Even death can’t stop Milton Steinberg Page 7 Molester sentenced to 32 years in prison Page 6 Music review: a Capella for Sefi ra Page 12 A winning season for the Shalhevet Sparks Page 22 THE JEWISH STAR VOL 9, NO 15 ■ APRIL 16, 2010 / 2 IYAR, 5770 WWW.THEJEWISHSTAR.COM Unclaimed millions The memory of memory Israel Holocaust commemoration in seeks heirs Lawrence draws hundreds of early By Sergey Kadinsky Attorney Benjamin Brafman has de- fended millionaires and murderers. But Zionists until Sunday night, he never defended millions. By Mayer Fertig “For 35 years, I’ve spoken on issues They were the early adopters of the Zi- of Israel and Judaism,” said Brafman onist dream: Jews who invested in pre-state in an impassioned address at Congre- Palestine but didn’t survive the Holocaust. gation Beth Sholom in Lawrence. “But They left behind cash, stocks, real estate and objects of art worth an estimated quarter I’ve never spoken for six million murder of a billion dollars. Perhaps better late than victims.” never, Israel is now launching a search across Brafman, the son of Holocaust sur- North America to fi nd their heirs and make vivors, was the second speaker at the restitution. community-wide Yom Hashoah com- There are some 55,000 unclaimed ac- counts and properties, including abandoned memoration held on the oldest Modern buildings and fallow land. Unclaimed assets Orthodox synagogue in Long Island. will eventually be used to support Holocaust Brafman’s parents lived in prewar Vi- survivors and honor the victims. enna, which had a sizable Jewish com- “What we want people to do is go onto the munity. On Kristallnacht in 1938, he Web-site and see if there’s someone who’s a relative, and submit a claim,” explained Jere- said, every synagogue in Vienna was my Ruden, a spokesman for the Company for torched. Location and Restitution of Holocaust Vic- “Can you see us all dead, in one night, tims Assets LTD, which was founded in 2005 800 Jews?” Brafman asked the crowd. at the direction of the Israeli government. A “It’s hard to get your mind around this. number of members of the company’s board of directors are survivors themselves. Now, multiply it by 6,000 times.” “We do our own research, depending on If anything, the theme of the program what records are still available.” he said. was not the memory of the Holocaust, “Did this person have family? Did they have but the memory of the memory of the brothers or sisters? We want to give this to Holocaust, which is gradually becoming the rightful owners.” The Web-site for claims is www.hashava. more distant as survivors die. A point org.il/eng. Its name translates in English to Brafman stressed and re-stressed in his “return.” A list of all the unclaimed assets is Continued on page 3 online, though it is short on details in order to minimize fraud and illegitimate claims. Specifi c locations of properties are not pro- Photo by Claudio Papapietro vided, nor are details about art objects or un- Attorney Benjamin Brafman spoke about the need to keep the next generation from forgetting the Holocaust during the Continued on page 3 annual commemoration at Congregation Beth Sholom last Sunday. Shabbat Candlelighting: 7:17 p.m. Shabbat ends 8:19 p.m. 72 minute zman 8:49 p.m. Torah Reading Parshat Tazria—Metzora Zman Kriat Shma 8:51 (Magen Avrohom) & 9:34 (GRA & Ba’al Tanya) 01 3 NO PERMIT 0 3 115 , NY , CITY ARDEN G AID P GE A T S PO US TD S T PRS 361707 2 Inside AR T Home grown hate The Jewish Star WISH S Classified Ads 20 Crossword 21 Swastikas Editorial 16 THE JE I’m Thinking 13 0 7 In My View 10 7 Kosher Bookworm 18 drawn in AR 5 Letters to the Editor 16 On the Calendar 8-9 Opinion 13-16 010 2 IY Cedarhurst Parsha 17 That’s Life 23 By Andrew Coen The Other Side of the Bench 15 Dozens of swastikas were drawn in Cedar- April 16, 2 How to reach us: hurst last week. Our offices at 2 Endo Blvd., Garden City, NY 11530 are open from 9 The Nazi symbols were discovered in the a.m. to 5 p.m. every weekday, with early closing as necessary on village on Shabbos, said village trustee Ari Erev Shabbat. Contact us via e-mail or telephone as listed below. Brown. Advertising The Nassau County Fourth Precinct Prob- [email protected] lem Oriented Police unit is investigating the Nassau County incident. [email protected] They were seen on the poles of a conces- 516-569-4000 extension 290 sion stand in Cedar- Manhattan & Queens hurst Park as well [email protected] as at the entryway 516-569-4000 extension 319 of Maple Plaza off ‘It’s not the Classified Central Avenue. [email protected] Four swastikas aduIts it’s the Community Calendar items were also discov- [email protected] ered drawn on the Letters to the Editor side and rear of Da- kids... and [email protected] vid’s Famous Pizza News and Sports items at 580 Central Ave. [email protected] in Cedarhurst on they need to Press Releases March 28 while the [email protected] pizzeria was closed be educated.’ Publisher and Editor in Chief for Passover. [email protected] The swastikas 516-632-5205 extension 4 in Cedarhurst Park were noticed by Steven Senior Editor Hittelman, who alerted police. “It was very [email protected] unsettling,” said Hittelman. 516-569-4000 extension 289 The symbols of hate are especially upset- ting to Trustee Brown, whose mother and Facsimile: grandmother survived the Holocaust in Italy The Star prefers e-mail, but we are equipped to accept your but had many other relatives perish during letters, releases, etc. by FAX. Please dial 516-569-4942. Hitler’s quest to kill all of Europe’s Jewish To subscribe: population. Brown said during the April 12 The Star is available free of charge in many kosher food Cedarhurst Village Board meeting that judg- establishments, other stores, synagogues and street-side news ing by the drawings of the swastikas he sus- boxes in Nassau County and New York City. To have The Star mailed to your home or office each week call our circulation pects they were done by youths. He is hoping department at 516-569-4000, extension 7. You may charge a previously used anti-bias campaign in the your subscription to VISA, Mastercard or American Express. local schools can be revitalized to try and Subscriptions in Nassau County or Far Rockaway are $9 per prevent these crimes from occurring in the quarter, charged to your credit card, or $48 per year by cash or future. check. Elsewhere in New York, New Jersey or around the United “It really is a hate crime,” said Brown. “It States, they are $15 per quarter on your credit card or $72 per year. Please allow four weeks to begin delivery. is not the adults doing it, it is the kids and the kids need to be educated.” To place a display ad: Cedarhurst Mayor Andrew Parise, a World Reservations, art and copy for display advertising in the general War II veteran who fought the Nazis in the news sections of The Star must be in our office by Tuesday at 1 p.m. Battle of the Bulge and helped liberate the for publication that week. An advertising representative will gladly Buchenwald concentration camp, was also assist you in pre paring your message. Please e-mail or call for an upset by the numerous swastikas drawn in appointment. his village last week. “It bothers me terribly,” To place a classified ad: said Parise. Please call 516-569-4000 during regular business hours and ask for The Star classified department. All classified ads are payable in advance. We accept all major credit cards. News and Calendar Items: News releases of general interest must be in our office by Friday only simchas! at noon to be considered for publication the following week. Releases for our On the Calendar section must be in our office by Wednesday at 5 p.m. to be considered for publication the Celebrating Jewish Life following week. To report a breaking news story or for further information call 516-569-4000 ext. 291 or e-mail newsroom@ Engagements thejewishstar.com. Engagement of Yehosha Langsam (To- Letters to the editor: ronto, Canada) & Leah Rowner (Passaic, NJ) The Star provides an open forum for opinions and welcomes letters — April 11, 2010 to the editor. Letters should be e-mailed, must be signed, and should be accompanied by an address and daytime phone number for verification. You may offer longer submissions for inclusion Engagement of Mindy Frenkel (Brooklyn, on our Opinion pages. Letters and Opinion articles must be in our NY) & Henoch Katz (Brooklyn, NY) — April office by noon Friday to be considered for publication the following 11, 2010 week. They are subject to editing for length and clarity. To view entire galleries, please visit www.onlysimchas.com 366835 3 THE JE The memory of memory WISH S Continued from page 1 speech; a point felt by the Holocaust survi- T vors in the audience that hung on his every AR word. “Until my parents died, I felt their sad- April 16, 2 ness, and many of you have similar feelings,” explained Brafman. “We had eyewitness tes- timony.” Regarding his children, he added, “They 010 2 IY need to hear it from us.” The keynote address was delivered by Charlotte Gilman, a Belgian-born child sur- AR 5 vivor who hid in Catholic convents and or- phanages during the Holocaust.