34
Friday, September 21, 1984 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Next week, Dr. Carol Rittner
should be sitting on the rocks in Monte
Carlo getting some sun. Next week,
when the international conference she
put together over the last nine months
is history, a hedonistic vacation of that
,sort would be due. But since Dr. Ritt-
er is also Sister Carol, she will prob-
ably just take "a few late mornings in
bed" before going back to work.
The work she usually does, as a
Religious Sister of Mercy, is teaching.
She holds a doctorate in Higher Edu-
cation Administration and is Adjunct
Associate Professor of Interdiscipli-
nary Studies at Detroit's Mercy Col-
lege. "Every time I pass a school at this
time of year," she says, "I wonder if the
teacher is excited to be starting with a
new class." But with typical humor,
she is quick to add that she prefers
having "older students (who) still have
respect for teachers. You sneeze and
they take it down as a note."
Sister Carol's success as a teacher
is part of the reason she's in Washing-
ton, not the classroom, this fall. In the
past she developed and taught courses
on the Holocaust and on Elie Wiesel,
noted author and human rights ac-
tivist who is chairman of the U.S.
Holocaust Memorial Council. "I knew
Wiesel a little when I started the
course about him," Sister Carol says,
"and if I say so myself, it (the course) is
excellent." But it seemed "self-
serving" to send him the class mate-
rial, she recalls. "What if he thinks it's
stupid?" she asked friends who urged
her to write.
She finally did write Wiesel, and
his warm response sparked a very
productive friendship. Since 1982, Sis-
ter Carol has been a special adviser to
him in his capacity as Council chair-
man. When she told him her idea for a
conference on the few Gentiles who
helped save European Jews from the
Nazis, his immediate reply was, "I'll
help you. It must be done."
After talking about the confer-
ence for a year and a half, Sister Carol
finally sent off a proposal. In January,
when the National Holocaust Memo-
rial Council gave the go ahead, she
thought arrangements could be made
in 18 months. Wiesel said, "How about
September?"
Now, as the conference ends this
week, Sister Carol remarks with satis-
faction that "85 percent of what I
envisioned is coming into being." She
never did get around to commissioning
a musical piece from Leonard Berns-
tein, and a costly film of the conference
has been put on hold. But more than
$270,000 was raised to bring 180
Righteous Gentiles (the term used for
those who helped Jews during World
War II) to the conference. Also attend-
ing were Jewish survivors and schol-
ars. Sixteen countries were repre-
sented. There were audio and video
tapings, selective filming, recording of
oral histories, and addresses and
workshops given by an impressive ros-
ter. "Nobody who came strikes me as a
real zip," Sister Carol says de-
REMEMBERING
HE RIGHTEOU
GENTILES
BY MIMSI KROMER MILTON
Special to The Jewish News
Detroit's Sister Carol Rittner has earned a rest after pulling
together this week's conference in Washington.
lightedly. "They were all exciting. For
months I worried, 'Oh my God, what if
we don't fill the Kennedy Center (for
the opening ceremony)?' " But the
700-seat theater was filled.
The organizational details of such
an undertaking would have undone
most people. With only her idea, an
office and secretary funded by the
Holocaust Memorial Council, and vol-
unteer help culled from friends, rela-
tives and other Sisters, this woman
coordinated a major event. She denies
that it was a solo job, pointing out that
the conference was officially con-
ducted by the Council and hosted by
the U.S. State Department. Sister
Carol also credits Jewish organiza-
tions and people from private industry
who bent over backwards to help, and
says the embassies who were asked for
money and assistance came through
with flying colors.
Then, too, the conference has an
inspirational theme which elicits
enthusiasm, but the bottom line is —
Sister Carol has a winning way that
gets things done. Once you've met her,
any intentions of calling her Dr. Ritt-
ner are gone in a flash. Dressed in a
khaki skirt, prim plaid blouse, tortise
shell glasses and sensible shoes, Sister
Carol fits the wholesome, rather
spunky image of what a "working"
nun should be. Her religious beliefs, it
quickly becomes obvious, are the
source of her dynamism and ready
sense of humor.
Sister Carol moves comfortably
between light-hearted banter and
heartfelt statements. When asked why
she chose, at age 19, to become a nun,
she quips jovially, To save the world."
Turning serious, she says, the more
important question is, "why do I con-
tinue to be a sister?" Her answer is a
dedication to make a better world, to
recreate the image of God in human-
kind." Planning an international con-
ference on the Righteous, as she sees
it, is an extension of her religious vow
to service. It is a way to "build
bridges," she says, "between Jews and
Christians, different countries, sur-
vivors and protectors, the civic and
academic communities."
The woman who first learned
about the Holocaust as a girl when
reading a Catholic comic book about
Pious XII now feels that no work is
more important than teaching about
the Holocaust. It opens the hearts,
minds and eyes of students." The Jews
who survive the Nazis and the
liberators who saw the concentration
camps can bear witness to the horror,
Sister Carol says, but there is also wit-
ness to good deeds. "Maybe we need
that witness more than any other be-
cause it gives hope."
That witness was presented at
this week's conference: "Faith in
Humankind: Rescuers of Jews during
the Holocaust." Those attending
explored issues such as "What did it
take for human beings to remain
human in an inhuman society?" and
"What is the legacy of the Hasidei
Umot Ha Olam (the Righteous Among
the Nations of the World)?"
It has been suggested that the
Righteous are merely a footnote to his-
tory. To this, Sister Carol replies,
"Footnotes sometimes are important.
They can be the basis for an entire
book. They can lead you into paths
never explored before. The Righteous
are a small but important chapter that
needs to be read in the context of what
was not done. It doesn't balance the
scales, but we cannot afford to forget.
How do you want to raise your children
— in despair or hope?
"Evil multiplies," Sister Carol
states, "but goodness does too." As
proof she mentions small but
heartwarming incidents that came up
during the conference planning. An
Eastern Airlines employee, for in-
stance, bothered to alert Sister Carol
that an elderly woman, one of the in-
vited Righteous, was obviously con-
fused about her travel plans. She had
been trying to make a reservation on
the shuttle, (which doesn't take them),
and the airline representative feared
she wouldn't make it to Washington.
Along the same lines, Sister Carol
was optimistic about the State De-
partment sponsorship of the confer-
ence even though she knows of the De-
partment's alleged anti-Israel bias.
"Secretary of State Shultz has been
wonderful," she reports, and although
she is "distressed because the Sate
Department tends to make decisions
that are not as compassionate as they
could be," she was pleased about the
sponsorship since "you never know
what reflection on any subject can lead
to." •
Next week, Sister Carol will be
reflecting back on "her" conference
and looking ahead to the next chal-
lenge. She won't miss 'Washington,
with its annoying red tape, and she'll
be happy to have the companionship of
the Sisters of Mercy again. Carol Ritt-
ner will return to teaching, but it's
hard to imagine her not being "on the
cutting edge" — a term she applies
with pride to her religious order. A
new idea is already brewing, though
she won't divulge it yet, but simply
says, "There's always work for willing
hands."
Those who know Sister Carol,
even briefly, know that because those
willing hands are accompanied by an
astute mind and compassionate heart,
they will be very busy, indeed.