THE DETROIT JEWISH.NEWS

Argentina 'Much Better' But Jews Still Wary

By STAN ROSE

(Copyright 1981, JTA, Inc.)

(Editor's note: The fol-
lowing is a composite of
interviews with three
prominent Jewish resi-
dents of Buenos Aires
conducted in late
January and February in
the Argentine capital. At
the request of these
Jewish residents their
real names have been
withheld. The name
avid Iseman, is fictiti-
us, but the views ex-
ressed herein and the
setting for the interviews
are factual. Stan Rose is
the publisher of the Kan-
sas City Jewish
Chronicle.)
A few minutes after 4
p.m., the phone rang in our
room at the Plaza Hotel in
Buenos Aires, and a voice of
the other end of the tine
said, "Mr. Rose? This is
David Iseman. I am in the
lobby of your hotel."
"Yes, Mr. Iseman," I said.
"Shall we come down and
meet you?"
"No. I'd prefer to talk in
your room. I'll be up in a
moment." •
Soon there was a knock at
the door and Shirley greeted
our caller, a slightly built,
distinguished looking man
who appeared to be in his
late 60's.
"So what can I tell you
about the Jews in Buenos
Aires?" Iseman seemed to
ask the question with reluc-
tance.
"The first thing you can
tell me about the Jews in
Buenos Aires is where
they are," I said lightly. "I
came here with this long
list of names furnished
me by Jacob Kovadloff of
the American Jewish
Committee office in New
York." (Iseman quickly
scanned the list and
seemed satisfied that it
was authentic.) I went on,
"I kept calling telephone
numbers — home num-
bers, office numbers —
until my fingers were
stiff.
Either nobody an-
swered at all or someone
who spoke and under-

Anti-Semitism
Felt in Atlanta

INDIANAPOLIS — The
rash of anti-Semitic inci-
dents in Atlanta has mir-
rored the increase in other
parts of the country. A re-
cent article in the Jewish
Post and Opinion described
two such incidents:
"The congregants of At-
lanta's newest synagogue,
Beth Shalom, were having
services in their still un-
finished building" . . . Sud-
denly, with horror. the
members looked out of the
window and saw . . . a
crudely made cross that was
burning on the lawn near
the sanctuary window.
"`A day or so after the
cross burning, the bus that
transports Atlanta's senior
citizens to the "Meals on
Wheels" program at the
local Jewish Community
Center was vandalized and
all the windows were
knocked out."

stood only Spanish could
answer and eventually
hung up on me. Finally, in
desperation, I had to ask
the hotel operator to help
me. When at last she
made a connection, she
was so excited she called
back and said, "Mr. Rose,
I'ye finally got somebody
for you to talk to, thank
God!"
"You must know," Ise-
man said, "that almost any
Jew who is important
enough to make this AJC
list isn't going to be hanging
around Buenos Aires this
time of year — in the heat of
summer. Either he is in Rib
or Israel or at his summer
home in Punta del Esta."
"Punta del Esta?" That's
in Uruguay. I though the
Nazis were making things
hot for the Jews in Uruguay
these days."
Iseman shrugged. "The,
situation in Uruguay has
been exaggerated by the
press. There is a small
minority of anti-Semites,
but there is no neo-Nazi
movement there. Nobody is
really bothering us."
"Tell me," I asked,
"Who's minding the store
while everybody is
away?" .
"Don't worry, with almost
300,000 Jews in Buenos
Aires there are plenty who
aren't wealthy enough or
important enough to take
off a month or two in the
summer. I'm here, as you
can see. I'm not wealthy,
just important."
Iseman suddenly grew
serious again. "So go ahead
and ask," he said. "Never
mind. I'll answer your ques-
tion. You don't have to ask.
You want to know how
things are going with the
Jews in Argentina? I'll • tell
you. Better. Much better.
Two years — three years —
ago things were bad. There
was much cause for alarm.
The government was very
oppressive. I was afraid — of
the radicals and terrorists.
"And the secret police, the
national police, were very
active. If someone was ar-
rested on suspicion of being
a trouble maker and if he
happened to be a Jew, it
went harder with him. He
was beaten worse, or maybe
he would disappear. You
know about the disappear-
ances? I thought so. Well,
the government is more con-
fident now. It's less oppres-
sive because it feels it has
things under control, so it is
consolidating. We are all
hoping more democracy will
come out of this."
"Excuse me," I inter-
rupted skeptically. "If
things are so much better
for the Jews, why were
you afraid to talk to me
on the telephone? You
and the others. Why
couldn't we meet in a ,
public place instead of
this room?"
"A fair question," Iseman
responded. "You never can
tell when things might
change. And you never
know who may be listening.
Why take chances? We do
have a military dictatorship
and — who knows? —

maybe your hotel operator
— what's her name? Alice
— even she might be an in-
former. But you didn't see
me shaking in my shoes be-
cause you gave her my
number to call. But let me
emphasize this. No Jew has
ever been killed by the
Argentine government just
because he was a Jew!"
Again I was skeptical.
"You mean you have no
anti-Semitism here?"
Iseman shook his head
impatiently. "I didn't say
that. We've always lived
with anti-Semitism, but not
the kind Jews suffered
under the Nazis. Long be-
fore Hitler, we got the mes-
sage. Jews don't get into the
mainstream of society. They
don't try to run the govern-
ment. They stay with their
own. Of course, we hold im-
portant positions in the pro-
fessions and in finance —
and some of us even are fi-
nancial advisers to the gov-
ernment. But we learned
long ago that as Jews, we
always keep our place —
outside the inner circle!"
"Argentina is the only
country on the five conti-
nents we've visited where
I've heard a good word for
Jimmy Carter's Human
Rights policy. The Israelis
certainly didn't think much
of it."
"I know," Iseman re-
plied. "I'm in close touch
with Israel. Now, as for
your new President," he
went on as if anticipating
my next question, "I have
the perception that more
than anything else, Re-
agan is a good politician.
He keeps upsetting the
people on the right. His
sending Carter to meet
the hostages was a beau-
tiful example of humility
and political shrewdness.
We're not worried about
his philosophy on human
rights hurting us. Rela-
tions .between Argentina
and the United States are
bound to improve under
his administration and
that could benefit the

Jews if Argentina's
economy is helped by the
better relationship."
"And if Argentina col-
lapses?"
"Then we Jews can thank
God we stayed in our desig-
nated place and -officially
had nothing to do with the
government. At least, we
can't be blamed for this dis-
aster. I hope not anyway."

Friday, May 1, 1981 21

the Linen

Loft

Left....
But Only For Awhile!

Were moving from Franklin Road to Maple Road.
Our new large; quarters and even grander select

Lion will be open soon.

the Linen

w. Maple Rd.

Loft

just east of Telegraph...soon!

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