62 Friday, December 9, 1977 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Jewish Situation Is Deteriorating in Argentina blow By RABBI MORTON ROSE NMAL Director, Latin American Affairs De- partment, Anti- Defamation League of Bnai Brith (Copyright 1977, .TTA, Inc.) Two negative trends have in significant measure off- set positive developments affecting the Argentine Jew- ish community during the year: The intimidation of Jewish community lead- ers and anti-Semitism with- in the security-panel sys- tem. Last month, the govern- ment announced that Ja- cobo Timerman, one of the most prominent members of the Jewish community, has been deprived of his civil rights and will be detained in prison indefinitely, with- out charges, His property has been placed in state custody. This most recent development came as a to those who believed that Timerman, the editor- publisher of La Opinion, would soon be released from prison because two courts had found no cause for his seven-month deten- tion. The Timerman case has had a shattering effect upon the entire Jewish commu- nity. Under Timerman's di- rection, La Opinion, one of Buenos Aires leading dailies, did battle with Ar- gentine anti-Semitism and championed the cause of Zi- onism and Israel. Now, Timerman is silenced and his paper controlled and run by the army. That a world- famous journalist could be dealt with in this manner suggests to Jewish leaders that a similar fate could also be theirs, if they are too outspoken. In June, Jacobo Kovad- loff, the director of the Ar- gentine office of the Ameri- can Jewish Committee, received threatening phone calls warning him that "...if he does not leave the country the same thing that happened to Timerman will happen to him." Kovadloff fled the coun- try, followed several days later by his wife and chil- dren. When officials of the AJCornmittee subsequently closed the office, the Jewish community was the weaker. A frontal attack on the leadership of the Jewish community occurred sev- eral months ago when agents kidnapped the adult son of Dr. Nehemias Res- nizky, the president of DAIA, the representative body of Argentine Jewry. First public mention of the kidnapping appeared in an anti-Semitic right-wing gif THE JEWISH NEWS 17515 W. NINE 'MILE ROAD Suite 865 Southfield, Michigan 48075 THE JEWISH NEWS 17515 W. 9 Mile Rd. Suite 865 Southfield, Mich. 4.8075 Gentlemen: Please send gift subscription to: Name _ Address State From: E $12 enclosed deluged by pleas for help coming from relatives and friends of Argentine citizens who have either dis- appeared or are being held for long periods of time without formal charges against them. There is no indication that Jews are being singled out for arrest, but the dimensions of the problem are so huge th2t hundreds of Jews are afft ed. Some estimates as to tk.... total number of disappeared in Argentina range up to 20,000. So long as the Argentine government, as a matter of policy, permits security agents dressed in civilian clothing to routinely kidnap individuals and hold them indefinitely without ac- knowledging that they are prisoners, the security of all Argentine citizens will be tenuous. Jews will be in greater peril because of the prevalence of anti-Semitic sentiment among members of the security services. Mickey Katz Story a Delightful Portrait of Entertaining Family a subscription to City _ gentina. The ban was effec- magazine, Cabildo, which tive for only two months, so said that Renizkv's father the magazine is again free "would not be able to con- tinue with his campaign . to foment anti-Jewish pre- judice. denouncing anti-Semitism in A very promising devel- the Argentine government." opment occurred in mid-Oc- It took three days to secure tober when the government his release, after which he proposed the legal prohibi- left the country. tion of anti-Semitism. Look- It is obvious that the Time- ing back upon the events of rman, Kovadloff and Res- the past year it is apparent nizky cases have had a chill- that the Argentine govern- ing effect on Jewish ment is sensitive to the is- leadership. Less apparent, sue of anti-Semitism and but also disconcerting, is has taken some measures to the fact that the kidnap and deal with the problem. Un- release of Resnizky has giv- fortunately, these measures en rise to some resentment have generally been late in and suspicion within the coming and far less forceful Jewish community, where than one would reasonably people have been heard to anticipate. say, "He got his son out, The Argentine govern- why not mine?" ment has also endeavored to A second cause for con- assure Jews, at home and cern is the prevalence of abroad, that it is not anti- anti-Semitism within the Semitic. security-prison system. Despite the assurances, Jews are interrogated about the negative trends offset communal affairs and bi- the positive developments. zarre issues such as the During the past year, the Protocols of the Elders of ADL Latin American Af- Zion and alleged Jewish fairs Department has been plans to create a second Zionist state in Argentina, a calumny first disseminated in Argentina four years ago in a tract called the Andinia Plan. We have reliable informa- Mickey Katz became the tion that Jews are also darling of the theater in being subjected to more appreciation for his earthy cruel physical mistreatment stories, the Yiddish flavor than non-Jews who•are pick- he had given them, the ed up for investigation. sense of continuity he gave Some who have been de- to his puns with a humor tained and interrogated by acquired from parents and the Argentine security serv- synagogal environment. ices have said that elements It is no wonder that his of Nazism are prevalent, autobiography is entitled including Nazi symbols and "Papa, Play For Me." It recordings of Nazi speeches could also have said "Papa, and music. pray with me," because his As the foregoing trends background is in his home have emerged, there have and in the synagogue. also been some positive de- His father was a regular velopments in " matters af- consecrant in Hibath Ye- fecting the Jewish commu- rushalayim in Cleveland, nity of Argentina. When the and Mickey was there with U.S. House of Representa- him. His father loved sto- tives Subcommittee on ries and Mickey repeated International Organizations them and embellished them held hearings on Human for his audiences. Rights in Argentina in Sep- Mickey was more than a tember 1976, the Anti-Defa- Borscht Belt genius. He is mation League offered testi- an American with a Yiddish mony on anti-Semitism in influence and one who ab- Argentina. At that time, we de- sorbed' the tales he had scribed an 18-month series heard and the Mame Loshen of bombings of synagogues he loved. Therefore, Mickey and Jewish communal was able to transmit the buildings and other violent flavor of song, dance and manifestations of anti-Semi- story he had acquired from tism., We also reported on a parental influence to an the proliferation of Nazi admiring audience. books, in Spanish trans- "Papa, Play for Me," the lation, and other anti-Semi- Mickey Katz story as told to tic propaganda. Hannibal Coons (Simon and Since October 19'76, there Schuster), is the story of a have been few bombings family of entertainers. His and the volume of Nazi lit- father was the humorist erature has been reduced. whose stories rallied the fel- Although the Nazi •books are low worshippers in Hibath still available, successive Yerushalayim. His mother government decrees or- matched his father. And it dered the seizure of some is a mark of fame that titles and closed several Mickey's son, Joel Grey, be- publishing houses that pro- came one of the sensations duced Nazi tracts. The gov- on Broadway and in Holly- ernment also imposed mod- wood, in "Cabaret" and oth- est sanctions against the er successes. anti-Semitic magazine Cabi• That Joel Grey should Ido, which used the "Grai- have written an in- ver case" as a vehicle for troductory praise for his fa- branding the entire Argen- ther and that George Burns tine Jewish community as should be commending his part of a Zionist-Marxist- colleague for his biograph- Montonero plot against Ar- _ Zip Code ._, _ MICKEY KATZ ical success is not a sur- prise. Mickey apparently earned the acclaim and his life's story attests to it. The Mickey Katz expe- riences as related on in "Papa, Play for Me," his early struggles, the pit- tances for which he worked and the recognition he final- ly attained—all are part of the total story in a biogra- phy his appreciative au- diences will applaud in print as when they saw him on stage. Lenore Cowen, 52 Lenore Cowen, a member of Jewish women's and communal organizations, died Dec. 1 at age 52. A native Detroiter, Mrs. Cowen was a member of Cong. Beth Abraham Hillel Moses, Hadassah and Wom- en's American ORT. She leaves her husband, Dr. Samuel; two sons, Stanley and Sheldon; a daughter, Mrs. Elliott (Ju- dith) Greenberg; three sis- ters, Mrs. Harry (Fara) Riche, Mrs. Aaron (Ger- trude) Katzman and Mrs. IVIarvin (Joyce) Weintraub; and two grandchildren.