By ROBERT ST. JOHN
(Copyright 1981, JTA, Inc.)
One day during a recess
in the Jerusalem trial of
Adolph Eichmann, the then
premier of Israel, David
Ben-Gurion, received sev-
eral correspondents at his
Tel Aviv home and in the
course of a long off-the-
record interview explained
why he had ordered the
somewhat illegal kidnap-
ping of Eichmann from
Argentina.
One day," he said, "a
young Israeli boy told me he
was tired of hearing that the
azis had killed six million
dews, because he knew the
story was just propaganda
that our side had put out."
That was in the spring of
1960. Since World War II, a
new generation had grown
up. Everyone under the age
of 30 had either not been
born or was an uncom-
prehending child when Hit-
ler was putting his Final
Solution into effect.
And so Eichmann was
captured and put on trial,
and for weeks the sworn
testimony of Jews who
somehow had survived
but had seen, heard and
smelled The Horror was
broadcast by television
and radio and was re-
corded in the world
press, and put a tempor-
ary end to disbelief.
But now it is 1981 and
again we have a new gener-
ation. Today anyone under
the age of 30 either was not
yet born or was too young at
the time of Eichmann's trial
to have read newspapers or
even to have paid much at-
tention to the broadcasts.
And so, once again, we
have the disbelievers.
Worse than that even repu-
table publishers put out
books written by something
less than reputable authors
who have the unmitigated
effrontery to ask us to be-
lieve that it was all a hoax;
that the figures are grossly
exaggerated; that it was no
worse for Jews than for gyp-
sies, Armenians, Russians
and a lot of other people the
Nazis found in their way as
they set out to conquer the
world.
And that brings us to
"Gizelle, Save the Chil-
dren!" (Everest House), a
book by Peggy Mann and
Gizelle Hersh, who saw her
li'--mother and father marched
in one direction at Au-
schwitz, while she and her
three sisters were ordered
the other way. .
"Gizelle, save the chil-
dren!" the mother
shouted — the last words
dvany of them ever heard
aer utter.
Gizelle did save the chil-
dren. And the story ends
happily, as they sail into
New York harbor on a refu-
gee ship some years later.
But before that happens
there are 300 pages about
Gizelle's desperate ordeal as
she tries (in Auschwitz,
Birkenau, Geilingen and
Dachau) to obey her
mother's command; to keep
the four of them alive; to
'
keep them together; to pre-
vent their violation by
obscene, sex-hungry Nazis.
It's a story of gas cham-
bers and crematoria. It's not
a pretty story, but it's a
story that needs telling, be-
cause there is now another
generation of disbelievers.
And it's a story very well
told, because Peggy Mann
was the one who pounded it
out on a typewriter and
Peggy Mann knows how to
write — graphically,
grimly, even brutally when
need be.
In a 19-page epilogue
Peggy Mann has something
very important to say her-
self about just who was re-
sponsible for allowing it to
happen. She gives us in de-
tail the story of the Evian
Conference; a story that
needs retelling and retel-
ling, just as much as do the
Auschwitz stories.
Evian, where represen-
tatives of 32 of the most
civilized countries of the
Western world one after
another gave shabby ex-
cuses as to why they
couldn't possibly take
even a token number of
the 660,000 Germans and
Austrians which the
American delegate stated
were in urgent need of re-
scue before it was too
late.
Evian, where, among the
excuses, were the formal
statements of Nicaragua,
Costa Rica and Panama
that they would accept no
"traders" or "intellectuals."
And the proviso in the
Canadian response: we may
consider "agricultural
workers" but no others.
Evian, that happy water-
ing place on the shores of
Lake Geneva, where a cra-
ven world actually signed
the death warrants for six
million Jews.
Every reader of "Gizelle,
Save the Children!" will be
happy that Gizelle did save
the children — and herself. I
am happy that Peggy Mann
Court Fines Govt.
Owned Refineries
HAIFA (JTA) — A magis-
trate's court imposed a
token fine on the
government-owned Haifa
Refineries and gave it two
years to modify its waste
gas burning facilities to re-
duce air pollution or shut
down.
The fine of 200 shekelg
($26) was the maximum
allowed under the public
nuisance law.
The refinery manage-
ment said it would take two
years to install equipment
designed to reduce the black
smoke and noxious gas
emissions at a cost of more
than $1 million.
tit
-4,-
,
EinEingET
PARTY CONSULTANTS
Weddings, Bar/Bat Mitzvas
Sweet Sixteens, etc.
is so brilliantly helping to
keep alive the memory of
how ugly man can be,
whether he's a German, a
Nicaraguan, a Costa Rican,
a Panamanian, a Canadian
— or an American.
invitations & stationery
Make selections from your own home.
n
2,9.7/0 Discount
i
358.0251
661-1518
carol hooberman gallery
presents
GLORIA F. ROSS TAPESTRIES
limited editions and unique commissions
in the aubusson and gobelin techniques
designed by:
- avery
- bearden
- frankenthaler
- Jenkins
- trova
meet the artist
sat, jan. 10. 10:30-2:00
the exhibit will run through Feb. 13, 1981
155 s. bates • birmingham • 647-3666
1 d en b oun
,
U.S. Issues
Invitation to
Egypt Military
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Gen. David Jones, chair-
man of the U.S. Joint Chiefs
of Staff, has invited Egypt to
send units of its air force for
joint exercises with the U.S.
Air Force in Nevada this
year, the Middle East News
Agency (MENA) reported in
Cairo. Jones was on a four-
day visit to Egypt last week
to inspect military installa-
tions and discuss arms re-
quirements.
According to the MENA
report, he extended the in-
vitation to -Egyptian De-
fense Minister Ahmed
Badawi but no date was
mentioned for the joint
exercises in the Nevada
desert.
A squadron of U.S. F-15
fighters visited Egypt three
months ago for desert train-
ing and 1,500 American
troops participated in mili-
tary exercises with Egyp-
tian armed forces in the
western desert in Novem-
ber.
Jones reportedly said that
experience has been useful
and he hoped it could be re-
peated.
oqffa
oqtz
Peggy Mann's `Gizelle' Keeps Holocaust
Memories Alive for New Generation
Daily and Saturday
10-6,
Thursday
CrEotiveJeAelers
.
•
IA
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