2 Friday, February 16, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Journalism as History, the Press as the Medium of Exposing
Distortions ... Effects of Holocaust Television Programs in
Germany and a Reminder of the Nazi Horrors in Czechoslovakia
By Philip
Slomovitz
Journalism in All Its Glory:
Resort to Truth Assists in
Historical Exoneration
some Eleven Million, including the Six Million Jews who
be apportioned for the atrocities committed dur-
ing the war, Mrs. Heydrich said ono, "it was an
were Hitler's chief target.
It provided a platform for the neo-Nazis to renew their
order."
venom, for many of the guilty to sneer and to charge
"I don't think Himmler did it all by himself," she
said. "He must have asked Hitler: I can't imagine
American newspapers are often put to the test. In an "Fraud," as they did when confronted with the Six Million
anything else. One couldn't have done it alone."
anxiety not to be censored, in their aim to publish the news, dead as an accusation of inerasable guilt.
A notable example is the case of the Nazi criminal who
As a visitor leaves, Mrs. Heydrich offers a book
distortions often creep in which cause heartache.
she wrote about her husband called "My Life With
It was difficult to understand, some months ago, why was a chief architect of the Hitler extermination policies.
Lina Heydrich, the widow of Reinhard Heydrich, now
a War Criminal," in which she says he was not
the now (temporarily?) defunct London Times should have
one.
given a platform to charges that Israel was brutally mis- holds great wealth on an island at Todendorf, West Ger-
A publisher's appendix in the book contains
treating Arab prisoners, then failing to share with its read- many, off the Baltic. She ridiculed the Holocaust programs.
details not touched on by Mrs. Heydrich. After the
ers the opportunity to learn the true facts in a muddied She read the facts as if it were a novel. She described her
war, Czech authorities accused Lina Heydrich of
case. Now the U.S. State Department has re-opened the husband, who was killed in an anti-Nazi reprisal in
having been responsible for the murder of 9
torture charge. Fortunately, the press gave due considera- Czechoslovakia and whose death resulted in one of the most
Czech "prisoners after the death of her husban
tion to the Israeli reaction which indicated that by opening tragic cases known as the Lidice episode, as not responsible
and of having escaped from the country with sto-
the doors for International Red Cross inspections it be- for the "Final Solution."
The mass murder of innocent Czechs in Lidice by the
len gold, jewels and pieces of art. In 1947, the
comes apparent that Israel is not hiding facts. When the
British military command in Germany rejected
newspapers react with facts they render a service. It is Nazis resulted from the act of vengeance against Heydrich.
the extradition request, asserting that there was
when, as in the instance of the American visit of a Libyan The New York Times quoted Lina Heydrich's views, in a
no evidence to substantiate a murder charge.
delegation, when the media fail to match their anti-Zionist cabled story from Todendorf, and proceeded to eloborate on
In an afterword to the book, a German histo-
attacks with the Libyan record of terrorism, that an injus- the facts related to the horror perpetrated at Lidice.
Lidice has been a symbolic accusatory term against
rian, Werner Maser, wrote: "Lina Heydrich has
tice is performed.
not only covered up many deeds of her husband,
History draws from journalism and is dependent upon Hitlerism for 37 years. The memory of that event is revived
fantasized and turned him around completely,
the media. Therefore, journalism assumes an historical by the attempt of a widow to exonerate the murderous acts
but omitted very clearly significant factors."
aspect. It has a duty to be factual and not to permit distor- of her husband.
It is to the credit of newsmen who, as in this instance of
"The Reinhard Heydrich that she presents cer-
tions to blot out realism and authenticity.
justice in resorting to facts by the New York Times, allow
tainly never lived."
Heydrich and Lidice Murders
truth to dominate when distortions threaten the memory of
This is the treatment that is necessary to make the
man. After giving a platform to Mrs. Reinhard Heydrich,
in the Holocaust Perspective
media, especially the newspapers, true to historical de-
the
NYTimes
article
presented
this
expose:
The media have been put to the test on many occasions.
mands. If distortions are not to pollute the pages of au-
Permitting spokesmen for the murderous Libyan govern-
thoritative history, untruths must be nipped in the bud the
On June 4, 1942, Reinhard Heydrich died from
wounds after an assassination attempt in Prague
ment to appear as if they were saintly diplomats did not
moment they are uttered. In the case of Heydrich, the
by two Czech partisans. "When Heydrich was Idl-
speak well for telelvision interpreters. Anti-Semitic prop-
Holocaust and Lidice, the NYTimes did just that.
led in Prague, they didn't want to kill the private
aganda recently distributed by bigots who treated the Six
There are too many 'occasions to criticize. Let this be
Heydrich but rather harm the Reich," Mrs. Heyd-
Million who were first terrorized- then murdered by the
proof of an obligation to give due credit when it is due. And
rich said._ "This resulted in the idea of revenge."
Nazis as fiction was to the discredit of contemporary inter-
in the process let there be a reminder that the Nazi crimes
Part of the revenge was exacted from the small
preters of the Hitler brutalities.
cannot be forgotten, cannot be ignored. The televised
Czech mining town of Lidice on June 9, 1942. At
Historians and journalists, the media as a complex
Holocaust program regrettably leaned on narrative which,
Hitler's orders, all 199 men in the town were shot,
unit, were put to the test again with the television presen-
while taken from the actual experiences, should have been
195 women were sent to concentration camps and
tation–of the Holocaust story. The programs gave an oppor-
predominantly documentary. What is dealt with is fact, not
the 98 children were sent to other camps.
tunity to the citizens of the land that is now atoningfor the
fiction. Let it be treated unreservedly, in such fashion,
Asked whether there was any collective guilt to
Nazi crimes to express dismay over the mass murder of
always.
Aleph-Beth as a Fascination Lends Power to JPS Podwal Volume
The Aleph-Beth fasci-
nates artists and authors.
The late Raymond Katz,
who rated among the most
eminent of Jewish artists,
used the Hebrew letters as
the basis for his notable art
creations. Harry Lui, De-
troit calligrapher, utilized
the Aleph-Beth for many of
his themes.
Most notable currently in
the application of the Heb-
rew alphabet for art creativ-
ity is the new Jewish Publi-
cation Society volume, "A
Book of Hebrew Letters," in
which Mark Podwal shows
his love for the Hebrew al-
phabet as his theme in an
impressive book.
Podwal's personal defini-
tion of his theme asserts:
"The 22 letters of the
Hebrew alphabet have
long been a source of fas-
cination and wonder to
me. As an artist, I have
been struck by their vis-
ual beauty — a well of in-
spiration to generations
of scribes, calligraphers,
and printers whose vari-
ations on the letters' ar-
resting forms seem infi-
nite. Most of all, I have
been drawn to the rich
store of legend and
folklore that surrounds
the letters of the Aleph-
Beth."
Podwal has exhibited his
work in museums in the
U.S. and abitoad, jncluding
the Louvre, the Musee des
Beaux-Arts in Bordeaux,
and the Jewish Museum in
New York. His political
drawings appear regularly
in the New York Times.
Among the books he has
illustrated are "Let My
People Go: A Haggada,"
"The Book of Lamenta-
tions" and "Freud's da
Vinci."
Working in a mode that
combines traditional
Jewish styles — scribal cal-
ligraphy, medieval illustra-
tions, kabalistic allusions
— with his own distinctive
line and vision, Podwal has
conceived this series of 22
black-and-white drawings,
each illustrating — and il-
luminating — a term deriv-
ing from the Jewish experi-
ence.
The sequence follows
the Hebrew alphabet.
Thus for Aleph, the first
letter, the artist has cho-
sen to portray Aleph-
Beth (alphabet). Tav, the
last letter, is represented
by Torah.
In between are such pic-
tures as Tallit (prayer
shawl) for the letter Teth;
megilla (scroll) for Mem;
navi (prophet) for Nun; and
shalom (peace) for Shin.
The drawings, with the
aritst's facing calligraphy,
and enhanced by his
elucidating notes, together
form a cluster of visual
metaphors that delight the
eye and intrigue the mind,
revealing new levels of
meaning.
"A Book of Hebrew Let-
tens" is available in a deluxe
hardcover edition, limited
to 1,000 copies, and in a
paperback edition.
Soviet Emigres Find Jobs With CETA Aid
the other five either have or pressed with the first
are expected to have jobs program, helped arrange
A record total of 92 per- soon — like the others, all for re-funding a second
cent of 100 Soviet Jewish training-related jobs, as program for the classes
which are held at a busi-
immigrants who studied CETA rules require.
There were 98 women and ness and technical sch
English, general office
skills and bookkeeping for two men in the program, the in Times Square. T
22 weeks in 1978 in a prog- first CETA-funded training second funding is for
ram funded by the Com- program under NYANA $152,000 for 40 women in
prehensive Employment auspices. It has the formal the 20-member, 24-week
and Training Act have ob- title: "English as a second courses over a period of
tained jobs in the New York language and basic office at least six months, start-
metropolitan area, accord- skills training program." ing last Oct. 13 and end-
ing to a spokesman for the The 'spokesman said that ing next April 13.
New York Association for the CETA grant for the first The spokesman said the
program was $334,000, pro- smaller funding and the
New Americans.
The spokesman said that, viding for four classes of 25 fewer trainees was not due
based on CETA experience students each over the to lack of potentially qual-
with training of minority nine-month period of Jan. ified applicants, who "come
in all the time," but because
group members, a 70 per- 16 to Oct. 13, 1978.
The spokesman said 78 of reduced federal funding.
cent employment rate after
The initial group of
CETA-funded training is of the 92 were placed with
required for CETA refund- the help of NYANA and trainees included Jews who
ing. He said three of the 14 found jobs on their had jobs in the Soviet Union
other eight enrollees went own. He said city and ranging from buyer to
on to further education and state officials, highly im-- music teacher to midwife.
By BEN GALLOB
(Copyright 1979, JTA, Inc.)
Mark Podwal's conception of Roth Hodesh — the
beginning of the month — as determined by the moon,
representing the Hebrew letter Resh.