Ohio Jewish chronicle. (Columbus, Ohio), 1983-12-29

              LIBRARY* OHIO ..HISTORICAL.
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VOL.61   NO. 53
DECEMBER 29,1983-TEVET 23
Devoted to American
and Jewish Ideals.
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BEHIND THE HEADLINES
Prague Preserves The 'Golden Age'
Of Jewry Despite Scarcity Of Jews
'^Si'SsfaS 13.'
Torah Academy Builder's Wall
Dedicated On Sunday, Dec. 4
Over 100 community leaders, supporters and friends
of the Columbus Torah Academy, gathered on Sunday,
Dec. 4, at the school to dedicate the Builder's Wall. Included in the photo of the audience at top are (front
row, second from right) Melvin Schottenstein, chairman of the school's Building Fund who served as master of ceremonies, and (front row, far right) Bernard
R. Ruben, Board of Trustees president. Special recognition was given to Jerome Schottenstein (middle
photo, left), honorary life chairman of the Board of
Trustees, for his continual support of and dedication to
the school. Thomas and William Schottenstein, (bottom photo, 1. to r.) accepted a special presentation
made in memory of their father, Leon, who was a
founder and former president of the school. The two.
presentations were made by Bernard K. Yenkin
(shown at right in the middle.and bottom photos), who
served as chairman of the Builder's Wall Dedication
Committee?
PRAGUE (JTA)-The
ancient city of Prague is a
study in contrasts: baroque
splendor and contemporary
grayness; intellectual awareness and social regimentation; unparalled Jewish cultural treasures and the paucity of Jews. A mere 1,500 are
enrolled as members of the
Jewish community, one-
quarter of the entire Czech
Jewish population.
No locale/in all of Europe
has more to offer the Jewish
visitor than the "golden"
city of Prague. A feast for
the eyes and the heart, the
historical Jewish treasures
of this Eastern European
capital are inversely proportional to the number of Jews
it presently contains.     ?
Communal headquarters
are at 18 Maislova Street in
the Old Town in the center of
an incredible array of
ancient synagogues, the
fabulous Jewish State Museum and the old Jewish
Cemetery dating back to the
early 15th century. All of
these sites, concentrated between the Town Hall and the
majestic Moldau River, attest to a shining past. But the
present is quite different.
Jewish Presence Is More
Symbolic Than Real
Though Jews have inhabited Prague for 1,000
years; and according to Jewish officials here, were present before the arrival of
Christians in the tenth century with St. Wencelsav, today the presence of Jewry is
almost more of a symbol
than an actuality. The Czech
government has been most
solicitous in preserving the
Jewish past in an enormous
museum, not only for the
Czech nation, but for visitors
from all parts of the globe.
In 1938 there were more
than 300,000 Jews. Only five
percent of them survived
World War II. Dr. Desider
Galsky, the president of the
Council of Jewish Communities, estimates that
there may be as many as
$££W^
5,000 Jews in Prague and
about 15,000 in the country
but that the majority refuse
to be identified as Jews.
Czechoslovakia And Israel
Galsky stated that Czechoslovakia was one of the first
countries, together with the
Soviet Union, to vote in the
United Nations in support of
the Jewish State in 1948, that
only the Czechs sent
weapons to the Haganah in
i    (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
Entertainment, Food, Fun
On Tap At Jewish Center
New Year's Eve Event
From the
Staff of the
Ohio
Jewish
JChronicle
The (L yi
Chronicle office^ ff
will be closed
Monday, Jan. 2
Deadline for     P>
the Jan. 5 issue is
noon today:
"Great entertainment,
good food a whole lot of fun is
in store for the Leo Yassenoff Jewish Center's 'New
Year's Eve Party — New
York City Style,' " states co-
chairpersjon for the event
Micki Shkolnik.
The party, which is at the
Center, 1125 College Ave.,
will be held from 9 p.m. to 2
' a.m., Saturday, Dec. 31.
Entertainment for the
evening is Joey Dee who will
be singing many of his greatest hits including "Shout"
and "Peppermint Twist."
There will also be a rock n'
roll group from Detroit,
"Wedsel's Edsels." They
will be playing several sets
of 50s, 60s, 70s and 80s music.
The Jewish Center will be
transformed Saturday night
into New York City. There
will be a Statue of Liberty,
Central Park, Madison Avenue, vendors, a mirrored
ball, a large screen T.V.
showing the real Times
Square, mimes, jugglers,
magicians, breakdancers
and more. There will also be
a costume contest, and a
prize will be given for the
best New York character.
Another highlight of the
night will be the raffling off
of a door prize — a trip for
two to the Big Apple with airfare included and accommodations at the Grand Hyatt
Hotel.
Back by popular demand
from last year's 50s party,
there will also be bidding on
vacation packages. Included
are trips to the Caribbean
(cruise), prie-week condo
stays in Florida and California, a skiing trip to Vermont
and several getaway weekends to Las Vegas, Florida,
California and more. There
will be a complete list of the
trips available the night of
the affair.
Among other events
planned for the evening,
there will be a cash bar with
complimentary New York
style goodies and a "midnight champagne buffet."
"If you want to experience
New Year's Eve like you
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 5)
Author Takes On Government In Effort To See Ex-Nazis Brought To Justice
By Judith Franklin
Chronicle News Editor
In a nation grown cynical
in the aftermath of Vietnam
and Watergate, would the
revelation that Nazi war
criminals have been living
as U.S. citizens throughput
the country cause much of a
stir?
John Loftus, a: 33-year-old
attorney in private practice
in Bpstdn, Mass?, hopes so.
He gave up his job as a Justice Department prosecutor
in the Office of Special Investigations in Washington,
D.C, to bring this situation
to light. Loftus was in
Columbus to speak at a Columbus Jewish Federation
Young Men's Division Big
Gifts Brunch on Sunday,
Dec. 11.
"The Holocaust is not just
a Jewish issue," Loftus, who
comes from an Irish Catholic
background,   maintained
during an exclusive interview with the Chronicle.
"It's an issue for everyone."
And he hopes that when the
public becomes aware of
what's been going on, they
will not only be surprised but
outraged, angry enough to
demand that Congress play a
more active role in the
supervision of U.S. intelligence agencies.
''The Holocaust is not
justa, Jewish issue."
Loftus details his findings
in his book, The Belarus
Secret, published in 1982 by
Alfred A. Knopf. The book
traces the U.S. State Department hiring of a Byelorussian? Nazi S.S. Division,
known as the "Belarus S.S.,"
after WW II to help counter
the Russian invasion experts
felt was imminent. When the
expected invasion failed to
materialize, the Nazi collaborators  were ' illegally
brought to the United States,
where they established their
own community in South
River, N.J., according to
Loftus.
Once a part of Poland,
once a part of Russia, Byelorussia borders on Poland in
the west, Lithuania and Lat-
' via in the northwest, Russia
in the east and the Ukraine
in the south. It was occupied
by Germany from ,1941-44
and was one of the most
devastated regions of the
Soviet Union. The Belarus
S.S., made up of Byelorussian nationalists hoping to
ultimately win their country's independence by currying favor with the Nazis,-
were responsible' for the
massacre of thousands of
Jews in the Pale of Settlement and even fought
against the Allies, Loftus
noted.
The brigade was made up
of men like Stanislaw Stan-
kievich, who directed the
murder of 7,000 Jews in one
day in the city of Borissow,
Loftus said. A member of the
Nazi puppet government, he
John Loftus
was wanted at the Nuremberg War Climes Trial and
was identified on the floor of
Congress as the type of Nazi
monster it was most important to track down. Loftus
discovered  that  he  even
tually established residence
in New York City, becoming
a naturalized citizen of the
United States.
Klaus Barbie, former mid-
leVel S.S. officer recently
found. living in Argentina
and extradited to France to
stand trial for his crimes,
located the Belarus underground for recruitment.
"Barbie was a 'hand-me-
down' Nazi," Loftus explained, "having worked for
the British, French, Spanish,
Swiss and West Germans
before the Americans." Unfortunately, in addition to ; ■
working for the Allies, most ,
of the former Nazis also
worked for the Soviets,
Loftus added, resulting in
the destruction of the entire
U.S. intelligence network behind the Iron Curtain.
Loftus pointed, out that the
Belarus Brigade was only
one of many such groups
employed  by, the  govern
ment.
The incriminating evidence has been in the vaults
for the last 30 years, Loftus
said. And as late as 1978,
government departments
were lying to Congress about
the existence of these files,
afraid the. deportation of
Nazis would expose high
ranking government officials  to  embarrassment.
"There is no statute of
limitations for mass
murder."
Now, many of the old guard
have retired, died or otherwise left and the material is
gradually being declassified.
: Results of a GAO investigation are due in the spring
of 1984. Loftus predicted they
will produce a major scandal
that will ultimately lead to a
better "balance between the
need for secret intelligence
and  democracy,"   forcing
,   (CONTINUED ON PAGE 4)
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