Newspaper Page Text
From Moses to Moses...
Title page of Maimonides’ “Guide to the Perplexed” (More
Nebuchim), Warsaw, 1872. Jerusalem. Top left is the image of
Maimonides and on the right that of Isaac Ben Judah Abrabanel,
whose religio-philosophical concepts can be found in the exposition
of Maimonides' Guide. See story, page 28.
AJF announces grant
for Holocaust Center
The Endowment Fund of the
Atlanta Jewish Federation has an
nounced the award of a research
grant to support the development
of a design plan for a Holocaust
Exhibit and Resource Center. Zachor,
the committee of Federation charged
with heightening awareness of the
Holocaust in the Jewish community,
proposed the establishment of the
Resource Center and has been
working for nearly two years to
bring the project to fruition.
Zachor chairman Elliott Cohen
said, “The grant marks tangible
recognition of the importance of
transmitting the Holocaust’s message
and represents a move beyond the
conceptual stage into the practical
realm of bringing this project into
existence. It is my hope that the
Federation’s support will, in turn,
generate support from the survivor
community and from all those who
value the importance of protecting
each individual’s human rights.”
Atlanta architect Benjamin Hirsch
is directing a detailed architectural
and engineering study which will
permit development of specific con-
Correction
With red faces, we want to
assure our readers that we
do know that the Reagan-
Gorbachev summit conference
will be held in Geneva rather
than Vienna as we indicated
in last week’s TSI.
struction and design plans for the
Resource Center. The Holocaust
Center will be housed in the lower
level of the Atlanta Jewish Com
munity Center on Peachtree Road.
Hirsch designed the nationally
recognized, award winning
“Memorial to the 6,000,000” at
Greenwood Cemetery. Larry Wolfe
of Metro Construction has offered
his services as a consultant in regard
to the implementation and construc
tion of the facility.
Both Hemshech and Children of
Holocaust survivors strongly support
the establishment of the Holocaust
Exhibit and Resource Center. Sub
stantial impetus for the creation of
the Center came from both the
Jewish and non-Jewish community
as a result of “The Message of Yad
Vashem” exhibit at the AJCC’s
Israel EXPO ’85.
In addition to an exhibit
chronicling Holocaust, the Resource
Center will emphasize the experiences
of survivors currently residing in
Atlanta. In cooperation with the
Bureau of Jewish Education, the
Resource Center will provide speakers
and a variety of education program
ming for schools and adult groups.
A travellingexhibit will be developed
to increase the public’s access to
Holocaust programming.
Sidney Feldman serves as chairman
of the Distribution Committee of
Federation’s Endowment Fund.
Grants from the General Unrestricted
Endowment can be made to either
individuals or organizations.
Southern
Israelite
The Weekly Newspaper For Southern Jewry
'Since 1925'
Vol. LXI
Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, November 8, 1985
No. 45
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Heavy security surround:
trial of The Order member:
by Ellen Marks
SEATTLE (JTA)—Ten members
of The Order, a violent anti-Semitic
Northwest-based sect, are on trial
at the federal courthouse here for
carrying out 67 racketeering acts—
including two murders, three armored
i car robberies, and counterfeiting—as
£ part of their plot to kill Jews,
s deport non-whites, and overthrow
the federal government. The trial,
which began in September, is ex
pected to conclude by the end of
this month and a verdict handed
down toward the end of December.
Prosecutors have chosen to charge
the group with violating the broadly
written racketeering law, under which
they must prove that each of the
accused committed at least two
crimes as part of the conspiracy.
Charges for specific crimes may be
filed later by state officials.
Former members of The Order
have taken the witness stand under
plea-bargain agreements. Eleven
members have pleaded guilty, one
faces murder charges in Missouri
and another is a fugitive who was
recently placed on the FBI’s Most
Wanted List. All the jurors are
white and non-Jewish.
Alan Berg, a popular radio per
sonality in Denver, was assassinated
by The Order, government pro
secutors allege, because he was
Jewish and relished baiting anti-
Semitic callers on his talk show
program. The media star was executed
in the driveway of his Denver home
on June 18, 1984. An FBI agent
testified that the murder weapon
used to pump 12 bullets into Berg’s
body has been converted to a fully
automatic machine gun that was
capable of firing 950 rounds a
minute.
FBI agents testified they linked
alleged triggerman Bruce Carroll
Pierce to the murder by matching
gun bullets found at the Berg murder
scene with spent cartridges found
at a home Pierce rented in Troy,
Mont.
Although several of Berg’s neigh
bors said they had heard the machine
gun fire—including one woman
who said it shook her apartment —
there were no witnesses to the
crime. Denver authorities have not
filed murder charges.
The Berg murder was described
in graphic detail by his widow
Judith Berg, who had dinner with
the victim the night of his death
and had helped him prepare for the
next day’s radio show. The topic:
gun control.
Berg, a non-practicing lawyer
who held liberal political views,
was featured in a CBS-TV “60
Minutes” segment that was shown
to jurors in which he acknowledged
the danger of publicly taking on
rightwing leaders. “Hopefully, my
legai training w ill prevent me from
saying the thing that will kill me,
and I’ve come awfully close,” he
told the interviewer.
Peter Boyles, a colleague of Berg’s
for over five years, said the victim
was a master at invective and the
“acid-tongue” approach of creating
controversy to attract listeners. He
would interrupt controversial callers,
hang up on them and then deride
their views after they were off the
air.
Government prosecutors have
alleged that Berg was selected bv
The Order as a target for execution
at the urging of defendant David
Lane, accused of driving the getaway
car. A friend testified that Lane,
who lived in Denver and disliked
Berg’s political views, once played
her a tape of the Berg show and
called the radio star “a filthy Jew.”
According to Elizabeth Dracon,
Lane “said in one of his typical
cliches: somebody ought to shoot
that guy.”
Another motive was provided
by a controversial show in 1983,
during which Berg’s guest was Lane’s
former employer, the publisher of
a rightwing Colorado farm publi
cation, prosecutors allege. The
program publicizing a series of
anti-Semitic articles published by
the “Primrose and Cattlemen’s
Gazette” resulted in a drop of
advertising, which prompted the
paper to cut jobs, including Lane’s
position as a security guard.
Other witnesses—including former
Order members—have testified that
several neo-Nazis admitted involve
ment in the murder, citing their
hatred for Berg because of his
public derision toward callers who
expressed anti-Semitic opinions.
The prosecution has argued that
Berg was one of several well-known
Jews targeted for possible assas
sination by The Order. On the hit
list were “important figures in society.
See The Order, page 23.
Sez who!
Epstein School students Jacob Gelbaum and Jason Winston
challenge each other to another lap at the school’s recent Fun Run.
Two hundred children from Epstein School and Ahavath Achim
Early Childhood Program ran and walked to raise funds for
physical education equipment.
Z090S-