R2 Friday, June 24, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Hank Greenberg Inspires
Old Friends in Reunion
Shown at the reunion are, from left, Robert Stein-
berg, Louis Blumberg, Hank Greenberg and Harold
Allen.
Hank Greenberg Day, to-
gether with his associate
Charles Gehringer, at Tiger
Stadium on June 12, re-
vived interest in a chapter
of community interest.
His close pals were there
to greet him, and two of
them wined and dined to-
gether. Louis Blumberg was
among his closest friends
and he always took advan-
tage of occasions to continue
that friendship in New York
as well as in Detroit.
Together with an another
old timer, Harold Allen,
there was a party here for
Hank, and they reminisced,
regretting that the ranks
have thinned.
As they chatted, the
group especially regretted
not having the late Rabbi A.
M. Hershman with them.
Lou Blumberg recalled that
Rabbi Hershman seldom
missed a Tiger game in the
Greenberg days, and on
trips to New York he would
attend the Tiger-Yankee
games, to be sure he could
see Hank in action
whenever opportunity pre-
sented itself.
Blumberg told the
gathered celebrants at the
reunion that the participa-
tion of Bob Steinberg, his
nephew, provided a most in-
timate flavor. He recalled
that he took his nephew to a
Tiger game when he was 5
and Greenberg gave Bob an
autographed baseball.
Real-Life Docu-Drama
Personality
Dies
IOWA CITY, Iowa — Bill
Sackter, about whom the
television docu-drama
"Bill" was written, died
June 16 at age 70.
Mickey Rooney portrayed
the role of Mr. Sackter, a
mildly retarded man whose
return to society after 44
years in an institution was
depicted in the TV special.
Born to Russian Jewish
immigrants, Mr. Sakter
confirmed that he was a
Man Convicted
of Vandalizing
Md. Synagogue
WASHINGTON (JTA) —
A 23-year-old man was con-
victed last week of drawing
anti-Semitic symbols on a
Silver Spring, Md. syna-
gogue• in what the Jewish
Advocacy Center in Wash-
ington called one of the few
successful prosecutions in
the United States for acts of
anti-Semitic vandalism.
A jury deliberated for less
than two hours in
Montgomery County Cir-
cuit Court before returning
a guilty verdict against
Michael David Remer on
charges of destruction of
property. Sentencing will be
Aug. 11.
Jew, and at age 66 he had a
Bar Mitzva.
Mr. Sackter was diag-
nosed at age 7 as being
mentally retarded and
entered an institution. It
was later determined
that his learning disabil-
ity was so minimal that he
never should have been
institutionalized.
When he was released in
the 1960s on a work pro-
gram, he was befriended by
Barry Morrow, an aspiring
filmmaker in Minneapolis.
He accompanied Morrow to
Iowa City and ran "Wild
Bill's" coffee shop at the
University of Iowa's school
of social work. He also por-
trayed Santa Claus to hos-
pitalized children, the
Washington Post reported.
Arabs Applying
TEL AVIV (ZINS) — The
newspaper Maariv reports
that a record of 4,000 Arab
students have taken
entrance exams to be admit-
ted to Israel's universities
in the fall.
Another 1,000 Arabs
have applied to post-
secondary technical schools
and teacher training insti-
tutes.
Israel Deputy Premier Ehrlich Dies
JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Simha Ehrlich, deputy
premier of Israel, a founder
of the Likud coalition and a
leader of its Liberal Party
wing, died June 19 at age
67.
He was eulogized by Pre-
mier Menahem Begin as "a
dear friend" who was "both
a friend and a rival."
Zionist organizations in
the U.S. that maintained a
close association with Mr.
Ehrlich expressed condo-
lences.
Mr. Ehrlich led the Lib-
eral Party for the past 10
years. He reached the
peak of his political
career when he became
finance minister in the
first Likud government
elected in 1977. But his
economic reforms failed
in the fiercely inflatio-
nary climate and he was
forced to resign in favor
of Yigael Hurwitz.
After Likud's second elec-
tion victory in 1981, Mr.
Ness Ziona. Later he opened
the first factory manufac-
turing optical equipment in
the country.
He entered politics in
1955 as a member of the Tel
Aviv City Council repre-
senting the General
Zionists, forerunner of the
Liberal Party. He pushed
hard for the merger of the
Liberals with Begin's Herut
faction to form the Gahal
Alignment in 1965. Mr.
Ehrlich was first elected to
the Knesset in 1969 and
served on its Finance Com-
mittee.
SIMHA EHRLICH
Ehrlich was elevated to the
office of deputy prime
minister and was also
named minister of agricu-
lure, the offices he held at
the time of his death.
Born in Bychowa, Poland,
Mr. Ehrlich immigrated to
Palestine in 1938, working
for a time as a farm hand at
Ex-Home for Aged Director
Ira Sonnenblick Dies at 75
Ira I. Sonnenblick, former
executive director of the
Jewish Home for Aged, died
June 18 in New York City.
He was 75.
Born in Austria, Mr. Son-
nenblick came to the U.S. at
age 14. He earned a mas-
ter's degree in education at
New York University and a
law degree at St. Johns
University. He was
Alexander Donat,
Publisher, Dies
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Alexander Donat, whose
memoir, "The Holocaust
Kingdom," is considered a
pre-eminent work in the
field of Holocaust litera-
ture, died June 16. He was
78.
Born in Warsaw where he
had published a daily news-
paper before World War II,
Mr. Donat's newspaper was
confiscated by the Nazis and
he and his wife, Leona, were
imprisoned in concentra-
tion camps.
He was liberated from
Dachau by American troops
and returned to Warsaw
where he found his wife and
their son, whom friends
had placed in a Catholic or-
phanage. They came to the
United States and started a
printing business.
He established in 1977
the nonprofit publishing
program, the Holocaust Li-
brary Publications that
brought many books on the
experience of Jews in
Europe during World War
II. He was chairman of the
advisory board of the
Holocaust Library at the
time of his death.
IRA SONNENBLICK
graduated from Yitzhak El-
chonen.
Mr. Sonnenblick became
the director of the Jewish
Home for Aged on Feb. 1,
1947, and served until his
retirement on June 1, 1975.
During his 28 years as di-
rector, he earned a master's
degree in social work from
the University of Michigan
and innovated many pro-
grams at the Home which
became the model for
Jewish homes for Aged in
the United States.
He instituted the first
sheltered activities cen-
ter and day care program
at the Home. He also was
instrumental in institut-
ing the first structured
medical program for the
residents.
Mr. Sonnenblick was per-
sonally responsible for
training many of the de-
veloping professionals who
later became directors of
homes throughout the U.S.
Mr. Sonnenblick is sur-
vived by his wife, Eve; and
nieces and nephews.
Alex Dekel, 51,
Aided Emigres
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Alex Shlomo Dekel, a social
worker with HIAS who
helped to place immigrating
Syrian and Soviet Jews in
New York City, died June
19 at age 51.
An Auschwitz camp sur-
vivor, Mr. Dekel immig-
rated to Israel in 1949 to
join his wife and step-
children. He came to the
United States in 1963, re-
turned to Israel for several
years and then returned to
the U.S. in 1967 to work for
the Israel Defense Mission
and then for HIAS.
Mr. Dekel was a consul-
tant on Israel and in the
Holocaust to the major radio
and television networks and
for both Time and Life mag-
azines.
At the time of his death,
he was completing a
book, "The Valley of Dry
Bones," on Josef
Mengele, the Auschwitz
doctor who was infamous
for his experiments on
inmates. Mr. Dekel him-
self was about to undergo
surgery at Mengele's
clinic when the death
camps were liberated by
allied forces.
New Texas Law
Covers Jewish
School Holidays
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Enactment of a state law in
Texas which prohibits pub-
lic schools from penalizing
students who are absent be-
cause of religious holidays
was lauded this week by
Daniel Chazan, general
counsel of the National
Jewish Commission on Law
and Public Affairs
(COLPA).
Help in drafting the new
law was provided by
Michael Kusin, a Houston
COLPA member, in consul-
tation with other COLPA
attorneys. Kusin said the
measure "will substantially
aid Jewish students and
members of other religious
minorities who attend pub-
lic schools in Texas."
"Over 65 years of traditional service in the Jewish community with dignity and understanding."
HEBREW MEMORIAL CHAPEL
In 1973, he was a driv-
ing force in the creation
of Likud which embraced
the centrist Liberals
along with Herut and
other rightwing factions.
For the Liberal Party, Mr.
Ehrlich's death came at the
worst possible time. The
faction is embroiled in bit-
ter internal conflicts.
The Family
of the Late
GERALDINE
HARON
Announces the un-
veiling of a monument
in her memory 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 26, at
Beth Moses Cemetery.
Cantor Shimansky will
officqate. Relatives and
friends are asked to
attend.
The Family
of the Late
ESTHER
GERTRUDE
NISKAR
Announces the un-
veiling of a monument
in her memory 2 p.m.
Sunday, June 26, at
Machpelah Cemetery.
Rabbi Arm will of-
ficiate. Relatives and
friends are asked to
attend.
The Family
of the Late
SAM
ROTHENBURG
Announces the un-
veiling of a monument
in his memory 2 p.m.
Sunday, June 26, at
Machpelah Cemetery.
Rabbi A. Irving
Schnipper will officiate.
Relatives and friends
are asked to attend.
The Family
of the Late
MAX
SHINEBROOM
Announces the un-
veiling of a monument
in his memory 1:30 p.m.
Sunday, June 26, at He-
brew Memorial Park.
Rabbi Gruskin will of-
ficiate. Relatives and
friends are asked to
attend.
The Family
of the Late
MORLEY
WOLFE
Announces the un-
veiling of a monument
in his memory 11:30 a.m.
Sunday, June 26, at He-
brew Memorial Park.
Rabbi Goldschlag will
officiate. Relatives and
friends are asked to
attend.
543- 1622
SERVING ALL CEMETERIES
26640 GREENFIELD ROAD
OAK PARK, MICHIGAN 48237
Alan H. Dorfman
Funeral Director & Mgr.