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Swiss offer asylum to dissidents
GENEVA (JTA)—The Swiss government has announced that it
would give political asylum to all Soviet dissidents facing trial. The
Swiss Foreign Ministry called in the Soviet Ambassador and
expressed concern about the violation of the Helsinki Act in the
trials of Anatoly Shcharansky and Alexander Ginzburg.
Commenting on this development, the Swiss press noted that it is
the first time in the country’s history that the government has
reacted in such a fashion toward a country with which it has
normal diplomatic relations.
Woolworth removes Nazi goods
SAN FRANCISCO—Newspaper r«- sorts that Nazi armbands
were being sold by a San Fran<~^ * *W. Woolworth store (The
Southern Israelite. July 21, L. have resulted in the following
statement from William Lefevre, general manager of the store:
“It is our intentions never to sell any goods or material that will
offend any ethnic group. Immediately on my learning of the
display of two Nazi armbands in our store, they were removed and
will stay removed. There will be no sale of Nazi material in this
store.”
Want Olympics moved
WASHINGTON, (JTA) — Authors of Congressional
resolutions that oppose the holding of the Olympic Games in
Moscow in 1980 said they are firmly continuing to work for
acceptance of their proposals in both the Senate and House.
Sen. Wendell Anderson (D. Minn.) and Rep. Jack Kemp (R.
NY) pointed out to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that they seek
to move the games out of the Soviet Union and their resolutions
bear a "definite distinction” to President Carter's opposition to a
“boycott” of the 1980 Olympics.
Discrimination in Greece
ATHENS (JCNS)—Greek Jews are not entitled to promotion as
reserve officers in the Greek Armed Forces, or to serve on juries, in
spite of their qualifications.
These were two of the cases of anti-Jewish discrimination listed
in a memorandum presented to Constantine Karamanlis, the
prime minister, by Daniel Alhanati and Joseph Lovinger, the
president and deputy chairman of the central board of the Jewish
communities of Greece.
The board also pointed out that a claim, submitted in 1961, for
restitution of the 13-acre old Jewish cemetery in Salonika, had still
not been considered by the courts.
Congress sanctions Russia
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Irritated by Soviet behavior towards
human rights issues and media freedom, two House committees
have eliminated the Soviet Union from further consideration for
special U.S. government credits to purchase American agricultural
commodities.
By unanimous vote, the House International Relations
Subcommittee on Economic Policy and Trade unanimously Voted
specifically to exclude the USSR from participation in any
Commodity Credit Corporation program.
JDL sit-in against ‘Time’
LOS ANGELES (P-O)—Five members of the Los Angeles
Jewish Defense League were arrested here during a sit-in at the
offices of Time magazine. Some 25 other JDLers picketed outside
in protest of Time's alleged anti-Israel bias.
A JDL spokesman noted that an article in Time’s July 3 issue
called Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin “inflexible, myopic,
hardlining and probably deceptive."
A staff member at the Time office said he wasn't “surprised” at
the sit-in. “Considering our position, you’d think the Jews would
have protested sooner,” he said.
Czech synagogues disappear
LONDON (JTA)—Synagogues are rapidly disappearing in
western Czechoslovakia, according to reports received by the
London-based International Council of Jews from
Czechoslovakia. Only three synagogues are operational in
Bohemia—two in Prague and one in Decin (Teschen). Another
eight prayer houses function only during the High Holydays. In
Moravia, the Council reported, there are no fully operational
synagogues. Religious services are limited to five prayer houses in
the region.
Ben Yehuda becomes mall
JERUSALEM (JTA)—Ben Yehuda Street, filled with book
stores, arts and crafts emporia, cafes and antique shops, became a
pedestrian mall for a two-week trial period recently. The move
followed eight years of plans and promises which were stymied by
opposition from the city’s five taxi companies located there.
Questionnaires will be distributed to store owners, taxi firms, local
residents and pedestrians to determine their reaction to the mall. If
there is general approval the mall will be expanded.
Her* to ll»€^ cm! itor
Support case against Trifa
Editor:
In January, 1941, during the
height of World War II, a stocky,
ambitious 26-year-old man stood
at the foot of the statue of King
Michael in University Square,
Bucharest, Romania, in the green
uniform of “The Iron Guard,” a
Romanian, style Nazi. Fire and
venom spewed from his lips and his
words fang out on the
crowd....“Even if Adolf Hitler had
done nothing else than wage this
huge struggle of national socialism
which leads to the unmasking of
the fight against Judaism, he
would still have risen to great
peaks of history as he blazed a new
path."
His words had the effect he had
wanted. When the aroused
audience ended their applause,
there was a frenzied hysteria. The
leader-speaker led the crowd
(which was by then 10,000) to a
General Antonescu’s palace.
Government troops and tanks
opened fire. A blood bath began.
The revolt had degenerated into a
pogrom as a direct result of the
inciting speech. The death toll
which followed in its wake took
6,000 Jewish lives in Bucharest and
almost 10,000 Jewish lives
throughout the country.
The speaker’s name was Viorel
Trifa. He later became known as
Valerian Trifa.
Trifa, along with his co-
conspirators was taken to safety in
Germany where until the end of the
war, he madepro-Nazi broadcasts
into Romania. When the war
ended, Trifa found a position at a
Catholic College in Pesaro. Italy
where he remained teaching
history, for five years.
In 1950, a priest from Cleveland,
Ohio, who had studied with Trifa
in Romania ten years before, filed
the necessary forms for his
admittance to the United States.
When the Immigration and
Naturalization Service authorities
asked him if he had ever made any
speeches or given any lectures that
might be construed as being anti-
Jewish or anti-Semitic, he replied,
“No, I cannot say. I don’t believe
so.” He settled safely in Cleveland,
although the law specifically stated
that anyone who had belonged to
the Iron Guard before 1952 was to
be excluded from U.S. citizenship.
Charles Kremer, a Romanian
Jew, fled his home town in 1919 at
age twenty-two. He landed in New
York City and worked his way
through dental school.
By 1941, Charlie had become
successful and was a fighter of
personal causes. At a meeting of
the United Romanian Jews of
America, he learned of a part of the
brutal murder of the Bucharest
Jews.
Horrified, Charlie Kremer
began to try every which way to
find out what had happened to
Trifa.
In 1952, a menacing group of
30 men attacked an American
Romanian Vatra (the religious
domain) in Grass Lake Michigan;
punched Father Oprean, (a
resident priest) until he fell and
threatened the resident Bishop
Moldovan with bodily harm. The
leader of this attack was none
other than the layman Viorel Trifa
who through this violent, illegal
coup became a Bishop.
Charlie accumulated docu
ments as Trifa’s position as bishop
became solidified. He sat on daises
with his good friend J. Edgar
Hoover and the Governor of
Michigan.
It seems incredible that this man
who was guilty of mind boggling
crimes was invited by Richard M.
Nixon to deliver the opening
prayer before the United States
Senate in May, 1955.
Single-handedly, Charles
Kremer carefully organized his
evidence. He travelled to Romania
and Israel for this sole purpose.
Kremer has been on the David
Susskind show and “60 Minutes”
on television. Even with all this
publicity, no action was taken.
Outrage is one thing, but action
upon knowledge is evidently
something else.
In 1977, Trifa was about to
become a director on the
governing board of the National
Council of Churches. Some good
clerics like Reverend Lester
Kinsolving protested and some
others voiced an outcry.
Through sheer volume of
petitions, the National Council of
Churches was embarrassed into
taking him off the governing board
at the “eleventh hour” but nothing
else occurred.
In August, 1978, the Trifa case
will be re-examined before the
Immigration and Naturalization
Board.
A concerted effort to aid Charles
Kremer in his lonely 37-year battle
is terribly overdue.
Atlanta should set an example
for the entire country. I urge the
community to sponsor a city-wide
drive to help Charles Kremer; to
invite him here, and listen to his
information.
Beverly Barnett
There should not be ‘priorities’ in giving
Editor:
The idealistic atmosphere in our
organized Jewish community has
reached a point where one must
take stock of the achievements and
accomplishments.
The multi-faceted activities
which are encompassed in a viable
Jewish community such as ours
have created, in my opinion, a
certain degree of havoc and
competitiveness within the ranks
of leadership. Of course, this
attitude of competition is reflected
upon the overall members of the
organized Jewish community.
We are told in the Torah that
when Jacob fled from the pursuit
of his brother Esau—reaching the
city of Haran—an argument
occurred among the stones, each
one claiming the merit and honor,
that the Patriarch Jacob should
rest his head on it. Each one
claiming top priority. But God, in
His infinite wisdom, united all the
stones into one and Jacob rested
his head overnight on that stone.
Throughout Jewish history we find
similar occurrences of disunity and
rifts in every era, in every town and
village.
I am fully aware of the fact that
to achieve a perfect society, by the
total involvement of the entire
community, is Utopia. But being
complacent and letting nature take
its course is regressing from the
present level of involvement.
Lately we hear in our
community the often repeated
slogan of establishing priorities in
giving to charitable institutions,
here and abroad. The mere word of
tsedaka does not correspond with
priority. “I give to my favored
charity” is a misconception of the
real meaning of fulfilling the
“mitzva" of giving.
There should not be any
condition attached to the noble act
of giving. By favoring, we exclude
others that might be as important.
In the ethical teachings of our
Rabbis we are told: “Al Tifrosh
Min Hatsibur." Do not segregate
yourself from the community.
“Priority" creates divisiveness. It
creates a segregated segment
within the ranks of leadership and
subsequently among the
community at large. In charitable
causes there is no room for
priorities.
Who is to decide that supporting
an ORT school is more or less
important than the Institution for
the Blind in Israel, or supporting
the Hebrew University Technion?
Is Tel Aviv University less or more
important than planting trees or
building pew roads? Who is to
decide that Hadassah Hospital is
more or less important than the
Sharei Tsedek Hospital, just to
name a few? Can we afford to
“draw the line somewhere," as it is
often stated, when it comes to
charity? We have thrived as a
unique people by our remarkable
virtues and tsedaka is one of those
virtues. We live in a time when
unity is the only way we can secure
our future as Jews in the diaspora
and in Israel. Let us not draw the
line—so priority does not have
anything to lean on.
Cantor Isaac Goodfriend
Psychiatric
harassment
Editor:
During the past couple of days,
Atlanta newspapers have carried
reports that Prime Minister
Begin's mental health has been
questioned by the leaders of the
opposition Labor Party. This
raises the specter of Soviet use of
psychiatric diagnoses to harass
and “hospitalize” dissidents.
Many who today concern
themselves with Israeli problems
were either not born or very young
when 40 years ago the Nazis
marched into the Sudetenland,
betrayed by Britain and France
who had given them solemn
promises of military support.
Czechoslovakia soon ceased to
exist. We, who followed those
events are not sanguine about the
promises of mystical leaders.
William Rottersman. M. D.
Page 5 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 28, 1978
