2 Friday, January 6, 1978 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Purely Commentary A Period of Economic Crisis in Israel Israel's Underprivileged Remain American Jewry's Major Obligation How the Allied Jewish Campaign Through UJA Holds the Key to the Solution of a Serious Problem By Philip Slomovitz How Detroiters Can Help Solve a Serious Problem Peace with her neighbors can be an accomplishment of realism only when the Israelis themselves are without want and social indignities. Israel has many serious economic problems. One of them Is the low standard - of. housing for many among Sephardim who comprise a majority of the population. At a meeting of world leaders of the Keren Hayesod, the major beneficiary of the United Jewish Appeal and the United Israel Appeal, held in Paris, a plea for the less fortunate was sounded in a message from Prime Minister Menahem Begin. The gathered, recognizing the urgency of conditions that demand action; adopted a set of resolutions in which they resolved: • "To wholeheartedly endorse the call of Prime Minister Begin for massive support of Diaspora Jewry in the realization of the goal set by the government of Israel, i.e. to launch during Israel's 30th anniversary year major activities for the elimination of sub-standard housing and slum dwellings undermining the structure and endangering the proper functioning of Israel's society and to engage in the rehabilitation of neighborhoods in Israel; • "To appeal, in this spirit, to each and every leader and contributor to manifest, in the 30th anniversary of the state, the understanding and solidarity he manifested in the Yom Kippur War, and to contribute to the 1978 Campaign in a way commensurate with the call of the Prime Minister, that its total income be doubled in comparison with last year's..." - The accompanying photo provides a glimpse at the want that exists among Israelis. The claim to a desire to assure social' equalities with the aid that comes from the United Jewish Appeal and its Detroit pro- vider, the Allied Jewish Campaign, can prove honorable only with a , serious effort to eliminate the want thus portrayed. The Allied Jewish Campaign now in progress is the medium for solving this problem for a people struggling not only for securityyn the borders and for amity with neighbors but also to eliminate want. It is not enough to shout "hurrah" when diplomats meet to solve the issues involved in the obstacles for peace. There must also be an internal security, a sense of social equality within the land. This can be provided by generosity from those with a dedicated kinship to Israelis. George F. Pierrot: World Traveler, Raconteur, Pioneer in Christian Zionist Ranks An appreciative community will join in fun with George F. Pierrot, at the recognition to be accorded him at the Institute of Arts Wednesday, on the occasion of his 80th birthday. It'll be more, much morse, than a birthday party. For his friends and associates it will be a time to reminisce about the many cultural gifts he has made to the two generations who benefited from his labors since his arrival here more than half a century ago. His contemporaries will bless him for his earliest labors,. when he edited The American Boy—Youth's Companion Magazine that served the youth and helped to educate them as Americans with pride in their heritage. - - Then came the generation that 4 gained so much from his World Adven- ture Series which educated attendees about the world at large. It was as part- of these series that men like the late Julien Bryan exposed the horrors that emanated from Rus- sian oppressions and tragedies in Po- land; and brought the message of what was then Palestine as an emerging Jewish National Home. In later years it was the Israel of modernity his guests featured in the travelogues at the Art Institute. It is because he was himself a world trav- Pierrot as a 21- eler with a keen ability to retain what he had witnessed and studied that his year-old Navy deckhand in 1919. audiences were able to acquire a knowledge of events and accom- plishments in the state of Israel. It was as a traveler that George was motivated to meet the high-ranking personalities who figured prominently in the historic events. In his travels he had met with Gamal Abdel Nasser and there was a time when he believed Nasser would be the first to make peace with Israel. The subsequent events inspired the sponsorship of notable lectures with informative messages from the Holy Land emerging into the redeemed"Land of Israel. George was among the leaders in the early activities of the American Christian Palestine Movement for the re- demption of Israel. At the party on Wednesday his skill as a raconteur, as a master of wit, will be given emphasis. He must not be forgotten as one who recognized the merits of cosmolitan- ism when he labored with many of us in the joint efforts conducted by Sigma Delta Chi with the Society of the Occident and the Orient, the former - a major fraternal order of American journalists and the latter an association that included newsmen representing some 33 countries throughout. the world. He should be remembered as a pioneer in the American Christian Palestine Movement. The combined roles give him added glory as he receives commendations on his 80th birthday. During the years of. Pierrot's sponsorship of the World Adventure series., his name became closely linked to the Art Institute, and it is appropriate that the 80th birthday party in his honor should be under the direction of the Founders Society of the Art Institute. Whatever the pro- ceeds from the party towards the Institute will be an added mark of tribute to George. Duty Never to End Exposing Nazi Crime...Teaching the Holocaust Because Nazistri has really been completely extirpated, the duty to keep exposing its dangers remains an obligation for humang everywhere. Whether in Skokie or in Detroit, the emergence of even a single symptom of the crime must be treated with horror. The sick mind is in evidence here and the condemnation of the re-emergence of the evidence of the past transported to Detroit broughVforth the proper condemnation from the responsible elements among the socially-minded of this community. Especially Valuable in the impressive state- ment issued by Jews and non-Jews is the appeal it contained for the introduction of proper Holocaust studies in the Detroit-area schools. - If the memories of what h transpired could only be kept alive! Yet, when Holocaust studies were introduced in Philadelphia and New York there were the Nazi-minded who protested! But a retired American army officer, recalling the agonies he underwent during the liberation of the inmates of concentration camps after World War II, made one of the strongest appeals for programs dealing with the Holocaust.' U.S. Army Col. Walter J. Fellenz (Ret.) of San Antonio, Tex., in a stirring statement published in the New York Times, recalled his experiences at the conclusion of the last war and expressed his views, supperting Holocaust Studies: I am pleased to read in recent issues of the New York Times that the Board of Education of New York City is planning to introduce a mandatory course of study in all city high schools of the Holocaust—the slaughter of six million Jews and 7'/2 million gentiles by Nazi Germany during the period 1933 to 1945. I understand that Philadelphia is planning the same action in its schools. Good for them! I had the experience of leading the combat infantry troops that overran the infamous Dachau concentration camp, jug west of Munich on tbe 0 slay otAPril, 1945. I was the first American camp commander of this death mill. My troops found 32,000 live bodies and 30,00t dead bodies there. Now, 32 1/2 years later, I am still shocked by what I saw during my 16 hours at the liberation of this shameful place. To me, the Holocaust was one of the most shameful crimes since man walked this earth. More shameful, however, is the fact that the forces of evil are trying to deny that this HolOcaust ever took place. History is the truthful recording of the facts as they are. Mankind must learn from the tragedies of the past; otherwise it is doomed to repeat them. Our children are the adult America of tomorrow. They must be factually informed of the Holocaust so they can prevent a recurrence. In San Antonio, six lines are devoted to the Holocaust in our high-school textbooks. I- hope Texas will follow the leads presented by New York City and Phila- delphia. In September of 1977 I made a tour of Europe to see again my battle areas. I spent half a day touring Dachau concentration camp. It is a well-preserved historical site/museum. This memorial is supported by the Bavarian government. Thousands of tourists and school children tour this site weekly. They are seeing the truth as it was. The German people could bulldoze this place out of existence in three days and-then deny that the site ever existed and the atrocities were ever performed. The Germans have preserved it. They have a healthy motive: The Holocaust did happen. Here it is! Let us see that it does not happen again. This is Dachau's message to mankind. I have noticed, this last year, that many so-called Nazi groups are being organized in our larger cities; Chicago, Houston, San Francisco and Los Angeles have been prominent in the news. In addition; numerous hate booklets smearing Jews are on the streets. Many say the Holocaust is a Jewish lie. What are thereal motives of these people ? Are they . possessed by evil? Sadly, I truly think so. No, I am not a Jew; I am but an old soldier. And I congratulate the authorities in New York City and Philadelphia for plans to teach the Holocaust in their public high school programs. I also take off my hat in respect to the current generation of German and Austrian people who have the moral guts to tell it as it was. This is an admonition and a plea addressed not to Amer- ica alone but to all the nations and to mankind at large. It spells the call of not forgetting, so that never again -should the- ors of the 1930s- and 4940§. be. Teneate