Jewish Federation of NEPA Non-profit Organization 601 Jefferson Ave. U.S. POSTAGE PAID The Scranton, PA 18510 Permit # 184 Watertown, NY Change Service Requested Published by the Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania VOLUME XI, NUMBER 3 FEBRUARY 8, 2018 In Austrian jail, Holocaust historian indicts the country for how it handles looted Jewish property BY CNAAN LIPHSHIZ Templ was convicted of fraud for not civil libel suit by Claire Fritsch, a legal VIENNA (JTA) – If Stephan Templ’s listing an aunt on his survivor mother’s adviser to the restitution authority who trial and imprisonment in Austria were restitution claim, which he filled out for served as the main witness in his criminal meant to silence his criticism of the her. Neither Templ nor his mother wrote court case. She claims she was libeled by country’s Holocaust restitution system, that they were the only claimants to the his defense team’s attempts to undermine then his prosecution was clearly a failure. property. Austria has no law requiring her testimony. Templ is an Austrian-Jewish historian of restitution applicants to list other relatives. In Templ’s English-language book – the Holocaust who has written critically In previous official correspondence about which is titled “Austria’s Living Ghost” and about his country since 1995. In 2015, he the claim, Templ did list his aunt, which was scheduled for publication online ahead was sent to jail for nearly a year on contro- he argues means he had indeed informed of International Holocaust Remembrance Kurt Waldheim in 1971. (Photo by versial fraud charges tied to his family’s the Republic of Austria of her existence. Day on January 27 – he examines the work Keystone/Hulton Archive/Getty Images) own claim for compensation – and spent The 75 historians, including Americans of Austria’s Arbitration Panel for in Rem his time in prison diving even deeper into Deborah Lipstadt and Michael Beren- Restitution, a body set up in 2002 to review his area of expertise. baum, suggested in a joint statement that the restitution work done immediately after “The lack of de-Nazification is the The result is a new book that for the first Templ’s prosecution looked like a ven- World War II on properties that in 2001 reason Austria now has in government, time chronicles how modern-day Austria detta by the Austrian judiciary, which the were in the state’s possession. for the second time already, a party that gave its seal of approval for flawed restitu- Freedom Barometer index of 2016 ranked Until the 1990s, Austria had claimed that was founded by an SS officer,” he said of tion practices that were overseen by former as the least independent in Western Eu- it was principally a victim, not a perpetrator, the far-right Freedom Party, which joined Nazis. Those practices, Templ shows, in rope. The Anti-Defamation League also of Nazism. No one has been convicted of the coalition in December. essence validated Nazi-era policies that protested Templ’s sentence, as did the Nazi war crimes in Austria in more than 35 Austria’s victim myth also tainted how were used to rob Austrian Jews of what human rights lawyer Robert Amsterdam years, according to the Simon Wiesenthal the Austrian state handled the return of little compensation they sought to receive and Stuart Eizenstat, a former U.S. deputy Center. And whereas people with a Nazi Jews from concentration camps, prosecut- for vast assets that they had been forced secretary of the Treasury who helped set past were removed from positions of influ- ed Nazi war criminals and settled restitu- to sell to Aryans. up Austria’s restitution system. ence in neighboring Germany, in Austria tion issues. Concerns about this process “The wrongly imprisoned experience a Efraim Zuroff, Eastern Europe director they were allowed to serve as judges, teach- led to a 2002 review by the Arbitration special kind of frustration: Your thoughts get for the Simon Wiesenthal Center, told JTA ers and even restitution officials. (Walther Panel, as part of a restitution treaty that into a cycle about where you are and who put about the case: “It looks like revenge, like Kastner, for example, was a former Nazi See “Looted” on page 9 you there,” Templ, 57, told JTA. His sentence they wanted to get back at him for his official who was entrusted with advising was decried as a miscarriage of justice by criticism. I’m not a jurist, but it looks like on restitution issues in the 1940s.) dozens of leading Holocaust historians. an injustice.” Templ currently is facing a Austria even had a former Nazi, Kurt Waldheim, as president until 1992 – the year that Austrian officials began to drop Pay it forward & give to At left: Stephan the victim attitude, which is now de- the 2018 Jewish Federation Templ outside scribed as a “myth” on official Austrian of Northeastern Pennsylvania a building in government websites. But that myth has Annual Campaign! Vienna, which he had far-reaching implications for Austria, claimed from the said Templ, who in 2001 led groups around Austrian state, on Vienna on tours of stolen Jewish property. October 27, 2014. He pointed out building after building, $899,069 using a loudspeaker to name the families as of Jan. 31, 2018 (Photo by Cnaan For information or to Liphshiz) whose ancestors bought the assets for a make a donation call Goal: fraction of their true worth from Jews 570-961-2300 ext. 1 or send your gift to: $910,000 fleeing for their lives. Jewish Federation of Northeastern Pennsylvania SPOTLIGHT 601 Jefferson Ave., Scranton, PA 18510 (Please MEMO your pledge or gift 2018 Israel’s wine industry grows better with age UJA Campaign) BY ELIANA RUDEE for the 35-year-old Golan Heights Winery, (JNS) – Israeli winemakers say that, one of Israel’s veteran wineries. just like the beverage they produce, their Singer has seen the winery evolve industry is growing better with age. More dramatically during the last decade – on a than 50 Israeli wineries, together with parallel track with the Israeli wine industry. international brands, were displayed in “The industry has developed tremendously, the “Sommelier 2018” exhibition from and the amount of quality wine is growing January 15-16 in Tel Aviv. In the past, this year by year,” she told JNS. “Everybody gathering – Israel’s largest annual wine wants to be at the cutting edge of quality and Federation event – was only open to professionals in innovation, and is searching for the unique the industry. But this year, it was opened essence of Israeli wine. We like to believe to the public in the evenings. that we have some say in the development Bottles from the Derech Eretz winery on Facebook In the past few years, Israeli exports of of the industry and are leading the flag of at the Sommelier 2018 exhibition in Tel The Jewish Federation of Northeast- wine and spirits have been consistently wine culture.” Aviv. (Photo by Eliana Rudee) ern Pennsylvania now has a page on growing at around 6 percent annually, Most of the industry in Israel uses Facebook to let community members according to the Israel Export Institute. “In international grapes from Western Eu- grapes, specifically the ancient Bittuni know about upcoming events and keep comparison to how small and young we rope, brought by Baron Edmond James and Marawi varieties, which flourish in connected. are, it’s quite amazing to see the accom- de Rothschild from France 150 years their indigenous climate and soil. plishments of Israeli wines,” said Ayala ago. But recent wine trends have seen Recanati Winery was the first to restore Singer, director of marketing development a move toward the use of local Israeli See “Wine” on page 6 Candle lighting February 9 ...................................5:11 pm INSIDE THIS ISSUE February 16 ................................ 5:20 pm “Israel in Focus” Jewish films to watch News in brief... February 23 ................................ 5:28 pm An annual pro-Israel conference A look at five Jewish-themed films Abbas to ask for full U.N. PLUS looked at ways to combat the BDS to watch, including three that were membership; one-third of Shoah Opinion .......................................................2 movement. short-listed for Academy Awards. survivors in U.S. live in poverty. Jewish Family Service Notes ...............4 Story on page 3 Story on page 5 Stories on pages 11-12 D’var Torah ...............................................8 2 THE REPORTER ■ FEBRUARY 8, 2018 A MATTER OF OPINION Community Relations Committee report The following op-ed and intransigence, inevitably Although Trump affirmed Jerusalem as respected and protected to ensure that by CRC Chairman David leads down the same path that the capital of Israel, he refrained from all religious groups may pray as they Fallk was published in the plagues the Middle East. precluding a Palestinian capital there, wish at a united Jerusalem’s holy sites. Scranton Times on Friday, When King David made subject to negotiations. Control over the Temple Mount was January 5, in response to Jerusalem his capital some Since 1936 there have been numer- ceded to Muslim authorities. Rev Michael Azar’s op-ed of 3,000 years ago, that city ous proposals to effectuate a two-state Judaism, Islam and Christianity all December 22 that attacked became eternally and inex- solution for the region and for control have thrived in the city. More churches, the decision of the U.S. orably connected to Israel over Jerusalem. The Arab world has mosques and synagogues exist in the government to recognize and the Jewish people. It rejected every one, resorting instead Old City of Jerusalem than anywhere Jerusalem as the capital of was in Jerusalem that Jewish to violence by spawning repeated riots, else in the world.