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 - • 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. If you're not wearing it, sell it. You can't enjoy jewelry if its sitting in your safe deposit box. - Sell it for immediate cash. We pur- chase fine gems. Diamonds and Gold Jewelry. A service to private owners, banks and estates. Call 642-5575. est 1919 30400 Telegraph Road Suites 104, 134 Birmingham, Mi. 48010 (313) 642-5575 LAWRENCE M. 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