Ohio Jewish Chronicle, 1987-04-02

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Serving Columbus and Central Ohio Jewish Community lor Over 60 Years
VOL. 65   NO, 14
APRIL2.1987-NISAN3
Devoted to American
-   and Jewish Ideals.
Holocaust Survivors' Memories
Focal Point Of Demjanjuk Trial
Beth Jacob Young Couples Attend Passover Seminar
Pictured above are members of the Beth Jacob Young Couples group who participated in a special Passover seminar. Rabbi David Stavsky gave a slide presentation
on the history of Haggadah and ancient Haggadot. The seminar was held at the home of
Michael and Chanita Weisz. Linda Stern is chairwoman of the group. In the front row (1.
to r.) are Susan Pollack, Chanita Weisz, Ora Stavsky, Terri Goldmeier, Michael Weisz,
Steven Handler, Cantor Yitzchak Epstein and Carol Handler. Standing (1. to r.) are
David Goldmeier, Ofer Weissmann, Meryl Weissmann, Dr. Judy Weinerman, Linda
Stern, Dr. Leonard Pollack, Dr. Phillip Weinerman, Sid Stern, Dr. Elaine Nemzer, Dr.
Dan Nezmer, Barbara Abrams, Rabbi Steven Abrams and Ruth Stavsky.
NEW YORK, March 17
(JTA) — The issue of
whether Holocaust survivors, traumatized by the tragedy, can remember what
really happened has become
a focal point in the trial of
John Demjanjuk in Jerusalem. His defense attorney,
Mark O'Connor, is trying to
pry the minutiae of their
lives to show confusion,
amnesia and marred recollections. He is pinning his
hopes of exonerating Demjanjuk on memory lapses
and inability to remember.
But it is this very inability
to remember that is the product of the Holocaust's
trauma, according to Eva
Fogelman, a psychotherapist who works with Holo-
More Than 200 Singles Attend
'Say Hello, Columbus' Weekend
From the spontaneity of
playshops to the keynote address of author William
Novak, the Columbus Jewish
Singles' "Say Hello, Columbus" weekend drew an overflow throng of 202 to the Leo
Yassenoff Jewish Center.
Singles aged 23-59 from
five states attended an Oneg
Shabbat at the Great
Southern Hotel and workshops on single parents,
small group communication,
Jewish values, playshops,
massage therapy, comedy
films and the Anne Frank
exhibit.
"I've never come to anything like this before," said
Steve, "but you have made
me feel very welcome in
your city." Many other came
to see a familiar face from
other singles' weekends.
Lori said she "enjoys
singles' functions where you
can talk to people" and prefers relationship-oriented
discussions. "Even if you
don't speak to anyone, it is
encouraging to see there are
so many singles," she said.
"All these singles things require effort—you've got to
make the effort rather than
sit and kvetch."
Many who made the effort
found an equal amount of
men and women just trying
to feel good about themselves, because "you need
good self-esteem to become
more self-confident and less
concerned about rejection."
The weekend culminated
with a humorous approach to
men and women and their
issues by William Novak,
author of Iacocca, The Big
Book of Jewish Humor and
The Great American Man
Shortage. He wanted everyone to remember, "You're
only one person away from
finding someone."
Singles co-chairpersons
Anne Mirman. and Ed
Krauss thank all who participated in the weekend. and
especially to the steering
committee members: Marilyn Fais, Lori Grossman,
Linda Heyman, Howard
Newman, Joel Oster, Cari
Shore and Phil Weisberger.
Israel Threatened By Pakistan's Quest
For Nuclear Weapons
WASHINGTON (JTA) — Pakistan's interest in obtaining
nuclear weapons poses a threat to Israel's existence and Congress should consider halting military aid, Ohio Sen. John
Glenn said last week. Glenn, testifying before the Senate
Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Near East and South Asian
Affairs, said there is strong evidence indicating that
Pakistan is "manufacturing and testing components for
nuclear weaponry." He proposed eliminating military aid to
Pakistan unless it can be certified that it has no nuclear
materials.
JDC To Aid Ecuadorian Quake Victims
NEW YORK (JTA) —The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) is responding to the earthquake in
Ecuador by opening its mailbox to donations for emergency
relief and by implementing an assistance on behalf of the
American Jewish Community. President Heinz Eppler said
the program will give people here the opportunity to offer
financial assistance to Ecuadorians left homeless by the
earthquake. JDC has opened its mailbox In past cases of
natural disasters around the world, including crises in Mexico, Colombia and most recently, El Salvador. People
wishing to help may send contributions to: Ecuador Relief,
Joint Distribution Committee, 711 Third Ave., New York,
N.Y. 10017.
caust survivors and is research associate and board
member of the Sands Point,
N.Y., Jerome Riker International Study of the Organized
Persecution of Children,
which studies child survivors, plumbing the depths of
hidden memories.
Fogelman told the Jewish
Telegraphic Agency that
"the very act of giving testi- •
mony for some survivors is a
traumatic experience in itself and needs a supportive
atmosphere with which to alleviate some of the pain and
the horror. The court situar
tion is by no means a supportive environment in which
people can remember and
recount traumatic experiences where they were
dehumanized." To ensure
accurate recall, she suggested that witnesses be
seen privately by trained
interviewers over several
weeks before giving public
testimony.
O'Connor has been chipping away at inconsistencies
in the swohrtestimohy given
by witnesses in the movie-
theater-turned-courtroom in
which more people than
there is seating capacity
turn out daily t6 wait to
watch the trail, in person
and on closed-screen television in an adjacent room.
Radios in Israel are tuned in
to the court proceedings
wherever one goes, and witnesses are surely aware that
their testimony is being
heard by hundreds of thousands of people and read
about by millions throughout
the world.
Fogelman, who has interviewed hundreds of survivors, said that "most survivors can begin to recount
their experiences, and while
they may not always
remember specific chronology of events, the emotions
and the memor.ies, after
several sessions, begin to
make a coherent sequence of
events. While it is true that
in a one-time session there
may be discrepancies between a survivor's recall of
one event or another, over
several sessions a survivor
begins to feel and remember
what had actually happened.
"One of the ways in which
the survivors have coped
over the years is by suppressing some of the painful experiences   that  they  had.
When they are asked to bear
witness on a witness stand,
for many of them, this is the
first time that they are piecing it together; It is difficult
under  such a  stressful
environment,   given  the
trauma that they have been
trying to repress all these
years, and it is understandable that in trying to recall
it,  there will initially be
discrepancies in what they
recall, because it has served
them in a way of coping and
adapting with their life after
the Holocaust."
Fogelman, who made a
documentary film several
years ago about children of
Holocaust survivors,
"Breaking the'Silence," explained that "Blurting out
the names of' those killed
makes them real again. It
would be blasphemous to say
that this is the reality of the
survivor's memory if that
memory has failed or 'if it
doesn't come out right the
first time, or if places are
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 14)
In The Chronicle
AtTheCenter 18, ia
' At Thfc Federation.... u% 11
Classified 14
Community Calendar....   B
Editorial Feature ...v   1,2
50 Years Ago    8
Marketplace l&
Obituaries  14
SocialNews tZ
Synagogue Services ..... 14
FEATURE
Israeli Teenagers Speak Well For Their Native Land
By Judith Franklin
New Editor
Teenagers all over -the
world are pretty much the
same.
That's one of the lessons
17-year-old Ze'ev Likwornik
and 16-year-old Anat Katzir
say they have learned as-
part of the 46 member Israeli
Youth Delegation now touring the United States.
But are they really? Of
course there are the common interests teens display
in fashion, music, movies,
television and screen personalities and school, but in
an exclusive interview with
the Chronicle, Ze'ev and
Anat seemed a cut above the
average American teenager.
Certainly their Foreign Ministry of Education can be expected to have selected Israel's finest young people to
send as representatives of
their country to ours, but
even taking that into consideration, they were still extremely well spoken, confident, mature. Speaking in almost flawless English, the
articulate teenagers," Ze'ev
from Holon and Anat from
Tel Aviv,  described their
backgrounds, their plans for
the future and the purpose of
their mission to the U.S.
As one might expect, tall
(6 ft., 5 in.), thin Ze'ev is interested in basketball. The
older of two children and the
son of a Sabra and a Romanian emigrant, he is an
honor student and vice chairman of his high school student council. He plans to
enter the Israel Defense
Forces after graduation
from high school and continue his education, either
during his military service
or in three years when it is
over.
Anat's parents were both
born in Israel. The third
child in a family of four, she
plans to major in chemistry
and biology when she enters
the university after her two
years of compulsory military service and currently
spends her free time as a
youth counselor with the
Scouts.
Both have experienced
American life by staying
with Jewish families in the
cities they have visited, attending U.S. schools, even
eating with their new friends
in those schools' cafeterias.
"We're not regular tourists," Anat pointed out. During their week in Columbus,
Ze'ev stayed with the Alven
Herstig family and Anat
with Rita and I. David
Cohen.
During the teens' six
weeks in the United States
they have visited New York
City, Pittsburgh, Cleveland
and Youngstown as well as
Columbus. They are currently in Toledo and will soon end
their tour in Washington,
D.C.
"We are supposed to in
troduce Americans to the
Israeli people and youth,"
Ze'ev explained. Having been
chosen by their high schools,
the teens were tested, interviewed and selected for the
trip. They then attended
seminars where they were
"given the tools to do the job
but not told what to say," according to Ze'ev. J'Their advice was 'be yourself,' "
Anat noted, "tell what you
want to say about life in
Israel."
And that is exactly what
they  have  done,  readily
(CONTINUED ON PAGE 10}
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