESIDENTIAL CARE APPEAL almost proved Walesa's equal in the demagogy comparisons stakes. Eventually the Church helped to save the between him and country from the humiliation of having a semi- Hitler were wrong. ACTION MEETING literate self-proclaimed Amazonian witch doctor as As controller of the * You are invited to attend a meeting on President. Gulf's oil reserves, . Tuesday 12 February 1991 at 7 p.m. Poland's resultant poor image in the eyes of the i for 7.30 p.m. at the Paul Balint AJR Day world is the direct result of the murky xenophobic possessor of nuclear ' Centre, 15 Cleve Road, NWS. politicking of the devoutly Catholic Lech Walesa - weapons and '' Refreshments will be served. demonstrating the validity of the axiom that antise­ manipulator of the Our objective is to give you a progress mitism is not a Jewish, but a Christian problem. The Islamic multitude gullibility of the Polish electorate stems in no small Hassan could inflict | report on the AJR's £4 million Residential Care Appeal and to enlist your personal measure from a political culture which, both under worldwide damage. Catholic tutelage and Communist rule, substituted His strongest support and involvement in an Action Committee to galvanise the appeal. pouncing on scapegoats and proclaiming unchal­ affinity with Hitler :l lengeable truths for democratic debate. however, lies in his Piease telephone the AJR office, not I Punk antisemitism has, to some extent, the same murderous designs later than Wednesday 6 February on antecedents. If Neo-Nazi thugs currently disrupt on the four million 071-483 2536, if you are able to come. Leipzig and Dresden more than Munich or Cologne Jews in Israel. We appreciate that not everyone will be it is because, for decades, young East Germans grew At this nerve- able or wish to serve on the Action up without education in - as well as through - tearing moment of Committee, but look forward to your democracy. However, as cemetery desecrations and crisis our hearts go contribution of good constructive ideas to incidents around Stamford Hill indicate, punk antisc­ out to Israel. May further the appeal. mitism also affects Britain. The reason: even the its sorely tried Do not underestimate what each Mother of Parliaments has been unable to legislate inhabitants soon individual can do. Come and join our against a social malaise among the young in which enjoy the state they brainstorming session. racism and delinquency flourish like flowers on a daily invoke in their dungheap. greetings: shaloml AjR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Meritocracy Profile The Order of Merit - in the news because of Mrs Thatcher's elevation - has twenty-four members. Five of those are Jewish by origin. Two of the five - Sir Ernst Gombrich, Max Perutz - are Vienna-born; another two - Sir Es gibt mir Isaiah Berlin, Sir Yehudi Menuhin — hail from Eastern Europe; the fifth — Sir Solly pon meeting Mrs Frieda Kochmann Zuckerman - comes from South Africa. D for the first time it is difficult to U believe that this sprightly lady is New Year Honour over 90 years old. Her demeanour is that of a much younger woman, and her sense of Helmut Rothenberg who, for many years, humour still has a wicked edge. Upon being was a member of the AJR Executive complimented recently by a visitor that she Committee has received an OBE in the New still only looked 72 she replied, archly: '52 Year Honours list. The award has been I would have taken as a compliment'. made for 'Charitable services'. A 'profile' of Mrs Kochmann, a Berliner, arrived in the Mr Rothenberg will appear in AJR U.K. two weeks before the outbreak of war. Information in the very near future. D Her two children, a boy and a girl, had been sent here a few months earlier, the girl Jews = Germans having come via the Kindertransporte. Since In a study entitled Political Murder from that time she has had to cope with many Classical Antiquity to the Present the hardships, including the early death of her Harvard historian Franklin L. Ford asserts husband in 1951. It is an indication of her that the Biblical Israelis were, like the strength of character that she has not only Ancient Germans, barbarians in the literal coped admirably with the ups and downs of sense of the word; neither had managed to her own life, but has also found much time produce a definition of lawful sovereignty to help others. Mrs Frieda Kochmann. Photo: Netvman. or the justified use of force. According to The AJR is particularly indebted to 'Frie- son. Max, Deputy Chairman and Honorary Professor Ford Ancient Israel engendered del' for her dedicated work as a member of Treasurer of the AJR, whose commitment the type of zealot imbued with the murder­ the Otto Schiff House Committee. In this to the community reflects his mother's. ous conviction of the absolute tightness of capacity she did not only lend her advice, It is the hope of all who know 'FriedeP his cause. D but gave a tremendous amount of practical help as well, never shirking any of the Kochmann, friends and family alike, that responsibilities placed upon her in emerg­ she will continue to receive our thanks and affection in the very best of health for many Israel's ency situations. Miss Loni Rieger, Head of Home at Otto Schiff House, who has years to come. Very finest Wines worked closely with Mrs Kochmann for 2.3 Mrs Frieda Kochmann will be 93 years of years, says; 'She really and truly was a great age on May 16 1991. worker and very generous. Sometimes I felt n M.N. SHIPPED BY she was almost giving too much'. As well as her work at Otto Schiff House she was a member of the Board of the AJR for many years and is still a highly respected COMPANIONS HOUSE OF member of the Leo Baeck Women's Lodge. HALLGARTEN In every capacity her understanding of the OF LONDON practical needs of those she has helped, coupled with her warm, humorous outlook, A specialist home care service YARDEN and GAMLA has left everyone who worked with her with to assist the elderly, people pleasant memories. One has only to attend a with disabilities, help during AVAILABLE NOW gathering at which Frieda Kochmann is and after illness, childcare present to observe at first hand the deep and household needs. affection and respect felt for her within the Please write or phone for community. For a service tailored to your full information When I spoke to Mrs Kochmann, with a individual needs by Companions view to writing this piece, I commented who care - Please call DALLOW ROAD upon this and asked her why she had given LUTON BEDS so much to others in the course of her life. 071-433 3869/79 LUI1UR The reply was unexpected. She shrugged her 2a Belsize Park Mews, shoulders and said: 'I don't give so much, London NW3 SBL 0582 22538 es gibt mir'. (Emp Agy) Her community spirit is shared by her AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Reviews

administrative role at Jawne proved to be an In his own Foreword, the author de­ Cologne Remembers a outstanding success. Under his direction scribes the motivation for his initiative: Holocaust Hero high academic standards were achieved, the concern that a great Jewish community financial situation improved and the would soon have vanished virtually without Diter Corbach DIEjAWNE ZU KOLN. number of pupils rose from 100 in 1929 to trace. A leading official of the Evanglische Zur Geschichte des ersten jCidischen 2.30 in 1932/.33. He established fruitful Stadtkirchenvcrband of Cologne speaks Gymnasiums im Rheinland und zum contact with other Jewish secondary movingly of the failure of both his Church Geddchtnis an Erich Klibansky, Scriba schools in Germany. Then came 193.3 and and his people to protest against the de­ Verlag. Cologne, 1990. DM24. Klibansky's work became immeasurably portation, mostly to their death, of 11,000 more demanding as he was called upon to Cologne Jews. The Mayor expresses under­ shoulder the increasing burdens imposed by standing for the feelings of those of his city's s the subtitle announces, this is a the impending catastrophe. He discharged former citizens who cannot forget the history of the first (and only) Jewish with characteristic courage and devotion circumstances of their leaving. The Agrammar school in the Rhineland the trust his staff, his pupils and their Kultusminister of Nordrhein-Westfalen, and a tribute to the memory of Dr Erich parents had placed upon him. In the light of patron of the exhibition, acknowledges the Klibansky, its last principal. It is also a the fundamentally changed situation he difficulties facing those who hope to restore souvenir volume published in connection adjusted the syllabus so as to prepare as a meaningful sense of relationship with 'the with an exhibition dedicated to the same many of the students as possible for emi­ common past'. subject and staged first in Cologne's gration to foreign lands. Both as an important historical record Historisches Rathaus (12-26 November) and as a way of 'making good', the exhibi­ and then in the Konigin-Luise-Schule (27 tion, honouring the memory of Rhineland November-25 January). Rescue action Jewry and the contribution it once made to When the Jawne school was founded in the region's cultural life, the silent vigil in 1919, a formally recognised, independent In 1938 he attempted to transfer the institu­ the newly named Erich-Klibansky-Platz, the orthodox minority community had been in tion itself to this country. He failed, but Gedenkfeier and the Gedenkbuch are sig­ existence in Cologne for more than a managed to bring some 130 of the children nificant stages in the process of decade. The school, too, had for its object and several teachers to safety in Britain. It is, German-Jewish readjustment and a the pursuit of torah im derech eretz, and in this context, interesting to note how welcome and timely antidote to the cancer thus offered an education based on the closely the recollections of some of these of resurgent antisemitism in Central Europe combination of halachically orientated, resemble memories of the traumatic experi­ and elsewhere. strictly traditional Judaism and contempor­ ences recalled elsewhere by others who n David Maier ary secular learning. 'came alone' in order to survive in England. Erich Klibansky himself stayed on in Courage and devotion Cologne to carry on as long as he could. To all intents and purposes, his school ceased Learned ignoramuses The early years were characterised by finan­ to operate in the Autumn of 1941. On 19 cial difficulties, but by 1929 the establish­ July 1942, he, his wife and their three sons, The University of Kiel has removed a ment was ready for consolidation and together with some 150 children and an memorial plaque honouring four German development. This task was entrusted to Dr unspecified number of adults went on the scientists from its auditorium maximum Klibansky as newly appointed principal. He one-way journey to their death. after it was pointed out that one of the four, was then 28 years of age. Born in Frankfurt, The book is prefaced by a number of Nobel Prize winner Phillip Lenard, had he had graduated from Marburg University complementary messages which are im­ been a rabid Nazi. 'None of us' pleaded with a doctorate in History, French and pressive in their unanimous acceptance of Rektor Miiller-Wille 'was cognisant of German, and had held a teaching post at the the view that the wrong done to the Jews in Lenard's writings.' (Lenard was author of Jewish Realgymnasium in Breslau. His the name of Germany is a German problem Deutsche Physik, an anti-Einstein diatribe appointment to the leading pedagogic and to be solved by Germans. published in 1936.) D

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AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

town; although her parents stick by her, she The Truth shall Prevail has lost the husband who wanted her to be a A unique family wife and mother rather than a 'muckraker'. THE NASTY GIRL Film 1990. Michael The film ends on an inconclusive note —with Eckert Klessmann DIE Verhoeven Dir. neither Sonja nor the townsfolk victors in MENDELSSOHNS Bilder einer an unequal context. The Nasty Girl deutschen Familie, Artemis Verlag, deserves to be seen for any number of reasons. It invests its grim subject matter 1990 with humour, boasts a central performance by Lena Stolze that ought to secure her an he subtitle - Portraits of a German Oscar nomination, and - last but not least - family - proclaims the author's refu­ is true almost down to the smallest detail; Ttation of racism. In his section on Sonja is Anja Rosmus, embattled anti-Nazi Moses Mendelssohn he points up the anti­ campaigner and single parent, and semitism which frequently confronted the Pfilzheim is Passau, the venerable diocesan philosopher. town on the German-Austrian border. Even Frederick the Great, a hero to many D R.G. historians, deserves censure on this account. Mendelssohn, who by the King's decree had A hard school to purchase goods from the Royal Porcelain Factory on his marriage, was given twenty large china monkeys. 5th COLUMN. Broadcast 12 December After Moses' death his widow had to 1990, BBC2 petition the king for a continued residence permit for herself and her children, which ntisemitism is alive and well in she had difficulty in obtaining. Britain' was how Jo Wagerman, The 'great king's' successor, Friedrich 'Aikhea d of the Jewish Free School, Wilhelm II, usually not a favourite with Lena .'itoize as Sonja in 'The Nasty CirV. Photo hy concluded her ten-minute talk in December. German historians, showed a different spirit courtesy of Mainline pictures. A serious assertion coming from an edu­ by granting her a pension. cator of 34 years' standing. All the Mendelssohns were great letter- filzheim is a pseudonymous town in Mrs Wagerman acknowledged that this writers; a special attraction of the book is Bavaria, Catholic to its very marrow. was not the institutionalised persecution Moses Mendelssohn's correspondence with Shrines litter the environs, a baroque refugees have experienced; she herself had his bride, Fromet Gugenheim, a Hamburg P believed that the war and the Holocaust had Cathedral dominates the skyline, clergy run girl (the letters are still in Yiddish, written in the schools. One schoolgirl, herself the driven out most of the anti-Jewish feelings Hebrew characters). Theirs was a love- daughter of teachers, shows exceptional of the English. But she now Hnds a broad- match: this fact, as well as the correspon­ promise. Having won a nationwide essay based Judeophobia, particularly among the dence, was uncommon in Jewish society at competition she is encouraged to enter young. It arises, she holds, from the Israeli- that time, and Moses himself followed another - on the theme of 'My Home Town Arab conflict, especially the Lebanon traditional custom when he arranged his during the Third Reich'. invasion which made harsh judgement on first two daughters' marriages (which did What she, brought up on comforting Jews respectable again. not last!). postwar myths, expects to demonstrate in She blames the hard Left among teachers Of more general interest is his correspon­ her essay is the probity of most Phlzheimers for instilling antisemitic attitudes in the dence with his great friend Lessing, who under Nazi rule. What Sonja's researches young. Jews are supposed to be pro- erected a lasting monument of him in reveal - to her amazement, which gradually capitalist and to offend against all the Nathan der Weise, with Herder and Kant. turns to horror - is the very opposite. The liberal sacred cows, being against Blacks In the light of such relations with outstand­ town's former mayor was a Nazi; two local and Moslems living here (because they ing non-Jewish contemporaries, it is sad to clergymen denounced a Jewish merchant espouse the Palestinian cause), as well as read one of his letters to a Benedictine who was killed; a local doctor carried out against gays and the permissive society as monk: 'Here, in this so-called tolerant obscene medical experiments; a concen­ such. country, my life is hemmed in. Sometimes, tration camp functioned within earshot of Jo Wagerman considers the harassment in the evening, I take a walk with my wife Pfil/.heim. of Jewish children to be far more serious and children. Papa, asks the innocent little than cemetery vandalism; her own pupils, These discoveries, and the obstruction one, what is that lad calling after us? Why easily identifiable in their uniforms, are she encounters, turn Sonja into a crusader do they throw stones?' often attacked. One JFS girl had her face for the truth. When she demonstrates her These were the traumatic pre- injured in the Underground; nobody came resolve to turn over the stone under which Emancipation experiences of Moses' chil­ to her aid. the town teems with a slimy mass of former dren, which may explain the later attitude collaborators and informers, obstruction The school building has had bricks flung of some of them towards their father's turns to ostracism and physical attacks. A at it; at times 'invasion' is attempted. religion. His son Abraham, author of the 'war of attrition' between the truth-seeker Younger pupils get frightened, but older well-known statement: 'I used to be (known and the local Establishment drags on for ones are encouraged, by the school, to as) my father's son, and now I am my son's years. At its end Sonja is a successful author, counter such actions (without, however, father' married Lea Salomon, grand­ well known — and well-hated - in her home resorting to vigilantism). ^ j^^^ R^^^^,, daughter of the Court Jew Daniel Itzig. AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Lea's mother was a great music-lover and overture and recover its spirit at the same also quite orthodox. She broke with her son level defies the mistaken view that his The gift of Grace Jakob, who had become a convert and creative powers declined in later years. An adopted the name Bartholdy. Thanks to the inborn stylistic conservatism which showed 40 MINUTES. Broadcast 3 January pleading of his niece Fanny, his mother in his lack of appreciation of Belioz and 1991, BBC2 eventually became reconciled with him. Yet Wagner, might have prevented him from t could have been the core of one of those it was on his advice that Abraham, his becoming a leading figure in the progress of sensitive novels about a woman's search for music - hence his posthumous neglect. brother-in-law, had his children baptized in her identity. Indeed, a .S4-year-old woman Perhaps this post-Emancipation genius was I 1816; he and Lea followed 6 years later. In known as Grace Stocken conducted such a typically Jewish fashion, Jakob Bartholdy too eager to 'conform' and give priority to search. Shown on television it had as its back­ wished that his name should be kept in the solid workmanship, and therefore moved ground that most awful time: the Hitler years. So family and urged Abraham to give his within certain limitations (unlike such later perhaps Grace Stocken was one of 'us', a refugee Jewish-born composers as Mahler and of the genus Kindertransport? Yes, certainly, but children the non-Jewish sounding surname with so many differences that the similarities Schcinberg). Felix's balanced style may Bartholdy. For various reasons, Felix dis­ were all but negated. explain his popularity in Victorian Britain. liked this uncle — who had questioned the In 1936 twin girls, Susi and Lotti, were born to wisdom of a musical career for him — and, As a conductor, he achieved fame first Rosa Bechhofer in Munich. She was what would to his father's chagrin, continued to use the through his historic revival of Bach's St now be called a single parent; in those days they old family name, since he was completely Matthew Passion in 1829 which ushered in had other epithets. For good measure Rosa was Jewish. She worked for Jewish families until they a remarkable Bach renaissance. Zelter had free of the curse of Jewish self-hatred, and emigrated, and then in an orphanage where the admired his grandfather. This was one of reluctantly permitted the use of his choir, twin girls were placed. At the age of three they the few occasions where he was not his the Berlin Singakademie. came to Britain. Here they were adopted by a father's obedient son. The author accepts Even so, when the post of Director of the Welsh minister and his wife, the Hopkins', who that he became a sincere Protestant, but choir fell vacant after Zelter's death, his brought them up in fear of the non-Conformist God and ignorant of their past. Susi became feels that for Abraham conversion was, as it rather mediocre deputy was elected in CJrace and I.otti, Eunice. had been for Heinrich Heine, the entree preference to the 'Jew', who had restored In the programme Grace Stocken (her married one of the greatest works of church music to billet to European civilisation. Anyway, name) criticised the Reverend and Mrs Hopkins Felix was only seven-years old and not German concert life. Felix felt very bitter for this. One cannot help feeling that she was consulted when his father severed him from about it, more than about minor antisemitic being a little unfair. The minister and his wife his ancestral faith. incidents he had experienced on occasion. may have seen it as their duty to shield the girls from their past. Felix and Fanny were the two outstand­ He was amply compensated through his years as conductor of the Gewandhaus Lotti/Eunice contracted a brain tumour and ing musicians among Abraham's children. It was eventually institutionalised, dying in her concerts, and as founder of the Leipzig was characteristic of the family mentality thirties. Susi/Grace was sent to boarding school that, at Fanny's birth, her mother remarked Conservatoire. and there, at O-level time, discovered her 'real' that the child had 'Bach fugue fingers'. Both One piece of fame he was never to know name. It was not explained how this happened, children eventually became pupils of Zelter. of made him the composer of one of the but it sent Grace on her search for Susi. She also married and had a son, and she lives in Rugby. A Fanny, her brother's closest musical con­ Anglo-Saxon world's most popular woman friend said she always felt that there was fidante, was also a gifted composer. Her Christmas hymns: a tune from his Cantata something odd about (irnce; she did not seem to father's old-fashioned views, shared by on a Gutenberg anniversary - Festgesang — be your average British Christian, though she Felix, did not permit her to establish her was adapted by H. H. Cummings to 'Hark attended church and spoke nothing but native prowess in public. A few of her works were the herald angels sing'. English. Then Grace heard of the Kinder- transport reunion, and with the help of Bertha indeed published, but under her brother's D H. W. Freyhan Leverton, found she was one of the Kinder. name. Now the search spread to Germany. There she Klessmann claims that Fanny did resent learned that her mother had shared the fate of all the neglect of her works and pleads for more Jews who could not emigrate. As to her appreciation of them; moreover, he father . . .? One is reminded of Sinclair Lewis's considers her the most gifted of Abraham's Property claims in the territory of the Kingsblood Royal, the story of an ordinary children. On the other hand I am inclined to former German Democratic Republic American who imagined he would find royals including East Berlin among his ancestors and found an adventurous feel that she has hardly anything to her Negro. Grace discovered that her father was an credit that could match the PRITCHARD ENGLEFIELD & TOBIN, an international law firm with offices in London, 'Aryan' Cierinan, Otto Hnld, whom she romanti­ Sommernachtstraum music, the Hebrides Frankfurt and Hamburg, can assist you or your cised until she learned that he was a bit of a or Elijah. Clara Schumann, herself a gifted family with claims relating to properties and womaniser and 'economical with the truth'. He but neglected composer - in the shadow of loss of any assets in the above mentioned part had been a soldier, he had married, and his of Germany. Under new regulations these daughter, Martina, was living in Leipzig. her husband — admired Fanny's pianism, claims must be submitted by way of but was not quite as enthusiastic about her application to the German authorities before Instead of despairing, Susi/Grace rejoiced in the restoration of her identity. She found compositions. March 31st 1991. Please contact our German speaking Jewish-Orthodox cousins (her niishpoche as one Certain of Felix's early works are unsur­ partner Mr Hans H. Marcus or our resident said) living in New York, and she met the totally passed as products of early genius, even by German attorney Dr Karsten Kuehne at the non-Jewish Martina whom she at once recog­ Mozart at the same age. Above all, the following address: nised 'as her lost twin'. The embrace of those two middle-aged women was moving. They could Sommernachtstraum overture is unique, Pritchard Englefield & Tobin not speak to each other, but just cried and said not only for the power of its inspiration, but 23 Great Castle Street 'sister' and 'Schwester'. And Martina handed London WIN 8NQ also for its formal maturity. The fact that he Susi a ring which their joint father had given her Could compose the remainder of the music Tel: 071-629 8883 when she was three years old. Fax:071-493 1891 for Shakespeare's play many years after the D John Rossall AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

With respect, given that the AJR repre­ sents a body of galut Jews, it is akin to chutzpah of you to lecture Israel on its policies. Go and live inside hard-pressed Israel if you want to carp and criticise! I have previously been angered by your hectoring Israel on this, that and the other, but this particular instance of talking non­ SHADOW OF TEMPLE MOUNT racy will remain 'woven into the very fabric' sense in my name has prompted me to put Sir — Calling Israel a 'Flawed I^emocracy' is of a state populated eventually by locally pen to paper. less than fair. Amoz Oz, constant critic of born citizens, and by Sephardi and Russian Thornton Way David Kut, BSc the Shamir Government said in The Times immigrants from very undemocratic Hampstead Garden Suburb (24 October): countries. Opinions expressed in editorials are 'For years Israel has undergone a collec­ Deddington Francis Steiner strictly those of the Editor - despite the use tive Salman Rushdie experience, living Oxfordshire of the pronoun 'we' - and not of the AJR. under a death threat issued by Muslim As regards my alleged chutzpah in 'hec­ religious leaders and Arab politicians, Sir - I can only assume that, after losing toring Israel on 'this, that and the other' I which has never been withdrawn. This its former non-political status, AJR have, on the contrary, consistently attacked would have been enough to drive even the Information is now being given a distinctly those whom I perceived as hostile to Israel: sanest society insane. We have been through left-wing flavour. the writers E. Fried and T. Kempinski, the persecution, oppression and isolation. The right wing of the Israeli political journalist R. Ingrams, the parliamentarians What is surprising to me is not that so many spectrum represents more than half of the R. Adley and Lord Mayhew, also Prof. Israelis have become hawkish, but that so Israeli electorate, who would hardly accept Kiernan, Terry Waite and even Dr Runcie. many Israelis have managed to remain your assessment of Mr Shamir's policies. For some of these attacks I have been quite politically sober and realistic' The only way to influence them would be severely criticised. Ed So let us not beat our breasts, but let us through making aliyah and acquiring the right to vote in the next Israeli election. remember that what is now Israel took the WRONG CHEMISTRY largest number of refugees per capita from You describe Israel as a 'flawed' demo­ Hitler, and is now taking in refugees from cracy: if such a description were correct, it Sir - I was interested in your article on the Russian antisemitism. would apply, to a much larger extent, to the bagel (December issue). May I add a small Hawkshead Lane Henry Toch United Kingdom, in view of the intifada- postscript, from organic chemistry? The North Mymms type violence witnessed in Northern Ireland molecule of benzene has the form of a ring for over 22 years, the shoot-to-kill policy containing six carbon and six hydrogen Sir - The December issue is of the usual high operated in the province, the SAS killings of atoms. My brother, the late Professor Franz standard, but above all I should congratu­ unarmed civilians in Gibraltar, etc. Sondheimer, made a major advance in 1959 late you on your admirable leader. You further refer to the 'massacre' on the when - as head of the chemistry department Frognal D. L Maier Temple Mount by which 'all of us' were of the Weizmann Institute - he and his London NW3 tarnished. Who are 'all of us'? Why should collaborators synthesized ring-shaped ana­ anyone feel tarnished because a few Israeli logues of benzene, containing larger Sir — There is much to agree with in your policemen defended themselves against a numbers of carbon atoms. The question December editorial. Criticising the Shamir mob of 2,000 to 3,000 fanatical Arabs was - what should these strange new government does not exclude the favour­ screaming for their blood? compounds be called? Franz proposed to able comparison of the state of Israel with Before going public with a remark I do call them bagelines. Unfortunately, the its neighbours that you made. Un­ not hesitate to call outrageous, it would chemical community considered this sug­ fortunately I cannot share your evaluation perhaps have been advisable for you to gestion frivolous, and so he has now gone of future prospects of change, or the opti­ acquaint yourself with the actual facts. into chemical history as the discoverer of mism expressed in your last two lines. The Being fully aware of the tremendous the annulenes. I have always regretted that comparison with British experience in amount of good work that is being done by Franz's original proposal did not win the respect of the Boers and India is, I think, a the Association, I do not intend to cancel my day. false analogy. In both cases the relatively membership but, if the current left-wing Cholmeley Crescent Prof Ernst Sondheimer amicable settlement was in line with histori­ slant in AJR Information is meant to be a London N6 cal development in general, and political permanent feature, I would prefer not to development in the U.K. in particular. In receive it in future. ONE WHO WAS THERE Israel both sociological and political trends East Hill. Wembley Ruth Willers Sir - Re your article Internalised would seem to lead in the opposite direc­ Park, Mddx Judeophohia, (November issue): I was one tion. Recent political moves to the right will of the children at the Chateau de la Guette be reinforced by changes in the population Sir - You write 'the Shamir administration and have a small part in this documentary structure, as the earlier immigrants from has done, and is doing, many things we find film. Central and Eastern Europe cease to domi­ difficult to condone'. Who are 'we'? I am a You are right about the way some of the nate the scene. It is no coincidence that the member of the AJR, and you certainly do children wrote their essay 'Why Hitler hates moderation and tolerance of Mayor Kollek not speak in my name. Also, I was not the Jews'; however, I would like to point out are displayed by a politician in his late aware that the AJR has a political position that this part of the documentary, was in seventies. There is no guarantee that democ­ regards Israel. fact trying to illustrate that anti-Jewish Nazi •fmnisfi'rr'-immimmmm

AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

propaganda even affected some Jewish Information. With good wishes for con­ children. tinued inspiration, Shalom. Millisle Farm The fact that a German film company Kathmandu Gerd Ledermann should make and present this film to the Nepal hen I, aged nine and just German public is in my view to be arrived from Vienna, first applauded by Jews everywhere. SCHOLEM'S LETTERS 'W stood in the farmyard, I saw I feel that your article might lead readers Sir - The correspondence between Betty Shimshon the carpenter in his shop and to draw the wrong conclusions about the and Gershom Scholem referred to in your Moshe the cobbler in his. I saw teenage intentions of the documentary makers. October issue is a publication of the Leo pioneers, chickens, cows and horses who all Lymington, Hants F. Springer Baeck Institute in Jerusalem. It will be had Jewish names. I saw Jewish fields and followed by further volumes dealing with Jewish roads stretching inland as far as the KOOK'S TOUR DE FORCE the full range of Scholem's scholarly work. eye could see. I was just a boy, and for me Sir - I find the humour of AJR Information Tel-Aviv Zeev Estreicher the farm was my country.' irresistible. Kook's Tour gives me stomach This is how (currently US-domiciled) ache from laughter; may it never run out of TITTLE-TATTLE Robert Sugar remembers the place on the dishes. Sir - I find your publication very informa­ NE coast of Ireland that was home for him St Swithun Street Gertrud Walton tive. As a Rabbi who counts many of your from the summer of 1939 until some time Winchester members as congregants I try my best to after the war. Refugee Settlement Farm, keep up with all the various aspects of their Millisle, Northern Ireland resulted from a Sir - I agree with K. L. Orpen. Cancel experience. post-Kristallnacht initiative of the Belfast Kook's Tour. However, I was taken aback by your Jewish community. Its president leased Belsize Park Mews E. Flesch short note Casus belly in the November abandoned farmland previously used for NW3 issue, reporting a rabbinical ban on im­ bleaching flax on the coast of County modest entertainment in rabbinically super­ Down, and settled a group of German Sir -1 would like to take this opportunity to vised catered affairs in Israel. chalutzini on it. Later came other refugees, express my appreciation of the ever improv­ I cannot understand what this bit of one of whom, a civil engineer, designed two ing quality of AJR Information - it is a 'tittle-tattle' has to do with your organisa­ buildings comprising byres, workshops and wonderfully mixed bag of relevant infor­ tion's aims, especially the aside you added. cold-storage rooms. These had been built by mation and humour. Such tidbits can only subtract from your 1941, by which time Millisle accommo­ Hayne Road Elizabeth Sinclair standing and can be only seen as divisively dated eighty inhabitants, including a thirty- Beckenham petty. I would hate to think that, after all we strong group of children. The farm pro­ Jews have gone through, we are still busy duced hay, wheat, oats, barley, potatoes, ASSOCIATION OF seeking to score cheap points against our beets, leeks, onions, carrots, peas, JEWISH EX-BERLINERS religious authorities. cucumbers and turnips; the cows gave milk, Sir - Our Association, formed in summer South Manchester Synagogue Rabbi Y. R. Rubin bees made honey, chickens laid eggs, black­ 1989, now has approximately 300 berry hedges yielded jam. members, well attended meetings are being Gradually numbers declined. The chalut- held regularly and ce)ntact with Jewish ex- The views expressed in AJR zim went to Bachad farms on the mainland. Berliners resident in the U.S.A. and in Israel Information are the editor's - and Most of the older boys who remained joined has been established. not necessarily those of the the Army. By 1944 only thirty youngsters - Plans are in hand for a general reunion in Association. now largely orphaned - were left and within Berlin to take place in early 1992 when the three years they, too, dispersed. 1948 saw Senat of that city will hold a major exhi­ the farm finally close its doors. bition on a Jewish theme. Today the 'children' are scattered across Anyone wishing to join the Association i ANTHONY J. NEWTON & CO the globe. 'Supposing' muses Robert Sugar should contact me. 'we want to place a plaque on a farm 41 Meadowside Harold Becker Solicitors building, what should it say?' Answering his Cambridge Park own question he suggests: 'We packed in Twickenham TWI 2jQ We have established contacts with leading Berlin haste, crossed the sea dry-shod, camped in lawyers in preparation for property claims in East Germany. tents by the shore, conquered the land, built BOUQUET houses, sent soldiers against our pursuers, Sir — May I tell you how much I enjoy For further enquiries lived like brothers and sisters here, in this reading AJR Information with a new face. I Tel: 071-794 9696 very place.' read it from cover to cover and pass it on to D R.G. friends. Prebend Gdns, Mrs Use Tysh London W6 CLUB 1943 Anglo-German cultural forum Meetings on BELSIZE SQUARE SYNAGOGUE AIR MAIL BOUQUET Mondays at 8 p.m. at the Communal Hall, 51 Belsize Square, London, N.W.3 Belsize Square Synagogue, 51 Belsize Our communal hall is available tor cultural Sir - I continue to be most interested and Square, London NW3. and social functions. For details apply to: highly impressed by your talented, informa­ For details: — Secretary, Synagogue Office. tive and most entertaining (as well as Chairman: Berta Sterly, 4 Grey Close, Tel: 071-794 3949 justifiably serious) writing in AJR NWl I 6QG. Tel: 081-455 1535. TrT'^.;-^->-u^.^)^:--^jfTjiiia-y^^^ '^•- '^•^'^•'''•'••^r/'^'y^v!

AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

PAUL BAU NT AJR DAY CENTRE

1.5 Cleve Road, London NW6 3RL Tel. 071 328 0208

Morning Activities - Bridge, kalookie, scrabble, chess, etc., keep fit, discussion group, choir {Mondays), art class {Tuesdays and Thursdays).

Afternoon entertainment —

FEBRUARY KKAEll WEEK Monday 4 'Strolling Through Israel With Song and Guitar' - Ron Goldberg Tuesday S •Blue and White' - Malka Shinar Wednesday 6 Hans Freund: 'Tseina Tseina' Thursday 7 I'hilippa Gallcr entertains with song &c guitar

Monday 11 "Songs You Remember and Love' - Caroline Chambers (Soprano) accompanied by Lynn Hendry Tuesday 12 'Let's Sing Together' - Hans Freund Wednesday Li 'The Old Songs Are The Best Songs' - Jack Harris accompanied by Happy Branston Mrs KochnidiDi and Miss Rie);er receiving floral InLntlc Photo: Newman Thursday 14 'An Afternoon Of Piano Music For Four Hands' - Heather McNerlin and End of an era Stephen Baron Monday 18 Members of Irma Mayer's Keep-Fit Class from Sobel he traditional happy atmosphere pre­ stressed that there could not be words House will give a vailed at the Otto Schiff House enough to express our deep gratitude to demonstration Tuesday 19 'A Touch Of The Lighter TChanukah party this year, even both of these ladies. Side Of Music' - Richard though it was tinged with poignancy. Although Mrs Kochmann is retiring from Jones (Tenor) accompanied The candles were kindled by Cantor by Elizabeth Nordern the house committee she intends to be a Wednesday 20 Concert by The Trinity Marshall Stone, who inspired those gath­ frequent visitor to the new Balint House, College of Music ered to a most enthusiastic rendering of where Miss Riegcr will become the Head of Thursday 21 'Interlude of English and Maos Tsur to follow. The food and drink Home. D M.N. Continental Songs' - Marguerite Rapp were, as always, of the highest standard. Please see page two for the 'profile' of Mrs accompanied by Irene Wallis This party marked the end of an era in Kochmann. Monday 2S 'An Afternoon of Music' - two ways. It was the last Chanukah party Rosa Butwick (Piano), Annette Jones (Soprano) and that will be held for the present residents at Phil Silvcrstone (Violin) Otto Schiff House, who will be moving into WHO IS WHO Tuesday 26 "Singing Duo' -Jack and the new Balint House in the Bishops Avenue IN THE AJR OFFICE Rita Davis in mid-January. i;l Wednesday 27 "Coffee From Seed To Cup' Administrator Lydia Lassman - Talk by Mary Banks It also marked the retirement of Mrs Editor, AjR Richard Thursday 28 'Flutelle' - Siobhan Grealy Frieda Kochmann, who has been on the (Flute) and Sally-Anne Ewin Information Grunberger House Committee since its inception in the Publications and Maurice |i early 19,5ns. PR Manager Newman " MARCH Assistant to Monday 4 Justin Joseph Entertains At Mr Thco Marx, C^hairman of the AJR Administrator ,j,., , ,, Carol Rossen i The Piano and the Otto Schiff House Committee, Sheltered Tuesday .S "With A Song In My Heart' welcomed the guests, who included Mr -Jack Harris accompanied Accommodation Katia Ciould by Happy Branston Werner Mattes, Chairman of the newly- Head of Homes Wednesday 6 'Me - My Music and You' - named Otto Schiff Housing Association. Department Ruth Finestone ' Linda Roth (Mezzo) There were special thanks to Mrs Head of Social Services Samuel Wolf accompanied by Norman Welfare Rights Advisor Agnes Sydce (Piano) Kochmann and Miss Ricger, Head of Home Thursday 7 'Popular Classical Music' - at Otto Schiff House, who have worked Alexander Day Centre Organiser Sylvia Matus Maurice Isaacs (Violin) closely together for many years to provide accompanied by Isabel Isaacs Volunteers Co-ordinator Laura Howe the best care, attention and affection poss­ (Piano) Membership/Reception Sarah Hannon ible for the residents. In his speech Mr Marx

8 AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Freund in need anyone's control, the entertainer booked to appear on the day failed to arrive and could not be contacted. The dance, which had been scheduled to begin at 3 p.m., was still very firmly 'grounded' thirty-five minutes later - when it was fast becoming apparent that something would have to be done. And something was done. Hans Freund, a stalwart of the Day Centre's regular entertainers' pool, was contacted by telephone. Although caught somewhat 'on the hop' - he had been taking an afternoon snooze prior to another engagement that evening - Mr Freund managed to rustle up a pianist, Geoffrey Steinitz (who also had to cancel some engagements at short notice) and the two managed to get to the Paul Balint AJR Day Centre, ready for the fray, within the hour. With Mr Freund providing an almost instant solution to the entertainment prob­ lem the dancing got off to a flying start. Since the event took place the organisers 'It's awfidly good of you to dance with me. 'Well, after all. it is a Charitv dance!' have been bombarded with requests to make the tea-dance a monthly feature. Similar functions are planned for the not Hans Ereund Photo: Newman too distant future. (Advance notice of these will appear in AJR Information.) AJR he first Sunday afternoon Tea Dance In the meantime our thanks and best 'DROP IN' ADVICE SERVICE at the AJR Paul Balint Day Centre in wishes go to Hans and Geoffrey for their TDecember proved a great success wilhngness to come to the aid of the 'party' Twice weekly advice sessions offering after initially threatening to turn into a so selflessly and promptly. help with filling in forms, checking disaster. Due to circumstances beyond D M.N. benefits received, checking entitlements, claiming benefits, fuel problems, money matters, etc., etc., are being held as follows:—

TUESDAYS 10 am-12 noon at AJR CLUB You can contact the AdR by 15 Cleve Road, London NW6 15 Cleve Road, London NW6 Phone 071-483 2536 THURSDAYS 10 am-12 noon at Fax 071-722 4652 Hannah Karminski House, 9 Adamson SUNDAY 10th FEBRUARY at 3 p.m. Road, London NW3 REV. LARRY FINE will entertain us with songs & music ROOM AVAILABLE IN No appointment necessary but please bring along all relevant documents, such ONE OF OUR HOMES SUNDAY 3rd MARCH at 3 p.m. as Benefit Books, letters, bills, etc. Laughing your fears away. FOR SHORT TERM A talk by Thelma Keisner RESPITE CARE. Admission incl. tea, members 50p, guests £1 For further information IT'S NICE TO BE NEEDED! SATURDAY 30th MARCH at 6.15 for 6.30 p.m. please contact:- AJR NEEDS MORE VISITORS SECOND SEDER ESPECIALLY FOR THE HOUSEBOUND. Conducted by Mrs Ruth Finestone WOULD YOU TAKE SOMEONE Dr Arnold Horwell 071-483 2536 SHOPPING? Dinner, incl. wine: GOING TO THE SHOPS IS A RARE C10 members - E11 guests TREAT FOR SOME OF OUR PLEASE BOOK BY 12th MARCH MEMBERS. Enquiries: 071-359 9951 SHELTERED FLATS Information from LAURA HOWE to let at Eleanor Rathbone House, Highgate, 071 -483 2536 We welcome you and your friends on comprising bed-sitting room, kitchenette, TUESDAYS - THURSDAYS - SUNDAYS bathroom and entrance hall. Resident OUR DAY CENTRE NEEDS:- 2 p.m.-6 p.m. warden. Volunteer drivers to take people to and Our annual membership Fee is only £4. Enquiries to:- from the Day Centre in Cleve Road NW6. AJR Also a volunteer hairdresser to give us We need helpers, Thursdays & Sundays please HANNAH KARMINSKI HOUSE some time each week. lend a hand 9 ADAMSON ROAD, LONDON NWS 3HX 071-483 2536/7/8/9 Please contact SYLVIA MATUS/ Information from Hilda Baban 071 359 9951 RENEE LEE 071 - 328 0208. AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Quotes of the month Northwood seminar ^ERSE AND WORSE Northwood and Pinner Liberal Synagogue How do I know that Mazowiecki is a Jew? is one of the congregations in whose safe TARIQ ALI He looks sad and prays a lot. keeping Czech Memorial Scrolls were Tariq Ali, the Bengali A Polish voter placed. On Sunday 10th February they will Tiny Trilby-Trots' Svengali, discuss new ways to help revitalise Czech The barricades would fondly ogle Jewry and keep alive the memory of defunct I have vivid memories of Margaret Thatcher But finished up a media mogul communities. The seminar - from 2.45 to dancing the bora in the Knesset banqueting 6 p.m. - takes place at the Synagogue, TONYBENN hall, hut this was in the days when Shimon Oaklands Gate, Green Lane, Northwood, When Saddam spreads the poison cloud Peres was Prime Minister. Middx. (Further enquiries to Rabbi And in the Gulf shove follows push Chaim Bermant, Jewish Chronicle Goldstein, 09274 22592.) D He leaps to the defence of Saud columnist By burning effigies of Bush Moral imperative What must the Israelis be thinking about LEON BRITTAN the long delay in liberating Kuwait? Helmuth von Moltke was executed for Target of old Justice Denning Certainly if Israel were ever successfully treason after the Stauffenberg bomb plot to Whose misjudgement was quite stenning invaded, a four-month delay in liberation kill I-Iitler in 1944. His 79-year old widow When, without a prior recce. would mean there would be very few recently visited the Moltke's family home in He called the litvak Brit a yecke Israelis left. . . Perhaps Western politicians the Silesian village of Kryzowa (formerly will now cease telling Israelis not to he Kreisau). Asked if she wanted to reclaim the HEIDEGGER paranoid about their security. The lessons estate, she said 'I have no claim at all. How He probed 'the grounds of being' of Kuwait are more than enough to justify can I, a German, dare to claim anything Unfeeling and unseeing; paranoia. from the Poles? Silesia must remain Polish Gave Hannah Arendt busserl. Peregrine Worsthorne, Editor as a mark of German repentance.' D Said Juden raus to Husserl.

Annely Juda Fine Art PROPERTY CLAIMS - CZECHOSLOVAKIA The recently enacted Restitution Law enables the original proprietors or their legal Has moved to successors of nationalised properties to apply for Restitution. 23 Dering Street (off New Bond Street), Our International Lawyers can assist you in preparing and secuhng your claims. London W1R9AA For further information please contact: Tel: 071-629 7578 Fax:071-491 2139 ICS - Claims CONTEMPORARY PAINTING 146-154 Kilburn High Road, London NW6 4JD AND SCULPTURE Tel: 071-328 7251 (ext. 107) Mon-Fri: 10 am-6 pm Sat: 10 am-1 pm Fax: 071-624 5002 - - - -

Making a will? FOR THOSE YOU CARE MOST ABOUT Remember the AJR Springdene A modern nursing home with 26 yrs of excellence in health care to the community. Licensed by Barnet area health Something that none of us should avoid is making a will and authority and recognised by BUPA & PPP. keeping it up to date. 0 n KQ O HYDROTHERAPY & PHYSIOTHERAPY 1 #H I tj 3 provided by full time chartered We know we cannot take our worldly possessions with us but ^'^^ >-» V.^ • • physiotherapists for inpatients and we can - at least - see that whatever is left behind goes: outpatients. (a) where it will be appreciated, [SPRINGDENE 55 Oakleigh Park North, Whetstone, London N.20 081-446 2117 (b) where it will do some good, SPRINGVIEW 6-10 Crescent Road, Enfield. Our completely nevi/ (c) where it is needed. purpose built hotel style retirement home. All rooms with bathroom en-suite from C305 per week. 081-446 2117. Many of our former refugees have found their association with the AJR a rewarding one. This is an opportunity to support the AJR Charitable Trust. Your solicitor will be able to help you; WALM LANE NURSING HOME alternatively you can consult with our welfare rights advisor, Walm Lane is an established Registered Nursing Home providing the Aggie Alexander, on 071-483 25.36 (Tues, Weds, Thurs) or the highest standards of nursing care for all categories of long and short-term medical and post-operative surgical patients. Lifts to all floors. All rooms social workers at the Day Centre 071-328 0208. have nurse call systems, telephone and colour television. Choice of menu, kosher meals available. Licensed by Brent Health Authority and as If you have already made a will, it is quite easy to add a codicil. such recognised for payment by private medical insurance schemes. Whatever amount you are able to leave to the AJR, it will be For a true and more detailed picture of what we offer, please ask one of your fellow members who has been, or is at present here, or contact well received, carefully applied and remembered with gratitude. Matron directly at 141 Walm Lane, London NW2 Telephone 081-450 8832

10 »p;"".;.-ir.-'<,vr'f»:qB;jlWB

AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Alice Schwab in the war she became a voluntary art therapist at the Middlesex Hospital, and her SB's Column work with disabled patients rapidly grew and developed into the Society for Art for Physically Handicapped People. Given a Jewish Entrepreneur Starting and Whitbread Community Care Award in directing a political cabaret was no 1989, she has now celebrated 30 years of A small challenge for a woman: Stella work in art for the disabled. Kadmon made history when she founded ax Ernst, one of the most inventive Issac Rosenberg (1890-1918) was both a 'Der liebe Augustin' in Vienna in 1931. of the Surrealists, has his centenary major poet and distinguished artist. After her exile in Israel she opened the in 1991. To mark the occasion the Unfortunately his life was brought to an 'Theater der Courage' with Brecht's Furcht M und Elend des dritten Reichs. Evolving into Tate Gallery is mounting a retrospective untimely end on the Western Front in 1918. exhibition sponsored by Daimler-Benz (13 An exhibition of his work is on show at the a famous personality of the Austrian stage, Feb—21 April). Born in Cologne, Ernst Imperial War Museum (until 2 April). Born she stayed at the helm of the theatre until studied philosophy and psychiatry before into poverty in the East End of London, her death in 1989. A year later a plaque was turning to painting. After war service he Rosenberg was forced to leave school early, placed on the house where she had lived. At resumed painting, turning against 'fine art' and was apprenticed to an engraver. He the ceremony initiated by the Vienna and the prevalent cult of painterliness. He studied in his spare time; the patronage of Womens' Organisation, the main address in moved to Paris, where he became a seminal three wealthy Jewish ladies enabled him to Stella Kadmon's honour was given by figure, parodying conservative art and pro­ study at the Slade as a contemporary of Elisabeth Orth, eldest daughter of Attila ducing paintings full of spectral hordes, Spencer, Bomberg and Gertler. He left the Horbiger and Paula Wessely. petrified forests and seething vegetation. In Slade in 1914, and in 1916 enlisted in the Birthdays Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, 75, 1941 he fled to America but returned to army. The Barbican is showing Stanley world famous soprano, was first heard in France postwar. Spencer: The Apotheosis of Love (until 1 London in 1947, when she came to Covent Hannah Moser, who lives in Hampstead, April). The exhibition comprises 65 of Garden with the Vienna State Opera was born in Austria of mixed parentage, but Spencer's major compositions. ensemble. At subsequent visits she excelled later converted to Judaism. Inhibited from Emil G. Buhrle (1890-1956), a Swiss as Marschallin in Rosenkavalier, a role she studying art as a child she became a doctor. industrialist, formed a very important sang at many major opera houses. Later she Now, entirely self-taught, she has reverted collection of Impressionist and post- impressed when conducting her London to her childhood ambition and paints Impressionist paintings. The Passionate Eye master classes. - Hildegard Knef (also vibrant pictures based on semi abstraction — 85 paintings from the Emil G. Buhrle known as Neff) author and film actress, one using strong colours and convoluted shapes. collection - is being shown at the Royal of the few German postwar performers Her work has recently been shown at Academy (until 9 April). Artists represented known on Broadway, where she appeared Henny Haendler, 24 Wellington Road, include Manet, Monet, Renoir, Degas, in Cole Porter's Silk Stockings, had her 65th NW8. Gauguin, Van Gogh, Hals, Cuyp, Canaletto birthday. The Monets at the Royal Academy and Tiepolo, to name but a few. Obituary The American composer Aron attracted unrivalled crowds, but not so Finally, the Ben Uri Annual Picture Fair Copland died shortly after his 90th birth­ many people went to see Egon Schiele and will take place on March 3rd. A selection of day, about which this column reported in his Contemporaries in the same gallery excellent pictures will be on display and you the October 1990 issue. The passing of (until 17 February). On my second visit I may be lucky in the draw (tickets: £5). D Copland and Leonard Bernstein, the two was most impressed, especially by the work most prominent figures of American musi­ of Klimt, 30 years Schiele's senior, whose cal life, has left a gap which will probably work is well represented in the exhibition. not be filled for a long time. - Austrian-born Prints and some paintings by J. B. Yentl, a Let your body actor Herbert Berghof has died in the retired merchant of Sephardi extraction take a holiday United States at the age of 81. After a living in Paris, are on show in A Past promising start in Vienna (some may Whilst enjoying good quality hotels and Revisited at the Sternberg Centre (until 14 excellent cuisine, why not ease your aches remember him in Shaw's Doctor's February). John Bratby, associated with the and pains with the famous Fango mud Dilemma) he went to America in 1938, 'kitchen sink' school of the inid-fifties, is treatments as well as Health, Beauty and where he soon established his reputation by being shown at the National Portrait Fitness therapy. taking the lead in works by Ibsen, Shaw and Gallery (8 March-27 May). ABANO SPA, ITALY Terence Rattigan. His greatest success on The National Gallery is showing Art in Abano is situated in beautiful countryside Broadway was Lessing's Nathan. He later the Making: Impressionism (until 21 April). just 45 minutes from Venice. became a teacher of drama and was instru­ Schedule flights from Heathrow and mental in sponsoring new writing for the This exhibition, the final one in the series, regional airports - Prices with or without features Manet's Music in the Tuileries, treatments - Private car transfers included. theatre. - Those who enjoy lighthearted Renoir's Umbrellas, Monet's Bathers at the FOR COLOUR BROCHURE comedy will be sad to learn of the death of Grenouilleres and Pissarro's Cotes de WRITE OR TELEPHONE Dodie Smith, the British writer. She was 94. Boeuf. Her best-known play. Dear Octopus, had Ursula Hulme, nee Neumann, was born clwards long runs in London both before the war in Germany in 1917 and studied at the I of Westminster Limited wii^ and when revived in the Sixties. Of her other Reimann School in Berlin, specialising in 276 PRESTON ROAD, HARROW plays. Call it a day was a sensational success t-'ftk MIDDLESEX HA3 OQA r^^ in Vienna's 'Josefstadt' under the title Der textile design. She came to England in 1937 TEL: 01-904 2202 and first worked as a textile designer. Early erste Friihlingstag back in 1954. D

II AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

sequent occasions, Hazlitt, to his credit, had The changing face of Shylock clearly been swayed by Kean's interpret­ ation when he wrote on 4 June 1816, 'he hen the late Laurence Olivier was to the fore and relegate Shylock to the [Sbylock] is honest in his vices; they are rehearsing Shylock for the 1970 fringes, to the world of caricature. Charles hypocrites in their virtues'. WOld Vic production of The Macklin in the 1740s was the first to see This single production in which, accord­ Merchant of Venice, he bought himself Shylock as inherently tragic, but even he ing to Douglas Jerrold, Kean impressed the dentures, a big hook nose and ringlets. It was 'malignant, sullen, malevolent: power­ audience 'like a chapter of Genesis', paved seemed appropriate, if not necessary, to set ful and unshakeable, he stood like a tower' the way for what can only be described as himself apart from the other actors even in (A. B. Dyson). His revenge stemmed from an excessive backlash against the stark two- rehearsal - an alien figure, the stock 'type', vindictiveness, bloody-mindedness, rather dimensional and not altogether central the Jew, threatening to, and rejected by, a than family love and racial pride. Only in portrayal of Shylock in earlier centuries. Christian society. As it happened, Jonathan 1814 did an actor challenge the received Henry Irving cut Act V in order to place Miller, the director, decided to set the play interpretation of Shylock. Edmund Kean emphasis on Shylock, adding a scene after in 19th century Venice, a not altogether had the audience on their feet, roaring their Jessica's elopement in which her father successful experiment in practice, but one approval, as he uttered the words, 'I am a stood silently and helplessly before his front which obliged Olivier to consider that Jew' with gentle but proud simplicity, and door about to discover the terrible truth. Shylock, to reach his status in the city, must as he held his head erect under the taunts Seeing Anthony Sher and Dustin have had considerable contact with and sneers of Gratiano at the end. His Hoffman, to name but two, in the role of Christian merchants. As he himself says, 'I performance placed Shylock at the heart of Shylock in recent years, makes one appreci­ will buy with you, sell with you, talk with the play, thereby ensuring that the themes of ate the wide range of interpretations avail­ you, walk with you' and so on ... To an victimisation, racial tensions and hypocrisy able to audiences today. To an extent, this extent, he must have been absorbed into, were at the forefront of the audience's broadening and deepening of the even accepted (at a certain level) by those on perception. character is to the credit of 19th century the Rialto, and presumably he would have Hazlitt, writing in the Morning Chronicle actors, Kean in particular: in turn, one is made some efforts to be so. The 19th on 27 January 1814, said of Kean that'there tempted to attribute their achievement to century setting emphasised this. Eventually, was a lightness and vigour in his tread, a fire their own first-hand observations of and Olivier sought to look as much like his and animation, which would accord better dealings with the Jewish community. In the fellow-actors as possible, and dispensed with almost any other character than with light of that, it is perhaps not surprising that with the nose and ringlets! the morose, sullen, inward, inveterate, Miller chose the setting that he did for his The portrayal of Shylock, the vicious inflexible malignity of Shylock'. 1970 production. usurer who pursues his pound of flesh with Having seen the play on several sub- D Barry Edwards single-minded malevolence, has always caused problems. Little documentary evi­ dence exists of performances in Shakespeare's time, but it seems likely that BERLIN - GERMANY he was seen as a pantomime villain, an We buy your property and/or assist you in obstruction to the necessarily 'comic' con­ securing clusion, an outwitted maverick who loved your claims in East Germany. money above everything except revenge. If Official deadline for East German Shakespeare intended his audiences to feel property claims: pity for Shylock when deserted by his 3I/3/I99I daughter, ridiculed by the Venetians and Please contact: Nagcl & Partners, West 51 BELSIZE SQUARE, NW3 then humiliated by the 'merciful' court, it is Berlin. Kurfurstendamm 182/1, Berlin 15. unlikely that he was actually portrayed like TUESDAY AFTERNOON ACTIVITIES that. The famous 'Hath not a Jew eyes?' Tel: (01049,30) 881.5605. Fax: 8813916 TUESDAY CIRCLE speech, if allowed to win sympathy for Entertainment in the form of a variety of Shylock, would have complicated the interesting and topical talks given by audience's perception of him as a nasty guest speakers on the first Tuesday of outsider who must and will receive his JACKMAN• each month at 2.30pm followed by come-uppance. It would be easier to laugh refreshments at him than to analyse the tenderness, for ^ SILVERMAN SEW & SO example, of his reminiscences about the ring c:OMMERC:iAL mOPtRTY C.ON.SULTANTS A social group of people meeting on the that Jessica has sold for a pet monkey. second Tuesday of each month at In such a 'safe' way, the part seems to 1.30pm to participate in making knitted, have been viewed for a century and a half. crocheted and embroidered items for synagogue and charitable functions Traditionally played in a red wig, Shylocks would strut and fret their hours upon the BRIDGE CLUB stage, then conveniently disappear to allow All bridge players are welcome to join the the comic business with the caskets to take Bridge Club which meets on the third centre stage in the dreamy, fairy-tale world 26 Conduit Street, London WIR 9TA Tuesday of each month at 1.30pm. Telephone; 071 409 0771 Fax: 071 493 8017 of Belmont. Shylock only appears in six of Space donated by Pafra Limited the play's scenes: it was easy to bring Portia

12 AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Excavation 'corrects' Trauerarbeit - in the literal sense of the word Revelation

nybody who wants a grand over­ view of the history of the Old ATestament should visit the British Museum exhibition Archaeology And The Bible (until 24 March, 1991). It ranges from the Patriarchs to the Roman destroyers of Judaea - the Emperor Titus, who burned the Temple, and Hadrian, who drove out the remnants of the people. The exhibition comprises treasures usually displayed elsewhere in the Museum, with valuable additions on loan from Israel and Jordan. There are artefacts which are nine thousand years old, yet astonishingly accomplished and even lifelike. It will not surprise anyone that the This photograph of the Jewish cemetery at Laupheim near Ulm was taken hy Ruth Young, who reports that a accompanying descriptions express a secu­ resident of Laupheini, Herr Schell, with some volunteer assistance, keeps the cemetery in pristine condition. lar, scientific (that is to say hypothetical) view. Though the explanations are always attuned to the familiar Bible narratives, The Exodus remains shrouded in myth From then onwards the exhibition there is a constant, though gentle and and mystery. The Museum has used some of becomes less problematical. History and respectful, undercurrent of 'it ain't necess­ its Egyptological possessions to try and Holy Writ walk more easily hand-in-hand arily so'. The existence of the Fathers, draw material parallels to the received texts. up to the fragments of the Dead Sea Scrolls, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, is not denied, I think it is fair to sum up its conclusions like and a fine reconstruction of the Temple as but their likely appearance is dated about this: Moses and the people he led out of rebuilt by King Herod. 500 years earlier than generally assumed, bondage in Egypt were only one of the Not even seasoned travellers will ever which in turn alters the supposed date of the elements vying for settlement in Canaan. have the locales of these fateful events story of Joseph. Economic pressure and strategic consider­ so readily accessible in a few rooms, The most controversial part concerns the ation drove needy town dwellers to search nor see them so well described - even if Exodus, an event which excites great inter­ for a new home. A decline in Egypt's power one wants to argue with some of the est outside Judaism, as well as within. On it enabled the invaders we know as Philistines, conclusions. hinges so much of the often terrible history and the Israelites, to fight it out, and the in which we are still cnmeslK'd. Jewish St.itc emerged. D John Rossall

CAMPS Dr H. Alan Shields, Ivl.B., Ch.B., B.D.S., INTERIMMENT-P.O.W.- L.D.S.. R.C.S. (Eng) Biicher in deutscher Sprache, Bilder und Autographen FORCED LABOUR-KZ DENTAL SURGEON I wish to buy cards, envelopes and folded post­ 46 Bramptom Grove, Hendon NW4 4AQ sucht marked letters from all camps of both world wars. All types of dental treatment given A. W. MYTZE Please send, registered mail, stating price, to: including cosmetic dentistry, dentures, 1 The Riding, London NWll. 14 Rosslyn Hill, London NWS emergencies and home visits for PETER C. RICKENBACK the disabled. Tel: 071-586 7546 Deutsch wird auch gesprochen. Phone: 081-203 0405 or 0831-511251 Ich bitte um detaillierte Angebote PARTNER for appointment. in long established English Solicitors (bilingual-German) would be happy to HILARY'S AGENCY assist clients with English, German and Specialists in Long and Short-Term Live-in Austrian problems. Contact Care RESPITE AND EMERGENCY CARE Henry Ebner CARE FOR THE ELDERLY HOUSEKEEPERS '-w^ THERAPEUTIC MASSAGE at RECUPERATION CARE AROMATHERAPY Myers Ebner & Deaner MATERNITY NURSES NANNIES AND MOTHER'S HELPS REFLEXOLOGY 103 Shepherds Bush Road EMERGENCY MOTHERS London W6 7LP Caring and Experienced Staff Available Telephone 071 602 4631 We will be happy to discuss your requirements 5. CHANDOS ROAO. ALL LEGAL WORK UNDERTAKEN PLEASE PHONE WILLESDEN. 081-559-1110 TEL; (0X1) 452 2924 LONDON NW2 ALS AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

FAMILY EVENTS Manicurist Visits your home OH I- Housekeeper required, approx. 4 44.S 291,5. hours per day (5 days per week) for Deaths WHY NOT 2 business gentlemen. Modern Fry Louis Fry, sadly missed by his Collector of old Jewish and ADVERTISE IN AJR house: 61 Holders Hill Drive, wife Thea, daughter Rebecca and Palestine picture postcards. Single INFORMATION? cards purchased. David Pearlman, Hendon NW4. Eric Walters. Tel: son Michael, also cousins E. Daytime: 071-328 1128. Evenings: Please telepfione Kossman and family. 36 Asmuns Hill, London NWll. the Advertisement Dept. 081-455 2149. 081-203 1510. Haas Lore Haas. We are deeply 071-483 2536 Antique furniture repaired, res­ Reliable girl of 18 willing to do saddened by the passing of our dear, tored, French polished. Original babysitting, shopping or looking courageous, caring sister and loving Furniture Craft. Established since after elderly person. Reference aunt on 17 December, aged 70 1947. Tel: 081-455 8420. provided. Box No. 1200. Bi-lingual secretary, ex-kinder- years, after a long illness. Wc will Typing in English or German: transporte. will work in your home. always remember her with love and Elderly lady requires company and Memoirs, correspondence, sorting 081-455 6692. affection and will miss her immea­ occasional help 6-10 p.m. every of books etc. Also West End shopping if surably. Susie, Ernst, Peter and Companion/carers evening including weekends. Please required. Antony. ring 071-722 5731. Active middle-aged lady required to Tel: 071-792 1675 accompany elderly huly on holiday Heilborn Bertha Heilborn died peacefully at home, aged 92, much abroad. All expenses paid. Please loved widow of Fritz and mother of ring 071-722 5731 for details. Personal PHYSIOTHERAPY the late Frank. A dear friend of Eva Nurse has vacancy, sunny room, Glamorous, intelligent housewife, and l.en. bathroom 'en suite', suit retired continental, seeks male partner of U.K. registered German person needing care, long or short Physiotherapist, age 35, high calibre, 53-I-. She could make available for private sessions in stay. Tel. 071 328 6631. you happy. Hedi Fisher your ovjn home. Many specialist CLASSIFIED Young male carer willing to help Introductions. Tel: 071-267 6066, skills include Lymph Drainage elderly gentleman or do shopping. evenings & weekends 071-883 and post-operative treatments. Miscellaneous Box No. 1200. 0401. Contact: Andrea Langfritz. Electrician City and Guilds quali­ 071-289 7716, fied. All domestic work undertaken Y. Steinreich. Tel: 0HI-4.S,S ,^262. IRENE FASHIONS SATELLITE INSTALLATION SALES & REPAIRS formerly of Swiss Cottage Television - Videos - Aerials - Radios - The AdR does not accept Stereos - Electrical Appliances Sizes 10 to 50 hips responsibility for the NEW & SECONDHAND TVsA/IDEOS FOR SALE standard of service MASSIVE SALE NOW ON - REDUCTIONS Tel: 081-909 3169 Answerphone rendered by advertisers. Coats, suits, 2 pieces, dresses, blouses etc. AVIS TV SERVICE Come and see for yourself! A. EISENBERG For an early appointment kindly ring before 11 am ALTERATIONS or after 7 pm 081-346 9057. OF ANY KIND TO RELIABLE & CAPABLE LADIES' FASHIONS PLUMBER I also design and make children's clothes ANTHONY J. NEWTON offers a complete 24-hour West Hampstead area plumbing service. Small 071-328 6571 jobs welcome. Please ring &C0 i ! JOHN ROSENFELD SOLICITORS ' - on 071-837 4569 FOR FAST EFFICIENT FRIDGE 22 Fitzjohns Avenue, Hampstead, NW3 5NB & FREEZER REPAIRS With offices in: Europe/dersey/USA 7-day service C. H. WILSON y^^7y\ All parts guaranteed ALL LEGAL WORK UNDERTAKEN Carpenter Painter and Decorator J J. B. Services Telephone: 071 435 5351/071 794 9696 French Polisher / TeL 081-202 4248 Antique Furniture Repaired until 9 pm Tel: 081-452 8324 Car: 0831 103707

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14 AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

Obituaries Inferno remembered

rguing the need to commit poetry Lucy Dawidowicz Knesset in 1965 and eventually became to memory in The Independent Minister without Portfolio under Yitzhak Arecently Oxford don Bernard With the death of Lucy Dawidowicz at 75 Rabin. When Likud achieved power in Richards wrote that a poem was like a Swiss Jewish historical scholarship has lost one of 1977 he retired to private practice. army knife - 'you should always have it to its great exponents. New York-born of hand, for you never know when you might immigrant parents she had, after graduating Eugene Heimler need it'. To substantiate his argument he from Hunter College, gone to Vilna to study cited the case of Primo Levi as a prisoner in Yiddish literature in 19.38. Eugene Heimler, born in 1922 at Auschwitz. One day, while suffering black A witness to the vibrant Jewish culture Szombathely, Hungary was the son of a despair, lines from Dante's Ulysses canto extirpated in the Shoah, she subsequently leading Social Democrat. He received his came to him: Think you of your breed; for focused mainly on that catastrophe, pro­ schooling at Talmud Torah and Yeshiva, brutish ignorance/Your mettle was not ducing works like The Historians and the and subsequently trained as a psychiatric made; you were made men,ITo follow after Holocaust and Hitler's War against the social worker. In 1944 he was first moved to knowledge and excellence. Jews. (The former censured German histor­ the Budapest ghetto and then to Auschwitz, That recollection was, as Levi subse­ ians for denying the uniqueness of the where his wife died; most of the rest of quently wrote {If This Is A Man, 1958) 'like Holocaust; the later argued that the des­ HeiiTiler's family also perished in the camps. the blast of a truinpet, like the voice of truction of Jewry was Hitler's overriding After liberation he embarked on a God'. He repeated the stanza to a fellow aim - and impugned Hannah Arendt's journalistic career in Budapest, but the prisoner. The latter 'received the message, thesis of the six iTiillion going passively to Communist takeover drove him to Britain. he felt that it had to do with hiin - that it their deaths.) Here he published Night of the Mist, a fine had to do with all men who toil'. Despite strongly held views Lucy early example of Holocaust literature, but Later Levi tried to remember inore lines, Dawidowicz was capable of modifying her his main interest lay in social work. He 'but they refused to come. I would have opinions: on a visit to Berlin in 1985 she lectured in that discipline at London given the day's soup to retrieve them'. D confessed that she now believed in the University, and also in North American existence of a 'new Gerinany'. D academic institutions. He developed a Overdue initiative therapeutic method known as Human Richard Hauser Social Functioning, and in recent years In an unprecedented gesture a pastoral counselled Holocaust survivors at the letter condemning antisemitism was read in Richard Hauser, who died aged seventy- Sternberg Centre, Finchlcy. churches across Poland on 20 January. nine, was born in Vienna. He studied sociology at the University and in 1938 emigrated to Palestine. During the war he 40 Years Ago served in the British Army with a Palestine Jewish unit. Postwar he came to Britain and Search Notices this Month did important work as a sociologist. Erika Schmidt, nee Cahn, last heard of in Together with his wife, the late Hephziba Glasgow, 1945. Sister Ingaberg The Shadows of Edward I Menuhin (pianist sister of Yehudi Jenner-Mears and cousin Kurt Kahn both in Wheti that fantastic conimnndo of un­ Australia/New Zealand. Please contact mitigated Scots boldly descended on Menuhin), he founded the Centre for Group Erica Levy, 16 Lightfoot Road, London Westminster Abbey to liberate the Studies which researched the roots of in­ N8 7JN. Coronation Stone which had been in English captivity for 6.54 years, some of our tolerance and persecution. As co-director of Use Paul, born 1927. Came to UK from the Centre Hauser was an adversary of Germany 3/3/39. Married a Polish soldier easily and habitually frightened co­ racism, a champion of the underprivileged (Paul Magurski) in 1945/6. Sister of religionists may have felt gently relieved at Manfred Paul and cousin of Stephanie Paul. the thought that at least this was not the and a promoter of German-Jewish work of Hebrew zealots. Yet such is the reconciliation. Ursula Baruch, born 1930. Came to UK irony of fate that it tnight well have been so. from Germany 3/3/39. Lived with aunt (Mrs For the Stone has been credited with as Elman) in Whitechapel until June '49. many Jewish as Scottish associations. Pious Gideon Hausner Information about Use Paul or Ursula legend has it that this is the Stone on which Baruch to: CBF World Jewish Relief, our father Jacob dreamt his famous dream, The eminent Israeli lawyer has died in Drayton House, 30 Gordon Street, London and when the first Temple was destroyed Jerusalein at the age of seventy-five. Born WCIHOAN. some devout exiles carried the same Stone to 'nto a Lemberg rabbinical family which John Bull's Other Island. Thence it tnade its emigrated to Palestine in 1927, he studied way easily to Scotland where the English at the Hebrew University. Subsequently Edward I captured it six years after he had (the first European monarch so to do) Hausner built up a thriving practice and banished all Jews from his realm. Whether also taught commercial law to under­ on that score the Scottish Nationalists feel graduates. Appointed Attorney-General he KINDERTRANSPORTE entitled to more than ordinary Jewish sym­ Was chief prosecutor in the 1961 Eichmann A group is meeting to explore the experience of pathies, is uncertain, though steadfast, even being a member of the Kindertransporte and how absurd, determination to treasure one's own Trial; his exemplary level-headed conduct this has affected subsequent personal distinct tradition can never fail to be re­ throughout the nine months' proceedings development. Monday evenings. spected among Jews. Commencing January 21 in Hendon, if interested redounded to the credit of the Israeli judicial please contact Ruth Barnett on 071-431 0837. A\R Information January 1951. system. Hausner was elected to the

15 AJR INFORMATION FEBRUARY 1991

that perhaps \0% of the Kinder were not Minority within the Jewish by faith; which probably meant that Research Project minority they ended up at other destinations, differ­ ent education and jobs in England. ork is currently in progress on a f the presence of a Catholic priest at the The variety of the assortment certainly three-volume history of Freiburg Kindertransport Reunion caused some applies to me. One of my great-grand uncles Wim Breisgau, and it is proposed to surprise, this merely echoes similar reac­ in mid-19th century Vienna was baptised include a detailed account of the town's I and married to a gentile wife. An equally Jewish community with particular reference tions some fifty years before. When, on a freezing December day in 19.^8, the shout of distant relative was a bishop in Hungary to, and emphasis on, its foundation in the 'Katholiken in die Lounge' echoed through from 1890 until his death in 1900. In my nineteenth century and its destruction under the halls of Pakefield Hall Camp, near branch of the family this conversion hap­ the 'Third Reich'. The present two publica­ Lowestoft, there were similar expressions of pened later, but even so I, a 'cradle tions are first results of the intensive long- wonder. The fact that representatives of Catholic', was unaware of my origins until term study undertaken by the Stadtarchiv welfare organisations for non-Aryan the age of 8. There were no boys of Jewish into the history of Jews in this part of victims had come to inspect their recently faith at my primary school or at the Southern Germany. arrived charges, seemed natural to us who Scbottengymnasium; neither school ever One section in the series is a carefully were being summoned. But it seemed discriminated by race but the 'gymnasium' researched account of the origins of the strange to the majority of our fellows, who was so short of places that by my time it had Jewish community. It records in interesting clearly did not know that such victims ceased to accept non-Catholics. In my form detail the lengthy process of Jewish resettle­ existed. To us, whose minds had been there were, as it transpired eventually, four ment in the town after four centuries and concentrated on the minutiae of the non-Aryans (all of whom ended up in offers an insight into the difficulties by its Nuremberg race laws at least since the England). My own particular chums were description of the long drawn-out test case Anschluss, such ignorance seemed equally not immediately affected by the Anschluss, of a Jewish lawyer petitioning for citizen­ strange. but the school was eventually closed down ship rights, as distinct from the more readily Although extensive apostasy from by the Nazis. However, the school, the available residence permit. This affair cata­ Judaism and intermarriage must have been Abbey to which it belonged, and some of my lysed the process of practical emancipation, known in Germany, too, the phenomenon class inates' families were very supportive to and opened the way for the formal founda­ was more widespread in Central-Eastern my parents who stayed behind in Vienna. tion of a community in 1864/65 and the Europe. (Pre-1914 Prussia could not have All of which makes my experiences of building of a synagogue which was seen the spectacle of a Jewish soldier post-Anschluss Vienna slightly different solemnly consecrated on September 23, attending Synagogue in full dress of an from rny 'fully' Jewish contemporaries. My 1870. Imperial general.) That this perceived toler­ father, a senior judge, was pensioned off, The second title deals with the fate of the ance led to feelings of 'belonging' and and during Kristallnacht we were able to Jews of Freiburg and the events of consequent assimilation, is not surprising. It put up relatives whose flats had been November 9 and 10, 1938, as illustrated by also led to integration, and to what Richard attacked. No wonder that my mentality was the life and times of a typical Jewish citizen Grunberger has perceptively described as that of a reluctant emigrant; with distant of the town who emigrated to the USA in the dialectics of conversion. visions of the fall of the Nazis I even looked 1939 but, less typically, returned to his This integration provided, at least in forward to coming back eventually and home town in 1960 and lived there until his Vienna, a rich assortment of types of finding my parents. death in 1962. The story is told by the Nicht-Arier ranging from recently baptised Life in England which has followed no set historian in overall charge of the project. Jews to Christians with some Jewish ances­ plan, but a sequence of surprises, has Plans are in hand to carry on this research try a few generations back, who had little perhaps also been different from that of the into the history of Freiburg Jewry beyond Jewish appearance or contact, and may other 'Kinder'. When Pakefield Hall Camp the publication of the general history of the even have been unaware of the connection. broke up I ended up as a boarder at a town. The municipal authorities are Out of this motley crew, those whom the monastic boys school not too dissimilar to anxious to obtain as much information as race laws had classified as Volljuden disco­ the Viennese school I had attended as a day possible from anyone in a position to vered that they needed the same help and boy. Then I went to the Isle of Man, and I provide relevant data. protection as anyone else. Hence the fact also once worked in a company founded by D D.LAI. Middle Europeans. Apart from this, my life has been largely spent among the 'natives' I CAR HIRE and virtually without any contact with Comfortable, air conditioned car with Anglo-Jewry. What Jewish friends I have helpful driver. are pre-war connections, and I have kept in Simon P. Rhodes M.Ch.S. Airports, stations, coast, etc. Fully touch with only one fellow Kind. If that sets STATE REGISTERED CHIROPODIST insured. me off from other Kinder, perhaps so does Tony Burstein 081-204 0567. the fact that I have no contacts with Israel. Surgery hours: I Car 0831 461066. Finally, though there are Austrians I would 8.30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday 8.30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday not speak to even today, I have not cut off GOLDMAN contact with the land of my birth. I suppose Visiting chiropody service available Curtains made to measure. 1 am an odd man out among the Kinder, Select material in your own home. 67 Kilburn High Road, NW6 (opp. M&S) Rail, blinds supplied and fitted. among my neighbours, and perhaps even in Telephone 071-624 1576 Telephone: 081-205 9232 Vienna. What price identity? —.. — n Francis Steiner

Published by the Association of Jewish f^efugees in Great Britain, Hannah Karminski House. 9 Adamson Road. London NWS 3HX, Telephone 071-483 2536/7/8/9 Fax:071-722 4652 Printed in Great Britain by Black Bear Press Limited, Cambridge