MedieV- allim Strikes Frerial Community (1Cotninued from Page 1) It seemed clear that the basic Idea was supplied by a French sex-and-crime magazine, Noir et Blanc, which a few weeks ago printed a similar story claiming , • that abduction had occurred in the French provincial city of Grenoble. Someone, or several people in Or- leans must have read it and de-' to spread it. The first point atwhich it started was undoubtedly the local girls high school. Within the first day, several hundred young school girls "knew" the story which had "happened" to the mother of One of their friends." By evening of the first day, the story had spread to several hundred Orleans' homes, and frightened mothers for- bade their daughters to visit the "incriminated" shops. From the private homes, the story spread to the school teachers. A number of nuns called their pu- pils into the quiet "sessions" and asked them "to be careful" where they went shopping "lest some- thing dreadful befall them." The atom having come from such a source, now gathered "authenti- city." By the end of the week be- fore last, half of Orleans' 150.000 inhabitants were prepared to swear that "it had all happened indeed," and the other half "that there can ben) smoke without fire." A small, peaceful city with no racist or ex- tremist past was caught up in the mass hysteria and suspicion of a full-fledged witch hunt. The Jewish merchants "incrim • leafed" were among the last to hear about what had befallen them. By the time they heard. the entire city was aware of the Mary and talking about it. The man "incriminated" by all the stories circulating around Orleans was the owner of a mod- ern dress-shop "d'Orphee," 37• Tear-old Henri Licht. "I found out about it through a Christian friend whose daughter studies at the local lycee Jean Zay. He tame to see me the Friday before police, not the Germans. I saw them with my own eyes but now I thought that all this had long since ended. Eleven years ago, I left Paris and came to Orleans, I set up my business here, sent my chil. dren to the local school. I have friends, non-Jews as well as Jews, in Orleans, and yet this has hap- pened to me!" Licht is bitter not so much at the slander campaign itself as of the nearly complete isolation in which he found himself once it started. "The local chamber of commerce could not make up its mind on whether to act and how. It took several days before it released a communique. We never even managed to see the mayor, and up till this very day he has not re- leased an official denial or an ap- peal to the population. Our best friends left us in a lurch. No one, you hear, no one but the other Jews. were prepared to come to our help." A little further away from the center is another fashion shop "La Boutique de Sheila," a modern shop with glass and col- ored wallpaper, where miniskirts and Cacharel blouses hang on multi-colored hangers. The owner is a good-looking woman in her late 30s, a Madame Boukhi. "I heard about the whole story from my own daughter. She heard it at school. Her friends had told her, you hear me—her- to beware of where she shops, as women, and especially young girls disappear and are actually sold as slaves in Lebanon and Latin America." Mrs. Boukhi was close to tears. "I have given up fighting. It is not worth it. I could not stay an- other year in Orleans. I want to sell my shop at all costs and will emigrate to Israel. The first few days after I heard all that was said about me were so terrible that I shall never feel the same way about Orleans and its in- habitants." La Boutique de Sheila was no last and told me that he had heard something terrible about longer completely empty. It still is the most fashionable and up-to- sae, too terrible to repeat. Half stalling I asked, 'what is said— date women's dress shop in Orleans, and a couple of customers had that I have a mistress?' He just sat and half dumb said, 'much, come in. They stood in groups of much worse.' I tried several more three or four and looked around /Pleases till I convinced him to with scared eyes as if expecting to tell me all. When I heard what I be kidnaped and drugged at any was accused of, I burst out laugh- moment. An atmosphere of fear ing. I simply could not take it and even panic hovered over Or- seriously. That same Friday, I leans. The basements of the Boukhi and left for a long weekend at the Cote d'Azur where my wife and I Licht establishments are the work- were looking for a house for the shops. There are no corridors, no secret exits. The police have children for the summer." checked and found nothing. Henri Licht is of medium height A few days after the Jewish and has fair hair and a most un- storekeepers found out about the Jewish air. He appears to be of a rumors which concerned them, naturally gay disposition. Even they went to the police and lodged while he was telling me this story. a complaint of slander against he could not help smiling and ••unknown persons." The head of cracking an occasional joke. the local Jewish community, "Suddenly, his mood changed. Georges Levy, went to see the dis- "I returned on Tuesday to Or- trict governor and the police. He leans still laughing over the also appealed to central Jewish or- story. Within minutes I realized ganizations in Paris. the gravity of the accusation. The investigation was soon under The shop was deserted, not a way with the Jewish organizations atingle client had been in for sev- a little more active, the local auth- eral days. The shop assistants orities a little slow. The district were practically terrorized and governor, the "prefect," who under nay private home phone was ring- French legislation is the local rep- log non-stop. Strange voices were resentative of the central governor pouring on me a torrent of abuse and enjoys near dictatorial powers, and insults. 'Dirty Jew, stop in- was slow to move. Whether it was terfering with our women,' said a natural prudence or a desire not toe. Another pleaded, "Return to move too many stones under the women you have stolen.' It which hidden abject creatures was too terrible to be believed." might be hidden, is not known. In any case, it took Levy sev- Licht still feels that he is Jtvitig a page out of another age. eral days of pleadings and explana• "Ixt the Middle Ages, they accused lions to obtain an official declare- ns of stealing Christian children to ; tion from the prefect calling for bake matzo. In 1932, they started i calm and denying the allegations. In the same way in Germany and ; The local mayor, Roger Secretan, ended it with the extermination was even more reluctant to involve Camps and the crematoria. I himself in what seemed at first a thought, however, that all this has ; strange story with possible local political i m p l ieation s. These been ended." At the age of 11, Licht had stemmed basically from the police been wearing a yellow Star of suspicions that the story had orig- David on his arm. Thirty members i inally been spread by the extreme of his family had been deported I leftist groups which have been a and never returned. "I saw them common phenomenon of France's being arrested. The men who car- political life since last May's revo- ried out the arrests were French lution. The leftist groups, mainly stu- dent organizations consisting of no more than a dozen members each, reacted violently, however. In turn they accused the local Gaullist party, the UDR, of having been the source of the reports. It seemed obvious that both suspicions and theories had been wrong and, by what seemed mutual accord, they both dropped their mutual accusa- tions. The high school parents asso : ciation and the teachers trade union, probably suffering from a guilt complex over their first re- actions which tended to encour- age the spread of the rumors, entered the picture. Their de- mands were formal. They wanted a thorough police investigation to discover the culprits and bring them to justice. The police were forced to act with somewhat greater energy. A senior police officer was put in charge of the investigation. No actual proof has as yet been un- earthed, but it seems clear that the main culprits were two extreme right-wing organizations, possibly "Jeune Nation" and "Occident. which are known to have a rela- tively lirge following in Orleans, especialy within junior and senior classes at the local high school and at the nearby university. Even if this supposition is found to be right, the question can and must be asked: Why Orleans? This type of rumor has been tried before in Paris, Grenoble, LeMans and Lille and possibly other provincial cities. It con- tains the necessary mixture of sex and adventure and crime and xenophobia to excite the imagin- ation of the frustrated provincial French inhabitant and yet, why Semitic tradition. Levy, who has lived there all his life, says that "nothing wrong had ever hap- pened since the Dreyfus affair. And I should know, my father- in-law was born here 82 years ago." Yet it happened in Orleans. I walked along the city's streets and wondered. Could the actual reason lie in the fact that Orleans, only two hours' drive away from Paris, has all the capital's tempta- tions and none of the outlets? The fact is that in spite of its proximity to the City of Lights, it goes to sleep like every French provincial city at 9 o'clock, has not a single theater or night club, only a handful of restaurants and three dozen dismal cafes on its street corners. Did the frustrations of modern life and modern society break onto the surface in a burst of pent-up hatred and envy? All this sociological speculation seemed logical especially as one watched the huge medieval cathe- dral throw its dark shadow over half the city and the small, pathetic synagogue. And yet, I could not help but re- member the latent anti-Semitism which exists throughout Western Europe and only awaits an oppor- tunity, as it did during the Nazi period or the Vichy regime, to burst onto the surface. The final question, as I walked among the tree-lined streets and smelled the lilacs in bloom was, "After all, why not Orleans?"' 19-Yr.-Old Arab Girl Gets Life Term for Planting Bomb at Hebrew U. TEL AVIV (JTA)—A 19-year-old Arab girl from Nablus received a life sentence Sunday for planting a bomb that exploded in the Hebrew University cafeteria last March. Miriam Shachshir pleaded guilty to the charge but appealed for clemency on grounds that she thought the bomb would only "make a big noise" and would not injure anyone. Twenty-nine persons were injured in the blast. The military tribunal at Lydda rejected her appeal. The court said Miss Shachshir was an educated, highly intelligent girl and was fully aware of her crime, which was premeditated. Friday, June 27, 1969-9 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS A- 1 vitation JO Escape To Paradise SIDNEY-HILL and BOOK COUZENS TRAVEL now bring you the ultimate and the unique ! Unpar- alleled in the annals of travel history. To those with the spirit of adventure we offer an invitation, as a select guest, to participate in an Air-Sea Cruise of eighteen enchanting, fascinating, never to be forgotten days of paradise come true. We call this journey and voyage—"ESCAPE TO PARADISE." Come fly with us on a luxurious B.O.A.C. jet, first to Israel, the new land yet the land of antiquity and birth of history and the Holy Land. Spend five mem- orable days feasting your eyes upon this wondrous country—fly then to Athens, Greece, and see the Acropolis and a multitude of other sights, then on to Piraeus, the great seaport city of the Mediterranean. And now board your own, very special, very pri- vate and very ultra-luxurious yacht—a six thousand ton, spanking new (Christened in April, 1969) beauty: Unchallenged as the most fabulous cruise vessel in the Mediterranean and perhaps, for her size, in the world! She boasts all outside staterooms with private bathtub and shower in each, television, push-button telephones, stereo music and so many, many more elegant facilities. She serves a superb Cordon Blue cuisine, affords continuous dancing in the magnificent lounge and entertainment every afternoon and eve- ning. — — — Your destination?—Seven glorious sun- filled lazy days (temp. 65-72) of Mediterranean cruis- ing to Crete. Santorini, Rhodes, Delos, and Myconos, all Grecian Islands and Istanbul and Kusadasi-Turkish cities. Ones ! Bon Voyage — You Upon returning to Piraeus we fly out of Athens for another thrilling and exciting three day holiday in Holland. Shopping, dining, wining, lavish entertain- ment—all of these are yours in the fabled cities of Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. And now the finale—a day and night an the town—London Town : The swingingest city in the world today. Then, dear guests, homeward bound—back to dear old Detroit with a pocketful of memories that a million dollars could never buy—and what a way to go. Transportation—hotels—sightseeing tours—food —liquors—wines and entertainment, gratuities and transfers, all elegante—superba—magnifique ! Lucky Oh. yes ! Almost forgot — the price? merely $1150.00 (plus 5% tax and service) per person based on double occupancy. Need we say more? Oh, incidentally—accommodations for only 100 persons are available—all yacht staterooms to be se- lected by you at time of reservation with deposit— Deposit: $150.00 per person. FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CALL: MARK MARCUS at DI 1 9616 OR SEND RESERVATION FORM BELOW ! - SIDNEY-HILL NORTHWEST CLUB 13333 West 8 Mile Rood Attention: Mark Marcus Detroit, Michigan 48235 Gentlemen: Enclosed please find: ( as deposit $ ( as full payment Make checks payable to: SIDNEY-HILL NORTHWEST CLUB ..Phone Name Street City State Zip Return this reservation immediately to insure space. Reservations lint. ited. Rates based on double occupancy. Remember, ship reservations are on a first come basis.