The Southern Israelite. (Augusta, Ga.) 1925-1986, November 14, 1986, Image 1

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Southern Israelite The Voice of Atlanta's Jewish Community Since 1925 Vol. LXII Atlanta, Georgia, Friday, November 14, 1986 No. ^ ~t> ’’Z H 3* CO r“ 00 -< cz C C 5> > Nuclear secrets in Israel? - Ov No charges likely against Vanur ° by Yaacov Ben Yosef Special to The Southern Israelite NEW YORK—The Israelis admitted this week that they are holding Mordechai Vanunu, the nuclear technician who sold the Sunday Times of London what he claimed were Israeli nuclear se crets. Until that admission, Israel had taken almost no official notice of the missing Vanunu’s approach to the British newspaper. When reports appeared in the press that he had been abducted by Israel and returned to the Jewish state, denials were quickly forthcom ing from Jerusalem. But now with the Israel ac knowledgement that Vanunu is being held in custody in the wake of a court order the intriguing question is being asked: does that admission mean that Israel, in eventually charging Vanunu with some type of alleged crime, will also have to acknowledge that nuclear secrets exist? Probably not. It seems unlikely that Vanunu would be charged with revealing state secrets because that might force Israel to indicate what those secets were in order to prove Vanunu’s guilt. Even to do so in a secret trial would entail the risk for Israel of those secrets being leaked to the press. It appears more likely that Vanunu would be charged with some other crime such as discuss ing with the Sunday Times the simple fact that he was employed at the Dimona facility. In that way, the details presented in evi dence at the trial would be in nocuous from Israel’s point of view. According to published reports, Vanunu provided the Sunday Times with pictures and details of Israel’s nuclear reactor center in Dimona in the Negev for a story that ran Oct. 5. Vanunu had been employed as a techni cian for 10 years at Dimona before his dismissal as part of belt-tightening. The Times estimated that Israel had stockpiled 100 nuclear Yaacov Ben Yosef weapons and had the capacity as well as the components to build atomic, neutron and hydrogen weaponry. Precisely how Vanunu returned to Israel remains a mystery though various reports have it that he was either lured onto a yacht rented by the Israeli Mossad in the Mediterranean or put into a suitcase in London. In announcing that they have Vanunu, the Israelis also took pains to ease any discomfort British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher might feel over the way the former nuclear technician was removed from British soil. The Israelis noted in their official statement that “All the rumors to the effect that Vanunu was ‘kid napped’ on British soil are totally without foundation, and it fol lows that there is likewise no basis to the report that Mr. (Shimon) Peres contacted Mrs. Thatcher in order to inform her about something that never took place.” While Israel has clearly been reluctant to go public with its role in dealing with Vanunu, there was little way that the secret could be kept for good. Even if the trial will be secret, almost a certainty, Vanunu is entitled to an attorney and to see his family who live in Beersheba. The secret could not stay one for long. Meanwhile, Israel was appar ently involved in another murky matter this week as reports indi cated that the U.S. had e the Jewish state to prov to Iran as part of a deal that would set free the American hos tages in Lebanon. Interestingly, President Rea gan’s secret dealings with Iran, revealed this week, have aroused strong feelings among those who believe the administration vio lated its own oft-stated policy of not dealing with those who spon sor terror (such as Iran). It is unlikely that Israelis would voice similar criticism toward the gov ernment in Jerusaelm if only because Israel and Iran have had continuing contacts for years, even after the rise of Khomeini to power in Teheran. Israel’s deal ings with Iran are based in part at least on Iran’s opposition to Iraq which remains an implacable enemy of the Israelis. Prime Minister Yitzhak Sha mir’s government sounded at ease with its apparent decision to provide arms to Iran on behalf of See Vanunu, page 27. Atlanta relatives to participate Holocaust survivors gathering to honor pair Atlanta residents Susan Rein gold and her sister Gail Medwed are traveling to New York this week to join in honoring a Catho lic Polish couple, who, 44 years ago, saved six members of their family from almost certain death at the hands of the Nazis. There did exist during the Holocaust in Europe a handful of non-Jews who harbored and kept safe the objects of the Nazi extermination efforts. But, it is rare that years later, those Jewish survivors would one day be able to find and to thank those peo ple, who took such a great risk to help them. Such is the case with Mrs. Reingold’s and Mrs. Medwed’s three aunts, all living in New York, each in their 50s, who sur vived a remarkable ordeal thanks to this non-Jewish couple who hid them, their parents and a cousin from the Nazis. This weekend in New York City, Jozef Macugowski, 75, and his wife, Stephania, 74, will be conferred as the “Righteous Among the Nations” by the State of Israel for saving the lives of Sarah Weiner, Zahava Burack and M iriam Oginski as well as their parents, Louis and Gitla Radza, who are deceased, and their cousin, Sarah Bok, who lives in Israel. It was mid-1942 when Louis Radza, fearing for the lives of his family, asked the Macugowskis for their help. And at tremend ous risk to their own lives and those of their children, the Macu gowskis agreed. A makeshift shelter was dug under the floorboards of their Nowy Korczyn, Poland, home. And what was intended to be a place of temporary refuge became a cramped, dark hiding place for two and a half years. But, there they stayed because, as fate would have it, the Nazis chose the Macu- gowski’s home as their headquar ters. “My aunts always said they could hear the extermination re ports being wired out,” said Susan Reingold, a niece of the three sis ters. “They understood a little German, so they knew what was going on.” Mrs. Reingold and her sister. Gail Medwed, both live in Atlanta with their families. Mrs. Rein gold’s voice quavered as she re called the stories her aunts had told her. “The Macugowskis were only able to give them bread and water about twice a week and occasionally a raw potato,” Mrs. Reingold told The Southern Is raelite. “They all lived in such fear during this time.” Constantly fearing detection by the Nazis, who had comman deered the Macugowski home, the Radza family dared not speak above a whisper. At the end of two and half years, their vocal chords had atrophied. There are actually four sisters in the Radza family. The fourth, who was not kept hidden in the Macugowski home, is Rita Nuss- baum, Mrs. Reingold’s mother. “My mother was pulled out of the line by the Nazis because she was older,” Mrs. Reingold said. “She was sent to the concentra- tion camp at Bergen Belsen.” See Survivors, page 27. THIS WEEK State Demo chief feels post-election high B Jewish woman who made a difference 14 Arts & Entertainment ... .22.23 Business 24 Obituaries 27 Classifieds 28 10 & 25 years ago 31 bowncganwrao scf CHRISTINE C BROWN GA NEWSPAPER PROJECT