64 Friday, January 8, 1982
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
`Auschwitz Album' Captures Holocaust on Film
At the end of World War
H, 17-year-old Lili Jacob,
alone from her large family,
was a survivor of Au-
schwitz.
Recovering from typhus
in a newly liberated Ger-
man barracks, she reached
into the bedside drawer for a
cover and found a brown
clothbound album frayed at
the corners. At the time, Lili
had no idea of the signifi-
cance of this album entitled
"Resettlement of Jews from
"The Auschwitz Album,"
a collection of 185 photo-
graphs taken as Jews ar-
rived at the infamous con-
centration camp, has been
published by Random
House.
BEATE KLARSFELD
Hungary." Of the more than
two million people to have
been sent to Auschwitz
these were the only ones to
have been photographed
upon arrival.
She knew only that the
album contained pictures of
her family, her rabbi, her
neighbors and friends.
To Lili, finding this
book was "an act of Pro-
vidence" and she clung to
it in lieu of a real family.
When she eventually
The album, which was
found by Lili Jacob as she
recovered from typhus fol-
lowing the liberation in
1945, was published last
year by the Beate Klarsfeld
Foundation. (A story on the
photo album appeared in
The Jewish News on Nov.
28, 1981, pg. 88.) The photo-
graphs are believed to be
the only ones taken of per-
sons as they arrived at Nazi
concentrations camps.
The text for the album
was written by Peter
Hellman. The Klarsfeld
Foundation donated the
original album to Yad Vas-
hem, the Holocaust memo-
rial in Jerusalem.
none more poignant than
that of a grandmother
shepherding her grand-
children to what will be
their imminent death.
This is the only photo in
the book in which no
faces are seen, but it calls
out to the viewer with an-
guish.
emigrated to Miami, she
kept the album in a bed-
room drawer but never
looked at it alone, unable
to bear the pain it evoked.
She married, had two
daughters of her own and
worked as a waitress in a
restaurant for 27 years.
In 1980, Nazi-hunter
Serge Klarsfeld traced the
album to Lili's home and as-
sisted her in donating it to
an Israeli museum and ar-
ranging for its publication.
"The Auschwitz Album
(Random House) reproduces
this extraordinary docu- ,
ment with a text by Peter
Hellman that explains its
history and significance.
The 185 photographs in
"The Auschwitz Album"
form an historic document
without precedent. The SS
photographer who held his
camera ready at the arrival
ramp in defiance of Nazi
regulations is unknown;
notes Hellman. "But judg-
ing from the thoroughness
and one might even say the
sensitivity with which he
did his job, it does seem as if
the photographer under-
stood that he alone would
record' on film the faces of
the people delivered to Bir-
kenau, the Auschwitz kil-
ling center.
LILI MEIER
"The Auschwitz Album"
is a filmed record. Clearly
seen is the "selection" pro-
cess: with a flick of a finger
someone would be sent to
the right — the work detail,
and therefore life — or to
the left— the gas chambers.
The faces show confusion,
notes Hellman, but also a
basic calm; belief that each
would see his family after
the "processing"; denial
that crimes so heinous could
exist in their God-filled
world.
The reactions of men
and women on arrival,
those who "passed" and
"failed" in the selection
process, produced
heartbreaking scenes,
Scenes of the labor camp
were included as well as the
confiscation of all prisoner
property. These personal ef-
fects were stored in
warehouses in an area re-
ferred to as "Canada" (be-
cause it was "filled with
riches"). There were days
when 1,000 baby prams
were added to the
storehouses; shoes thrown
into piles grew into hills.
"The Auschwitz Album"
was used once by Lili Jacob
Meier in 1964, when it
served as evidence to iden-
tify former SS guards at a
trial of war criminals in
Frankfurt. On Aug. 27,
1980, Lili Meier donated the
album to Yad Vashem, Is-
rael's memorial to the Jews
who perished in the
Holocaust. Afterwards, she
returned to Auschwitz for
final look. "I want to ct
the past," she said.
Jewish women and children, wearing the yellow
star, are shown arriving at Auschwitz.
Bir Zeit University Teaches More Than Academics
By CARL ALPERT
anti-Israel demonstra-
tions, not throw stones at
police or military.
was founded in 1924 as a
grade school under pri-
vate auspices, grew and
eventually added univer-
sity level courses. How-
ever the Jordanian gov-
ernment never permitted
it to grant academic de-
grees.
HAIFA — Any state
which curtails academic
freedom, closes down uni-
versities where unpopular
subjects are discussed, and
seeks to prevent students
from speaking their minas
is doomed to destruction by
After Israeli occupation,
internal rot and ultimate
collapse of democracy in the owners of the school
favor of monolithic rule, if (still a private institution)
we avoid use of the more asked for recognition as a
university. This was
unpopular word, to-
granted by Israel in 1973,
talitarianism.
And any state which tol- and three years later the
erates continued violence first graduating class re-
against the police and de- ceived degrees. Today there
fense forces, which closes its are about 1,600 students,
ears and its eyes to open mainly from the West Bank
plotting and scheming to and Gaza, studying in five
overthrow the government, departments: humanities,
and which ignores incite- exact sciences, engineering,
ment leading to assassina- 'and business and
tions, is inviting its own de- economics.
Despite the liberal Israel
struction by the very forces
over which it spreads the attitude, or perhaps in
brotherly cloak of freedom exploitation of such at-
titude, the school has veered
and democracy.
The above are telescopic more and more into political
statements of the two views activism. The issue is not
of Israel's action not long one of academic freedom to
ago in closing down the discuss issues of the day, but
Arab Bir Zeit University. of continued involvement in
Which of these two reac- illegal activities.
It appears that the stu-
tions best applies to the
dents and faculty members
situation here?
Bir Zeit is one of four are spending less and less
universities which exist time on their studies, and
in Judea and Samaria more and more time in vio-
with the full approval of lent demonstrations, anti-
the Israel authorities. It Israel rallies, and open en-
CARL ALPERT
couragement of terrorist ac-
tivities of the PLO. While
there may well be many
hundreds of students who
would prefer to concentrate
on their studies, the fact is
that the militant ex-
tremists, both among the
student body and the fa-
culty, have taken over and
see to it that there is con-
stant ferment and open in-
citement, not only on cam-
pus, but elsewhere as well.
In 1979, the university
was closed for two
months after it failed to
heed warnings to desist
from its dangerous non-
academic activities. It
was reopened after it
pledged that its person-
nel would not engage in
incitement, not conduct
A year later, after further
violations and publication
of crude hate manifestoes
against Israel, it was again
closed for a week. Where in-
dividual students were ap-
prehended and identified as
members of terrorist or-
ganizations (and everyone
knows what these organiza-
tions do!) they were
punished as individuals.
There was no collective
punishment against the in-
stitution as a whole. -
Warnings and pledges
seem to be of no avail. It now
becomes unmistakably
clear that Bir Zeit Univer-
sity, in addition to its pub-
lished catalogue program,
seems to conduct courses in
such subjects as: the plan-
ning and holding of de-
monstrations with
maximum violence; how to
attract overseas TV
cameramen; principles of
disturbance of public order
by stone throwing and burn-
ing of tires; theory and prac ,
tice of revolution.
A tiny minority of Israelis
have raised a banner in de-
fense of Bir Zeit under the
slogan of academic freedom.
Freedom to riot? Some of
these Israelis are Com-
munist, or otherwise
enemies of the government;
their reaction was to have
been expected. But a few
naive "liberals," who are
unable to • distinguish bet-
ween liberty and unbridled
license leading to anarchy,
have also fallen into their
trap.
Diet Affects Colon Cancer Risk
TEL AVIV — Diet ap- and from a nearby kibutz
pears to be the most impor- and found the incidence of
tant factor in determining cancer to be significantly
the likelihood of developing lower among the kibutz
cancer of the colon, accord- members, only V3 of the ex-
ing to a research study by a pected national rate for Is-
team of scientists of Tel raeli residents of that age
Aviv University's Sackler and background.
Both on the basis of
School of Medicine. In a
comparative study of popu- kibutz purchasing reports
lations matched in factors and on the basis of personal
such as age, sex, country of dietary history reporting of
origin, duration of residence the subjects, the scientists
in Israel and socio-economic found the kibutz diet to be
status, the Tel Aviv Univer- substantially different from
sity gastroenterologists the Tel Aviv diet — low in
demonstrated that a diet of animal fat and high in fruit
high fruit and vegetable and vegetable intake, al-
content, (rich in fiber, vita- though the same in calorie
mins and minerals), and low intake.
"The best prevention of
fat and beef intake, sig-
nificantly decreases the cancer of the colon is the
likelihood of developing same prudent, sensible
diet found to be good for
colon cancer.
Drs. Paul Rosen, Crystal preventing cardiovascu-
Horwitz, and Shlomo Hel- lar and other diseases as
lerstein of the Department well — decreasing the
of Gastroenterology at amount of animal fat we
Ichilov Hospital compared eat and increasing the in-
the dietary habits of take of fresh fruit and
matched populations of vegetables, whole wheat
European or American ori- and fiber," says Dr. Ro-
gin from the city of Tel Aviv sen.
The overall national Is-
raeli profile indicates that
Jews of European and
American origin are 2 to 2V
times as likely to develop
colon cancer as Jews of
Asian and African origin,
with the.risk of Israeli-born
citizens ranging in between.
The cancer rate for Jewish
immigrants in America is
about twice that of Jews of
European origin living in
Israel, with the incidence in
Israel approximately 30 per
100,000 and in the United
States about 60 per 100,000.
"Americans eat more
animal fat and more beef
Israel, the source of prc
is more likely to be poultry,"
Dr. Rosen said.
The collection of data on
the correlation of diet and
cancer done by the Tel Aviv
University team was under-
taken as part of a project
studying the feasibility of
early diagnosis of colorectal
cancer and sponsored by the
Israel Cancer Association
and the Canadian-Israel
Cancer Fund.
7 4,4 ,7.
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