AJR inj^rma ti^ n Volume UVNo. 8 August 1999 £3 (to non-members)

False perceptions of reality by Poles, Germans, Serbs and jews

No light from False consciousness the East he (non- hen a nation collectively fails to perceive Jews paid more heed to Schiller's words on the identical) T twin W monsters Hitler reality it can have disastrous effects, as printed page than to what was actually happening and Stalin were the twentieth century amply demon- in the streets; Austrian Jews clung to comforting mutually strates. In interwar Poland - a state reinserted into myths generated by Hugo Bettauer's Die Stadt ohne reinforcing. the political map of Europe in 1918 under the Allied Juden; even Polish Jews harked back to General Lithuanians war aim of the self-determination of nations - over Ludendorff's reassuring World War One appeal to rationalise their a third of the population were non-Poles. DieJiden fun Poilen. Wartime antisemitic Compounding this flaw, the Warsaw Government In the aftermath of the Shoah the opposite - i.e. massacres by contrived at the same time fo be on bad terms with negative - extreine of false consciousness gained talking up the all its neighbours: Germany, Russia, Lithuania and ground, not least in Israel. Many Israelis viewed fig- Jewish role in Czechoslovakia, ures like Nasser and Arafat as mini-Hitlers and the Sovietising the Interwar Germany displayed even more blatant Arabs as reincarnated Germans. And because the country-. In Poland false consciousness. The "Versailles Treaty left it in a West had apparently connived at the wartime the daughter of a stat"Hoew ocaf noutrage sixty-fivde victimhoomillions' rad n summethe unceasind up gi ncom the­ tslaughteo be disregardedr of Jewry. , Western voices urging modera- martyred patriot plainphrast e "livVolke packe ohned Ranmtogethe (peoplr in a ereduce withoud tterritory? space),' tioEven on Israein thl ei nDiaspor pursuit ao fth the e mindsepeace tproces that ssee tendes aldl alleges a "possibly Yet nowadays eighty million Bundesbiirger exist non-Jews as potential enemies still exists. But genetic Jewish quite comfortably within an area made much maybe that negative extreme of false consciousness predisposition smaller still by ceding Silesia and most of Prussia to carries a positive charge at a time when it is not towards Poland in 1945. persecution, but acceptance, that seems to threaten Communism". In a manner of speaking Serbia is the Prussia of Jewish survival D In actual fact the Balkans. Just as the German Reich Stalin's set up in 1871 was an enlargement of antisemitism was Prussia, so post-WWI Yugoslavia was only quantitatively Serbia writ large, with Belgrade riding different from roughshod over the interests of the Hitlers. While minorities. Yugoslavia was, in fact, most Auschwitz created twice, in 1918 and 1945 and prisoners were also disintegrated twice: in 1940, at Jews, every type the behest of Hitler and Mussolini of Soviet citizen and in the 1990s to the advantage of Was a potential Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians and Koso- Gulag inmate. vars. Yet, even after the defeat of Nonetheless Milosevic some Serbs substitute ro­ there are mantic tribal memories of Serbdom as correspondences: a bulwark of Christian orthodoxy scandously few against the Muslim Turks for harsh beneficiaries of present-day reality. Auschwitz - and no Lastly, what about false conscious­ Gulag operatives ness among the Jews? Examples of W'hatsoe\'er - ha\e the syndrome abound, ranging all the been brought to r , . . , I .\IR Cl.uniiiuni Aiuhvii KiiufiHaii, left, reiealingpUiiis tu biniii lull.', cum II iiL-ic ilav justice D way from overly positive to grossly centre, with Vice-chairman and Treasurer David RotheJtberg at the AG.M (See hack negative misconceptions. German page for full details). AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

Profile AJR Charitable Trust In aid of SelfAid of Refugees presents the The triumph of hope Xondon Concertino reddie Knoller was born in 1921 r Conductor Richard Dickins ' into a middle-class Viennese family Leader David Juritz Fand grew up as the cello-playing youngest of three musical brothers who playing Mozart,Vlvaldl & Hoist often performed together in public. with special guest appearance of / From early childhood he was conscious RAPHAEL WALLFISCH of incipient antisemitism. After the performing Haydn's Cello Anschluss Freddie escaped to Belgium Concerto in C where he received help from the Jewish community and joined a camp for young Sunday 10 October 1999,3pm refugees. With the Nazi invasion of Bel­ Freddie Knoller The Great Hall, Imperial College, gium he fled to France where he was London SW7 arrested as an 'enemy alien' and put into but he received extra food from his Concert tickets at £ 10, £ 15 & £20, an interment camp near the Spanish friend Robert in charge of the camp hos­ including tea and cakes, from: border. Appalling conditions and an out­ pital. The Concert Secretary, break of typhus made Freddie escape to In the depth of winter, as the Russian I Hampstead Gate, Frognal, London NW3 6AL relatives in the unoccupied Vichy zone. Army advanced, the whole camp was Disregarding sound advice, Freddie left evacuated in a death march. Within a Early booking is advisable to avoid disappointment this dull, but relatively secure, backwater day, half the column had perished and for the excitement and danger of occupied more froze to death at night. Then, Paris and the night-life of Pigalle. With packed into cattle wagons for seven days, false pa, ers, he mingled with a wide many more died. The survivors arrived at strata oi society, from German soldiers to Dora-Nordhausen in the Harz Mountains tough pro.stitutes and made a living from where VI flying bombs and V2 rockets u \)) German soldiers looking for brothels, were manufactured in underground cav­ night clubs and cabarets. Arrested by a erns. Freddie's group pushed heavily Gestapo officer, he was warned off. laden rail wagons through the tunnels BELSIZE SQUARE In May 1943 he joined the Maquis - the and were subjected to continual brutality SYNAGOGUE French Resistance - in unoccupied and hangings. France. With him were a number of other With the approach of the American 51 BELSIZE SQUARE, NW3 Jews, French communists and young men Army they were evacuated to Bergen- dodging the draft to do forced labour in Belsen where the beating stopped, but We offer a traditional style of Germany. They talked more than they re­ among the stench of decomposing bodies religious service with Cantor, sisted, but were paid in kind for their many died through dysentery and lack of Choir and organ work on the land. A broken affaire led to food. Belsen was liberated by British his betrayal and arrest by the French po­ troops on 15th April 1945, but when they Further details can be obtained lice. Confessing that he was a Jew from were fed hot milk and rice some died as from our synagogue secretary Vienna, Freddie was passed on to the they could no longer digest. Freddie vol­ Gestapo and held in the infamous transit unteered to collect food from local farms Telephone 0171-794 3949 camp at Drancy. and stabbed an obstreperous Jew-baiting Minister: Rabbi Rodney J. Mariner Transport No. 60 left Drancy on 6th Oc­ farmer whose half-hidden picture of Hit­ Cantor: Rev Lawrence H. Fine tober 1943 carrying 1,000 deportees, 100 ler Freddie had slashed to pieces. Regular services: Friday evenings at 6.45 pm. crammed into each cattle wagon in ap­ Advised not to return to judenrein Saturday mornings at 10 am palling conditions and arrived at Vienna, Freddie was reunited in France Religion school: Sundays at 10 am to 1 pm Auschwitz three days and nights later. with his elder brother, a GI and heard Space donated by Pafra Limited Squeezed against a middle-aged French­ that his oldest brother was now a doctor man called Robert, who was a doctor, in New York! Their parents, however, Freddie was not to know that this chance had been deported and perished in encounter was to save his life. He soon Auschwitz. After a stay in the United MANAGEMENT CHANGES understood that one either gave up and States he came to Britain and married Michael Radbil has decided to resign from was dead within two or three rJays, or Freda; together they started a successful his position as chief executive of the AJR fought to live. He determined to survive fashion retail business. As marketing di­ in order to return to a career In the as a witness to German barbarity. At rector of Israel Bonds, an expert on commercial sector. Auschwitz Ill's Buna rubber factory his Jewish philately, amateur musician and The responsibilities of chief executive will task - day in and day out - was to carry communal worker, Freddie can't find the be reassigned, as far as possible, within 25kg bags of cement. Survival was not time to age - he's just too busy! our existing organisation. possible on the meagre rations provided. D Ronald Channing AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

proof that even twelve centuries ago the Every myth a hit? power-hungry Zionists were manoeuver- redo quia absurdum (I believe it ing to bring Russia into their grasp. NEWTONS just because it's absurd) wrote the A less localised myth bandied about for Leading Hampstead Solicitors C Roman philosopher Tertullian two the last thirty years alleges that US policy 22 Fitzjohns Avenue, ^hole millennia ago. So what is new? is driven (no double entendre intended) London NW3 SNB It was only to be expected that myths by oil. US intervention in Iran, Lebanon 'k All English legal work *ould proliferate on the eve of this and Somalia and US-military action in the undertaken and German, 'Millennium. Likewise it was a safe bet Gulf (and the continuing encroachment' Swiss & Austrian claims •'^at Israel and the Jews would figure on Iraqi air space) are entirely ascribed to k German spoken Prominently in these m\lhs. Jerusalem is, the greed for liquid gold, i.e. oil. * Home visits arranged y t^ommon consent, the central stage for When NATO, under American leader­ Enacting end-of-the world myths (which ship, committed itself to the Balkans 'k Associated offices in Hamburg, Los Angeles.Tel Aviv, Sydney, Partly draw on the predictions of the conflict in February, the canard that West­ Zurich J^'wish apothecary- and seer Nostra- ern human rights campaigns only mask tlamus). naked economic self-interest lost all sub­ Tel: 0171 435 5351 Fax: 0171 435 8881 The Jews per se have figured promi- stance. There is no oil-field anywhere ^t^ntly in our century's seminal myths near Kosovo! '^"ch as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion But, since nature abhors a vacuum, a ^"

"holocaust victims urged to claim compensation AUSTRIAN and GERMAN PENSIONS ^f^om $1.25 billion Swiss bank fund PROPERTY RESTITUTION n extensive worldwide campaign enues gained from that labour in Swiss started on 6 July 1999 to alert vic­ entities. CLAIMS A tims of Nazi persecution that they Those who performed slave labour at a EAST GERMANY- BERLIN . tiaim for compensation against a work site, wherever located, owned or -^5 billion Swiss bank fund set up last controlled by the Swiss Government or a On instructions our office will year. Swiss bank or business. assist to deal with your ridividuals and their heirs or succes­ I Those who, in fleeing Nazi persecution, applications and pursue the sors , can apply e\'en if thev never had a ! were turned away at Swiss borders or, matter with the authorities. ''^'^k account. after entering, were mistreated. Th For further information and ^ ne settlement plan, approved by US Individuals are urged to register their appointment please fiv '^^'^^ J'J'Jge Edward Korman, provides names by 22 October 1999 at the latest, ' contact: ^/^^tegories of claimants: either by telephoning in the UK 0800- j ICS CLAIMS ^ hose with rights to assets, like bank 917-4424, accessing the Internet site at j 146-154 Kilburn High Road j ^^nts or investment funds, deposited http://www.swissbankclaims.com/ or London NW6 4JD ^vitzerland before 9 May 1945. writing to: "INFORMATION" In re Tel: 0171-328 7251 (Ext. 107) . Joteosd oe r whremo\eo hadd banv yth easset Naziss .tha t were Holocaust Victim Assets Litigation, No­ CoTh ,"^ ^ ^^^° performed sla\e labour for tice Administrator, PO Box 8300, San Fax:0171-624 5002 Panics that may ha\e deposited rev- Francisco, CA 94128-8300, USA D | AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

Reviews

book alive, so that it is much more than a She married the German-Jewish refugee Strangers within conventional historical text. The authors Rudi Bamber and had two children, hut the gate also discuss in detail the whole identity the marriage did not last. (She was prob­ of refugees in society. What is the defini­ ably always too busy to foster the Tony Kushner and Kadiarine Knox, REFUGEES tion of a refugee as opposed to an relationship sufficiently.) IN AN AGE OF GENOCIDE: GLOBAL immigrant? What does it feel like to be Helen always felt compelled to be busy NATIONAL AND LOCAL PERSPECTIVES. Frank forced into exile? At what stage does one in the world she had made her concern: Cass, 1999, £47.50, (paperback £22.50). stop being a refugee? Here again they first in hospital where she worked with abbi Hugo Gryn memorably compare and contrast the long-term ex­ Dr Maurice Pappworth, an opponent oi pointed out that this is the century perience of the different groups who unnecessarily harsh medical interference R of the refugee'. Right until the very have settled in Britain; from the welcome with patients. Together they pioneered last year it has continued to be so. This given to the Hungarians in 1956, to the the right of mothers to be with their hos­ ambitious and wide-ranging book tells growing hostility towards asylum seekers pitalised children. She continued wor^- the story of the many different refugees and the difficulties faced by groups such unpaid, even after she quit her job. who have come to Britain in the past as the Kurds and Zairians arriving in the This led to her passion for Amnesty hundred years. In their daunting project 1980s and 90s. International. She worked for this organi­ the authors have displayed both careful They single out Jews and the AJR as a sation from its inception in 1961, perforce attention to detail and great sensitivity. group which has consciously sought to outside the area of only Jewish suffering' The text ranges from describing the preserve its refugee identity - mentioning After all, torture whether perpetrated by movement of Vietnamese Boat people, the venerable history of AJR Information revolutionaries or counter-revolutionaries Ugandan Asians and Spanish Republi­ - and pointing out how unusual it is that was endemic in countries like Algeria, cans, to the largest single influx of there is an identifiable second genera­ Vietnam, Argentina - as we have recently refugees which was the arrival of tion', in the case of Jewish refugees. In a been reminded - Colombia and Pino­ Belgians a the First Wodd War - as well period when there is substantial political chet's Chile. as, of course, devoting substantial space resentment towards concepts of asylum Helen Bamber split with Amnesty Inter­ to recounting the different waves of and refugees, the book also provides a national in 1985 when she was appointed Jewish refugees. timely reminder of the enormous contri­ director of the Medical Foundation (ot It is not a comfortable story - the book bution that former refugees made to this the Care of Victims of Torture. Recently reflects upon the recurring meanspirited country in so many fields of endeavour. she has become something of a celebrity- attitude of politicians like Herbert n Suzanne Franks as evidenced by this book and hef Morrison and Ernest Bevin. Yet this cal­ appearance on Desert Island Discs. lousness was also punctuated by In her seventies now she vows she wi" extraordinary acts of generosity and in­ A life for others 'never retire'. tense activity by local committees and n John Rossall concerned individuals. It is very unusual Neil Belton,THE GOOD LISTENER,Weidenfeld for historians to talk about their own & Nicolson, 1998, £18.99. times; this account is all the more signifi­ elen Bamber, nee Balmuth, was Austrian exiles cant because it takes the risk of including born in East London in 1925, to Ursula Seeber, ed., EIN NIEMANDSLAND,ABEP' the refugee crisis we have just witnessed Russo-Polish parents who H WELCH EIN RUNDBUCKhExilautoren Ober in Europe and on our television screens. eventually separated. Her father's There is an Afterword quoting contempo­ preoccupation at a distance with the Nachkriegs - Wien, Picus Ver/og, VV/en, / 998. rary newspaper accounts of the camps in rising tide of Nazism strongly influenced he Literaturhaus at Seidengasse 1^ Macedonia and commenting on the po­ Helen. (Vienna VII) houses the Oster­ litical battles over the latest Parliamentary After living as a young girl through the Treichische Exilbibliothek, which' legislation on asylum seekers - which London Blitz, she went to Belsen at the under the able direction of Ursula Seebef. was already superseded by the time the age of 20, as a member of the Jewish Re­ offers a friendly haven for readers an'' book appeared and will need to be lief Unit, dressed in a British uniform researchers into Austrian exile writings. ^^ amended in a future edition. Yet the au­ with a Star of David. There her main task Seeber's latest publication is this moving thors indicate how the same pattern of was listening to survivors, particularly the selection of short texts by exile authors, official foot-dragging and widepsread younger ones and quite particularly to describing their feelings and experience* popular sympathy we saw during the children, ever her favourites. on retuming to Vienna after 1945. Kosovo crisis has been a recurring fea­ The survivors of Nazi beastliness had to The authors selected include many '^ ture of Britain's attitude towards refugees. remain in the DP camps until 1947 when the leading literary lights of Viennese They also place Kosovo in the context of the British Government allowed some Jewry in exile, Hilde Spiel and EricO the ever more restricting attitude towards into Palestine. Meanwhile Helen helped Fried, Jakov Lind and Robert Neumann. allowing entry to those who are in need to bring some boys to this country, to be Friedrich Torberg and Ernst Lothar, ^' The recurring use of personal testimony trained for a civilised life. (They included well as the theatre critic Alfred Polga""' and revealing interviews with refugees Roman Halter, the subsequent author and the poet Theodor Kramer and the jour­ from all kinds of backgrounds brings the stained-glass artist). nalist Willi Frischauer. Amidst this gala'O' continued on pags 5 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

of talent, it is a pleasure to see names So much for Mr Benn's encomium on like George Clare and Martha Blend, well Chamberlain's clones the Serbs. Another group of nay-sayers known to readers of this journal. n 1945 Victor Gollancz published a were the military experts who reiterated The first section, Traumstadt Wien, bestseller by Michael Foot entided their bombing-can't-win-wars mantra for conveys the exiles' nostalgia for a partly I Guilty Men. It was a closely argued seventy long days, yet it had been pre­ 'Imaginary pre-Anschluss Vienna, der alte onslaught on appeasement-minded cisely the heavy US air raids on the Zauber der Unwirklichkeit. der auch bis prewar politicians and opinion formers Japanese mainland in spring 1945 that beiite nicht von Wien geschirunden ist, who by misrepresenting Hider's convinced Emperor Hirohito of the need ^s the dramatist Franz Theodor Csokor intentions had helped him realise them. to capitulate even before the dropping of put it in 1946. From the retuming Csokor's The book played a part in Labour's the atom-bomb. ^irst emotional glimpse of the Stephans- election triumph of that year. The Kosovo conflict was, of course, mi­ dom to the first bite of Apfelstrudel that History occurs first as tragedy, then as nuscule by comparison with the Second ^o delighted Ernst Benedikt, renowned farce (K. Marx). Though the Kosovo con­ World War. It would occur to no pub­ editor of the Neue Freie Presse, an almost flict was hardly a farce, some opponents lisher even to contemplate bringing out a Urnbilical attachment to the city of the ex­ of Nato action advanced tmly farcical ar­ book that listed examples of the anti- iles' youth is everywhere in evidence. guments. Times columnist Simon Jenkins Nato lobby's wrong headedness during 'Nowhere more so than in the exiles' at­ urged the UK to keep out of Kosovo on the conflict. However, if there were such tempts to gain access to the family homes the grounds that no vital British interest a project it should give pride of place to of their childhood, successfully in the was at stake and that the Balkans were, Harold Pinter's trivialisation of the Serb ^^^se of George Clare, but not in those of after all, the Balkans, i.e. the stamping atrocities against Kosovo Albanians as Jakov Lind and Lore Segal, who met with ground of savage tribes given over to 'counter-insurgency operations'. These hostile suspicion from those who had mutual destruction. (Substitute continen­ weasel words breathe the same spirit of installed themselves in place of the de- tal Europe for Balkans in Jenkins' mendacity as Jorg Haider's description of Ported parents. argument and it becomes a rehash of Nazi concentration camps as penal insti­ The denial of guilt by the Viennese, Alan Clarke's critique of Churchill for tutions (Strafanstalten). ^neir maudlin self-pity for alleged war- having spurned Hitler's 'peace offer' in URG ^'nie sufferings - Die Frau Doktor haben 1941). 8^t daran getan, dass sie fort sind, Hilde However, not all the 'nay-sayers' took ^Piel was told - the cold-blooded expro­ an undifferentiated view of the savage priation of Jewish property and the Balkans tribes. Tony Benn for one eulo­ resurgence of antisemitism led many ex- gised the Serbs as Britain's heroic allies in SEARCH NOTICES 'tes to leave, disillusioned. Those who 1914 and again in 1940. Actually what stayed often shared Theodor Kramer's happened in the latter year was that the Alfred Keiles, born 1927 In Wiesbaden, celings of despair: erst in der Heimat bin appeasement-minded Regent Paul was Germany, wishes to meet anyone 'c^ etvig fremd. The incident where the overthrown by patriotic officers shortly originating from that city where he lawyer Henr>' O Leichter confronted the before Hitler invaded and dismembered attended the Hebelschule and the sail ^stapo agent who had denounced his Yugoslavia. The Germans then set up a MIchelsberg Synagogue Hebrew classes 'Mother, only to learn that the spy regret- collaborationist Serb regime under Milan before leaving for South Africa at the age ^Q that his 'indiscretions' might have Nedic which, among other things, of 8. Please contact A Keiles, 6 The Placed people in awkward situations', rounded up all the local Jews. Meanwhile Reddlngs, Red Road, Borehamwood, Herts ^kes one's breath away. All the more the Royalist Serb general Mihailovic and WD6 4SS, or telephone 0181 207 1142. ^ason for us to remember that there are the Comintern agent Josef Tito (son of a pl ^o Viennese like Dr Seeber whose work Croat father and Slovene mother) set up Dr Alfred Apfel. Lawyer seeks Infor­ painstakingly records and commemorates separate partisan forces who alternated mation about this eminent German •^e Vanished worid of the exiles. between fighting each other and the Ger­ barrister. It is Intended to translate his D Anthony Grenville mans plus their collaborators. (The worst 1935 book Behind the Scenes of German collaborators were, of course, the Croats Justice into German and some facts be­ who set up a Catholic Fascist state which yond those already known to the public 50 YEARS AGO massacred orthodox Serbs and Jews). will be gathered in order to Introduce Dr LORD PAKENHAM'S PRAISE After victory Tito tried to curb Serb Apfel adequately. Please contact Dr Mathlas Hanten, Hoelderlinstrasse 16, D- "^e its inception, the AJR, time and again, advo- aggrandisement by dividing Federal 6a the idea that immigrants were not a burden, Yugoslavia into six republics as well as 60316 Frankfurt am Main, or tel: 0049 69 Ut an asset to a country, by granting autonomy to Albanians (and 405 9727 (answering machine). 51 address at the Dinner of the Anglo-Jewish Hungarians) in the Kosovo (and of" scociation. Lord Pakenham paid special tribute to Vojvodina) regions of Serbia. After Tito's Kathe Kobrack (Mrs). Born 1918. e achievements of Central European Jews from Abitur 1936 at the Auguste-Vlctoria Ose experience this country has benefited. He death his whole structure began to un­ ^ ^ntioned in particular the important part played ravel - but Serbia tried to maintain its School In Steglitz, Berlin. Member of the g ""efugee scientists in the development of atomic pre-eminent position by bloodily Ruderriege. Emigrated to England and th '^^^' '^^'^5'" ^"'^ penicillin, as well as the fact that worked as a teacher. Please contact Mrs manufacturing skills of refugees and the tech- combatting independence aspirations on to I ^^ introduced by them had given employment the part of first the Slovenes, then the Gisela Gaebel, Im Kleinen Felde 27,37136 '^rge numbers of British people. Croats, then the Bosnians and lastly the Bdslnghausen, Germany D i^ D A]R Information, August / 949 Kosovars.

— 5 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

After the Anschluss I received a further summons to a medical. I had no choice but to comply, appeared before variou-'^ medical examiners and finished standing 7^^^\0^4B^^ stark naked facing a row of military per­ sons, presided over by some elderly THANKYOU, BERTHA Austrian Jews' helped win him election in senior officer. Sir - Who ever had heard of the word Carinthia. He looked me up and down and Kindertransport before Bertha Leverton Whenever I receive an Austrian pen­ clearly did not realise the significance of spelt it out for us ten years ago by sion cheque, I have the faces of my the scarification down there. He enquired organising our first big reunion? murdered parents and most of my family which arm of the service I would prefer, but an officer, clearly with better vision I remember that heady first meeting in before me. This cheque, this blood or general knowledge, whispered into the Harrow Leisure Centre: the aston­ money, goes to Israel. Apart from this the Colonel's ear. I was ordered to report ished reactions to the venue: "Oh, its just cash nexus I know of no specific Aus­ to another desk where I was issued with like our camp at Dovercourt!" The tearful trian endeavour to establish cordial a Wehrpass, assigning me to Ersatzreserve embraces of long-separated companions relations with the former SauJuden of the II. It stood me in good stead on those oc­ and the jX)ignant photos on the wall: the AJR and consequently would find it re­ casions when I was stopped in the street litde girl with her doll, the boy in knick­ pugnant more than twice yearly to by uniformed hooligans, with the ques­ erbockers putting on a brave smile. That acknowledge to the Austrians that I am tion: 'Bist' a Jiid?" I just showed my reunion was like a love affair, exciting still amongst the living. document, with the Wehrmacht insignia and passionate - ten years on it was As far as Haider is concerned it is im­ on the cover and was left alone. I still re­ more like a marriage - a calmer affair. We material to me if either he or somebody gret that I threw that document into the were all older, some of us were infirm; worse follows him. Austrians like other Channel on my way to England. some had lost partners, yet we were still people deserve the government they London N6 M Goldenberg eager to be present at this last big get-to­ elect. I do feel, however, that the present gether. A taggering 1,200 people filled Austrian government should not hesitate the Logr- . Hall! to reward AW Freud with the OFFICERS' PLOT AND SHOAH Someone once described Bertha Bundesverdienstkreuz (or equivalent) for Leverton as "a little girl with big ideas". attempting so valiantly to reconcile the ir­ Sir - Had you asked the question "In view We have reason to be grateful to her for reconcilable. of the approaching defeat, was it really a the big idea of the reunions. London N6 H Fisher genuine moral horror and not rather the London NIO Martha Blend fear of retribution that motivated the plotters", the answer would waver Sir - AW Freud suffers from Jewish anaes­ between the two extremes and incline thesia when describing Haider's more to fear than to genuine horror. WRONG ABOUT ROMMEL? Carinthian election success as partly due The discussion in AJR Information^ Sir - I fail to see why one should be to Austrian Jewish emigrants' attitude to­ seems to me to disregard the horrifying protective about Rommel (Letters, June wards present-day Austria. For elections historical consequences of the total Nazi issue). I can attest that Zyklon B was there are decided by slogans, scape­ mentality for the future not only of JeWS used in Theresienstadt to deal with goating and xenophobia, which is a but of all mankind. From this different infestations of bed bugs (Wanzen). The patriotic necessity in Carinthia. It is said and merely human point of view any op' process required the hermetic sealing of that the man who lives in the past is position, however high or mean it^ every nook and cranny, window and blind in one eye, but the man who for­ motives, seems to me to deserve acclain^ door of a solid house, a process quite gets, is blind in both. to precede any criticism. unsuitable for an army moving about the It is not because of the generosity of At least from their contacts abroad the desert and living in fabric tents. It was the Austrian taxpayer that they pay pen­ plotters knew of the hatred evoked by not suitable for fumigation in the simple sions to victims of their fathers' misdeeds German atrocities and saw the need to DDT spray sense. Its only possible (though one wishes the Germans would give prime attention above all else to application by the Afrika Korps would do the same), but an attempt to atone for stopping them. Hence it is no pure specu­ have been in purpose-built airtight unforgivable sins. lation to say that a successful plot would buildings constructed of concrete or At the heart of Haider's ambitions lie have saved Jewish lives. Neither is it ^ brick, also known as gas chambers. prejudices and ambitions not tcx) far dif­ defence of German attitudes. The Ger­ Rommel's victories were not just mili­ ferent from Hitler's and certainly not mans - Hitler or no Hitler, Jews or nO tary achievements. They brought Gestapo motivated by belief in liberal values. Jews - might have started their war ir^ rule and genocide in their wake. Hendon, London NW4 Samuel Geller Ipswich Frank Bright pursuit of their long-standing missionary belief in the supremacy of German virtues- OVERLOOKING THE BLEMISH This dangerous belief has affected al' AUSTRIA: SORCERER'S Sir- I had an experience similar to Ronald Nazis and many plotters alike but in differ' APPRENTICE Stent's (July issue). ent ways. With the best will it was bound Sir - Haider should send a letter of Having undergone the compulsory to end up in crimes. Have all Jews at al' thanks to AW Freud, confirming for him medical for the Austrian armed forces I times been immune to such a temptation? that the unforgiving attitude of former was given a deferral as a medical student. London SE2I MLI^eyer AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999 t^OUBLE-HEADED EAGLE all gained Nobel prizes, while Ernst years old at the time, are well under ^ir - It is a well known fact that Friedrich Gombrich and Nicholas Pevsner gained seventy. Many of the Kinder brought Torberg had to have at least one considerable fame as art historians. their spouses and grown-up children. Communist for breakfast or, better still, Southampton ProfessorT Landsberg There were even some grandchildren Somebody whom in his pontifical there. For me, this was what made the event so moving. As well as remembering Wisdom he would accuse - usually MISPLACED GUILT falsely - of having Communist leanings. and honouring the murdered relatives Sir - In his review of Das kurze Leben des Indeed, it may not be too far-fetched to and thanking their British rescuers, it was Jakob Deulsch, Francis Steiner expresses ^escribe Torberg as some sort of Austro- a time for sharing experiences, particu­ guilty embarrassment at having been Jewish mini McCarthy. His outrageous larly in a dialogue between the spared the protagonist's suffering and "ackstabbing of Hilde Spiel was only the generations. considers himself undeservedly lucky. 'ip of the iceberg. Bertha Leverton's first 'golden anniver­ It is quite irrational to feel guilt over Having said this, I feel that the Editor's sary' ROK reunion in 1989 brought us events beyond one's control or influence. Comments are irrelevant, since my refer­ together and gave us an identity as Why does he consider his survival as ence to Torberg's lifelong involvement Kinder which few of us had realised undeservedly lucky? The victims were ^ith Judaism has nothing to do with his before that memorable event. This undeservedly unlucky. ariti-Communist paranoia. second event, ten years on, brought I, an only survivor of my family and all C/i/gwe//, Essex Fred Rosner Kinder and Kinder's Kinder together and of us who escaped extermination, owe it gave an impetus to the dialogue be­ Postwar Austria failed to purge its Nazi to the memory of the millions who per­ tween generations that will inevitably '^'^stfora multiplicity of reasons, of ivhich ished to celebrate our survival and not continue. ^^rviving antisemitism teas a major one. indulge in unwarranted guilt, thereby Many people, including Bertha herself, "y playing doivn their Jetvish ness compounding the tragedy. were saying this was the last major ROK Returnees like Kreisky, Weigl etc. helped Uxbridge Eric Fisher event. I think it deplorable if this were to "^iish this hugely important issue under be so. Another ROK Conference would, 1 ^'ou publisliecl also lost relatives in Belzec? Belzec is the and Second Generation Trust will rise to (Ju ne issue) Mrs Anne Pisker's disgraceful 'forgotten camp', but surely our loved this and I look forward to it very much. lettier , where she states: I owe nothing to ones should not be forgotten. London NW6 Ruth Barnett this country!!' Mike Tregenza has written a thorough ^ell, she owes her life to this country report about what he found there and he t^d it has been and is a jolly good life, I is still doing things to honour our dead. WINDFALL know!! Later this year his book will be pub­ Sir - I have a backfile of AJR Informa­ '-ondon SW/5 Mrs Z Greville lished. It is a matter of deep shame that tion dating back to October 1963. Any he received little help in financing his re­ individual who wishes to have the set gratis should contact me. The recipient GERMANY'S HOLOCAUST search. No Jewish organisation assisted him and he received only a modest grant would be expected to bear the cost of MEMORIAL from the Polish Government. transport by carrier, estimated at ±6. "^ "~ In order to alleviate this problem If anyone would like to contact Mike Pendle, Caemelyn, William Dieneman ^e July issue) one might use Norman Tregenza his address is Ul. Kiepury 11/ Aberystwydi, Ceredigion SY23 2HA ^ntwich's The Rescue and Achievement 29, 20-383 Lublin, Poland. J Refugee Scholars listing the success of Southampton Mrs Al Fazackerly ^'^y, whose work might have been HEARTFELT THANKYOU ''ried out in Germany had they not Sir - Your Association deserves an ^n forced to emigrate. Among them BELITTLINGTHE KINDER immense amount of credit for your ^ distinguished scientists, lawyers, Sir - As always, I read my newly-arrived efforts in helping individuals like me to 'storians, philosophers, etc. We will AJR Information today with great interest. successfully procure both material and Ver know what contributions to human Your provocative mini-editorial on the emotional restitution that should have ^ and happiness might have been made front page is what I usually read first and been ours by right many years ago. ^d others been allowed to live. this time I feel I must respond. I wish you continued success in all of •^e memorial could surely be used to The Sixtieth 'diamond' Anniversary Re­ your endeavours. Please publish this let­ ebrate the achievements of those who union of Kindertransportees was indeed ter to encourage those who have been 'grated and li\ed. Tliis would impart a a poignant event. A staggering 1200 peo­ refused, for whatever reason, in previous ''^ cheerful note which would indeed ple attended. But they were not all years. p. ^ be out of place. Max Born, Albert Kinder and not all septuagenarians. Hallandale Fred (Manfred) Naftalie ^tein, Dennis Gabor and others after Many, who like myself were under ten Florida AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

Auschwitz to Belsen, at its last meeting. A founder member of the Holocaust Survivors' Centre in London andrew gave a most interesting talk about its work, es­ pecially of the creative writing group which he leads. The lively discussion which followed demonstrated the interest of all present. The Sarid group recently published a collection of short stories written by survivors. nM(^ Sarid's next meeting is to be held on Monday 16th August. For further details please contact Myrna Glass on 0171 431 6161.

Pinner eorge Vulcan treated members of Pinner AJR to a wonderful trip Gthrough China, illustrated with a superb colour-slide show of beautifully annotated photographs taken by his wife Mary. Whether entering the Forbidden City by the Gate of Supreme Harmony, or taking in a wealth of magnificent mountain and river vistas, palaces and Comparing notes at the Annual General Meeting were AJR Trustees Max Kochmann, left, and Peter rock gardens, street scenes and curious Dannenberg, with Council Member Rosemary Lewis of the Otto Schiff Housing Association. customs, all were captured on camera to make an unforgettable afternoon. NEWS FROM THE ish Museum in Berlin. The speaker dis­ D Waker Weg played a model and artist's impressions GKOUPS of the proposed futuristic building which To book your place at Pinner AjR Party on 5th August, please phone Vera on 0181 886 4833 Northern is both symbolic and meaningful. or Elizabeth on 0181 954 1224. ill Williams, historian extraordinaire The new centre, he stressed , would be of Manchester Jewry, addressed conceptually different from those in AJR's Northern Group on the Washingtpon or Nottingham. It was in­ B Holiday times Holocaust Remembrance Centre which is tended to show Jewish experiences from planned to be built in our city within the the point of view of the individuals - May I just tell you how much we all sri' next few years. Just three and a half years both victims and survivors, pre-Holocaust joyed our last holiday in Bournemouth- ago, when Bill Williams last spoke to the as well as the post-Holocaust Renais­ The Normandie's catering was excellent, group, this venture was just a dream, but sance. It would also present a balanced the staff helpful and the atmosphere now it is very much a real project. picture of European Jewry throughout friendly. Williams stressed the imperative to the century. The countryside around Bournemoidb keep the memory of the Holocaust alive; Manchester's Holocaust Centre, antici­ is a delight, in many ways England at i^^ if it were to be ignored, he said, the les­ pated to cost close on £8 million and best and we were fortunate to join a most sons to be learned from the sacrifice which will require Lottery Fund support, interesting tour to Wimbourne. The miisi' would have been lost and forgotten. would not be just another exhibition, cal evening was full of fun - people wer^ The chosen site, at Trafford Wharf, was said Bill Williams, but an educational dancing and thoroughly enjoying therri' generously made available by Trafford project which also dealt with current selves. On another evening we had ^ Council and adjoins the proposed new problems of prejudice. nail-biting quiz with prizes. Imperial War Museum North. It will also n Werner Lachs If Sylvia and Renee set out to make t*^ be close by the popular new Lowry Art happy, they certainly succeeded! One carl' Gallery and Manchester United Football Brighton & Hove not cease to admire their ever-present Club's stadium. he Brighton and Hove group, devotion and care. With gratitude cin^ Designs for the structure have been which will continue to call itself many thanks for a wonderful iveek front prepared by Daniel Libeskind, who has T'Sarid', welcomed Andrew Hersko­ D Edith Fullon (Mrs) recently completed the remarkable Jew­ vits, a survivor of several camps from

DAY CENTRE - CHANGE IN HOURS BOLRNEMOLTn WEEK Tuesday's extended hour sessions will be discontinued after Tuesday 28th September 1999. For details of the AJR's next Sunday opening and extended hours on Thursdays are to remain the same. Bournemouth Week please contact The Day Centre is always pleased to welcome you. Sylvia or Renee on 0171 328 0208 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

Accept our invitation to a • • • Viewpcint • • • K.5fJ^(3 K.lat§ch Time macliines widi musical entertainment, he invention of the motor car in popular economical cars arrived, motor­ tea, coffee and pastries the latter years of the last ing was brought to the masses. century hardly impinged on the Everyone wanted to have their own on Sunday 22nd August T lives of either city or country dwellers. Tardis and travel through space in just from 3-5pm Modes of road transportation were all hours and minutes. The freedom con­ at the Paul Balint AJR Day Centre horse-drawn - coaches, carts and near- ferred on the individual by the 15 Cleve Road, NW6 revolutionary omnibuses. Many alive possession of this time machine lies at Entrance by ticket only £6 today spent their formative years in the heart of the twentieth century's life­ Please book with Sylvia, Renee & Susie such a milieu, echos of which remain style revolution. Tel: 0171 328 0208 preserved only by royalty and the With today's 27 million licence hold­ landed aristocracy. ers, inevitably the numbers of vehicles With the open road beckoning be­ vying for the available road space has tween the wars, the well-heeled classes revealed its incapacity to carry them. took to the highways - preferably Anyone can venture onto the Queen's chauffeured - and entered a golden age highway at anytime, irrespective of the of saluting AA and RAC patrolmen, priorities of other road users. Unsurpris­ beautifully crafted touring sedans and ingly, the system is grinding to a halt. low low petrol prices. World War II The century of the car is drawing to Enjoy took all private cars off the road and its close. In the next, people increas­ * Excellent food the age ended abruptly. ingly will communicate electronically, =•< Stimuladng talk In the immediate post-war rush to commute irregularly in superbuses run­ '*^ Enlivening discussion export, pre-war car designs were bright­ ning on dedicated highways and cross ^ Meeting new friends ened up and launched down the cities in pollution-free trams and buses, k\R LUNCHEON CLUB production lines, but home buyers were .suburb-hop in taxis, travel inter-city by coralled onto waiting lists for even the supertrains and reach the further parts on Wednesday 8th September 1999 most basic models. When purchasing of the globe in hours on air liners. Who at l5CleveRoad,NW6 3RL I 1.45 for 12.1 Spm restrictions were eventually lifted and will need a car? D Ronald Channing

Guest speaker: John Marshall 'Looking back at Westminster' Reservations £7.50 for everyone! PAUL BALINT AJR DAY CENTRE from Sylvia, Renee and Susie Tel: 0171 328 0208 Afternoon entertainment programme - AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 1999 Tue 17 THE MUSIC MAKERS Sun 1 DAY CENTRE OPEN NO Wed 18 THE GEOFFREY STRUM & ENTERTAINMENT HELEN BLAKE DUO Mon 2 KARD & GAMES KLUB Thur 19 THE GEOFFREY WHITWORTH Tue 3 Katinka Seiner & Laszio Easton DUO AJR'Drop in'Advice Centre accompanied by Peter Gellhorn, Sun 22 KAFFEE KLATCH - With Jack at the piano Davidoff & Jules Rubin Paul Balint AJR Day Centre Wed 4 Jeanette Wainwright, soprano, Mon 23 KARD & GAMES KLUB accompanied by Yeu-Meng Tue 24 Michelle Wright, soprano, 15 Cleve Road. London NW6 3RL Chan, piano accompanied by Angus between I Oam and 12 noon on the Thur 5 Katie Ward, soprano, Cunningham, piano following dates: accompanied by Kathryn Wed 25 Olga Baron, violin, Nicky Baron, Tuesday 3 August Courtney, piano trumpet, accompanied by Wednesday 11 August Sun 8 DAY CENTRE OPEN - NO Stephen Baron, piano Thursday 19 August ENTERTAINMENT Thur 26 The Helen Blake & Kathryn Tuesday 24 August Mon 9 KARD & GAMES KLUB Jenkin duo Wednesday I September Tue 10 Sergeo Lopez-Gomez, violin, Sun 29 DAY CENTRE OPEN - NO accompanied by John Knight, ENTERTAINMENT and every Thursday from piano Mon 30 CLOSED - BANK HOLIDAY I Oam to 12 noon at: Wed 11 Katie Bingham-Best, mezzo, Tue 31 Susanna Bird, soprano, AJR, I Hampstead Gate, la Frognal, accompanied by Mark accompanied by Phil Ley, piano London NW3 6AL Packwood, piano Wed 1 THE GEOFFREY WHITWORTH •^0 appointment is necessary, but please bring Thur 12 Amanda Palmer, soprano DUO along all relevant documents, such as Benefit Sun 15 DAY CENTRE OPEN - NO Thur 2 Tricia Dibb, soprano & Wayland Books, letters, bills, etc. ENTERTAINMENT Holford, baritone, accompanied Mon l6 KARD & GAMES KLUB by Michael Heaton. piano AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

FAMILY Wahers. Eric Walters. It is with ANNOUNCEMENTS deep regret that the AJR Academics TORRINGTON HOMES announce the passing of Eric Mrs. Pringsheim, S.R.N. Researching Austrian IMATRON Birthdays Walters at the age of 92. He will For Elderly, Retired and Convalescent Hirsch. Paul Hirsch born 2 be sadly missed. Centre in London (Licensed by Borough ol Bamelj August 1909 of 11042 Park View • Single and Double Rooms. 1939-1947 • H/C Basins and CH in all rooms. South, Seattle, WA 98178 CLASSIFIED • Gardens, TV and reading rooms. formerly of Kempen/Nieder- need expert assistance with • Nurse on duty 24 hours. rhein, Dublin and London. Miscellaneous Services chapter on Centre's musical • Long and short term, including Reflexology treatments in the Mazeltov on your 90th birthday, actlvides trial period if required. wife Lore, children Susan, Edith, comfort of your home by ITEC From £300 per week Roger, Paul, Elaine and families. qualified practitioner (AJR Please contact 0181-445 1171 Office hours member). Call Stefan on 0171 Dr Anthony Grenville 0181 -455 1335 other times NORTH FINCHLEY Deaths 624 0734. 29 Cholmley Gardens Fisher. Herbert Felix Fisher, Manicure & Pedicure in the London NW6 I AG Tel:OI7l 4190139 always cheerful despite his comfort of your own home. BELSIZE SQUARE Telephone 0181 343 0976. progressive disability. He will APARTMENTS be deeply missed by his wife Alice, children Ruth and Day Centre 24 BELSIZE SQUARE, NW3 Norman, grandchildren Steven, Shirley Lever at the Paul Optician Tel: 0171-794 4307 or Jane and Peter. We will Balint AJR Day Centre. New Dr Howard Solomons BSc FBCO 0171-435 2557 remember him for his abiding Clothes for Sale, dresses, under­ Dental Surgeon MODERN SELF-CATERING HOLIDAY love of his family and keen wear, cardigans etc. Tuesday 3 ROOMS, RESIDENT HOUSEKEEPER MODERATETERMS sense of humour. August, Wednesday 18 August Dr H Alan Shields NEAR SWISS COTTAGE STATION Hellendall. Fritz Hellendall, and Thursday 26 August, 9-45- born in Diisseldorf, passed 11.45am. Chiropodist away on 22 June 1999. Will be Trevor Goldman SRC Residential Home very much missed by his step­ Societies Ciara Nehab l-louse Association of Jewish Ex- by appointment at (Leo Baeck Housing Associaton Ltd.) son Frank, his daughter-in-law 13-19 Leeside Crescent NWII Marian, his three grandchildren, Berliners. Please contact Peter The Paul Balint AJR Day Centre 15 Cleve Road,West Hampstead, NW6 All rooms with Shower W.C. and Stephanie, Julia and Paul and Sinclair 0181 882 1638 for H/C Basins en-suite their respective families; also information. Please make appointments with Spacious Garden - Lounge & Albert, George and Matilde, the Sylvia MatusJehOlll 328 0208 Dining Room - Lift children of his late sister, Near Shops and Public Transport Mathilde and his many friends AJR INrORM4TION 24 Hour Care - Physiotherapy and acquaintances. Long & short Term - Respite Care • is available on tape SWITCH ON ELECTRICS Trial Periods Kaufmann. Kaethe (Kitty) Rewires and all household Enquiries: Josephine Woolt If anyone would like to take Otto Schiff Housing Association beloved wife of the late Prof. electrical work. The Bishops Avenue N2 OBG advantage of this service Phillip Kaufmann passed away PHONE PAUL: 0181-200 3518 Phone: 0181-209 0022 after prolonged illness on June please contact 19. Greatly missed by her Amanda Clark nieces Kitty Schafer, husband atAJROI7l-43l-6l6l ALTERATIONS AJR MEALS ON WHEELS Hans, of Toronto, Helen Kauf­ OF ANY KIND TO A wide variety of high quality kosher Mon-Thur 9.30am - Spm frozen food is available, ready made and mann of New York, Susan, LADIES' FASHIONS delivered to your door via the AJR meals Mark. Steven, Debra Walsh of I also design and make on wheels service. The food is cooked in Toronto and all other many children's clothes our own kitchens in Cleve Road, NW6, by friends. LINK Psychotherapy Centre West Hampstead area our experienced staff. - 0 service for the Jewish Comntunity 0171-328 6571 If you live in North or North West London Knopf. Use Knopf. We deeply and wish to take advantage of this service, The Centre offers groups for the phone Susie Kaufman on 0171-328 0208 regret to announce the passing 2nd and 3rd generation and for details and an assessment interview. of Use on 27 June. A hard­ psychotherapy, counselling and AJR GROUP CONTACTS working volunteer in the consultation for individuals, families and organisations. Leeds HSFA: Heinz Skyte Editorial Department for many 0113 268 5739 ADVERTISEMENT RATES years, she will be greatly missed Fees are negotiable. Enquiries to 0181 349 01 I I West Midlands: Edgar Glaser FAMILY EVENTS by her friends at the AJR office. (Birmingham) 0121 777 6537 First 15 words free of charge, £2.00 per 5 words thereafter. Lissner. Arno Lissner, born North: Werner Lachs (Manchester) 0161 773 4091 CLASSIFIED, SEARCH Breslau, passed away June 22 in WHY NOT NOTICES - £2.00 per five words. San Franci-sco, aged 89. Deeply ADVERTISE IN East Midlands Bob Norton mourned by his wife Gretel and (Nottingham) 01159 212 494 BOX NUMBERS - £3.00 extra. in London by sister Inge Strauss AJR INFORMATION? Pinner: Vera Gelhnan DISPLAY ADVERTS (HA Postal District) 0181 866 4833 per single column inch and brother-in-law Charles and Please telephone 65 mm (3 column page) £12.00 by grandchildren and great­ the Advertisement Dept S. London: Ken Ambrose 48mm (4 column page) £10.00 0181 852 0262 grandchildren in San Francisco. COPYDATE 5 weeks prior to TreiteL Edith Treitel, widow of 0171-431 6161 Surrey: Ernest Simon publication Imre, born in Posen in 1910, 01737 643 900 passed away on 2 July after an Brighton & Hove Fausta Shelton (Sussex Region) illness bravely borne. Deeply AJR 01273 688 226 The AJR does not accept mourned and missed by her Wessex: Ralph Dale responsibility for the standard of Tel:OI7l-43l 6/6/ (Bournemouth) 01202 762 270 loving daughter Carole. service rendered by advertisers

10 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

saal in a programme of Schumann, Cho­ pin and Beethoven's Pathetique. Titbits. The Queen of Sheba by Gold- mark, much performed on German opera stages before 1933 and neglected thereaf­ ter, is being revived at the Wexford festival in Ireland. Johanna Liebeneiner, he overall look of the Royal the German soap opera star, is the Academy Summer Exhibition daughter of the late Wolfgang Liebeneiner T99 has changed for the better, as and Hilde Krahl, whose career started in there are some 200 fewer works in this 1930s Vienna. The autumn season at the year's show compared to last. London Coliseum will feature two German Innovations include a gallery given operas, Rosenkavalier and Freischiitz. entirely to David Hockney's vast Both productions will open in early Sep­ Panoramic views of the Grand Canyon tember. ^nd there are memorial displays paying Birthday. Italian tenor Carlo Bergonzi tribute to the work of Morris Kestelman is 75. A specialist in Verdi roles he was ^nd Arnold Machin. Among the well- also a brilliant Canio, Rodolfo and Don known foreign artists exhibiting are Jose and sang at the New York Met for ^nselm Kiefer, Jasper Johns and Cy over 25 years. In London in the sixties he Twombly. The usual mixture of works by earned acclaim as Radames and °oth professional and amateur artists Cavaradossi. Thanks to his musical exper­ offers no surprises. Until August 15. tise he recently served as a juror at Studies for David Hockney's Grand Cardiff's 'Singer of the World' competi­ Canyon paintings at the Royal Academy Rc'becca Dnjjit'ld. Buyi.'^b Buu . .\utiviicil I'tntiait tion. •tre included in a pleasurable show of Gallery Obituary. The doyen of light music in Pastels, watercolours and drawings at Austria, Eduard Macku, veteran conduc­ Annely Juda Fine Art until September 18. tion in approach is evident; it seems that tor of the Bad Ischl Kurorchester, has 'here are still lifes, set designs, a portrait anything - however bizarre - passes as died, aged 91 HI of Andy Warhol and studies of Hockney's art. "lother and father - all reflecting his Finally, the BP Portrait Award 1999, creative imagination and his consummate at the National Portrait Gallery until Octo­ draughtsmanship. ber 3, is a hugely enjoyable show. Annely Juda Fine Art Bridget Riley: Paintings from the Paintings from the estate of Francis Ba­ 23 Dering Street (off New Bond Street) 1960s & 1970s, at the Serpentine Gallery con are on view at Faggionato Fine Arts Tel: 0171-629 7578 Fax: 0171-491 2139 until August 25 and a small, but welcome ^ntil August 30, focuses on Riley's paint- CONTEMPORARY PAINTING 'ngs which were dubbed Op Art. Her exhibition of still lifes by Giorgio AND SCULPTURE "lost dazzling images are the black and Morandi can be seen at the Estorick Col­ ^hite paintings of the early 1960s which lection until September 19. create a constantly shifting optical experi- D Barry Fealdman •^ce. Her later colour paintings are also Plically disconcerting and a certain GERMAN and •irmth is apparent in her stripe paint­ ings. SB's Column ENGLISH BOOKS . At the Sternberg Centre until October 7 BOUGHT ^ an exhibition of lithographs by regenz. The capital of the Austrian Antiquarian, secondhand and nagall, including designs for the Jerusa- province of "Voradberg was the first modern books of quality ^rn Windows and the ceiling of the Paris Bafter World War II to arrange a always wanted. Pera. Also on show are works by Jew- summer season of opera and drama, two We're long-standing advertisers ^h artists who worked in Paris at the years ahead of Rudolf Bing's here and leading buyers of books /^"le time as Chagall, notably Modigliani, establishment of the Edinburgh Festival. from AJR members. Kisling and Sonia Delaunay. Both have become traditional ever since, Immediate response to your letter Abracadabra: International Contem­ with Bregenz adding opera performances or phone call. porary Art, at the Tate Gallery until on the specially-built lakeside stage in We pay good prices and Ptember 26, is an international group 1956. This year, Verdi's Masked Ball is come to collect. hibition which brings together fifteen given a 'First' and the Martinu opera Please contact: ^^8 artists whose work is promoted as Greek Passion has its Austrian premiere. Robert Hornung MA(Oson) presenting a new spirit in contempo- Yefim Bronfman who was born in 2 Mount View, Ealing, ^ art. The exhibition includes Tashkent and emigrated to Israel in 1973, London W5 IPR timings, sculptures, drawings, installa- earned himself a great reputation as a pi­ Telephone 0181-998 0546 "^s, photography and video by artists anist and chamber music player. He (5pni to 9pm is best) fro ^ the UK and o\erseas. A wide varia- recently appeared at the "Vienna Mozart-

II AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

HOUSE DOCTOR HOMECARE SERVICE This nev^ service is specifically for members needing care at home Diabetes but requiring some financial assistance. Applications will be assessed by the disease known since antiquity, main treatment is to take tablets and/or Social Services team and a financial diabetes is characterised by the to diet. contribution is expected from A body's inability to deal with The major concern is not the direct each recipient. carbohydrate metabolism and the effect of diabetes, but the side effects For further information please apply to subsequent build-up of glucose within of a long term build-up of glucose the Social Services team on the blood. If untreated, it can cause which can damage the back of the eye, 0171 431 6161 or by letter to dehydration and be life-threatening. small blood vessels, the kidneys and AJR Social Services, I Hampstead Gate, There are two discernable types. Dia­ peripheral nerves. Further complica­ I a Frognal, London NW3 6AL betes usually found among the young - tions can include loss of sensation in an insufficient production of Insulin the feet and fingers and diminished pe­ (which controls the body's glucose lev­ ripheral circulation. Consequently, the els) - can generally be controlled with care of patients with diabetes has to in­ /r. \ Insulin injections. The more common clude regular checkups and eye tests. Companions type which tends to affect people as If you have not had your urine tested of London they age - where enough Insulin is by a doctor or nurse in the last few Incorporating produced but the glucose level is insuf­ years it is probably advisable to attend Hatttpstead Home Care Vi: ficiently controlled - often runs in your doctor's surgery with a sample to A long established company families. Patients frequently show no obtain reassurance that abnormal providing care in your home .symptoms at all, but abnormal amounts amounts of glucose, which indicate dia­ of glucose are revealed by routine test­ betes, are not present. * Assistance with personal care ing of blood or urine samples. The O Dr Max Bayer * General household duties * Respite care Regretfully, the Doctor cannot enter into personal correspondence * Medical appointment service OUR CARE IS YOUR CARE' 0171 483 0212/0213 THE WIENER LIBRARY Memorial Plaques SPRING This year marks the 60th anniversary of the Wiener Library in London. As part of our commemoration it has been decided to issue a limited number of 50 memorial GROVE plaques for mounting in the Reading Room and Memorial Hall. Users of the 214 Finchley Road Library have often remarked that the existing plaques are among the most moving London NW3 features of the Wiener Library. London's Most Luxurious We hope that you will wish to join us in commemorating those who perished in the RETIREMENT HOME Holocaust as well as those members of the refugee community who have given so * Entertainment-Activities much to Britain. Each plaque will be accompanied by a certificate, one copy of * Stress Free Living which will be preserved permanently at the Library. • 24 Hour Staffing •* Excellent Cuisine The Library offers two plaques to bear your personalised inscription: * Full En-Suite Facilities Call for more information • a rectangular brass plaque (125mm x 95mm) mounted on one of our or a personal tour bookcases at £250, 0181-446 2117 • a circular plaque (130mm diameter) mounted in a more prominent or 0171-794 4455 position at £1,000. For more information please contact Ben Barkow, Deputy Director, at: 4, Devonshire Street, LondonWlN 2BHTel: 0171 636 7247 Simon P. Rhodes M.Ch.S. STATE REGISTERED CHIROPODIST Surgeries at: 67 Kilburn High Road, NW6 (opp M&S) BELSIZE SQUARE SYNAGOGUE AJR MEALS ON WHEELS Telephone 0171-624 1576 51 Belsize Square, London N.W.3 If you live In London or North West 3 Queens Close (off Green Lane) Our communal hall is available for London and wish to take advantage of Edgware, Middx HAS 7PU this service, phone Susie Kaufman Telephone 0181-905 3264 cultural and social functions. 0171-328 0208 for details and an Tel: 0171-794 3949 assessment interview. Visiting chiropody service available

12 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

his 90th birthday, had worked in Prague Kinder's vibrant 60th saving children when it was evident that Hitler's armies were shortly to invade anniversary reunion Czechoslovakia. He recalled showing the he tiiird Reunion of Kindertransport doughty campaigning MP, Dame Eleanor took place in London on the 60th Rathbone, around concentration camps. Tanniversary of the children's arrival Stephen Smith delivered a rousing and *ith 1200 participants from many parts of thought-provoking address as a non-Jew 'he world, including the United States, and member of the post-war generation C^anada, Israel, Australia, France, attempting to understand what the Kinder Belgium, Italy, Germany. Switzerland, had gone through. His message was suc­ The Netherlands, Hungary, Venezuela, cinct: "You were the future". ^epal and the United Kingdom. In his address of welcome at the open­ ing ceremony, conference chairman Bertha Leverton is greeted by the Kinder. A panel chaired by Ernst Fraenkel in­ "avid Jedwab referred to the previous troduced Lady Jakobovits, Nicole David •^ay's unveiling of a plaque in the House found it almost impossible to believe and Dr Elisabeth Maxwell. Lady of Commons by the Speaker, recording him. It was sad to reflect that even today Jakobovits, whose family fled Nazi Ger­ "le Kinders gratitude and spoke of their some regarded refugees as undeserving many and survived in the South of 'ndebtedness to all who helped them of help. "The country had benefited so France, spoke of the importance of faith Sixty years previously. enormously", said Lord Williams, from after the Holocaust. "Everyone here is a The packed house of enthusiastic the energy and innovation of its immi­ miracle" she said. Nicole David recol­ Kinder, some with their children and grant population. lected her own survival as a hidden child grandchildren, responded warmly to the Introduced by Bea Green as one of the in Belgium. Separated from her family, ^motional greeting from Bertha Leverton, world's most admired film producers. she often felt abandoned and in constant ^ho both inspired and organised the Lord Attenborough recounted his parents' fear of discovery. •original Reunion of Kindertransport and concern and practical help for refugee Elisabeth Maxwell remembered her at­ the conference in Jerusalem in 1994. This children fleeing Nazi Europe. "The house tempts to trace Kinder saved from Prague ••eunion was a team effort. always seemed to have children living by Nicholas Winton to enable them to Chief Rabbi Dr Jonathan Sacks recalled with us", he recalled. He and his two participate in the UK's first international that Kristallnacht on 9th November 1938 brothers were asked by their parents to survivors' meeting in 1988. Committed to "ad proved to be the beginning of the accept two German-Jewish refugee girls the memory of those who perished in the ^nd. One of the worlds oldest peoples into the household as adopted 'sisters' Shoah, she is actively involved in organ­ •^ad "no place on earth to call home". where they remained a loved and inte­ ising a second conference to be held in Britain, however, had accepted 10,000 gral part of the Attenborough family for London and Oxford in July 2000 dedi­ eight years. Declaring himself to be cated to 'Remembering for the Future'. "grateful for the chance of a lasting rela­ At the reunion concert a packed audi­ tionship with the Jewish people", both ence thoroughly enjoyed internationally Lord Attenborough and the audience acclaimed pianists, the Golabek sisters, found his story of common humanity stir­ who were taught by their mother Lisa ring deep emotions. who was a Kind and 12-year-old soloist Michele Golabek, Vivienne Bellos and the Zemel Choir and the Klezmer Swing­ At the first of a series of lectures and ers. This emotion-packed evening was workshops Bea Green chaired a distin­ followed the next day with a picnic in guished panel: Dr Amy Gottlieb, author Stanmore for 500 Kinder who shmoozed "Children and for them at least this was lit­ of a much acclaimed history of Jewish together, updated their contacts and were erally a petach tikvah. a gateway of hope. refugee immigration to the UK in the addressed by local MP Tony McNulty. Lord Janner, Chairman of the Holocaust 1930s, Stephen Smith, founder-director of The 60th anniversary book, compiled ucational Trust, who, as a young man, the Beth Shalom Holocaust Memorial by RoK and published at the reunion, ad Worked as a war crimes investigator Centre and Nicholas Winton, saviour of gave Bertha Leverton especial pleasure "ergen-Belsen and remained a leading more than 600 Prague children. Dr Gott­ with its recollections, stories, in locate of the rights of refugees and lieb described how the archive records of memoriam section and contact list of par­ ^urvivors, introduced Lord Williams of the Central British Fund, which assumed ticipants. Mostyn, Minister of State at the Home Of- overall responsibility for the ten thousand Bertha found herself overjoyed at the '^e. Lord Williams recalled that the late children of the Kindertransport, had been exceptional warmth and camaraderie en­ hillip Noel Baker MP was the first to re-discovered. Her work on them had gendered at the reunion. "Kinder came raw the attention of the House of Com- provided the opportunity to record the from all over the world, often overcom­ ons to the burning of synagogues, roles played by Anglo-Jewry's leading ing great difficulties, to renew old atmgs and rounding up of men be- families and other lesser known heroes friendships and make new ones - sadly, ^en 16 and 60 for the concentration whose efforts saved many lives. the last time such a meeting will take ^"ips, though at the time his listeners Nicholas Winton, who was celebrating place". D Ronald Channing

13 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

mentality of young persons who willingly sense of the gulf between his German- The development of come back to a city where their families Jewish past and the present; 'Sometimes underwent every humiliation and insult a it is as if the films, books, streets, towns community identity bare few years ago and which sent and people we remember existed only in our memory'. (Part 11) amid.st the plaudits of the Viennese many thousands of their own parents, relatives The German-speaking Jewish refugees n essential precondition of the in and friends to a nameless end in the had suffered not only the material loss of tegration of the Jewish refugees death camps.' their homes and familiar surrounds in the A from Hitler into British society In March 1949, CC Aronsfeld, one of war; by destroying the entire communi­ and their establishment of a new the journal's intellectual stars, expertly ties in which they had lived, the communal identity in their adopted analysed the strange phenomenon Holocau.st had also robbed them of the homeland was their separation from their whereby Jews had returned time and possibility of re-establishing emotional former identity in their countries of again over the centuries to the places and spiritual contact with the past. The origin. That had largely been achieved by where persecution had been visited upon refugees' prewar lives had been irrepara­ the Nazis, who had driven them from them. Counselling insistently against re­ bly severed from the postwar present and their homes, stripped them of their peating this historical pattern, Aronsfeld the realisation of this was often traumatic citizenship and destroyed their nevertheless saw the reasons behind it, as in the case of Werner Rosen.stock, who communities. The separation was quoting the Jewish historian Adolph received 'the shock of my life' on return­ cemented for the great majority by the Kohut: It is almost impossible to under­ ing in 1950 to his native district of Berlin, failure of Germans and Austrians to stand and only to be explained by the the badly bombed Hansa-Viertel: confront the crimes of the Nazi past and Jews' deep-felt attachment to their home­ 'Before 1933 there was hardly a house to assume moral responsibility for what steads, that in spite of the sad in which one did not know at least one had been done in the name of the experiences and terrible catastrophes, family. Jews in the Hansa-Viertel formed German people - which is reflected in they yet again returned to the old places.' a closely knit community. First, when Hit­ great and frequently depressing detail in Unable to return to the physical envi­ ler came, the Jews had to go, partly to the AJR Information s many reports from ronment of their native towns and cities strange countries, partly to the extermina­ Germany and Au.stria. The consequent after the Holocaust, the Jewish refugees tion camps. Now their dwellings have impossibility of re-adopting a sense of from Central Europe were yet deeply at­ also ceased to exist. A centre of Jewish German or Austrian identity left the tached to the culture, customs and life has been erased entirely. What is left refugees with little option but to become spiritual values in which they had grown is the memory of the happy days which British citizens, for all their distinctive up and it was above all through the Ger­ many of us once spent in Berlin's Hamp­ Central European culture. man-language culture they had brought stead.' An early letter to the editor, published with them that they created and retained The positive note on which this piece in April 1947, asks bluntly; Who can ex­ a sense of their own distinct identity in closes, implying that the refugees had pect that a self-conscious Jew would or their adopted country. A poem entitled perhaps found an alternative to the should return to a country which has in­ Der Fli'ichtling, published in January 1948 Tiergarten in Hampstead Heath, is not flicted upon him and his community under the pseudonym Incjuit, catches ex­ maintained in its sequel, where Rosen­ .sufferings unparalleled in history ... He is actly this combination of rejection and stock describes his visit to the Jewish lx)und to meet people in Germany who attachment, the painful pairing of an ab­ cemetery at Wei.ssen.see: The cemeteiy is either have taken part in the atrocities or horrence of the Nazi past of Germany again as peaceful and dignified as it was have profiteered by them and with whom and Austria with a continued longing for before the war ... There is only one dif­ he naturally would not have any contact. what was valued in the lost Heimat. The ference: you do not meet a single person But he will also meet people who had refugees were mostly able to salvage when wandering around. What struck me not the courage and strength ... to make enough of their intellectual, cultural and most were the tombstones whose inscrip­ a stand against the disgraceful actions social heritage to build from it a new tions were unfinished. Half of the space and who now ought to blush with shame identity and existence that would draw had been left blank for the husband of and penitence. Every Jew who wants to both on the lost homeland and on the wife until his or her turn would have be respected must avoid such encounters new country of refuge. come. Now we know that this space will for p.sychological or ideological reasons. The countries of origin were now alien remain blank for ever.' All the more .so as the poison of Nazism territory, separated by a psychological Small wonder that refugees like has not been eliminated and may be­ chasm that could not be bridged by the Rosenstock preferred to live out their come effective at any time.' postwar resumption of transport and lives in North-West London rather than Many refugees would have taken to communications. Returning to Berlin after amidst the ghosts of their vanished native heart the warning expressed by a former a gap of eight years, as Adolf Schoyer, communities. welfare worker for the Jewish Relief Unit Chairman of the A.s.sociation, told readers In June 1950 a major front-page article, from Britain about conditions in Vienna, in a front-page article in November 1946, tellingly entitled Beginning or End?, dis­ in an article extending over the first two had been like 'travelling into an un­ cussed the future if any, of the Jewish pages of the journal in November 1948: known and uncannily foreign land'. community in postwar Germany. The sur­ Jews are coming back - and bitterly re­ Reflecting in the same month on his dis­ vey reaches the sombre conclusion that gretting it.' His condemnation of those appointment on seeing the German film German Jewry, once one of the jewels in who returned is unambiguous: 'To me it Maskerade again after an interval of the crown of Judaism, has disappeared: is simply impossible to understand the seven years. Narrator' conveys a similar Community life cannot be compared

14 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

with that in the former Jewish communi­ Court of St James's, Fanny was also in ties ... There are no central institutions, Unsung heroine Europe, helping emigrants. Kennedy's no teachers and theological seminaries two eldest sons, who did not see eye-to- and it is not to be expected that such in­ he numbered George Bernard Shaw, eye with their father, were engaged by stitutions will be established. All this Winston Churchill, Jacob Epstein, Fanny to assist refugees complete visa cannot be taken as a continuation of the SFred Astaire, Noel Coward and applications at American embassies in history of German Jewry, which has Eleanor Roosevelt among her acquain­ Paris and Warsaw. Before the outbreak of come to an end once and for all." tances. Lady Astor threw a party for her. war Fanny also helped in Eleanor But the spirit of German Jewry, though Russia's Royal Family were represented Roosevelt's attempt to rescue 10,000 Eu­ extinguished in Germany and Austria, by her in the famous Rasputin' case. ropean children, but even after appealing Was not dead. Indeed, a frequent theme She was also known by King George V, to Jewish Chief Justice Felix Frankfurter, 'n the AJR Information is the survival of the Kents and the Yorks, not least by not one additional visa was issued. precious pans of the German-Jewish her- their seven-year-old daughter Princess From the spring of 1945, as counsel to 'tage in the alien, but not entirely Elizabeth. Yet who today remembers the Chinese Republic, Fanny was in­ Unwelcoming environment of Britain. A Fanny Holtzmann? cluded in the Chinese delegation to the front-page article in September 1947 by a Few recall the behind-the-scenes efforts newly-formed United Nations in San leader of Berlin's Jews, Hans-Erich Fa- of this sympathetic American lawyer dur­ Francisco. As she enjoyed excellent rela­ Dian, makes this point powerfully; it is ing the birthpangs of the modern State of tions with Russia, China and western the more convincing as it is written by an countries, it was not surprising that her outsider with no interest in lauding the hotel suite became a centre of confiden­ settled conditions enjoyed by the Jewish tial negotiations at the time of the crucial refugees in Britain. Fabian foresaw a 1947 UN vote, with leading luminaries transplantation of German-Jewish culture such as Francis Williams and Adlai to Britain, a combination of the heritage Stevenson having fallen within her ambi­ of the past with the demands of the ence. With a two-thirds majority required present, which meant both that the refu­ of the 56 member states and twelve gees must remain conscious of their mainly Muslim countries implacably op­ origin' and that they must take root' in posed, China, despite having a large their new homeland, becoming 'inte­ Muslim population and no Jews, ab­ grated into the world around them' as stained and turned the vote in Israel's British citizens in the full meaning of the favour. term'. But this is not a straightforward Martin Birken produced evidence to statement of the old assimilationist show that Fanny had flown to Berlin on agenda, modified into a demand for total August 30th and that his parents took her integration into British society. Fabian ex- to Tempelhof airport for her return flight riorts the refugees to preser\ e those parts to London on 1st September, the very of their communal identity which had day Germany invaded Poland. The nature historically given German Jewry its lustre, and intent of her mission remains to carry their culture on into the future: Israel's itnsung heroine, Fanny Huliznuiiiii. shrouded in mystery to this day. ^uch a policy does obviously not mean Quoting from her biography by Edward tiat the refugees should deny their origin Israel. According to Martin Birken, in a O Berkmann, Birken also suggested that or Write off their past. On the contrary, lecture delivered to the Spiro Ark, Fanny it was Fanny's influence which brought erman Jewr^' can be proud of its his­ Holtzmann played a key role in securing the UN to New York, Rockefeller having tory. It can, indeed it should build on its the necessary UN vote in 1947 which been asked to donate $8 million for its "meritorious achievements. Yet we must legitimised the partition of Palestine into site on Manhattan's East River. "ot be content with retrospection.' a Jewish and an Arab state. David Ben- D Ronald Channing thus a leader of Germany's principal Gurion and the other Yishuv leaders tir\'iving Jewish community entrusted accepted the plan, but the Arabs (with mm ^ eontinuation of the traditions and val- the exception of King Abdullah of Trans- ^^s particular to the German-speaking jordan) opposed it and precipitated the ws of Central Europe in considerable need for Israel to fight for its independ­ JACKMAN• "teasure to those of them who had set- ence when British mandated troops ^d in Britain, where they would withdrew on I4th/15th May 1948. ^ SILVERMAN Presene their own heritage, at least for Fanny was born in the USA in 1902 to COMMERCIAL PROPERTY CONSULTANTS ^ hfetime of the German-speaking gen­ Jewish parents from Galicia. After qualify­ erations. The AJR Information itself bears ing as a lawyer at night school, she found e oquent testimony to the level of culture work in the expanding motion picture in­ aintained by the refugees, a key con- dustry where she specialised in contracts ituent element of the identiU' that they for the stars. i"eated for themselves in their new In 1937, while Joseph Kennedy - who 26 Conduit Street, London WIR 9TA 'homeland had called her a 'Jew girl' some years ear­ Telephone: 0171 409 0771 Fax: 0171 493 8017 (To be•, continued) n Anthony Grenville lier - was appointed Ambassador to the

15 ^^titm'-K- 'iwr-at AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1999

NEWSROUND AJR Annual General Meeting: CHAIRMAN ANNOUNCES PLAN FOR Berlin memorial approved Plans to erect a memorial to Jewish SHELTERED FLATS AND A NEW DAY CENTRE victims of the Holocaust have been Project for radical change approved by the Bundestag. The design, by New York architect Peter Eisenman, t the organisation's Annual General solely responsible for the reprovision oi features a labyrinth of 2,700 concrete Meeting in London, AJR Chairman Heinrich Stahl House (see AJR Informa­ blocks on a five-acre site close to the A Andrew Kaufman announced a tion, March 1999). Similarly, the provision Brandenburg Gate. It will also incor­ radical and ambitious plan to build of sheltered accommodation would be­ porate a museum and information centre. sheltered flats together with an entirely come the responsibility of the AJR. Black sheep new AJR Day Centre to meet the In the light of these decisions, the AjR -\t the recent European elections the changing needs of AJR members. Charitable Trust had agreed in principle entire de Gaulle family publicly disassoci­ Although a definite site has yet to be to advance a substantial interest-free loan ated itself from the General's grandson. identified and acquired, this will be up to a maximum of £1.3 million over the The latter, also named Charles de Gaulle, within the area of northwest London in next three years, to enable OSHA to contested the election on behalf of Le which many AJR members are still con­ accelerate the maintenance and improve­ Pen's National Front whom the family gregated and will certainly have to be ment programme in its residential homes branded as "Petainist, revisionist, racist within easy reach of public transport as for the benefit of its residents. The loan is and antisemitic." well as offer an appropriate number of to be repayable as a first charge on the parking spaces. sale of Heinrich Stahl and Eleanor Hitler's hand The new building will be purpo.se-built Rathbone Houses. A rare example of Hitler's signature is to provide a minimum of 40 sheltered The Chairman was pleased to report appended to the original 'Nuremberg flats, a fully equipped day centre with that Osmond House, for the renovation Law' edict, recently unearthed in an separate milk and meat kitchens capable of which AJR had previously granted American archive. Drafted in 1935 at the of supplying hot meals-on-wheels and, if OSHA a loan of £«50,000, would shortly Nazi party rally in the Reichstag, the the economics allow, new head office be re-opened and fully occupied once Nuremberg Laws banned Jews from accommodation. Although much prepara­ again. marrying or cohabiting with Aryans and tory work remains to be carried out, it is David Rothenberg, AJR Vice-Chairman deprived them of German citizenship. hoped that the project will be up and and Hon. Treasurer, in presenting the Viennese nnemorials running within a two-year timescale. annual accounts, said that the new un­ (Jn 24th September next memorial The Hats will replace those in Eleanor derstanding with OSHA should provide plaques are to be unveiled on some Rathbone House, Highgate, and the eight homes of the highest possible order. municipal housing estates in Vienna's llth flats in Cleve Road, West Hampstead, Ashley Mitchell, pro tem Chairman of District. The plaques will record and hon­ whose residents will be offered consider­ OSHA following Allan Blacher's decision our the names of former Jewish residents ably .superior accommodation in the new^ to step down after four years' service, who perished in the concentration camps. building. Both Eleanor Rathbone House was invited to address the meeting. I"^ and 15 Cleve Road are to be sold after line with his belief that working relation­ A Holocaust Memorial Day the completion of transfers. The Chair­ ships should move forward, he confirmed Prime Minister Tony Blair, reports the man assured all existing residents that no that OSHA would concentrate on its main Jewish Chronicle, favours an annual re­ one will be asked to move before the strength, the provision of residential care- membrance day for the victims of the new flats are ready for occupation and The sale of Heinrich Stahl House and Holocaust, and has asked Home Office that every assistance will be given to en­ Eleanor Rathbone House would provide Minister Mike O'Brien to consult represen­ sure the minimum of inconvenience and OSHA with a financial reserve sufficient tative organisations. MP Andrew Dismore's disruption. for the foreseeable future. private member's bill recommends January A series of discussions between the OSHA remained committed to the 27th, the anniversary of the liberation of AJR and the Otto Schiff Housing Associa­ establishment of purpose-built accommo­ Auschwitz, as an appropiate date. tion, which had been exploring the most dation on a new site within *• Expression of rennorse effective way in which to provide high- two-to-three-year timeframe. Together \ group of 2,000 latter-day Christian quality residential and nursing care in the with Osmond House, recently upgraded, pilgrims to Jerusalem wish to apologise future, have been concluded with posi­ and Leo Baeck House, shortly to coni- for their forebears' massacres of tens of tive outcomes for both organisations. It mence a similar refurbishment, OSHA thousands of Jews and Muslims 900 years was agreed that it would neither be ad­ would provide very high standards of i"^' previously. In response to Pope Urban vantageous for the two organisations to commodation and care and continue to Us call for the liberation of the holy merge, nor appropriate to work together maintain the Continental ambience of th*^ places from the 'infidels' in 1095, waves on a new joint project. Rather, each homes as far as was possible. of crusaders murdered and plundered should continue to specialise in provid­ Those members proposed for re-elec- their way down the Rhine and, in 1099, ing those services in which it had tion to serve on the AJR Committee oi sacked Jerusalem, slaughtering thousands experience and expertise. Consequently, Management were approved by the meet­ of Jews and .Muslims. OSHA would concentrate on the provi­ ing. No new nominations were received- DRDC sion of residential care homes and be n RonoW Channing

Published by the Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain, I Hampstead Gate, IA Frognal, London NW3 6AL Tel: 0171-431 6161 Fax:0171-431 8454 Printed in Great Britain by Freedman Brothers (Printers) Ltd. London NWl I 7QB. Tel:OI8l-458 3220 Fax:0181-455 6860