THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 40 Friday, July 18, 1980 French Mayor Who Saved Jews Honored in Avenue of Righteous By SANDRA COHEN World Zionist Organization JERUSALEM — An el- derly man is handed a shovel, and bending down, he scoops up some earth, Caricatures for your party By SAM FIELD Call 399-1320 slowly covering the roots of a Tiny, newborn sapling. The air tingles. The moment swells with emotion. We are at Yad Vashem. But today not to remember and mourn six million. Today to remember and honor the heroism of one man, brought to public attention by an American writer, Peter Hellman, whose book "Avenue of the Righteous" will appear in the fall. Raoul Laporterie was in his 40s during World War II, mayor of Bascons, a vil- lage in the southwest of France, and owner of a men's clothing store. What was significant was the shop's location. It was 10 kms. north of the Vichy Let The . 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As mayor, Laporterie was re- sponsible for stamping identification cards, and with the data so easily available, he began forming his own reservoir — iden- tification cards of those people of Bascons already deceased, lacking however in one vital item: photos. Word filtered through the Jewish communities north NABLUS (JTA) — Mayor Bassam Shaka, who lost both legs in the June 2 bomb attacks on West Bank Arab mayors, came home last week to a hero's welcome after undergoing treatment for more than a month in Amman, Jordan. •Thousands of people jammed the streets to cheer as Shaka arrived with his FROM GREAT SCOTT MOTHER'S BORSCHT 994!s.„,B MOTHER'S GEFILTE FISH 12-0Z. CAN 8 QT. JAR 53'w EMPIRE SLICED TURKEYoR CHICKEN 9'yerE. SAVE PKG. KOSHER FOODS AVAILABLE AT: • • • • • TELEGRAPH/LONG LAKE IN BLOOMFIELD TWP. MOST STORES OPEN SOUTHFIELD/13 MILE IN BEVERLY HILLS 8 A.M. TO 10 P.M. ORCHARD LAKE/13 MILE RD. IN FARMINGTON HILLS( SUNDAY 9 A.M. TO 6 P.M. TELEGRAPH/15 MILE RD. IN BIRMINGHAM 12 MILE/EVERGREEN IN SOUTHFIELD ( PRICES EFFECTVIE THRU THURS. JULY 24, 19tIO. NO SALES TO DEALERS wife in an ambulance which picked him up at the Al- lenby Bridge across the Jor- dan River. Heavily armed Israeli troops were also visible in evidence of the tight secu- rity clamped on this town to forestall possible extremist demonstrations. Shaka himself was forbidden to speak to reporters. Meanwhile, Sulieman Hirbawi, a Druze border police sapper who was severely injured on June 2 while dismantling a bomb intended for the -Mayor of E1-Bireh, re- turned to his home in the Western Galilee village of Jullis on a temporary leave from Hadassah Hospital in Jerusalem. He is due back at the hos- pital shortly for plastic surgery and further at- tempts to save what re- mains of his eyesight. South American Revolutionaries Backed by PLO? WASHINGTON — The Palestine Liberation Organization has offered weapons, military training and a cadre of Palestinian troops to the leftist guerril- las who are trying to seize control of El Salvador, re- ported Newsweek maga- zine. The PLO concedes that it supports the Latin Ameri- can revolutionaries "politi- cally," but denies that it has been a supplier of arms and men. planting of a tree and the Medal of Honor. The Avenue of the Right- eous, Israel's living memo- rial to those who risked cer- through death tain courageous deeds, was orig- inally a small area of land set aside at Yad Vashem. It has now blossomed to cover a whole slope overlooking the beautiful village of Ein Karem. And here, he who is honored plants the tree himself, having been in- vited to visit Israel and pre- sented with a medallion which is engraved the brew proverb, "Whosoever saveth a single soul is as the saviour of all mankind." Here, over 500 carob trees have been planted, the carob chosen because its leaves do not wither. The righteous is thus compared to a tree, as in Psalms 1:3, "and he shall be like a tree planted by the rivers of water . . . his leaf also shall not wither . - r I ) ARRY FREEDMAN rchestra and Entertainment 647-2367 %Mite %Woo§ PARTY PLANNING CENTERPIECES Originally Designed (fresh or artificial) Injured Nablus Mayor Shaka Returns to Hero's Welcome SHASOT SHALOM EMPIRE BBQ CHICKENS of the line that their free- dom could be realized via a men's clothing store. The mayor welcomed the Jews, matched their char- acteristics as closely as possible with those on the cards, then filled the empty spaces with their photos. They proceeded to cross the border, soon stopped by the Germans for the customary check. As residents of Bas- cons, they were waved through. Laporterie was alert to possible complications. He planned each crossing just five minutes before the changing of the guards, a time when the men were tired and impatient for their shift to end, a time when they would be least likely to scrutinize each individual. Sheltered in his home, or placed in hotels, these Jews were given everything they needed till their departure for the south. Hundreds were saved. And the heroism of Raoul Laporterie was not left unacknowl- edged. Soon after Yad Vashem in Jerusalem was established, it was decided to honor those gentiles who had put their own safety aside to ensure the freedom of Jews from the hands of the Ges- tapo. A committee of 25 people, all volunteers, meet monthly to discuss the merits of every case under consideration for the award, The Righteous — those non-Jewish men and women from towns and vil- lages in the occupied areas who at personal peril helped Jews escape Nazi massacre. Though letters are often received from friends or relatives of a gentile who did save a Jew, testimonies are taken only from those Jews who were actually saved. Approximately 3,000 people have been honored through three kinds of awards — citations, the FAVORS — PAPER GOODS — RENTALS INVITATIONS and STATIONERY 20% OFF 21540 W. 11 Mile Rd., Sfld. 355-1590, appt. only BEV KURTIS DORIS CORNFIELD 357-1056 SUITE 110-HERITAGE PLAZA 24901 NORTHWESTERN HWY. SOUTHFIELD SUMMER HOURS: M.-F. 9-5, Sat. 10-3 JEWELERS IS STILL BUYING GOLD, SILVER & PLATINUM . 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