THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS Original Viet Refugees Adjusting to Israel By MOSHE RON The Jewish News Special Israel Correspondent TEL AVIV — The leader of the first group of 68 Viet- namese refugees, which came 18 months ago to Is- rael, is Dr. Hua Trang Kuan, a physician in the Beersheba hospital. He says only the Jewish People could understand the suffering of other people. His group arrived in Israel after no other country agreed to receive it. Some of the Viet children are living today with Israeli children Adapting to Israel in the children's village of Shfeya, near Zichron- they stayed together. Af- Yaakov. They are "living terwards they became orphans," as their parents familiar With their sur- are living in Vietnam. roundings and the ice was Today one can hardly dis- broken. They have Israeli tinguish between them and friends and walk with the the Israeli children. They Sabras hand-in-hand. already speak Hebrew. The Israeli children In the beginning, the Vie- tnamese children felt like them. They make strange in their surround- them feel that they are at ings. They came to Israel home. The Vietnamese _without their families. But children keep their as time . went on, they got rooms neat and clean. accustomed to their home They have decorated and the Israeli children. them with Vietnamese The adult refugees moved dolls and pictures. They all over the country; they wear modern jeans in- work in restaurants, hotels, stead of their traditional dresses and have cut etc. The children remained in their long hair. They are the home. In the beginning very polite and discip- Hebrew U. Reveals Secret Soviet-Israel Conferences JERUSALEM — Secret meetings were held in 1962-66 at the Kremlin be- tween leaders of Maki, the former Israeli Communist party and the Soviet leader- ship elite, according to the oral history department in the Hebrew University's Leonard Davis Institute for International Relations. Through the years many meetings were held with Soviet leaders such as Communist Party Chair- man Nikita Khrushchev, USSR President Leonid Brezhnev, and Mikhail Sus- lov, member of the Pres- idium of the Central Com- mittee of the Communist Party. At all these meetings the Soviets consistently demanded that no documentation be done by the Israelis. Central issues were dis- cussed there, such as Soviet policy towards Israel and Soviet relationship with Is- rael. The Davis Institute, of which the Oral History De- partment is part, was estab- lished in June, 1974 for the express purpose of finding and collecting raw material for future historians who wish to study Israel's de- fense and foreign policy. As its name implies, the oral history, department - collects such material or- ally, e.g. by personal in- terviews. The depart- ment focuses on inter- viewing all those per- sonalities who have played a role in Israel's foreign and defense af- fairs. There are five main categories of people who are interviewed: lined and obey their teachers. A 16-year-old, Hawan, told us, "When I was a child I helped my father in fish- ing. Now I learn Hebrew and wish to be a mechanic. I fled from Vietnam because the Communists would have killed me." He has tears in his eyes. He heard, that his parents were ar- rested and face the death penalty. The solidarity among the Vietnamese children is very strong. They help each other as if they were all one ,family. Everything they possess belongs to everyone. They learn Hebrew together and show great patience. They can sit for hours and learn. The leader of the group, Dr. Hua Trang Kuan, visits them often. He has become an admirer of Israel. "We have come here naked — without anything," he says. "Look what has become of us: I am working as a physi- cian in a hospital. Our chil- dren are settled and have a safe future." Doctor Hua was a military doctor in Viet- nam. He was a prisoner of the Communists and spent 18 months in prison. He decided to es- cape. He used an oppor- tunity, when he was tem- porarily released — the authorities wanted to watch his contacts. He and three friends or- ganized a group of 68 to escape in a small sail boat. No country would accept the refugees. They remained on the high sea without water and food. When the small boat was • Past and present mem- bers of Israeli cabinets, • Past and present high officials in the Foreign Ministry, • High officials in the Ministry of Defense, the Is- rael Defense Forces and Secret Services, • Members of the Knes- set Foreign Affairs and De- fense Committee and • Leaders of Israeli polit- ical parties who have influ- enced the - process of decision-making in defense and foreign policy. These interviews are first recorded on ordinary casset- tes and then re-recorded for posterity on specially treated tapes at the phone- tics department in the Jewish National and Uni- versity Library (JNUL) at the Hebrew University. Since almost all the material recorded on these tapes is of a highly classified nature, the tapes and their printed transcriptions are kept in special safes in the archives of the JNUL. This material will be officially released and opened for re- search in years to come, sub- ject to clearance. sinking, an Israeli ship came to its rescue. The re- fugees wept with joy when the captain of the Israeli ship told them that Israel had decided to accept them. Dr. Hua admitted that during the nights he is thinking of his country. But he has to accept the reality. In Vietnam he would not be alive if he had stayed. To- day, his place is in Israel, where he is a new immig- rant and intends to stay for good. f Friday, February 16, 1979 13 SPRING IS HERE! That's absolutely correct, spring IS here for people in our profession. Now is the time to prepare your- self (we will help you) for a most rewarding and remunerative career, both financially and in the satisfaction received in performing a beneficial service to your fellow man. Sales experience is helpful, but not necessary. If you are unoccupied, if you like people and if you like money, call me, Jack Pomeroy, for a confidential interview. 559-3344 P omeroy itedi ors AFFILIATED OFFICES IN ALL FIFTY STATES BUY YOUR NEW 1919 BUICK FROM . MICHIGAN'S BIG BUICK DEALER MBROFF Buick Opel Honda TELEGRAPH JUST SOUTH OF 12 MILE 353-1300 Immediate Delivery Open Mondays and Thursdays Til 9 p.m. CUSTOM LEASE PLANS AVAILABLE Rich ground aroma and the fresh perked taste, right for any occasion. Maxim tastes so close to fresh-perked coffee that every Jewish woman can take pride in serving it to her family and guests. 100% FREEZE DRIED COFFEE JNF Appointee ® K Certified Kosher 100% freeze-dried coffee NEW YORK — In a re- cent expansion of its public relations department, the Jewish National Fund has named Michael Kresky as its director of press rela- tions. Kresky was formerly with the Jewish Federation of North Jersey as director of public relations. Kresky will work in asso- ciation with JNF Director of Public Relations, Milton Jacoby. fk)131. 1 .311:111 )fit(.I.. 1,3•fort:1;,.