THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
15,000 at Holocaust Survivors Gathering in D.C.
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
They could be your average
group of tourists to the na-
tion's capital with their
cameras, raincoats, and I.D.
badges except that those
badges said "American
Gathering of Jewish
Holocaust Survivors," and
the hometowns listed were
Lodz, Kovno, Warsaw and
other European towns. The
I.D. cards also bore the
names of Bergen-Belsen,
Buchenwald, Maidanek,
Auschwitz, Birkenau and
other Nazi death camps.
The 15,000 survivors and
their relatives who assem-
bled to attend this confer-
ence in Washington, D.C.,
this week represented "an
unparalleled number of
participants not only of sur-
vivors but in the history of
the American Jewish com-
munity," according to a
gathering official.
To help house the dele-
gates, more than 400 people
in the area offered their
'- - homes, including non-Jews,
many of whom sent flowers.
Hundreds of volunteers,
both Jewish and Christian,
organized by the United
Jewish Appeal Federation
of Greater Washington,
helped with many tasks.
At noon Wednesday,
the closing day, Washing-
,
ton churches of all faiths,
[ rang their bells as a token
of their solidarity.
One of the primary tasks
of the gathering at Wash-
. ington's huge new
downtown convention cen-
ter was the process of
matching survivors to
long-lost friends and rela-
tives. The first two people to
be reunited were Ellie
7
Oking from Philadelphia
-
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I.
Friday, April 15, 1983 17
with his relative, Sidney taking of videotape tes-
Bachner of California. Soon timonies for the Yale Uni-
there were additional reu- versity Documentary and
nions; most, however, did Research Center.
not locate the loved ones
The second day of the con-
they sought, lost so long ference was devoted to dis-
ago.
cussing the role of children
Throughout the three of survivors, the second
days, the crowds attended generation. These young
plenary sessions and work- people attended in large
shops, visited the number of
booths of the major Ameri- numbers and many brought
children to include the
can Jewish organizations their
and other institutions such third generation.
Some delegates were
as Yad Vashem, and just
enjoyed mingling with one asked how they felt about
attending the conference
another.
One section of the huge and the inclusion of the sec-
center which attracted ond generation.
many visitors was the ex-
Esther and Abe
hibit, "The Artist as Wit- Feigenbaum of Chat-
ness: Art by Survivors." In tanooga, Tenn., who both
many different media the lived in the Kovno
artists, Holocaust sur- Ghetto, expressed a pos-
vivors, had chronicled their itive opinion about the
heart-searing memories of value of the huge reunion
the doomed ghettos and the of survivors. Feigen-
indignities, punishments baum said, "My feeling is
and death in the camps of that the second genera-
Hitler's final solution.
tion, children of
Many of the conferees Holocaust survivors,
also examined the scale must assume the respon-
model of the future sibilities of making sure it
United States Holocaust is not forgotten for future
Memorial Museum to be generations, for post-
established in two old erity."
U.S. government build-
Mrs. Helen Milich of
ings near the Washington
Monument on the mall. Flushing, N.Y., who was
The transfer of these sent from Lodz, Poland, to
buildings which resem- several internment camps,
ble concentration camp was liberated when she was
barracks took place on 19 years old and came to the
Wednesday, when Vice United States in 1949. She
President George Bush said she felt somewhat
presented the keys to the sadly that the gathering
famed writer, Elie Wiesel, "was almost like reliving
chairman of the U.S. those days . . . there are no
Holocaust Memorial words."
Council.
Although she is proud of
Another feature of the the life she made for herself
gathering was the continu- in the U.S. and her fine fam-
ous showing of several films ily, she said, "There is still
about the Holocaust and so much heartache, so much
- Holtzman Urges Commission
to Probe Harboring of Nazis
WASHINGTON (JTA) — French prison, was not
Congress was urged by the only Nazi murderer
former Rep. Elizabeth helped by the U.S. gov-
Holtzman this week to ernment. She said the
authorize the establish- government hired more
ment of a special commis- than 20 Nazi war crimi-
sion with subpoena powers nals after World War II
"to examine what our gov- with full knowledge of
ernment did with Hitler's the charges against them.
henchmen here."
Ms. Holtzman, who is
Ms. Holtzman, who as a
presently District Attorney member of Congress
of Brooklyn, was referring spearheaded the drive to
to the Nazi war criminals root out former Nazis living
hired by U.S. government in the U.S., stressed that
agencies after World War II. those Nazis still at large in
The former member of Con- the U.S. must be brought to
gress from New York deliv- justice. She said the U.S.
ered greetings and the open- must call on Canada and on
ing address at Tuesday's
plenary session of the
Marks-Spencer
American Gathering of
Holocaust Survivors here,
LONDON — Lord Sieff is
marking the 40th anniver- stepping down as chief
sary of the Warsaw Ghetto executive officer of Marks
Uprising.
and Spericer, the London
The gathering was Jewish Chronicle has re-
attended by some 15,000 ported.
Jewish Holocaust survivors
and their children.
Sieff will be replaced by
Ms. Holtzman, who Lord Rayner, marking the
called for "a relentless first time the British de-
war against anti- partment store will be
Semitism" because "we headed by a non-Jew in its
must insist on the right of 99-year history, according
the Jewish survival," to the Chronicle. Sieff, 69, is
said that Klaus Barbie, the grandson of the late
the "butcher of Lyon" Michael Marks, the com-
now awaiting trial in a pany's founder.
the Latin American coun-
tries to act similarly with
respect to Nazi war crimi-
nals within their borders.
European countries also
must be made to exert
greater efforts in that direc-
tion, she said.
Other speakers at the
plenary session expressed
appreciation to the U.S. for
having provided a haven
and opportunities for
Holocaust survivors. They
praised the heroism not
only of the defenders of the
Warsaw Ghetto but of Jews
who resisted the Nazis in
many other parts of Europe.
Chief to Retire
Michael Sacher, the joint
managing director of the
British firm is also relin-
quishing his executive
duties, at his own request ,
the Chronicle said.
We must not harbor dis-
consolate consciences, bor-
rowed too from the con-
sciences of other nations.
We must set up the strong
present tense against all the
rumors of wrath, past or to
come.
turmoil inside you because
you know that your life
would have been entirely
different."
One of the two-generation
families attending, that of
Mrs. Esther Elbaum of
Whitestone, N.Y., herself a
survivor and widow of a
survivor, also used the
gathering for a family reu-
nion. Her three children
and daughter-in-law came
from both east and west
coasts.
Her son, Stanley El-
baum of Woodland Hills,
Calif., said, "The children
of the survivors have to
carry on and con-
tinuously promote the
fact that the Holocaust
will never die. The only
way that it will live on is
by the children of the
Holocaust survivors
being involved in this
type of event . . . next year
the children of Holocaust
survivors are staging a
conference themselves."
Like most conferences,
the gathering was a mix-
ture of formal speeches and
informal discussions, ask-
ing questions and ponder-
ing the right future policies
— but it will be many a day
before WaShington, a city
which hosts hundreds of
conventions each year, sees
a conference as unique,
emotional and appreciated
as the American Gathering
of Jewish Holocaust Sur-
vivors.
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