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Revista Digital Do NIEJ 4 Revista Eletrônica do Núcleo Interdisciplinar de Estudos Judaicos da UFRJ Ano II,– nº 4, 2011 ISSN 2176-5790 Comitê Editorial: Monica Grin (NIEJ/UFRJ) Michel Gherman (Hillel Rio) Conselho Editorial: Avraham Milgram (Yad Vashem) Bernardo Sorj (UFRJ e Centro Edelstein) Berta Waldman (USP) Berthold Zilly (Freie Universität Berlin) Bila Sorj (UFRJ) Celso Lafer (USP) Jeffrey Lesser (Emory University) Keila Grinberg (UNIRIO) Leonardo Senkman (Universidade Hebraica de Jerusalém) Luis Roniger (Universidade Hebraica de Jerusalém) Marcio Selligman (UNICAMP) Nelson Vieira (Brown University) Omer Bartov (Brown University) Raanan Rein (Tel Aviv University) Renato Lessa (UFF) Assistente de Edição: Leonel Caraciki (NIEJ/UFRJ/Hillel Rio) Revisão e Tradução: Leonardo Kruter (Hillel Rio) Leonel Caraciki (NIEJ/UFRJ e Hillel Rio) Bruna Rodrigues (NIEJ/UFRJ) Arte: Ilan Fremder/Hillel Rio Apoio: Endereço: Instituto de Filosofia e Ciências Sociais da UFRJ Largo de São Francisco, n.1, sala 427 Tels. (55) 21-22248965 R: 229 ou 88124740 www.niej.org.br E-mail para contato: [email protected] Revista Eletrônica do NIEJ/UFRJ – Ano II – nº 4 – 2011 Entrevista com Avraham Milgram Michel Gherman No dia 11 de janeiro de 2011, tive a oportunidade de realizar em Jerusalém uma interessante entrevista com Avraham Milgram, também conhecido como Tito, historiador e professor do Instituto Internacional para a Pesquisa do Holocausto, do Museu Yad Vashem e autor de Os judeus do Vaticano: A tentativa de salvação de católicos não-arianos da Alemanha ao Brasil através do Vaticano (1939 – 1942) e Portugal, Salazar e os Judeus. Milgram é membro do International Board do NIEJ e aceitou colaborar neste número da Revista Eletrônica do NIEJ nos concedendo essa interessante entrevista. No número passado, realizamos uma entrevista com Mario Sinay, diretor para a América Latina da Escola Internacional para Estudos do Holocausto e coordenador dos seminários sobre ensino do Holocausto no Museu Yad Vashem, e agora ampliamos o nosso foco sobre as concepções de Holocausto desenvolvidas no Museu. A entrevista vai além do tema do Holocausto. Como Tito viveu sua infância e adolescência no Brasil, diversas questões sobre sua história de vida, sua formação acadêmica, as atividades no Yad Vashem, suas visões do sionismo e sobre Israel, colaboram para o rico bate papo que compõem a nossa “seção de entrevista” da Revista Eletrônica do NIEJ, n.4. O resultado dessa interessante conversa vocês podem conferir a seguir. Avraham Milgram e Israel Gutman Avraham Milgram 3 Revista Eletrônica do NIEJ/UFRJ – Ano II – nº 4 – 2011 Michel Gherman – Avraham, essa é uma entrevista para o quarto número da Revista do NIEJ. Vou te chamar de “Tito” (apelido de Avraham Milgram) durante a conversa, tudo bem? Por que “Tito”? Milgram – Esse é um apelido que eu carrego à vida inteira que me foi dado pelo meu irmão, que é um ano e meio mais velho do que eu. Nós nascemos na Argentina e lá o meu nome era Alberto. Chamavam-me “Albertito”. Para o meu irmão o nome era muito comprido e, então, só me chamava de Tito. Aqui em Israel muitas vezes não me conhecem pelo nome oficial, só pelo apelido. MG – Ao formular a entrevista, pensamos em dividi-la em temas. Primeiro, sobre educação do Holocausto, já que você é um historiador envolvido na reformulação do Museu Yad Vashem; segundo, a sua trajetória de militância na esquerda sionista. Vamos inverter a ordem, e nos conta como se deu essa aproximação com a militância de esquerda e como você decidiu vir pra Israel, fazer aliá? Milgram – Minha família imigrou de Buenos Aires para o Brasil, estabelecendo-se em Curitiba. Lá, as opções para uma criança judia não eram muitas, como não são até hoje. Havia o Centro Israelita do Paraná, onde tinha um grupo de escoteiros; havia uma organização de judeus de esquerda, chamados à época de “progressistas,” ou de “yiddish roite” (judeus vermelhos). Havia a outra opção que era o movimento juvenil, socialista e sionista, chamado Dror ou Ichud Habonim. Do ponto de vista social, esse movimento reunia os filhos da imigração européia ashkenazi, que é o meu caso. Aí eu me encontrei, foi algo muito natural, éramos crianças. Não foi uma escolha racional, de um jovem adulto que formulou teses sobre judaísmo e Israel, mas foi um processo de crescimento. Mais tarde eu fui entender a organização da qual fazia parte e quais eram as propostas do movimento, levando-me a uma identificação com a visão sionista e socialista de normalização do povo judeu, que significa a reunião das Diásporas em um só território, mas não só isso. Queriamos dar uma forma e um sentido que eliminassem os males da Diáspora, que viamos como o capitalismo, a luta de classes, a exploração; pensávamos que resolvendo o problema nacional judeu, teríamos que resolver também o problema econômico judeu. 4 Revista Eletrônica do NIEJ/UFRJ – Ano II – nº 4 – 2011 Baseávamo-nos nas teses de Ber Borochov, o pai espiritual do Poalei Zion na Europa, que defendia a tese do sionismo socialista já em 1906, em um panfleto chamado “Nossa Plataforma”, em que ele identifica as bases da existência do judeu na Diáspora e seus problemas de ordem social, política e econômica, além do antissemitismo, como resultado dessa anomalia. Ou seja, ele chegou ao sionismo pelo socialismo. De fato, nós absorvemos essa tese, e o movimento, desde o princípio, sobretudo a geração anterior, almejava transformar Israel em um grande kibbutz, de base socialista. MG – Agrícola? Milgram – Sim, agrícola, mas aberta a novos desenvolvimentos tecnológicos. Não foi difícil o kibbutz se abrir para novas indústrias, mas isso trouxe uma série de problemas, é claro. Uma célula socialista virou uma empresa, que começou a receber assalariados. Só isso já era uma contradição que, no marxismo, chamávamos de mais-valia e que acabou ocorrendo dentro do kibbutz. MG – Você quando chegou aqui em Israel foi fazer hagshamá (expressão usada pelos movimentos pioneiros para se referir à forma pela qual o jovem deve controlar seu destino e realizar seus desejos individuais em prol da coletividade) direto no kibbutz? Milgram – Eu fiz aliá em 1973 e nós organizamos, um pouco antes, um grupo só de estudantes universitários. Queriamos fazer a ligação entre a realização ideológica da ida para Israel e estarmos ligados ao kibbutz. Isso, porque achavamos que se ficassemos no Brasil para estudar, não viríamos para Israel. Aí tivemos a idéia de juntar os estudos com a experiência no kibbutz e isso, diria, só foi possível devido às condições criadas em Israel após a Guerra de 67. Abriu-se, nessa ocasião, um amplo desenvolvimento, mobilizando muitos jovens da Diáspora para estudarem aqui com a subvenção da Agência Judaica para o ingresso nas universidades israelenses. Esse é o pano de fundo que permitiu uma nova idéia dentro do movimento, foi uma inovação. 5 Revista Eletrônica do NIEJ/UFRJ – Ano II – nº 4 – 2011 MG – E você, chegou com posicionamento crítico em relação a 1967? Pois você me deu a impressão de que 67 abriu várias portas, mas criou vários problemas para o sionismo que você representava. Milgram – Sim, mas na época não. Em 1973, anos após a vitória na Guerra de 67, ou seja, anos após a conquista dos territórios, já havia polêmica no discurso público, não muita, mas havia gente que se opunha à continuidade dessa ocupação militar. Mas a polêmica não era tão forte, pois os territórios ocupados até 1974 eram mantidos como um trunfo para um acordo de paz com os Estados Árabes e, de acordo com essa concepção, não havia nenhuma fixação israelense nos territórios, afora em Jerusalém em que houve uma expansão imediata para Jerusalém Oriental, a fim de transformar a cidade em capital do Estado. A polêmica se iniciou em 1974, quando surgiu um grupo religioso, messiânico, de direita, chamado Gush Emunin (Bloco da Fé), que se propunha a fazer a redenção nacional do judeu – isso quando houve uma conjunção de processos políticos, econômicos e militares que fez com que o pensamento religioso – messiânico da direita que, até 67, não tinha muito sentido, pois os lugares religiosos estavam nas mãos da Jordânia. Nesse ano os religiosos-messiânicos tiveram um grande impulso de “colonizar” e se expandir para os territórios, pois acreditavam ser a terra de seus antepassados. Lembro-me que em 1974 comecei a estudar na Universidade Hebraica e foi minha primeira participação em uma passeata contra o Gush Emunim. Na época, era o primeiro governo de Itzhak Rabin, e acho que eles cometeram um erro capital que estamos pagando até hoje. Permitiram o estabelecimento de colônias, dentre elas a de Hevron, que hoje em dia é uma aberração. É a única cidade da Cisjordânia onde metade da população está ocupada por israelenses e outra por árabes. E a população que coloniza a cidade vem de diversos grupos. Há, contudo, uma base comum, com tendências xenófobas, anti-árabes, até mesmo racistas. Sem dúvida fizeram e continuam fazendo tentativas de “limpeza étnica” na cidade e foram bem-sucedidos. Houve uma grande migração de árabes da cidade. Mas isso é muito específico desse caso. Já Itzhak Rabin, em seu segundo governo, promoveu a saída do exército israelense das cidades árabes, quando, por exemplo, Belém e Tulkarem ganharam certa autonomia palestina. 6 Revista Eletrônica do NIEJ/UFRJ – Ano II – nº 4 – 2011 MG – Você estudou História na Universidade Hebraica de Jerusalém? Milgram – Sim. Antes, eu estudei Sociologia na Universidade de São Paulo, durante dois anos. Quando comecei a preparar a minha vida em Israel, minha formação acadêmica, optei pelo bacharelado em História Judaica e Geral. No ano de 1976-77, fiz um curso com o professor Israel Gutman. Era na verdade um curso para o mestrado, mas que estava aberto para os alunos dos últimos períodos.
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