Newspaper Page Text
Book on Wallenberg takes
reader on emotional plateaus
reviewed by
Philip Wendkos, Ph.D.
RAOUL WALLEN BERG:
Angel of Rescue, by Harvey Rosen
feld, Prometheus Books, Buffalo,
N.Y., 1982, $13.00.
For me, one of the most mean
ingful aspects of Jewish Law and
lore is a pithy aphorism found in
the Pirkei Avot (Sayings of the
Talmudic Sages): “...and in a place
wlieie ihere are no worthy human
beings, you must strive to be a
worthy person” (11,6). Such an idea
must have been the guiding light
for the Swedish Wallenberg who
risked everything to rescue the
Jewish outcasts from Nazi-occupied
Hungary during World War 11.
The more one delves into aspects
of the awful Holocaust, the more
one encounters a depressing
motif—that very few non-Jews
really cared to endanger themselves
in order to save a Jew! The selfless
involvement of an aristocratic
Swede, Raoul Wallenberg, to at
tempt to rescue Jews caught in the
Nazi trap is a lonely exception to
this anguishing fact.
Harvey Rosenfeld, author of this
definitive work on Wallenberg,
treats his mission as a humanitar
ian effort to save other fellow-
numans whose fate was sealed.
The book takes the reader from
one emotional plateau to another,
delineating the tragedy which befell
Hungarian Jewry up until the last
of the deportations to extermina-
tion camps at the end of 1944 were
Raoul Wallenberg
Angel of Rescue
_ _ . i\w»
by Harvey Rosenfeld
l orcunrd In |a< I, Ki'
completed. Equal to this horror is
the unfortunate fate of Wallenberg,
who disappeared on account of his
heroic efforts at the hands of the
KGB.
Rosenfeld, editor of the factual
periodical Martyrdom and Resist
ance, which deals with previous
and extant Nazis and aspects of
Nazism for the information of sur
vivors, admirably incorporates in
this book on Wallenberg an impor
tant dimension of the Holocaust
not often reckoned with: Why were
world leaders so callous and apa
thetic to the fate of Wallenberg?
Why did they not demand an ex
planation from the Soviets about
his fate?
Perhaps it was because Wallen
berg devoted himself to an unpop
ular cause—the rescue of the rem
nant of Hungarian Jews. Possibly
Wallenberg reflected the guilt of
the world due to his actions and the
inactions of the world in not hav
ing done a lot more to have pre
vented the extirpation of European
Jewry.
As time heals, so also time unveils
the injustices perpetrated on Jews
by the world. When one reads this
book, one is confronted with
cruelty, and unfairness and anguish,
important emotions in coming to
grips with the full, enormous
tragedy of the Holocaust.
To order this hook locally, call
394-1682 or mail check for $13.00
to 7065 Duncourtney Drive, At
lanta, Georgia 30328. Special dis
counts for bulk orders will he given.
AJPA re-elects Vida Goldgar
vice president at 44th forum
WALTHAM, Mass. —Vida
Goldgar, editor and publisher of
The Southern Israelite, has been
re-elected a vice president of the
American Jewish Press Associa
tion. Election of officers for 1986-
87 took place during the group's
44th annual meeting held June 17-
20, hosted by Brandeis University.
The AJ PA, founded in 1943, is a
voluntary organization of more
than 80 English-Jewish newspa
pers, approximately 20 magazines
and some 40 individual journalists
in the United States and Canada,
with a combined leadership of more
than four million.
Robert A. Cohn, editor-in-chief
of the St. Louis Jewish Light, was
re-elected president. Other officers
are: Florence Eckstein, publisher.
Greater Phoenix Jewish News, and
Marc S. Klein, editor and pub
lisher of the Northern California
Jewish Bulletin, vice presidents;
Richard Waloff, business director
of the (Philadelphia) Jewish Ex
ponent, treasurer; Fredda Sacha-
row, associate editor, the Jewish
Exponent, recording secretary; and
Charles Baumohl, editor of the
Jewish News of Metropolitan New
Jersey, corresponding secretary.
At the Thursday eveningawards
dinner, tribute was paid to the late
frank F. Wundohl, who had re
ceived this year’s AJPA’s Joseph
Polakoff Integrity Award, shortly
bclore his recent death.
In addition to numerous work
shops and special presentation,
delegates heard a major address by
f*r. Raul Hillberg, professor ol
history at the University ol Ver-
Vida Goldgar
mont, author of “The Destruction
of the European Jews" and a major
parti< ipant in Claude Lanzmann’s
film "Shoah,” on “The Continuing
Relevance ol the Holocaust.”
Leon J. Jick, associate professor
of Jewish studies at Brandeis, and
Margot Stern Strom, chairwoman
of “Facing History and Ourselves,”
a Boston-based educational group,
responded to Dr. Hilberg’s address.
Yakov Gorodetsky, a recently
freed Soviet Jewish “refusnik,” also
addressed the delegates. He warned
that Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gor
bachev was “the worst Soviet leader
since Stalin" on the subject of
Soviet Jews and human rights, and
called for more assertive action on
behalf of Soviet Jewry prior to the
anticipated second Reagan-Gor-
bachev summit.
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What’s Happening
a comprehensive community calendar
JULY 4, Friday:
8:15 p.m.—American Flag Dedication, The Temple.
JULY 5, Saturday:
8:30 a.m.—JWV National Commander Address, Ahavath Achim
Synagogue.
JULY 6, Sunday:
1 p.m.—JWV Installation Luncheon, Club 112.
JULY 9, Wednesday:
10:30 a.m.—Ahavath Achim Sisterhood Golden Book Kick-off,
Home of Renee Rinzler.
7:30 p.m.—JWVA #112 Hosts Bingo, Jewish Home.
JULY 11, Friday:
7 p.m.—Chavurat Shalom Dinner and Service, Candler Park.
JULY 12, Saturday:
7 p.m.—Atlanta Jewish Young Couples Club Picnic, Stone Mountain.
JULY 16, Wednesday:
7:30 p.m.—Northwest BBW Hosts Bingo, Jewish Home.
8 p.m.—“Update on Apartheid and the Jewish Community in South
Africa,” AJCC/Zaban.
8 p.m.—AJCC Senior Adults Annual Recognition Dinner, Peachtree
Building.
Grand Opening July 7th
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tPAGE 15 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE July 4, 1986