^J L Information Volume XLVI No. 8 August 1991

£3 (to non-members)

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Important Selling Hitler announcement p3

Pedaller on elling Hitler has taken many forms, from the the roof (of the ludicrously crude to the subtle. The most ludi­ 44th ANNUAL CHARITY CONCERT world) p5 crous provided the subject for the recent TV S We are proud to announce that this November I Oth satire. Even here laughter would be out of place, our guest artists will be: Gilt by however. The huge original interest in the forged association p 12 diaries surely indicated - alongside straightforward The Talich Quartet sensationalism - a (probably unacknowledged) Please use the application form enclosed in this Two steps unhealthy desire to see the 'human' side of Hitler. issue to order your tickets. forward . . . Just as ludicrous, and even more ill-intentioned, an one back attempt at selling Hitler was undertaken by David Irving. This British-born revisionist historian, who the establishment of Auschwitz as a 'response' to the he hoary cultivates links with Neo-Nazis in Germany, argued Soviet Gulag. Nolte had a British forerunner of sorts myth of that the absence of Hitler's signature from documents in A. J. P. Taylor who asserted that Hitler lacked a TAustria as ordering the genocide of the Jews 'proved' that the precise blueprint for conquest, but had merely been a 'Hitler's first Final Solution was carried out behind the Fuehrer's brilliant opportunist acting, like his German pre­ victim', back. decessors, in pursuit of national self-aggrandizement. sedulously A less blatantly noxious construct was the brain­ This perverse interpretation of the monster's doings peddled by every child of Ernst Nolte, disputatious instigator of the caused dissension in Oxbridge: David Cecil dubbed Taylor the 'last Shavian - ever ready to sacrifice truth postwar German Historikerstreit. Nolte reduced the Shoah to a mere link in the chain of 20th Century atrocities to a paradox' and Alan Bullock, the nonpareil administration in (akin to the Armenian massacres and the liquidation biographer of Hitler, severed all links with him. Vienna, has at of the kulaks) and, with convoluted logic, interpreted But selling Hitler has hardly been just the preserve last been of the media and academe. There has never been a disavowed by dearth of postwar Germans with the kneejerk Chancellor response 'This would never have happened under the Vranitzky. His Fuehrer' to any blot on the social landscape from drug disavowal miM®©nmY ^ $m^ addiction to hippiedom. Currently, of course, we see coincided with East German skinheads murderously assaulting the arraignment 'racially inferior' types with minimal interference of Franz from the police. Schwammberger, Across the border in Austria, Freedom Party leader yet another Haider has held up Hitler's employment policy as a Austrian war model, and been deprived of the governorship of criminal. Both, Carinthia for his pains. This is a long-overdue though long development - as is Kurt Waldheim's decision not to seek a second presidential term. Waldheim's 1986 overdue, are steps election campaign had, by mobilising the aggressive in the right parochialism and Judeophobia in the Austrian direction. In stark national psyche, amounted to no less than selling contrast Hitler in his original homeland. secessionist But as the market for selling Hitler contracts in Slovaks are Western Europe it expands in the East. The racist rehabilitating mayhem in the streets of Dresden, the antisemitic libel Josef Tiso, the purveyed by sections of the Romanian press and the genocidal priest Protocols of Zion undertones in the Russian election who headed their all show that selling Hitler still promises a good return wartime Nazi in a market where Stalinism was the only ideological state. commodity on sale till the day before yesterday. ^«wg22gjjg3gg;2SSilS23Sffii™™fflH^HiBSH3SS3BS3^^ I

AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Award to Dr Arnold Paucker Profile Dr Arnold Paucker, Director of the London Branch of the Leo Baeck Institute and A pillar of our society Editor of the Institute's Year Book, was afterwards he married Susanne and a year awarded the Federal German Order of later his son, Michael, was born. Merit. In the course of his 30 years' work Now working full-time for the C.V., Dr for the L.B.I, he has established contacts Rosenstock spent four years helping to with many German universities and defend such rights as Jews still enjoyed. He research institutes and forged personal links became a specialist on the Nuremburg with German scholars. We congratulate Laws, specifically the sections pertaining to Arnold Paucker on this well deserved award the classification of households as Jewish which recognises the achievements of the homes. He refers to this work, humorously, Leo Baeck Institute in the field of German- as 'kitchen jurisprudence'. Jewish historiography. D The dissolution of the C.V. after the November pogroms of 1938 put great pressure on the Rcichsvertretung, the Nazi- Community work authorised umbrella organisation for Jews. Werner went to work for the Reichsver- This year marks the 50th anniversary of the trctung as an administrator, under the then founding of the Association of Jewish Wcnicr Roscnstock I'hoto: Neti'inan. Director, Dr. Otto Hirsch. It was a terrible Refugees. Set up as a self-help agency, the time, when many parents came to beg to AJR represented Jews torn from their roots r Werner Rosenstock, now in his have their children saved. He left Germany in Hitler's Europe. Now our members are early eighties, is not so fast on his three weeks before the outbreak of war, one old, frail, often without family and need the Dfeet these days. But his sedate pace of the last to see those colleagues who had help of the wider community to transform disguises an active and agile mind, able to volunteered to stay behind. All, with the the quality of their lives. recall the faces and events of a lifetime with exception of Leo Baeck, perished. Werner's If you can spend a few hours a week consummate ease. parents were sent to Auschwitz. befriending a former refugee, visiting The son of a Berlin textile merchant, he For two years after arriving in England someone at home or in a Residential Home, was born in 1908. At the age of 18 he I^r Rosenstock did voluntary and part-time shopping or escorting people to hospital entered Berlin University to read law. He work for Jewish organisations. 'But', he out-patient appointments, we would be became a referendar in 1931. While com­ says, 'it was in 1941 that my career began, delighted to hear from you. These survivors pleting his training that year he met his with the formation of the AJR'. He became of the Holocaust need your help. future wife, Susanne, who remains by his the Secretary of the newly founded organi­ Please ring LAURA HOWE, AJR Volun­ side to this day. sation — and held that position for the next teer's Co-ordinator on 071-483 2536 When Jews were banned from the civil 41 years. between 9.30 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday to service in 1933 Werner and some of his Werner Rosenstock watched over, tended Thursday, and 9.30 a.m.-l p.m. Friday. D colleagues from the Ccntralverein (C.V.), and cultivated the AJR for half of his life. with whom he had been associated since his Now he takes great satisfaction from its student days, petitioned for the rights of continuing activities. The expanding social Jews dismissed from their jobs to statutory work, the establishment of the Day Centre Let your body periods of notice. After taking one such case and the support of the Homes all give him to court he was 'lifted' by Nazis upon reason for pride. In the 50th Anniversary take a holiday leaving the building. He recalls, seemingly issue of AJR Information last month the Whilst enjoying good quality hotels and excel­ without rancour, that the many uniformed Editor used the phrase Si monumentum lent cuisine, why not ease your aches and police present simply looked the other way. requiris, circumspice. Werner Rosenstock's pains with the famous Fango mud treatments or Thalassotherapy as well as Health, Beauty He was taken to an S.A. post. Within three monument is clearly visible. ^ ., ^, and Fitness Courses. days he was marched out of the head­ D M.N. D ABANO, MONTEGROTTO, ISCHIA, quarters by two S.A. men, apparently at the IN ITALY behest of worried C.V. staff. 'To this day, THURLOW LODGE D YVERDON IN SWITZERLAND however,' he recalls, 'I don't know whether and I BIARRITZ IN FRANCE those stormtroopers were motivated by HAMPSTEAD HOUSE Scheduled flights from Heathrow or Gatwick idealism or money'. He was taken to the (Residential Homes) and regional airports. Berlin Police Presidium, from where he was for the elderly and retired, situated in an Prices with or without treatments. exclusive part of Hampstead. Both homes Private car transfers included. remanded in custody at Moabit prison for provide luxurious accommodation with TOR FREE COLOUR BROCHURE CONTACT: three months, after which time the public 24-hour nursing care in a homely prosecutor found that there was no case for atmosphere. Strictly kosher cuisine. Long him to answer. and short stays welcome. Many bedrooms have en-suite facilities. Moderate fees. of Westminster Limited ai^^ Although the Nazis were already in For further information and brochure: 276 PRESTON ROAD. HARROW HA3 OQA power he was admitted by a professor at Tel. 071 794 7305/071 435 5326. ^ TEL: 081-904 2202 (^^ Freiberg University to study for his doctor­ 11/12 Thurlow Road, Hampstead, London NWS »,,4 24hr answerphone 081-908 1515 \l^2^ ate, which he gained in 1934. Shortly AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Our Annual General Amended rules 3 and 8: I nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn Rule 3: Objects ° IMPORTANT ° Meeting The Society is established for the benevolent purpose of representing and assisting all ° ANNOUNCEMENT ° s a seasoned reporter of AGMs those Jewish refugees who have come to this D D I cannot but start off by remarking country from Germany, Austria, Czecho­ • Admissions to Old Age • Aon the unprecedented turn-out of slovakia and Hungary after 30 January ° Homes ° members on 6 June. The threat of 'standing 1933, irrespective of any intermediate resi­ n n room only' notices going up long before dence and for whom Judaism is a deter­ ^^^^ ur readers will be aware that 7.30 p.m. was only narrowly averted by mining factor in their outlook on life, and pressing a large number of garden chairs J J the administration of the old '-' the widows and widowers and dependants '-' ^^^^ age homes in The Bishops '-' into service. The reason for the crush? of such persons whether or not they arc 1-1 Avenue is the responsibility of The ^ Presumably the combination of a unitjuely Jewish. n Otto Schiff Housing Association. Full • popular speaker, in the person of Rabbi D details of these arrangements were D Hugo Gryn, and the Golden Anniversary Rule 8: Benefits n published in the February 1989 issue D iTiood demonstrated by the applause that (1) Subject as hereinafter provided those n of AJR Information. D greeted the presentation of a certificate to n Ever since the opening of the homes • eligible for benefits are Jewish refugees from AJR founder member Hans Feld. • some 35 years ago AJR, through its • Germany, Austria, Czechoslovakia and Q homes department, has been respon- Q The customary business part of the Hungary and the widows and widowers Q sible for the pre-admissions pro- r-i AGM — the Chairman's report, the Hon. and dependants of such persons whether or r-, cedure. Applications for admission p, Treasurer's report and the election of the not they are Jewish. |-, were submitted to AJR, whose p. Executive Committee — was handled with (2) The Executive Committee of Manage­ personnel interviewed and advised ^ dispatch. Then AJR Life President Ludwig ment shall be entitled where it is satisfied applicants and cared for them until they were settled into their new sur- Spiro gave a succinct and moving address in that a charitable trust has purposes or objects which are so closely similar to those '-' roundings. Even thereafter they main- '-' support of the £4 Million Residential Care ^ tained contact and continued to assist ^ Appeal. of the Society that a re-direction of funds or • th ein in various ways. D property given to the Society by any will • The Housing Association has now • The item before the guest speaker's 'slot' would in fact operate so as to confer n decided that they wish to take over all D concerned the change of rules 3 and 8 of the charitable benefits where appropriate on D aspects of the admissions procedure. D Association Rules. For amended rules see members of the Society and no other D It is a change which, wc believe, will n • not be in the best interests of prospec- • next column. This, as Mr Colin Dunston, persons to determine by resolution that • tive residents and is likely to have a • solicitor, explained had been necessitated such funds or property shall be treated as by the requirements of the law governing Q detrimental effect on the relationship Q paid for the benefit of members eligible for r-i between two organisations serving the r-i bequests, and was unanimously approved. benefit by being re-directed to such a p, same group of people - organisations (-, The last item on the official agenda was charitable trust. |-, which should at all times work closely j-, Rabbi Gryn's talk: 'Revisiting the Past' (see (3) Benefits in money or kind may only be together. However, our pleas for page 9). Mrs Hannah Finsburgh proposed granted by resolution of the Executive continued co-operation in this matter, the Vote of Thanks. Committee. Benefits by way of gratuitous which proved successful over many '-^ ' years, werV e to no avail. ' D There followed an item not listed on the advice may be given without formal grant ^ In these circumstances we still ^ printed agenda: Mr Marx's emotion-tinged by any member of the Executive Committee or any person in the employment of the n recommend intending applicants for D plea to all present to persuade younger • full care, and their families, to contact • Society in accordance with prior instruc­ family members and friends to enrol in the D AJR in the first place as before; the D ranks of the AJR so that the foundations tions of the Executive Committee. D D staff of our homes department, which D laid in its first half century of existence may n continues to be headed by Mrs Ruth • be built upon in future years. • Finestone, will be happy to advise on • Q how best to obtain the accommo- Q The following members of the Executive [-| dation they seek. Q Committee were unanimously elected. rn AJR will continue to provide its r-, p, wide-ranging services to our members p J JACKMAN• P to the best of its ability. D Election of Executive Committee SILVERMAN nnnnnnnnnnnnnnDD Mr C. T. Marx: Chairman tl.iMMl:Rc:I.\l I'lUiPkRTV I;C)NSLJLTANTS Mr M. M. Kochmann: Vice- Chairman &; Honorary Treasurer BELSIZE SQUARE SYNAGOGUE Mrs K. Gould: Honorary Secretary 51 Belsize Square, London, N.W.3 Mrs E. S. Angel Mrs M. Brooks Our communal hall is available Mr J. Dunston for cultural and social functions. Mr A. C. Kaufman For details apply to: Secretary, Synagogue Office. Mr H. E. Levy 26 Conduit Street, London WIR 91A Mr W. D. Rothenberg Telephone: 071 409 0771 Fax: 071 493 8017 Tel: 071-794 3949 fmrn^wm Bgr-'a .H::a:>;aw AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Reviews

town) was alive with street markets, kosher of a recently deceased Oxford historian of Dis-figured landscape slaughterers, mazzot bakeries, synagogues, Nazism, whose assistant she had been since CHASING SHADOWS. Broadcast Easter yeshivot and chedarim. the death of her Jewish mother. The inother Monday, Channel 4 Today one near-derelict synagogue caters had done the opposite of Abner's parents, for the thirty-odd families constituting the tormenting her child with the constant arpathia has, to English ears, as Berehovo cominunity. Rabbi Gryn prayed repetition of horrific memories. Unsurpris­ outlandish a ring as Bram Stoker's with them. He also chatted - amicably - ingly the paths of Abner and Miriam CDracula-haunted Transylvania. with the present occupants of his parents' intersect and a love story develops. And just as Transylvania was a real place house, as well as with eyewitnesses of the His upbringing and gifts to compel Abner with real people - inany of them Jews - so Gestapo roundup in 1944. In the voice-over to attempt a film about Shoa survivors (with Carpathia really existed, albeit in forest-girt commentary he mentioned that no inhabi­ the same title as the fiction Rayner puts isolation. tant of Berchovo helped save a Jewish before us). The affair between the Yank in Single-track railways and fast-fiowing neighbour. He said it mattcr-of-factly, with­ Oxford and Wardour Street, and the streams, down which logs floated to saw­ out bitterness. daughter of the Feminist Revolution, Eng­ mills, served to counteract this isolation. In fact the whole documentary was lish style is that of a puppy with a porcu­ Jews of entrepreneurial disposition had remarkable for its - unavoidably elegiac - pine. Still, their meeting is fruitful with a pioneered much of the timber trade and note of bitter-sweetness. For all that it dealt useful spin-off in historical research. railway construction. with unassuageable pain it left a life- But this is only one of three inajor strands Little did they know to what use the affirming afterglow. of the novel. Since Abner has no money, we railways would be put one day. In 1944, n R.G. follow him into the murky depths inhabited 150,000 Carpathian Jews entrained, in by the London wheeler-dealers. The latter, cattle trucks, for 'agricultural work' in the alas, are not only an unlikeable lot, but East. A handful returned. Last year one Claire soup nearly all Jewish. En route Abner and former teenage survivor of the Shoah, Miriam get involved in a search for the Rabbi Hugo Gryn, revisited his birthplace, Claire Rayner POSTSCRIPTS, Michael Joseph, betrayer - for a bag of apples - of a group 1991 £13.99 accompanied by his film-maker daughter of Jews who had sought refuge in the sewers Naomi. In Chasing Shadows, a pictorial of Cracow. This was 40 years ago when the record of that visit, father and daughter laire Rayner, prolific writer and betrayer was a mere boy; now, power and evoked - the one in words, the other in outsize public personality, has rich, he is being blackmailed by another images - a bygone world that once encom­ Cessayed a novel mixing present-day Jewish crook, one a group of ghouls who passed a vast swathe of Eastern Europe concerns with the traumas of a unique extract treasure from surviving 'Gestapo extending from Baltic to Black Sea, and disaster. Naturally she, and others in the Jews' (i.e. informers). from Burgenland to the Bukowina. Here field, write not for Jews alone, and if The author has elected to treat all this as a teeming Jewries lived in close economic authors opt for fiction as their medium, they whodunnit. Nothing wrong with that: interdependence with Catholic or Ortho­ must use plot and character as a 'bait'. The Dostoevsky and Dickens utilised the metier dox villagers and townsfolk, without ever danger of this approach is bowdlerisation of crime. Claire Rayner, however, lacks the engaging in social intercourse. and cheapening of the tragedy. skill to weld such a daring method to a Carpathia, though more cut off and Mrs Rayner pursues her main theme theme which might have defeated even impoverished than most of rural Eastern singlemindedly. Her protagonists are an those two giants. I had to curb the uneasy Europe, existed under the benign dispen­ idealistic, youngish American-Jewish art thought of what a non-Jewish writer would sation of Masaryk's Czechoslovak Republic film maker and an English girl, both of be accused of were he or she to portray such between the wars. Jews enjoyed political whose lives were affected by reverberations a heap of Hebrews. However, provided one representation in the Prague parliament; the from the holocaust. Abner's parents, sur­ sidesteps the nagging question of 'what will regional capital, Munkacz, had a gymna­ vivors of the camps, will not speak of their Gentile readers make of this?' one can enjoy sium with Modern Hebrew as language of experiences, thus shut him out from their an adventure story of our time. instruction; Bcrchovo (Hugo Gryn's home­ embittered after-life. Miriam is the daughter D John Rossall

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the business thrived but, in the end, the Pedaller on the roof (of the world) Ledermanns parted company, amicably. 'Ek bhujo! Annus!' (One o'clock! Come The quotes in this piece are taken from the journal of AJR member Gerd Ledermann who was interviewed on his mountain home above Kathmandu by Judith Harries. He is a down!) Bread, crackers, cheese, dates and regular reader of AjR Information, which he receives by Air Mail. coffee make an interesting meal for the workers, accustomed to twice daily bowls of 'dahlbat' (rice, lentils and vegetables). I join them and, on my small tape recorder, play Mozart and Beethoven — ivhich is also a novelty for them. In the end, though, I have to tune the radio to their more familiar chants, flutes and drums. Mr Ledermann returned to Britain. Searching for what he considered to be really worthwhile employment, he approached Oxfam and the VSO (Volun­ tary Service Overseas) organisation. Eventually he joined the 'Ockington Venture'. This project seemed tailor-made for a one-time refugee. His own experiences were put to good use helping Vietnamese Boat-People to settle in Britain. He is credited with organising the re-settlement programme for these latter day refugees in Britain. He remained with the Ockington Venture for six years.

Hong Kong bound (jcrj Lcdcniianii with some of his Nepali pulnls. In 1983 Gerd's uncle in Israel became very ill. Gerd returned there to nurse him. Two ilence of dawn broken by the first notes ment and tended reindeer, later he worked years later, when his uncle died, Gerd ofbirdsong. A brilliant burst ofsunrays on the docks at Helsinki. Eventually he returned to Britain. Soon afterwards he S on the crest of the mountains due East. returned to Scotland to do engineering boarded a train at Liverpool Street Station, I3rigbt pink hues on the white peaks due work. In 1959, taking his pushbike with bound for Hong Kong. The journey lasted North. The Himalayas on the edge of the him, he headed for Canada. 21 days. Tibetan plateau, from my perch Kath- In the afternoon a rather scruffy lady ^landu lies, crystal-clear, every house Mexican Wedding appears, tied to her back is a squalling defined, almost 3000 feet below. By 1960 Gerd had moved on to California, infant, another in tow. Her quest: a packet Gerd Ledermann, the only child of where he met his wife, also a Kindertrans­ of cigarettes. In her favour — a bright smile. Silesian parents, left Germany in 1939, aged portee, from Berlin. They married in Mex­ By the time the cigarette-addicted lady 11, on a Kindertransport. Originally spon­ ico, where they stayed for two years. departs the infant is quiet, suckling. sored by a Glaswegian family he spent Deciding it was time to settle they bought From Hong Kong Gerd Ledermann several years in orphanages on the Clyde land in Australia. Investing in a jeep they entered China, travelling along the borders Coast of Scotland. In 1949 he graduated drove through Central America to Panama, as far as Pakistan before going to Tibet and ifoin Glasgow University with a degree in where they boarded a ship bound for Lassar. It was a hazardous journey, the trip electrical engineering. Shortly after gradu­ Sydney. from the Tibetan border to Kathmandu ation he went to Israel, on a bicycle, via Mid-morning Ganesha arrives. He is a alone taking a full week. He decided to I ugoslavia. He stayed in Israel for 8 years, 3 weatherheaten, mostly toothless Nepali of make Kathmandu his home. The restless of which were spent in the defence forces. uncertain age and is worried about his Gerd Ledermann seems to have found peace ^ a.m. Radio Nepal - with hilarious news future, meaning today and tomorroiv: is on the mountain which he now owns and 'n colourful English - the daily activities of there any work? how long will it last? and, where he has built his house. As well as the benevolent King, the gracious Queen, most importantly, are there any 'Cheeroot' working his small farm he teaches, in ^be august Prince and the noble Queen (cigarettes). Over the months we have English, at a local school. His lessons are Mother exchanging felicitations with become friends - but I cannot prevent his about organic farming. He loves the land ^mued foreign guests or expressing glorious inborn 'Sahib', the redundant by-product of and wishes only for peace of mind and Wishes to the Prime Minister, President or decades of conditioning. quietness. Noble (!) Dictator of this or that country - However, en route for Australia the Evening is the time for letter writing. The '^hile I munch my muesli with brown bread Ledermanns were offered work in Pakistan. BBC World Service brings news, mostly "nd honey. Unable to resist the temptation they sad, and music. Outside, distant Kath­ Leaving Israel on his trusty bicycle Mr accepted. It was to be four years before they mandu, civilisation, is brightly illuminated Ledermann worked his way to Scandinavia, reached Queensland, where they estab­ while the moon lights the massive Hima­ ^ver the next couple of years he did many lished a stud farm on the property which layas. Sixteen hours of fullness culminate in '"l^s: in Lapland he taught the Old Testa­ they had purchased. For the next ten years peaceful slumber. D AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

when 1 arrived at the office in a dirndl he said Wenn man ihr zusieht, denkt man, man ist hei Kroll auf dem Alpenball. For some time I had to phone him every afternoon about the quotations of his shares and he ONE WAY CHANNEL CROSSING to defend himself. The article seems to called me die SVhr Freundin. Sir - David Maier states that refugees who follow in the footsteps of Shaeffer's play Gebriider Veit, the second-oldest Berlin arrived in Britain in the thirties could Amadeus which represented Mozart as a bank, had been established in 1767 by identify few obviously German-descended clown and social misfit. Surely, nothing Simon, the son-in-law of Moses Mendels­ Jews to whom they could turn for help, could be further from the truth, or Haydn sohn. L^orothea, Mendelssohn's eldest because they had anglicised German-sound­ would not have mourned him. Other con­ daughter, 1763-1839, left her husband and lived in Rome with the poet Friedrich ing names. temporaries, such as the singer Michael Schlegel; they married later and translated Of my relations, there were the Japhets, Kelly and the composer Adalbert Gyrowetz, Shakespeare into German. In the strong­ Sussmans, Fontheims, Carlebachs, Heine- have left testimony in Mozart's favour room of the bank we still had the letter she manns and Feuchtwangers - all pre-1914 which is far more trustworthy than 20th- wrote from Rome to the Ikrlin husband. UK residents. A host of others associated century debunkers' muckraking. Leo Baeck House Charlotte Singer with helping refugees included Epsteins, For a sober account of Mozart's funeral, Raus, Schwabachers, Friedenhains, Freu- based on proper scholarly research, I The Bishops Avenue denbergers, Kunstlers and Strausses. recommend J. Rotter to consult Alec Hyatt I fear that Mr Maier has been misin­ King's Mozart (1970), whose first chapter ISLE OF MAN REVISITED begins with a refutation of the legend formed on this point. Sir -1 much enjoyed K. E. Hinrichsen's surrounding the funeral - and Constanze's 6 / Antrim Mansions Walter Schwab article, but I feel that it missed out an absence - evidently resuscitated by Wolf­ London NW3 important item of Hutchinson camp life: gang Hildesheimer, and uncritically per­ the Technical School. This was run by petuated in Mr Rotter's article. ISLE OF MAN REVISITED Messrs "Warschauer and Ramer with subsi­ Having belittled first Menuhin, and then Sir - My father, the late Kurt Wagcner, was dies from the Quakers and the support of Mozart, Mr Rotter might do well to seek for interned on the Isle of Man for about a year, the commandant. It taught electrical en­ his next victim in his mirror. and was I believe, a 'house father'. He gineering to prepare 'enemy aliens' for the Barnaby Mead (Mrs) Anna E. C. Harvey befriended Kurt Schwitters who later visited War effort. As teacher of electrical instal­ Gillingham, Dorset our house in London. Schwitters painted a lation I had much satisfaction when some of portrait of my father in oils during intern­ the older internees — many well into their ment, which my father brought home with EXODUS-THEN AND NOW Sixties - busily made notes on how to him. Sir - You state 'the crucial difference replace English fuses (as distinct from In later years my father became rather between immigration into the Jewish State continental ones). What eager students they eccentric and lost all his possessions, includ­ and any other on earth' is that 'no one is were! ing the painting. I would be very interested going to tell the newcomers to go back to Beechcroft Avenue Richard R. Simon to learn of the whereabouts of the portrait their own country'. How sadly wrong you London NWl I and could identify it. I would also like to are! We retired to Israel from England four hear from any former camp inmate who years ago to be near our daughter and her TREASON OF THE CLERKS remembers iny father. family - and we hear this jibe continuously. Sir - Has it occurred to you that you are Wright Street Mario Wegener Admittedly, it comes mainly from our branding Jewish intellectuals like Noam Wallasey, Merseyside L44 8BE brethren of non-European descent (who, Chomsky and Harold Pinter as traitors however, form the majority of the Israeli merely because they hold left-wing views? It ENCHANTING 'DREAM' population). seems to me that your own ultra-right wing Sir - In Berlin, in about 1935,1 was taken to Leb-Yaffe Street Dora Vernon views are blinding you to any reasonable see a performance of Shakespeare's Mid­ Herzliya, Israel argument anybody to the left of you might summer Night's Dream with the incidental put forward. music by Mendelssohn. It was performed by BEFORE THE DELUGE Quarry Park Road Inge Trott Jewish artists who had been dismissed from A German friend sent me a postcard of Cheam, Surrey German theatres. I was only about 13, but Liebermann's Lady watering the flowers of was enchanted. the Wannsee garden. Sir - The Greeks, by coining the related Could any of your readers, or contribu­ I did not know the picture, but I knew terms democracy and demagogy, indicated tors, tell me more about this production? Max Liebermann. He used to wander down that it was not the philosopher-king of Who were the artists, in what theatre did the 'Linden' from his house near the Bran- Plato, but the silver-tongued orator who they perform, etc? denburger Tor to visit his nephews the Veit would rule. Socialism and Communism Ryefield Close Henry D. Koppel Simons, owners of the Gebriider Veit bank have given rise both to the idea of an elite — Solihull where 1 worked. He enjoyed the latest jokes the Communist Party - and to the notion from the Stock Exchange, and animatedly that manual workers possess a mystic HUMAN SINGER, GODLIKE SONG talked the Berlin jargon which he liked to insight into social reality. (A recent court Sir —J. Rotter not only attacks Mozart's exaggerate. case revolved around the disputed claim of hagiographers, who may well deserve his He knew me. Sie ist so tiichtig wie ein the Labour Party's Michael Meacher that he strictures, but the composer, who is unable junger Mann he told the nephews. Once had working class parents.) In Max Beer- AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

bohm's Zuleika Dobson an intellectual possession could invite a nuclear attack SEPARATED BY A GULF duke offers marriage to his landlady's which would reduce us all to a smoking Sir - O. Bleier's letter in your May issue daughter: a castigation of intellectual ruin. reminded me of a saying by Lady Violet Oxford contrasted with the simplicity of Personally I prefer to be in the company Bonham-Carter: 'He has a first-rate mind ordinary people. Observation suggests that of useful idiots like Albert Einstein and until he makes it up'. involvement in politics can become an end Bertrand Russell, rather than of supporters I'm damned if I can see any justification in itself, and does not necessarily imply an of nuclear 'deterrence'. for the controversial statements made by involvement in the problems of society. Altrincham, Cheshire Lionel Cowan him regarding the Gulf war, the creation of Teignmouth Road T. L Lukes WAI5 9NT the State of Israel and injustices meted out London NW2 to Arab nations. I suppose he has access to RESEARCH PROJECT information denied to me regarding the VICTIMS' SELF-HELP Sir - Under the leadership of Professor effectiveness of sanctions applied against Sir — In the framework of an ongoing study Karin Hansen, Ph.D., we are working, at Iraq. of Self-Help and Mutual Assistance among the History Department of the Technical Alyth Gardens Albert Adler Jewish women during and after the Holo­ University of Berlin, on a research project London. NWll caust, I am looking for testimonies about, about women's resistance to the Nazis. documents on, and information of such The project will include material from the Sir - Regarding O. Bleier's letter, I do not phenomena. These include assistance Gestapo Headquarters in Diisseldorf and wish to take issue on the 1st paragraph, as I among pairs, trios and groups of women will include autobiographical material and am sure others will comment on it. and girls in Germany during the 1930's, in interviews with women and men who were However, the 2nd paragraph about sanc­ occupied Europe during the Holocaust (in in Dusseldorf and Essen in the 1930s. tions biting deeply into Iraq requires an ghettoes, hiding, camps, partisans, etc.) and We would like to ask any Jewish women, explanation. The contention, as I under­ among DPs in liberated Europe. Any infor­ or inen, who were in these cities at that time stand from O. Bleier, is that il was only a mation received, in any language, will be to contact us. We are interested in any matter of time before Iraq would collapse treated with the utmost confidence. information which may be relevant to our under the impact of sanctions. Can he then 4 Tabenkin Street Dr Judith Tydor Baumel project. explain how Saddam Hussein managed to Ramat Gan 52302 Israel Solinger Strasse. 4 Dr Chrisd Wickert crush two apparently quite serious upris­ 1000 Berlin 21 ings, one in the south by Shiite rebels, and A BENEDICTION OF BENITO one in the north by Kurds, using an army Sir — Your remark that a writer 'courted impaired by the biting of sanctions, and infamy by acting as PR man for a Fascist additionally reeling from the staggering dictator' (Mussolini) is astonishing. Some of defeat inflicted by the Allies? BELSIZE SQUARE SYNAGOGUE I shall await the considered reply by O. us consider Mussolini a great statesman, 51 Belsize Square, NWS who probably saved Italy from a Commu­ SELICHOT SERVICE Bleier with great interest. 1 hope his imagi­ nist takeover. Like Franco, Mussolini was at the Synagogue with Choir and Cantor nation is at least equal to that of Frederick Address by Rabbi not anti-Jewish, and had Jewish ministers on SATURDAY, 31st AUGUST at 10 p.m. Forsyth! and even Jewish admirals. No Jews were HIGH HOLY-DAY SERVICES Church Drive F. Gordon (at the Grosvenor Rooms, 92 Walm Lane, London NW9 deported from Italy until Germany occu­ NW2) pied the North of Italy in 1943. The AJR Rosh Hashanah: Eve 6.30 p.m. 1st & 2nd Day 9.30 a.m. should be politically neutral and only (2nd eve service at BELSIZE SQUARE 6.30 oppose anti-Jewish movements. During the p.m.) Kol Nidrei: 7.00 p.m. last war, it was the Fascist countries of Yom Kippur: 10.30 a.m. Europe (Italy, Spain, Hungary, Finland) For tickets of admission apply to the where most Jews were saved. Hon. Secretary, 51 Belsize Square, NW3. SERVICES WILL BE OFFERED TO INFANTS, COMPANIONS Bishops Close G. Schmerling CHILDREN AND YOUTH Old Coulsdon (at the Grosvenor Rooms, 92 Walm Lane, NW2) OF LONDON The argument would be just as cogent if Infants (0-5) Stalin were substituted for Mussolini, and Rosh Hastianah from 9.30-9.55 a.m. Yom Kippur from 10.30-10.55 a.m. A specialist home care service Communist for Fascist. Ed Children (6-I-) to assist the elderly, people Rosh Hashanah from 10.00 a.m. with disabilities, help during Yom Kippur at 11.30 a.m. GIVING HYPOCRISY A BAD NAME and after illness, childcare Youth IVIifgash ^'r - Fair comment is a process nobody Yom Kippur 5-5.30 p.m. and household needs. There will be a professionally supen/ised day­ should deny you, but comment based on time creche for under 6's during the Services For a service tailored to your individual needs dubious 'facts' is a different matter. You SUCCOT SERVICES by Companions who care - Please call claim that the Campaign for Nuclear Dis­ at Belsize Square Synagogue Eve: 6.30 p.m. 071-483 0212 armament wanted the West to disarm Morning: 10.00 a.m. unilaterally in order to 'shame' Khruschev (Kiddush after each sen/ice in Succah) 071-483 0213 RELIGION SCHOOL and Brezhnev into giving up their nuclear Beginning of the New Term 110 Gloucester Avenue, Weapons. CND has never supported such Sunday, 1st September at 10 a.m. Primrose Hill, Registration of new pupils 10 a.m. 3n idea. Its policy has always been that the Space donated by Pafra Limited London NWl 8JA U-K. (and not the West) is more vulnerable (Emp Agy) owning nuclear weapons than not. Our AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

PAUL BALINT AJR DAY CENTRE

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

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

Afternoon entertainment - AUGUST Thursday 1 Making the best of Old Age - A Chat with Irene White Monday .S Geoffry Strum (Tenor) accompanied by Bobby Eves (Piano) Tuesday 6 Come - Let Us Sing - Hans Freud Wednesday 7 Melody Hour - Jack Harris & Yetta Mendelsohn accompanied by Happy Branston Thursday 8 A Sentimental ik. Zany The hest ciresseii couple in town. Ticket sellers extraor,iinairc Photo: Newman. Afternoon - Patricia espite the stormy weather and grey known to Day Centre regulars, provided Powers (Mezzo) skies there was a fine turn-out of musical accompaniment that modulated Monday 12 A Romantic Soiree - intrepid souls who braved the ele­ from the energetic to the lyrical. Arniand D'Anjour D (Piano) ments to attend the Paul Balint AjR Day As is always the case at these get- Tuesday 13 Duo Kinnor plays for Centre's annual Open Day. Guests were togethers the volunteers manning the your Entertainment - greeted on arrival by the best dressed couple refreshment stalls went about the work of Madeleine Whitelaw in town who did a roaring trade in raffle distributing tea, cakes and sandwiches with (Piano) & David tickets. great gusto. The other stalls, with such an Richmond (Violin) Gerard Tichauer, whose talents are well abundance of goods that anyone could find Wednesday 14 Crime Prevention - Be something useful, were ably run by many of Safe, Be Secure - A Talk the regular volunteers and guest helpers. & Video presented by Everything was reasonably priced, so that West Hampstead Police AUGUST Station Crime Prevention Thursday 29 Crime Prevention - Be bargain hunters could make inexpensive Officer Safe, Be Secure - A Talk purchases. Thursday 1.5' The AJR Singers & Video presentation by This yearly event owes much of its success Monday 19 Popular Classical Music - West Hampstead Police to the hard work and dedication of the Day Maurice Isaacs (violin) Station Crime Prevention Centre organiser, Sylvia Matus, who is ably Officer accompanied by Isobel assisted by Renee Lee. Together they lend a Isaacs (Piano) high spirited air to the proceedings. Tuesday 20 A Singer & A Song - Those who attend also do so in a spirit of Geoffrey Strum (Tenor) SEPTEMBER accompanied by Johnny Monday 2 The Beaufort Ensemble jollity, knowing in advance that long faces Walton (Piano) Tuesday 3 Opera You Love - Sara would be entirely out of place. In the words Wednesday 21 A Life of Music with Meadows (Soprano) and of the proverb: time flies when one is having Piano Illustration - Doris Cyril Foley (Baritone) fun. No matter how long the Open Day Samuels (London Ladies accompanied by John lasts, it always seems too short. Choir) Feild With thanks to Miss G. Greenfield D Thursday 22 A Celebration of Songs Wednesday 4 Musical Moments - Sybil He Duets with Yoko Michelow (Mezzo) Tamada (Soprano) & accompanied by Malcolm Avril Kay (Mezzo) Miller (Piano) OPEN DAY accompanied by Rosa Thursday 5 Hans Freund: Yom Butwick Tovini Melodies Monday 26 CLOSED Heinrich Stahl House Tuesday 27 Musical Entertainment hy Sunday I September the Ex-Directory Group NOTICE Wednesday 28 Jerusalem Songsters The Paul Balint AJR Day Centre will be open on Entertain - Conducted by Monday 5 August and not closed as stated on the at 2.30 p.m. Margot Landes July edition calendar. Entrance £2.00 and £1.00 children AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Founder members "" "

n its Jubilee Year the AJR payed tribute to those founder members who joined the association in 1941. Each has been presented with a specially I commissioned certificate to commemorate this occasion. Each of these documents has been personally made out in the name of the recipient and signed by the Chairman of the AJR, Mr Theo Marx. We sincerely hope to see all our founder members receiving honours on the occasion of our Diamond Jubilee in 2001. D

I'hoto: Newman.

Left - Mr Fred Dniistoii and Mrs l.otte AJR CLUB Treedman with the 15 Cleve Road, London NW6 3RL Chairman in the garden Telephone: 071-624 3079 of the I'anI Balint AJR Day Centre. Above - Dr Hans Held receiving SUNDAY 18th August at 3 p.m. his certificate at this Manya JURIVIAN and accompanists year's ACM. will present songs and music Admission incl. tea, club members 50p, guests £1

I'hoto: Newman. Wednesday 4th September at 10.30 a.m. Outing to BRIGHTON. Details from Hilde Baban at the Club on 071-359 9951 Revisiting the past W/e welcome you and your friends on to preserve the cultural identity of its TUESDAYS - THURSDAYS - SUNDAYS members for future generations. 2 p.m.-6 p.m. You will enjoy the friendly atmosphere It was the drawing back of the Iron you can talk - play cards - play games. Curtain which enabled Rabbi Gryn to One Sunday a month live Entertainment. return to his home town. Since the war it had been 'out of bounds' to visitors from abroad because of a mihtary base sited in the area. Hugo was accompanied on his return by his children, one of whom was DO YOU LIKE TO BE NEEDED? making a filmed record of the trip which was shown on television recently. A number (1) 91-year old, Intelligent and of anecdotes were recounted, some amus­ cultured, seeks visitor. Highgate. ing, as many poignant. Funny: experiences (2) Frail residents at Eleanor with customs officers at the Czech border. Rathbone House, Avenue Road, Sad: a story of a town with a rich Jewish N6 need someone y^lth car to shop heritage which is now virtually judenrein. for them. The Rabbi has a rare oratorical gift. (3) Two sisters, one late eighties, one 92 years old, both in residential Rahhi lliigo (iryn. I'hoto: Newman. When he speaks of sad things one can sense the laughter in the background, when he homes, one In Enfield, one in he affable Rabbi Hugo Gryn de­ tells a joke, one can feel the tears. Totteridge and Whetstone need visitors, preferably German livered a most entertaining talk to Our thanks go to Hugo Gryn for sharing speakers. Tround off the AGM. Before giving an his experiences with us. account of his recent trip to his home town D M.N. People willing to visit and/or take out 'n interwar Czechoslovakia, he expressed members are always needed. Offers his admiration for the work being done by See p. 4 for the revieiv of 'Chasing Shad­ please to Laura Howe, AJR 071-483 ows', the film of Rabbi Gryn's journey to his 2536, Monday to Thursday 9.30 a.m.-5 the AJR. He also spoke of the AJR's p.m., Friday 9.30 a.m.-l p.m. Tiandate to care for the vulnerable in our home town which was held over to coincide 'iiidst and its rarely expressed responsibility with this report , *. , I AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

FAMILY EVENTS Tombstone Consecration Companion/Helper required for Birthday Greetings Kafka The Memorial Stone in lov­ elderly lady in Hampstead. Driving ing memory of Hilde Kafka will be licence essential. For further details WHY NOT Kate Krone To my very dear friend ADVERTISE IN AJR consecrated at Bushey Cemetery on please ring: 071-.586 196.3. on her 90th birthday very best INFORMATION? Thursday 3 October 1991 at 1 1..30 wishes, good health. With much a.m. Miscellaneous Please telephone love, Hilda and many friends Collector of old Jewish and the Advertisement Dept. CLASSIFIED Palestine picture postcards. Single 071-483 2536 Deaths Companion/carers cards purchased. David Pearlman, Clay Walter C:lay died suddenly Live-in middle-aged woman — non .36 Asmuns Hill, London NWll. on 12 July in his 86th year. Sadly smoker - wanted by elderly lady. 081-4,55 2149. missed by his family and many Light duties and companionship. Manicurist Visits your home 08 I- friends. Central London. Box No. 1207. ADVERTISEMENT 44.5 291.5. Dresner Rolf Hermann Dresner, Lady companion - non smoker - RATES Electrician City and Guilds quali­ aged 66 years, died suddenly on required by elderly lady from 12-4 fied. All domestic work undertaken FAMILY EVENTS May 2.3rd 1991. His wife Irmgard, p.m. .3/4 days per week.Telephone: Y. Steinreich. Tel: 081-4.55 5262. First 15 words free of charge, and children Colin, Barbara, Martin 071-221 81.36. £2.00 per 5 words thereafter. Typing in F.nglish or German. 081- .ind Helen, love and miss him. 455 6692. Goldcnbcrg Jack Cioldenberg SHELTERED FLAT CLASSIFIED Antique furniture repaired, re­ £2.00 per five words. died, aged 90, on 8 July 1991. to let at Eleanor Rathbone stored, French polished. Original Missed by his friends and remaining House, Highgate, comprising BOX NUMBERS Furniture Craft. Established since family. bed-sitting room, kitchenette, £3.00 extra. bathroom and entrance hall. 1947. Tel: 081-455 8420. Stern Lotte Stern (nee I.oewcn- Resident warden. DISPLAY, INCLUDING SEARCH thal), beloved mother of Hanna Enquiries to;- Fitzjohns Avenue NW3 NOTICES Singer, died ,30 June 1991, aged 87. per single column inch Sadly missed by family and friends. AJR Small, self-contained flat 16 ems (3 columns per page) £8.00 HANNAH KARMINSKI Sternberg Miss Zilla Sternberg, a 12 ems (4 columns per page) £7.00 HOUSE to let in sheltered block. long time resident of Osmond 9 ADAMSON ROAD, Resident caretaker. House, passed away on May 27th, LONDON NW3 3HX Please telephone AdR: 1991, aged 76. She will be much 071-483 2536/7/8/9 071-483 2536. missed by her family and many DAWSON HOUSE HOTEL friends. • Free Street Parking in front of Ihe Hotel IRENE FASHIONS • Full Central Heating • Free Laundry Tfie AdR does not accept • Free Dutch-Styie Continental Breakfast formerly of Swiss Cottage responsibility for the Sizes 10 to 50 hips 72 CANFIELD GARDENS standard of service MASSIVE SALE NOW ON Near Underground Sta. Finchley Rd, rendered by advertisers. Great reductions, coats, dresses, suits, separates and evening wear LONDON, N.W.6 Tel: 071-624 0079 ALTERATIONS Reductions from 10-20% OF ANY KIND TO Good selection in sizes 10-12 For an early appointment kindly ring before 11 am LADIES' FASHIONS or after 7 pm 081-346 9057. I also design and make '^SATELLITE INSTALLATION^ children's clothes SALES & REPAIRS Television - Videos - Aerials - Radios - West Hampstead area ANTHONY J. NEWTON Stereos - Electrical Appliances 071-328 6571 NEW & SECONDHAND TV's/VIDEOS &C0 FOR SALE Tel: 081-909 3169 Answerphone SOLICITORS FOR FAST EFFICIENT FRIDGE AVrS TV SERVICE & FREEZER REPAIRS 22 Fitzjohns Avenue, Hampstead, NW3 5NB .A. EISENBERG 7-day service With offices in: Europe/dersey/USA All parts guaranteed

J. B. Services ALL LEGAL WORK UNDERTAKEN RELIABLE & CAPABLE Tel. 081-202 4248 PLUMBER until 9 pm Telephone: 071 435 5351/071 794 9696 offers a complete 24-fiour plumbing service. Small MAPESBURY LODGE TORRINGTON HOMES (Licensed by the Borough of Brent) AUDLEY jobs welcome. Please ring MRS. PRINGSHEIM, S.R.N., for the elderly, convalescent and partly REST HOME incapacitated. MATRON JOHN ROSENFELD Lift to all floors. For Elderly, Retired and Convalescent (Hendon) Luxurious double and single (Licensed by Borough at Bamet) for Elderly Retired Gentlefolk on 071-837 4569 rooms. Colour TV, h/c, central heating, ' Single and Double Rooms. private telephones, etc., in all rooms. Single and Double Rooms witti wasti Excellent kosher cuisine. Colour TV ' H/C Basins and CH in all rooms. • Gardens, TV and reading rooms. basins and central heating. TV lounge lounge. Open visiting. Cultivated C. H. WILSON Gardens. ' Nurse on duty 24 flours. and dining-room overlooking lovely Full 24-hour nursing care ' Long and stiort term, including trial garden. Carpenter period if required. 24-tiour care—long and sfiort term. Painter and Decorator Please telephone From £210 per week French Polisher sister-ln-charge, 081-450 4972 081-445 1244 Office flours Licensed by the Borough of Barnet Antique Furniture Repaired 17 Mapesbury Road, N.W.2 081-455 1335 otfier times Enquiries 081-202 2773/8967 Tel: 081-452 8324 39 Torrington Park, N.12 Car: 0831 103707

10 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Alice Schwab SB's Column

ould it happen over here? The Greater Miami Opera introduced a C unique innovation during their cur­ rent run of Verdi's Falstaff. Ticket-holders, n their new premises in Dering Street, who pay between (the equivalent of) £8 and Wl, Annely Juda Fine Art have chosen £12 per seat, can ask to have those sums / 'Russian Constructivism and Suprema- refunded if they feel dissatisfied with the tism 1914—1930' for their summer exhi­ performance. In all only four have made use bition (until 14 September). This was an of the concession to date. important period for Russian avantgarde A small town with many plans St. Pcilten, Art in the 20th century. As usual there is a now the provincial capital of Lower Aus­ superb 88-page catalogue with 51 illus­ tria, is preparing its Stadttheater to accord trations to accompany the exhibition. with its new-found importance. The season, The Karl Friedrich Schinkel exhibition at which will open with Lessing's Nathan the Victoria and Albert Museum continues comprises a varied programme ranging until 27 October; while there, it is worth Self-Portrait: Nicholas Bernstein from Milnar's Liliom to modern comedy visiting the 20th Century gallery to see Like Camden Arts Centre, before it goes on tour and classical ballet. a One Eyed Cat, photographs by Lee around the country. Birthdays Louise Rinser has just celebrated Friedlander (until 25 August). At the British Museum the new perma­ her 80th birthday at her house near Rome. The 223rd Royal Academy Summer nent gallery (Room 71) is showing Italy Dismissed from a teaching post at Munich Exhibition (until 18 August), sponsored by Before the Roman Empire, with special for allegedly plotting against the Nazi state, Guinness, is an annual event that should not reference to Etruscan art, including magnifi­ she was tried on a treason charge in 1944, be missed. This year's show is strong in cent gold jewellery and tomb paintings. The barely escaping execution. Her postwar colour and abstract works are not promi­ new Wolfson Gallery of Roman Antiquities marriage to the composer Carl Orff col­ nent. Many of our old friends are showing, is now laid out so as to give an impression of lapsed because - in her own words - 'it is including Josef Herman, Jack Goldhill, what is was like to be a Roman citizen. impossible to live with a genius'. Now she is Irene Scheinmann (who did so well last Monika Eversfield has recently been one of Germany's most popular authors year, selling fifty of her etchings) and Willi showing her work in short exhibitions at the with a readership numbered in millions. Soukop RA. Other familiar names are Kitaj, Ridley Art Society at the Orangerie, Hol­ Susanne Almassy who had her 75th birth­ Ben Levene, Michael Rothenstein, RA and land Park and with the United Society of day, is one of Vienna's top actresses. Ever Pat Schaverien. Artists at the Central Hall, Westminster. since her prewar debut as Ingeborg in the There is much to see at the Royal The John Constable exhibition at the play of that name by Curt Goetz, she has Academy. Fauve Landscape: Matisse, Tate Gallery (until 15 September) has as its enriched the Austrian theatre scene as an Derain, Braque and their Circle 1904-1908 main feature long-lost works which have elegant 'femme fatale' exuding charm, wit is in the new Jill and Arthur M. Sackler now come to light. They include The and esprit. Hans Beirer, who has just turned Galleries (until 1 September). This new Wheatfield, not seen publicly since 1817, 80, is one of the all too rare Wagner tenors. gallery is a delight and the exhibition itself is Flatford Mill from the Lock, Wivenhoe For a long time he was an unrivalled so thrilling that it removes all the ininor Park, and the Louvre's Weymouth Bay, Siegfried and was acclaimed in many Euro­ cares of everyday life. making its first return to Britain since 1872. pean opera houses. The B.P. Portrait Award 1991 continues Berlin-bom Klaus Meyer came to Eng­ Obituary Wolfgang Reichmann, who has at the National Portrait Gallery until 1 land in 19.38 and studied at the Central died in Zurich at the age of 59, was a very September. The first prize was awarded to School under Meninsky and Kestelman; his versatile actor of stage, screen and tele­ Justin Mortimer, for his Three Seated later teachers were Gotlib, Gross and Ceri vision. Although his domain were classic Figures. Amongst the artists specially Richards. Woodcut and other forms of roles (Othello, Falstaff), he also scored a commended was Nicholas Bernstein who relief printing have long been his special great success as Tevje in Fiddler on the graduated from Cambridge in 1981. interest. He has taught at the Hornsey Roof. Three giants of the piano died Paul Wunderlich, aged 63, is acknow­ College of Art and at Kilburn Polytechnic, recently: the Marlborough School in Ver­ ledged as one of Germany's leading artists held several one-man exhibitions and parti­ mont mourns its president Rudolf Serkin, a and sculptors. A recent exhibition of his cipated in group exhibitions. He has also US resident since 1939, who directed the ^ork at the Redfern Gallery prompted a published two books of prints Urworte, Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia for long article in The Times Saturday Review. Orphisch and Prepositions. Primrose Hill years. Wilhelm Kempf, the German pianist Women artists is the theme of Echo at the Gallery holds a number of his relief prints and composer, died in Positano aged 95. He Tate Gallery, Liverpool (until 20 Sep­ from a recent exhibition for sale. appeared with the Berlin Philharmonic until tember). The exhibition comprises 25 An exhibition of etchings in colour by 1979. Kempf's Beethoven courses, and ^orks by women artists, including Natalie Zena Flax, whose previous showcases have school for pianists in Positano, were known Gontcharova, Vanessa Bell, Dame Ethel included the Ben Uri Art Gallery and the worldwide. The death of Claudio Arrau in Walker and Gwen John. Camden Arts Centre, will run at the Stern­ Austria, at the age of 88, will stir memories Next January we can look forward to a berg Centre, 80 East End Road, N3 until 29 of the unique virtuosity with which he Tiajor Mark Gertler exhibition at the August. D performed the classical repertoire. D

II ^ffffmrnw BSi

AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Ernst (whose father-in-law presciently des­ love that dare not speak its name'. Marcel Gilt by association cribed the soon-to-be-divorced Surrealist as Proust's famous childhood trauiTia subli­ an 'irresponsible dauber'). The Orthodox mated into literature was a goodnight kiss in-laws of the critic F. R. Leavis went one denied him by his Jewish inother. Benjamin n his notorious essay Judaism and Music step further: when their daughter Queenie Britten's mother substitute was Elisabeth Richard Wagner asserted that Jewish married him they sat shiva for her. Mayer, his 'housemother' in wartime New I composers - and, in fact, all Jews - By neat inversion two famous Christian York where she had tied from Nazi Ger­ lacked genuine creativity. The only work proselytizers had Jewish wives. The Angli­ many. Others among Elisabeth's charges they were capable of producing, he claimed, can C. S. Lewis' marriage to Helen Joy included W. H. Auden and Chester Kail- was either derivative or second-rate. Davidman formed the highly theatrical man, co-librettists on the Stravinsky opera Anyone having the slightest acquaintance subject of Shadowlands. The French Catho­ The Rake's Progress. (A more conven­ with the arts, or the sciences, knows that the lic philosopher Jacques Maritain's Russian- tionally 'mixed' couple involved in the very opposite of Wagner's creativity libel Jewish wife Raissa actually helped him creation of a modern operatic classic were holds true. What is not widely known, build a chapel in their own home. Prokofiev and Mira Mendelson, joint beget­ though, is that, in addition to having Interwar France provided an even more ters of War and Peace.) produced a disproportionate number of bizarre conjunction in the marriage between Lastly - what of politics? Had a British creative spirits, Jews have time and again the Jewess Colette Jereinac and the (subse­ general election gone the other way 30-odd provided a nurturing matrix for the world's quent) Nazi collaborator Drieu le Rochelle, years ago Dora Gaitskell would have been limited stock of cultural luminaries. who committed suicide in 1945. Pari passu mistress of Number Ten. By the same token Here is a random sample of writers who Martin Heidegger, Nazi Rektor of Freiburg the U.S.A. would have had a Jewish First had Jewish (or half-Jewish) spouses: University, had once had an amour with his Lady had Governor Dukakis defeated Thomas Mann, Heinrich Mann, Bertolt PhD student Hannah Arendt. George Bush in 1988. On the other hand, Brecht, Vladimir Nabokov, Virginia Woolf, Of course the Jewish encounter with the Kremlin did once accommodate a Jew­ Andre Malraux and Colette. (The last- cultural mould-breakers can also take forms ish first lady of sorts. She was Polina, wife of named saved her Jewish husband from the that have nt)thing to do with relations Vyacheslav Molotov, Soviet Prime Minister clutches of the Gestapo.) In several between the sexes. It was said of Gerhart in the 1940s. Having earlier incurred Sta­ instances Jewish wives directly inspired Hauptmann that he was surrounded by lin's wrath by befriending his suicidal wife, works of literature: Louis Aragon's Les Jews - from publisher Samuel Fischer and Polina was sent to the Gulag after a Yiddish Yeux d'Elsa, Friedrich Schlegel's Lucinde, theatre director Otto Brahms to his lawyer, conversation with Israeli Ambassador Malcolm Cowley's Under the Volcano and accountant and literary agent. Bcrtolt Golda Meir. During her five years' 'absence' Lawrence Durrell's Justine. Brecht's composer-collaborators were Kurt Molotov conducted government affairs, Jews have also figured prominently in the Weill, Hanns Eisler and Paul Dessau; his and received foreign dignitaries as if affaires of renowned literati. The complex philosophical soul-mate was Walter nothing had happened. amour between Simone de Beauvoir and Benjamin. James Joyce's best Triestino Mercifully that long Orwellian interlude Jean-Paul Sartre was at different times friend was Italo Svevo (quasi-model for in Russian history is now over. If any one 'supplemented' by Nelson Allgrcn (author Leopold Bloom in Ulysses); his closest man deserves credit for having brought of The Man ivith the Golden Arm), Claude advisor in Paris was Leon Edel. about that sea-change it is the late Andre Lanzmann (director of Shoah), and the Ringing the changes one can also cite Sakharov. He, too, had a Jewish wife - who, Algerian Jewess Arlette Elkaim. In post Greta Garbo, her early mentor Moritz though ill herself, sustained him through his revolutionary Russia Lily Brik, wife of a Stiller and her Hollywood confidante Salka life-shortening exile in the forbidden city of trade emissary, acted as Mayakovsky's Viertel. (Salka Viertel's husband, Berthold, Gorky. wayward muse. Famous jiidisch versippte in turn inspired Christopher Isherwood's Fortunately this particular Jewish wife - painters were Diego Rivera, husband of the Prater Violet.) Yelena Bonner - is still with us. similarly talented Frieda Kahlo, and Max With Herr Issyvoo we have arrived at 'the D Richard Grunberger

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12 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Unfinished business - outrages against civilians has left the Israeli public deeply sceptical about the possibility 40 Years Ago unguarded remarks of peaceful coexistence with an independent Palestinian state. The mindboggling inepti­ this Month tude of the PLO leadership in championing BETWEEN WAR AND PEACE peration Desert Storm', asserts the Saddam's cause has left Palestinians mass­ The state of war between Germany and I Committee for a Just Peace in the ively victimised in Kuwait, denied passports the three Western Allies has ended. A O;Middl e East, 'has produced by Egypt and personae non gratae in political process which had been going on neither victory nor peace.' The Committee previously Arafat-loving Greece. Of course, for the past years has thus been brought to goes on to say, in time-honoured fashion, it is not their leadership alone that has put its logical conclusions. For us Jews from Ciermany, however, the news is bound to that the denial of Palestinian rights is the the Palestinians in bad odour; there was create conflicting feelings. Has the war root cause of instability in the whole region. also widespread sadistic gloating over Scuds against us which started on January 30, As ever the pronouncements of the sancti­ hitting Israeli population centres and the 1933, come to an end? Thinking of the monious Bennite tendency amount to a kangaroo court 'justice' meted out to wounds inflicted upon our community we travesty of the truth. If there is much alleged collaborators. are reminded of the words from Heine's hymn: 'Victory - but wherever we look, we tragically unfinished business in the Middle The running sore of Israeli-Palestinian see the bodies of our nearest ones.' East, part of the blame lies with the relations lies at the heart of the controversy Nobody can revive our martyrs. But the Committee (and its supporters) whose anti- stirred up by the Chief Rabbi's Evening least we could have expected was a histori­ US clamour since the beginnings of the Cold Standard interview. On this issue we should cal manifestation in the name of the German War has powerfully stimulated American refrain from taking sides. However, the people against the horrors of Nazi Ger­ many. For more than six years, we have isolationism. A Pentagon eager to pull its maintenance of a harmonious relationship been waiting in vain for such a declaration. soldiers out of a Vietnam-style quagmire in between Israel and Diaspora Jewry calls for There have been individual statements by Iraq - at the inevitable cost to the Kurds - a rare admixture of moral certitude and statesmen, politicians and Chutch leaders, represents the final wish fulfilment for all farsighted pragmatism. The use of intein- bur neither the Ciovernment nor the Bonn those who have been inveighing against perate language in the dialogue between the Parliament have taken an opportunity to say what ought to be said on behalf of a nation 'dollar imperialism' for close on half a two coinponents of the Jewish people can in whose name mass murder of unsurpassed century. have far-reaching consequences. We should dimensions had been committed. This As for the imperilled Shias of Southern know better than most that every word silence cannot be explained as an organisa­ Iraq they are paying the price for the guerre uttered in public needs to stand the test of tional failure - it would not have been kept if the emotional and spiritual conditions for a outrance long preached in Teheran and truth. We are appalled when the Pope laces a spontaneous act had existed. Painful as Qom. The inflammatory bloodcurdling his anti-abortion diatribes with Holocaust this may be for the victims of the catas­ rhetoric of Shiite fundamentalism has not metaphors for rhetorical effect, or when trophe, it may also be fatal for the German seriously harmed the 'Great Satan' in Wash­ Elizabeth Taylor likens the registration of people itself. 'Even if the whole world were ington - but it has sufficiently alarmed the HIV sufferers to the J for Jew stamped in silent, it would be our duty to speak ... a crisis cannot be overcome if we remain Saudis to make them prefer Saddam's Iraq German passports. silent about the origin, symptoms, develop­ to an independent Shia state across their Let us therefore choose our words cir­ ment and after-effects of the plague,' says Northern border. cumspectly. For a wealthy bookmaker - the German poet Hans Carossa in his latest The third group in the Middle East who however public-spirited - to call the Chief work. face an uncertain future are the Palestinians. Rabbi 'ignorant' is to stretch the rules of Meanwhile, as remnants of exterminated Their problems, too, partly stem from a debate to breaking point. The tradition of families, we gratefully remember the love we received from those who were not guerre a outrance mentality. Bombastic the People of the Book surely enjoins us to peririitted to see the end of this war; as PLO rhetoric about driving the Jews into have bookish - rather than bookie - members of a people which has lost one the sea compounded by sickening terrorist spokesmen. D R.G. third of its men, women and children, we mournfully celebrate the first Tisho be'Aw after a war which has ended but not yet led to peace. AjR Information August 1951. CAR HIRE Comfortable, air conditioned car with helpful driver. HOME VISITS FOR THE Airports, stations, coast, etc. Fully DISABLED/ELDERLY insured. THURLOW LODGE Tony Burstein 081-204 0567. Derek Demant F.S.M.C., F.B.O.A., and Car 0831 461066. HAMPSTEAD HOUSE D.C.L.P. (Residential Homes) Ophthalmic Optician (Optometrist) for the elderly and retired, situated in an exclusive part of Hampstead. Both homes Contact Lens Practitioner CAMPS provide luxurious accommodation with INTERNMENT-P.O.W.- 24-hour nursing care in a homely FORCED LABOUR-KZ 225 Holloway Road, London N7 BHB atmosphere. Strictly kosher cuisine. Long and short stays welcome. Many bedrooms I wisti to buy cards, envelopes and folded post­ Phone: 071-607 3115/6404 or marked letters from all camps of botti world wars. have en-suite facilities. Moderate fees. Please send, registered mail, stating price, to: 081-958 6086 for appointments For further information and brochure: Tel. 071 794 7305/071 435 5326. 14 Rosslyn Hill. London NWS 11/12 Thurlow Road, Hampstead, PETER C. RICKENBACK London NW3

13 niFm"7fff ^'wm masisimasar AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Kook's Home Tour De mortuis nihil N.W. London South London The ex-SS officer and major war criminal 'British West Hampstead' jokers bold Shabby-genteel, by turns, and smart Walter Reder, whose reception, on release, Would quip in shelter nights of old It stretches from a fringe of art by the Austrian Defence Minister Frie- Since when on time's swift whirligig Through redbrick anonymity denschlager caused a furore in 1985, has We switched from waltz to rap and jig. To warehouse-fringed infinity been buried at Gmunden. The number of mourners present - 1500 - almost equalled East London Liverpool the number of Italian civilians Reder had The Tower and Canary Wharf- Magnet to Taffy, Mick and Spade ordered to be massacred at Marzobotto. D Twin edifices meant to dwarf Turned theme park of Victorian trade; Habitations on a human scale. To stop the Scousers feeling bad Israel's standing But Bow bells peal still without fail Why not rename it Lennongrad? In the global league table of 'scope for Oxford Stratford human development' gauging living Some graduates seek Downing Street Will power here holds total sway standards, health care and educational Some free from corns iambic feet (F'was ever thus, says Hathaway) opportunities of UN member countries Church spires dream, the Thames runs pure Half-timbers gleam and rhespians strut Israel ranks twenty-first. She is second in The eternal Jude still stays obscure The Bard is Britain's Pharaoh Tut Asia after Japan — and ahead of all East European countries, as well as of three West '.11 •••••I European ones (Ireland, Portugal and Greece). D HILARY'S AGENCY Dr H. Alan Shields, M.B., Ch.B., B.D.S., Specialists In Long and Short-Term Live-in L.D.S., R.C.S. (Eng) Care Relatively superlative RESPITE AND EMERGENCY CARE DENTAL SURGEON CARE FOR THE ELDERLY The City of Frankfurt has hosted visits by 46 Brampton Grove, Hendon NW4 4AQ HOUSEKEEPERS former Jewish residents for the last 12 years. All types of dental treatment given RECUPERATION CARE MATERNITY NURSES including cosmetic dentistry, dentures, In an address to this year's visitors the local NANNIES AND MOTHER'S HELPS emergencies and home visits for EMERGENCY MOTHERS Jewish community leader Ignatz Bubis de­ the disabled. Caring and Experienced Staff Available scribed the Bundesrepublik as 'the most Deutsch wird auch gesprochen. We will be happy to discuss your democratic state that ever existed on Phone: 081-203 0405 or 0831-511251 requirements German soil'. D for appointment. PLEASE PHONE 081-559-1110 Memo to Tauber fans

RELIABLE AND CONSCIENTIOUS To mark the centenary of Richard Tauber's HANDY MAN Israel's birth the National Film Theatre in London will be screening Das Land des Ldchelns, I can undertake the following: Very finest Wines Heavy duty domestic cleaning, decorating I Pagliacci, Blossom Time and Land with­ General repair work, garden clearance. out Music between 23 September and 4

References supplied. Please phone SHIPPED BY October. D Andy Wilson on 081-346 3186 Well-earned retirement Karl Baum, Hampstead-resident founder of FOR THOSE YOU CARE MOST ABOUT HOUSE OF the World Council of Jews from Czecho­ HALLGARTEN slovakia, and indefatigable editor of its Springdene newsletter, has retired at the age of 84. D

A modern nursing tiome with 26 yrs of excellence in tiealtti YARDEN and GAMLA care to ttie community. Mrs Berthe Kahn Licensed by Barnet area health authority and recognised by AVAILABLE NOW Mrs Berthe Kahn nee Essinger, who is a BUPA & PPP. resident at Osmond House, Bishops Av­ HYDROTHERAPY & PHYSIOTHERAPY Please write or phone for enue, was 95 years old on July 16th. provided by full time chartered Mrs Kahn and her children joined her cares . physiotherapists tor inpatients full information and outpatients. sisters Anna and Paula at Bunce Court School, Kent in 1935. She acted as matron SPRINGDENE 55 Oakleigh Park North, Whetstone, DALLOW ROAD in charge of all domestic arrangements until London N.20 081-446 2117 LUTON BEDS the school closed in 1948. SPRINGVIEW 6-10 Crescent Road, Enfield. Our LU11UR She is in good health, has eight great­ completely new purpose built hotel style retirement grandchildren and still enjoys the visits of home. All rooms with bathroom en-suite from £305 0582 22538 per week. 081-446 2117. 'old pupils' of the school from England and abroad. D

14 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

Obituaries Search Notices Gisela Altman, formerly of Vienna, would like to hear from cousin Otto Biss (Bisk), Brigitte Fischer received the German 'Bundes- also of Vienna. We arrived in London 1939. verdienstkreuz' 1st class. In a memorial Box No. 1206. The death of Brigitte Fischer in Tuscany, at service at the Palais de Justice, Paris, he was Susi Berghauer from Cologne born 1926, the age of 86, snaps one of the last called the Grand Old Man of French/ arrived in England aged about 14, please remaining links with the civilisation of prc- German law. contact Brigitte Adelheid Heise of Nazi Germany. She was the daughter of the Hegelstrasse 60, 6500 Mainz. Mutual His intelligence and his general know­ friends were Dr Scharff of Rydal Mount, legendary publisher Samuel Fischer whose ledge were outstanding. Yet, as I know from formerly India and Lady Burn. list, extending from Gerhart Hauptmann to my school days, he was a particularly Otto Sammy Hess, brother of Adolph Thomas Mann, read like a Who's Who of friendly and helpful, but at the same time Rashid, son of Henry (Inspector of German Letters. After his death Brigitte unusually modest, colleague. languages, Berlitz). Mother Fortunee (nee administered his estate with an aplomb that Arditti). Grandfather Maurice. Anyone with Ernst Mezger was an outstanding Information please contact Mauricette earned her the nickname der kleine Herr member of the ex-German Jewish commun­ Fortunee Hess, White Lodge, 10 Castle Sami. Helped by her husband Gottfried ity whose death is a great loss to all who had Road, Sandgate, Kent CT20 3AG. Phone: 0303 53175. Bermann, she preserved the imprint by the privilege of knowing him and his work. moving the locus of publishing operations D C.F.F. Peter Rockman, I am looking for over and over again - first from Berlin to information about my father who lived at 15 Reginald Terrace, Leeds, in May 1939. He Vienna, and then to Stockholm and New also resided for some time at Harrogate at York. the house of Mrs Alexander. His name at After the war the couple recreated the Dr Erwin Rosenthal the time was Adolf Rochman, which he later changed to Peter Rockman. He left Leipzig Fischer Verlag, Frankfurt, which occupies a With the death of the orientalist Erwin on May 15, 1939. His address there was leading position in the German publishing Rosenthal in Cambridge, at the age of 86, Humboldt Strasse 3. scene to this day. Their other significant the community has lost another outstanding I am also looking for any information about the Schmulewisch family, owners of contribution to the revival of German representative of the German-Jewish cul­ the Guisborough Shirt and Underwear Co, culture was the publication of Bedroht, tural symbiosis that figures so prominently Yorkshire. I believe that family also came Bewahrt (1967) and Sie schriehen mir in modern scholarship and the arts. After from Leipzig, in 1937. I'd welcome any information about Carol (1978) - volumes of literary reminiscences studying Semitics, as well as medieval Katz who was manager of British Dolls and of the most turbulent decades of our Jewish and Muslim intellectual history, at Toys Ltd, in Thorpe St, Hartlepool. century. D several German universities he took over Please reply to H. Rockman, POB 332, Mevasseret Zion, Jerusalem, Israel. the Hebrew department of University College London in 1933. From this part- Raderscheidt, information sought on the DrJ.J. Halpern whereabouts of paintings by Anton time post he moved, in 1936, to a full-time Raderscheidt for completing an oeuvre The restitution lawyer Dr Jan. J. Halpern lectureship in Semitics at Manchester catalogue. Please contact Gisele died after a long illness at the age of 81. University. Following army service and Raderscheidt. 11 Pilgrims Lane, London NW3 1SJ. Tel: 071 435 5790. Many Nazi victims owe the settlement of educational work with German PoWs, he their claims to his proficiency and expertise, took up the newly created post in Hebrew at linked with a personal interest in their the University of Cambridge. While there he situation. He was a longstanding member of published studies on the political thought in the AJR and for many years a member of its Islam, and the interplay of Judaism with Board. D Islam. A volume of colleagues' essays, Annely Juda Fine Art Has moved to entitled Interpreting the Hebrew Bible, was 23 Dering Street (off New Bond Street), Ernst Mezger published to mark his 75th birthday. London W1R 9AA An AJR member, Dr Rosenthal was Ernst Mezger, who died, aged 81, a few Tel: 071-629 7578 closely associated with the Cambridge Fax:071-491 2139 months ago in Paris, was an authority on community and the Leo Baeck Institute. D both the German and French legal systems. CONTEMPORARY PAINTING AND SCULPTURE At Berlin University he was considered to be one of the most promising students of his Mon-Fri: 10 am-6 pm Sat: 10 am-1 pm generation. Having lost his position as 'referendar' in 1933, he recommenced university studies in France, receiving his Simon P. Rhodes M.Ch.S. licence en droit as early as 1934 and STATE REGISTERED CHIROPODIST Deutsche Bucher, Bilder, specialising in international and compara­ Autographen und Asiatica tive law. Surgery hours: Having survived the War in hiding, he 8.30 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday-Friday sucht 8.30 a.m.-3 p.m. Saturday became, in 1948, one of the leading lights in A. W. MYTZE the Jewish Restitution Successor Organisa­ Visiting chiropody service available 1 The Riding, London NW11. tion. For 25 years he taught at the Institute 67 Kilburn High Road, NW6 (opp. M&S) '"r Comparative Law of the University of Telephone 071-624 1576 Paris. His published writings, both in Ger- Tel: 071-586 7546 tnan and French, are legion. In 1978 he

15 AJR INFORMATION AUGUST 1991

identified with revolutionary innovation, Miller, John Osborne - for the German Homage staves off even on the personal level, to the extent of stage. At the same time Sahl wrote his own dotage severing all contact with his banker father - German-language memoirs and essays: Die though he respected parental wishes suffi­ Wenigen und die Vielen, Memoiren eines ciently to attend university. His studies Moralisten and Das Exil im Exil (wherein oon it will be 60 years since Germany's over, Sahl worked as a reviewer for the he settled scores with the Communists). relapse into Stone Age barbarism. Berliner Bbrsen Courier and Das Tagehuch, At first these books remained almost SAstonishingly, some personalities who getting to know literati of the eminence of unnoticed in Germany, but by the 1980s the played a part in the turbulent last phase of Thomas Mann and Bcrtold Brccht. Emig­ now octogenarian author attracted a grow­ the Weimar Republic are still among the ration in 1933 took him via Prague, and ing readership. living. One such is the writer Hans Sahl acquaintance with Egon Erwin Kisch and a A few years ago Sahl re-migrated and who, after decades of neglect, is enjoying very young Stefan Heym, to Paris. A lengthy remarried, settling in Tubingen. Now aged belated recognition in his late eighties. stay in France ended with wartime intern­ 89, partially blind, he still writes with the Born in 1902 into a prosperous Jewish ment and escape to New York. By the time aid of amanuenses. Earlier this year he family at Dresden, Sahl had an adolescence of his arrival in the States the erstwhile left- received the Goethe medal at a ceremony in that overlapped with the wartime defeat winger had become an engage anti-Commu­ Frankfurt's historic Romer palace. The and postwar upheavals of Germany. He nist. His comment that little differentiated citation called him a 'seer and thinker of our Stalin from Hitler made the US-resident disaster-prone century'. D Brecht show him the door; the similarly left- leaning Kisch dubbed him a 'fanatic for Die Kraft des Tanzes truth'. Leaving the world a better Hilde Holger In the wartime U.S.A. Sahl earned his Wien - Bombay - London place living as a technical translator — primarily of Uber das Leben und Werk der Tanzerin, captured German aeronautical documents. Within a few days of the death of Ger­ Choreographin, Tanzpadagogin When peace caused that source of income to many's leading neo-Nazi ex-Bundeswehr Verlag Zeichen und Spuren, Bremen 1990. U.K. Preis £16. erhaltlich von dry up he was fortuitously rescued from officer Michael Kiihnen, of an undisclosed penury by Thornton Wilder's commission illness at Kassel, another Jew-baiter died by Hllde Holger, 27, Oval Road, to translate Our Town into German. This his own hand in a Soviet labour camp. This London NWl 7EA was the beginning of a lucrative, as well as was Konstantin Smirnov-Ostashvili, a Tel. 071 485 6822 artistically satisfying, career as adaptor of Paniyat leader who had been sentenced to the work of leading Anglo-American play­ two years for leading an antisemitic assault wrights - Tennessee Williams, Arthur on a Russian writers' meeting. D

PROPERTY COMPENSATION HUNGARY D ^ ° * 0 ^ ° ^ ^ Persons who suffered loss as a AJR AJR result of measures of nationalisation of properties based upon laws 50 50 4- enacted following 8 June 1949 in / c ' c 1/ E ^ • AJR I'lll 1/ E ^ " Hungary are entitled to file claims.

On your instructions our Hungarian 50th Anniversary Lawyers will secure the necessary documents, prepare your compensation claim and pursue the matter with the competent authorities. A Celebration Dinner

For further information please contact: Tuesday 150ctober 1991 is the date when the AJR will mark its Golden Anniversary with a celebration dinner. Guest of honour and speaker at the dinner will be Sir Claus Moser, prominent ICS CLAIMS academic. Government advisor and statistician. 146-154 Kilburn High Road London NW6 4JD Full details and a booking form for this special event (£65.00 per person) can be obtained from Mrs Lydia Lassman, Administrator, AJR, Hannah Karminski House, Tel: 071-328-7251 (Ext. 7) 9 Adamson Road, London NW3 3HX. FAX: 071-624-5002 Please note this important date in your diary. It will be an unforgettable occasion.

Published by the Association of Jewish Refugees in Great Britain, Hannah Karminski House, 9 Adamson Road, London NW3 3HX, Telephone 071-483 2536/7/8/9 Fax: 071-722 4652 Printed in Great Britain by Black Bear Press Limited, Cambridge