Holocaust Memorial Center Groundbreaking 1:30 p.m. Sunday This Sunday, the Jewish community will witness groundbreaking ceremonies for the first exclusively de- signed Holocaust memorial center of its kind in the coun- try. The Holocaust Memorial Center of Detroit will be con- structed on the site of the Jewish Community Center in West Bloomfield. The groundbreaking, beginning 1:30 p.m. at the Jewish Center, is expected to be attended by a large contin- The Record of Antagonism to the U.S. in Islamic Treatment of Middle East founded by survivors of the Holocaust. In time, it was gent of dignitaries, Jewish community leaders, and reli- gious and organizational representatives. Guest speaker will be Ernest W. Michel, who served as chairman of the June 1981 World Gathering of Jewish Holocaust Survivors in Israel. decided to involve the entire Jewish community in the project. The HMC organizers chose to link the new building to the Jewish Community Center, an existing community facility, rather than have it stand alone at another location. The United Jewish Charities, an agency of the Jewish (Continued on Page 5) The concept of a Holocaust memorial center orig- inally was sponsored nearly two decades ago by members of Shaarit Haplaytah, an organization THE JEWISH NEWS A Weekly Review Commentary, Page 2 of Jewish Events The Facts About Birobidzhan and Distortions Emanating From • the Soviet Union Book Review, Page 72 Copyright The Jewish News Publishing Co VOL. LXXX, No. 14 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 424-8833 $15 Per Year: This Issue 35' December 4, 1981 Soviet Babi Yar Documentary Branded Distortion of History Likud Defeats Attack on U.S.-Israel Accord JERUSALEM (JTA) — The Likud government of Prime Minister Menahem Begin defeated four no- confidence motions in the Knesset on Wednesday, after an acrimonious debate between Likud and opponents of the U.S.-Israeli strategic understanding initialed earlier this week. Likud won the no confidence votes 57-53, with two abstentions. , Defense Minister Ariel Sharon asserted that the memorandum meant "a real change" in Israel's interna- tional standing. Sharon accused the opposition of deliber- ately "perVerting" the accord in order to criticize it and he called on the nation not to listen to the-opposition "doom- sayers." He said this was "not an accord for the newspap- ers" and hinted (despite official U.S. denials) that there was a secret part detailing concrete fields of cooperation. "No one would expect us to pdblish de- tails of how many tanks or how much ammunition (is to be stored) or what sort of intelligence (is to be ex- changed)," Sharon said. He accused the opposition of "hypocrisy" in pretending that Israel's defense is solely against the threat from the Arabs and not against the Soviet Union. Hurling invective especially at "past generals who pretend to be statesmen" (a reference to Labor Knesseters Rabin and Motta Gur), Sharon said the accord would pave the way for Israel's inclusion in a regional strategic framework led by the U.S. "against threats we cannot face alone." The framework might in time become an economic regional grouping, Sha- ron said. Sharon contended that the accord could be invoked if the Soviets intervened directly on the side of the Arabs in a future war against Israel, of if they helped the Arabs in such a war. Labor Knesseters shouted from their seats that this was not so: the accord specifies threats "from outside the region" only. NEW YORK (JTA) — A new Soviet documentary film on the Nazi massacre at Babi Yar "distorts history" by virtually ignoring the murder of approximately 35,000 Jews, according to the Anti - Defama- tion League of Bnai Brith. ADL associate director Abraham Foxman said the 70-minute film, like the Soviet memorial at the massacre site near Kiev, neglects the principal victims of the World War II slaughter. The Ukrainian-produced documentary — a description of the 1941-42 German invasion of the Uk- raine, which focuses on Babi Yar — was screened recently for an audience of diplomats at the United Nations. Prepared for Soviet television, it may also be exhibited throughout Western Europe and entered in film festivals in the United States according to Ukrainian officials. Foxinan said the "documentary" not only glosses over Jewish martyrdom but rejects the Jewish role in the resistance to Hitler, concentrating instead on Ukrainian and Soviet partisan fighters. The film dishonors the memory of the victims of Babi Yar, the ADL official said, by including a propaganda message that equates present-day Zionism with Nazism. Furthermore, he asserted, it in- tersperses film clips of American neo-Nazi and Ku Klux Klan rallies in an attempt to link the U.S. with Nazism. Foxman said that what happened to the Jews at Babi Yar is dismissed in one sentence: "For the first five days, those who were killed were mostly Jews." (Continued on Page 7) Terrorists Defy UN, Raise PLO Flag UNITED NATIONS (JTA) — The Palestine Liberation Organization was not authorized to raise a Palestinian flag on Monday in the lobby of the main UN building. • A UN spokesman said that according to UN rules "no flags can be used inside UN premises," a rule that the PLO defied despite strong protests and requests by top UN officials to remove the flag and a huge map showing a Palestinian state within Israel's borders. According to the spokesman, the PLO's UN representative, Zehdi Labib Terzi, refused despite repeated requests to remove the Palestinian flag, which was raised about 11 a.m. in honor of Palestine Week. The spokesman added that Secretary General Kurt Waldheim himself ordered the removal of the flag when the incident was brought to his attention. But the PLO refused. The PLO also reportedly defied six UN guards who tried to remove the flag and threatened to use violence against anyone trying to take down the flag. The UN spokesman said that a "compromise" w4jfinally reached after negotiations between the PLO and UN officials. The flag and map were transferred to the Trusteeship Chamber where a discussion on Palestinian rights was underway by members of the Committee on Palestinian Rights. The debate was the reason the flag was allowed in the chamber, the spokesman said. Judith Dranger, Israel's UN spokesman, expressed Israel's protest over the incident, charging that it proved that PLO chairman Yasir Arafat "is now running the UN." As part of Palestine Week, the PLO displayed at the UN photographs of maimed men, women and children which the PLO claimed were victims of "Israeli agression." (Continued on Page 13) (Continued on Page 7) Turover Society Landsmanschaft Ceases Functioning After 72 Years Turover Aid Society, for seven decades an important factor in Detroit Jewry and a leader in the Landsrnanschaften ranks, has closed ranks. Distributing its available funds — $9,000 for Lubavitch activities and $1,000 for the Allied Jewish Campaign - Israel Emergency Fund — the society has dissolved. An additional sum is being held for Mo'os Hitim distribution in Israel before Passover. Nathan Samet, the last of the society's presidents, and the handful of remaining members, bade goodbye to this landsmanschaft at the presentation of the contribution to the Allied Jewish Cam- paign. It was like a memorial meeting. (See Editorial, Page 4) Thus, the Landsmanschaften are nearing their end, the ranks are depleting, youth is not as moved by the links with the Old World and the last vestiges of linkage with the Shtetl are disappearing. As much as can be ascertained, the only remaining Landsmanschaften here are the•Pinsker, Mezritcher, Radomer and Gumbiner. (Continued on Page 6) Shown presenting a $1,000 Israel Bond to the Allied Jewish Campaign as the last official act of the Turover Aid Society are, front row from left, Bella Honeyman, Anne Weinberger, President Nathan Samet, Morris Friedman of the AJCampaign and Jacob Nosanchuk. Standing from left are Abraham Richman, Pearl Gold Hoffman, Roslyn Zeldes and Dora Levine.