THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 66 Friday, October 29, 1982 New Novel About the Concentration Camp Doctors ESIGN-I Laminated Tables Residential & Commercial Graphic Wall Design KEITH SCHARE Designer 569-2462 543-0203, rial South America, ruled by the tyrant El Presidente. There, Dr. Langhof built for himself an or- chard nursery, lived in constant fear, and forever reminisced about the crimes he had com- mitted in camp. For his protection, Lan- ghof paid El Presidente 'an annual fee in diamonds, once the property of the camp victims. .Dr. Ludtz, the novel's other major character, like Langhof lived in perpetual dread of being caught by the agents of Arnstein who de- voted his life to catching By ALLEN A. WARSEN "Sometimes I dream that in the end all the innocent blood that has been shed will be gathered in a great pit and those who spilled it will be forced to swim in it forever." The above passage is from Thomas H. Cook's novel ' "The Orchids" (Houghton Mifflin). The novel's principal character, Dr. Peter Lan- ghof, the notorious camp doctor, at the end of World War II escaped from Ger- many via Switzerland to El Caliz, a village in the Re- public, a country in equato- The Clothes Pin Fall Sale 50% OFF — SALE STARTS MONDAY, NOVEMBER 1, 1982 . Monday - Saturday 10:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. Thursday 10:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. ON THE BOARDWALK 6889 Orchard Lake Road 626-5555 OFF ALL OSHKOSH 30% Infant & Toddlers % OFF 30 ALL MATERNITY SWEATERS thru Tues., Nov. 2nd no charges on sale items all sale items final sale ba and TM me 24901 NORTHWESTERN HWY. Corner of Evergreen, Fidelity Bank Building. 356-7050 Hours: Mon.-Sat. 10-5 ER BE E34113Y WORLD `N TEENS Display of Baby and Teen Furniture Under One Roof" Open WESTLAND TROY Daily 9:30 to 9 OAKLAND MAL WILDWOOD PLAZA Sat. 9:30 to 5 34520 Ford Rd. 510 W. 14 Mile R d. Sun. 12 to 5 "Michigan's Largest 585.0440 326.6110 former Camp "officials" and bringing them to justice. But Ludtz vowed he would never be caught alive. In- stead, like the Third Reich Minister of Air, he would kill himself first with cyanide. They considered the in- mates as vermin and not as humans, in their effort to ease in their conscience. At El Caliz, Dr. Ludtz insisted on speaking only English for he considered his native tongue a "ver- bal fingerprint." Neither would he speak Spanish, a peasant-tongue. Curiously, Dr. Ludtz be- lieved in life after death. But in camp he enthusiastically ex- perimented with elec- troshock devices on young children, measured the to- nenails of sets of twins, examined the brains of young boys and performed other unimaginable tests on both the living and the dead. Interestingly, prior to his escape from camp, he at- tempted to destory all the evidence of his bestial acts by various means, including tearing, burning and swal- lowing some of the most in- criminating. He died in El Caliz of old age. The novel's other char- acters are El Presidente, Esperanza and Juan. El Presidente, the Re- public's egotistic and de- spotic ruler, proclaimed himself God's chosen representative. Accord- ing to the "Official His- orchid nursery, like Es- peranza, is superstitious and "lives utterly withOut benefit of subtlety, respond- ing only to gods and demons who are wholly visible to him." Juan, moreover, be- lieves that these super- natural forces "drown the fields, bake the stream beds, humiliate the orchids, dis- pense blessings or malici- ously withhold them." Like Esperanza, Juan looks down at Dr. Langhof for his curious notions about curing sicknesses and disbe- lieving the beneficial and evil spirits. Curiously, Langhof portrayed the Leader (Hitler) as a caricature with rounded shoulders, Moorish eyes, trembling double chin and a "Chap- linesque mustache whose oddity seemed to blur the surrounding face." He, moreover, regarded the Leader as "a crude parody of what he thought himself to be, a posturing little hysteric who somehow managed to vitalize the inert mindlessness that sur- rounded him." Unlike Dr. Ludtz, Lan- ghof did not believe in a world beyond this world. tory," El Presidente's mother, Mary, fought for three days for his life. Fi- nally, he was delivered "unto the world wholly clean, without taint or blemish." It is recorded that "the sun broke over the ridge at the precise moment of his birth." It is that also reported "among the peasants, he was known to be one who could divine the mys- teries of wind and water ." and save the country from terrible storms "by confronting the rampag- ing elements with his own body and demanding their retreat." In contrast to El Presidente, who evoked fear but not respect from the people he was ruling, was Esperanza, Dr. Langhofs housemaid, a poor woman, whom the villagers genuinely revered and whose futures and fortunes she foretold and sicknesses cured by means of spells and charms. Juan, a villager who takes care of Dr. Langhofs Oct. 22 — To Mr. and Mrs. Roby Wolson (Anne Stewart), former Michigan residents of North Miami, Fla., a daughter, Rachel Stewart. - Move to Capital JERUSALEM (JNI) — The Association of Ameri- cans and Canadians in Is- rael moved its national headquarters from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem on Oct. 14. So far, there are no signs that any other of the other dozen immigrant associa- tions will follow the AACI move. r Yet, he would often think about the possibility of the existence of such a world. Should it really exist, he thought, "we would be re- born into it not as our physi- cal selves, but as the simple irreducible essences of what we were. The killer would be born again, not as a man or woman, but as some per- fect engine of destruction — a pistol or an ice pick .. . Ludtz might be reborn as a crusty little tomb and Lan- ghof as a maggot impris- oned in a tear." As an official of the Spe- cial Section, Dr. Langhof performed experiments on human beings too gruesome to mention. He would watch the flames emerging from the crematoria chimneys. meeting the oncoming trains and follow "the hud- dled crowds to the mouths of the gas chambers." Like the Roman Emperor Nero, he imagined himself as a kind of artist, observing the camp from all angles, scribbling notes, conducting interviews . . ." But in El Caliz, Dr. Lan- ghof, who had been reliving mentally and emotionally his past life, suddenly, whether from fear or re- morse, committed suicide. Births Oct. 22 — -To former De- troiter and Mrs. Jeffrey Weiss (Janice Cohan) of Canoga Park, Calif., a son, Daniel Scott. * * * * * * Oct. 21 — To Mr. and Mrs. Sam Fried (Gigi Panush), former Detroiters of Evanston, Ill. a daughter, Only Zepporah. * * * Oct. 20 — To Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Schulman (Helen Majzner), former Detroiters of Encino, Calif., a son, Aaron Michael. * * * Oct. 17 — To Mr. and Mrs. Mark Kaploe (Linda Schwartz) of Southfield, a son, Brandon Scott. Aug. 28 — To Dr. and Mrs. Ronald Spalter (Betsy Kaine) of Southfield, a daughter, Alison Beth. * * * Aug. 21 — To Mr. and Mrs. Seymour Israel (former Detroiter Gayle Benderoff) of New York City, a daughter, Laura Re- nee. * * * To Dr. and Mrs. Lawrence Singer (Linda Mayden) of Berkley, a son, Eric Scott. • --- RABBI S. ZACHARIASH Specialized MOHEL In Home or Hospital 557-9666 RABBI DR. LEO GOLDMAN Expert Mohel Serving Hospitals ana Homes LI 2-4444 547-8555 * * * Oct. 17 — To Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Feig (Cynthia Leven) of Southfield, a son, Ian Matthew. Cantor Sidney RUBE * * * Oct. 15 — To Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Krohn (Barbara Salzenstein) of Oak Park, a daughter, Jillian Dyan. * * * Oct. 9 — To Mr. and Mrs. Larry Bogrow (Susan Sternberg) of Farmington Hills, a son, Adam Matthew. Certified Mohel 358-1426 or 357-5544 ■ Cantor SAMUEL GREENBAUM Certified MOHEL Serving Homes & Hospitals 399-7194 547-7970 * * * Oct. 8 — To former De- troiter Dr. David Schneider and Mrs. Schneider (Linda Wallace of Ithaca, N.Y.) of Oakland, Calif., a son, Peter Grant. REV. REIM ROTH Certified Mohel 557-0888