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Friday, November 9, 1984
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THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
THE ,JEWISH NEWS
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1984 by The Detroit Jewish News (US PS 275-520)
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CANDLELIGHTING AT 4:49 P.M.
VOL. LXXXVI, NO. 11
November 9
November 9 is an infamous day in modern Jewish history, for it was on
the night of November 9, 1938, that Nazi terror erupted. Known as
Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass, it marked the date that German
soldiers ransacked, looted and burned Jewish homes, synagogues and stores.
The pretext used to justify the violence, the most serious "action" against
the Jews to that point, was the assassination of a German diplomat. But
history has proven that Joseph Goebbels, Hitler's Minister of Propaganda,
organized the "spontaneous demonstration" that resulted in the death and
rape of a number of Jews, the arrest of 20,000 others, the destruction of
hundreds of homes and synagogues and the looting of more than 7,500 Jewish
shops.
And that was just the beginning. The arrested Jews were sent to
concentration camps and the German Jewish community was forced to pay
one billion reichmarks as punishment for the destruction — a destruction
that would not end until six million Jews had been exterminated.
Forty-six years later we can still learn from Kristallnacht, remembering-
the past and never deluding ourselves into thinking we are immune from the
lessons of history.
A new Soviet low
A new low in humanitarian concerns was demonstrated last month by
the Soviet Union. The number of Jews permitted to leave Russia in October
was reduced to 29. It was a demonstration of total abandonment of
responsibility to those seeking homes elsewhere, in their despair over the
Russian anti-Jewish policies.
During his recent visit in the United States to address the United
Nations General Assembly and to confer with President Ronald Reagan,
Andrei Gromyko saw fit to resort to an excuse for the Russian refusal to
permit emigration of those desiring to seek other homelands. He asserted
that as many Jews as desired had already left the USSR. This was a colossal
misstatement. The fact remains that many tens of thousands continue to file
applications for visas to leave the Soviet Union, that hundreds of thousands
are craving for the right to emigrate. -
Perhaps Gromyko and his associates realize that if tens of thousands of
Jews are permitted to leave, as many and more non-Jews will exercise a
similar desire. It may be to avoid this mass expression of protest against the
Communist prejudice-inspiring regime that the Russian leaders have
practiced and continue to enforce discrimination against Jews. This is just
what it is: an anti-Jewish policy assuming great dimensions.
Unforgotten Wallenberg
On the third anniversary of the granting of honorary U.S. citizenship to
Raoul Wallenberg, Congressman Tom Lantos calls for renewed action by all
Americans to demand release of the martyred Christian war hero from
Russian imprisonment. The California Congressman, himself a survivor
from the Nazi onslaught, owes his freedom to Wallenberg's courageous
actions in Hungary during Hitler rule in that country. He also calls attention
to the 40th anniversary of Wallenberg's imprisonment by the Russians, Jan.
17, 1945. He will speak at the Beth Yehudah dinner Nov. 18.
Congressman' Lantos urges appropriate events on a national scale "to
keep alive the memory of this man and his service to humanity."
OP-ED
How Mr. Middle Class Israeli
`beats' the inflation rat race
BY GIL SEDAN
Special to The Jewish News
How does Mr. Middle Class Israeli
stand financially? How does he, his
family and friends cope with inflation
racing at an annual rate of 400-1,000
percent?
Mr. MCI has a $5,000 share of his
country's $23 billion foreign debt; so
does his wife, each of his children and
grandchildren. The debt — and the in-
dividual's share — is sure to increase
in the foreseeable future and may fall
on Mr. MCI's yet unborn great
grandchildren.
Is he worried? Perhaps, though it
is difficult to conceptualize a debt of
astronomical proportions relative to a
country the size of Israel. Is he discon-
tented? Not really. Though many eco-
nomic experts say Israel is on the
verge of bankruptcy, Mr. MCI seems
quite satisfied with his condition. And
why not?
He bought a new car this year. He
is planning to move into a four-
bedroom flat. Recently, he refurnished
his living room and completed his col-
lections of the Hebrew Encyclopedia.
Two of his three children spent the
summer at an expensive sleep-away
camp. Each owns a bicycle.
Last year, Mr. MCI travelled
abroad twice; once with his wife for
two weeks on a Greek island. The sec-
ond time was on a mission he arranged
for himself to the United States, which
paid his fare.
On top of this, Mr. MCI fattened
his bank account by $5,000 during the
past year. Why dollars? Because no-
body saves shekels anymore. Israel, as
MCI well knows, is possibly the only
country in the world where the more
local currency you save the more
money you lose. With galloping infla-
tion, the shekel loses value at a rate of
1-2 percent a day. The smart thing to
do is get rid of your shekels as fast as
you can.
Mr. MCI, therefore, puts his say-
Gil Sedan is a Jewish Telegraphic Agency
correspondent in Israel.
ings in dollar-linked accounts. There
were frightening rumors before the
elections last July that the govern-
ment had no alternative but to seize
those dollar accounts to stabilize the
economy. So Mr. MCI took no chances.
He began to purchase dollar bills on
the black market. He paid only
slightly more than the official ex-
change rate. But he knows he pos-
sesses the real green.
He no longer calculates in shekels
because he can never know what the
price of any product will be from week
to week. Suppose he stored the price of
milk in his memory — 105 shekels
(about 30 cents) a liter. He would have
to remember a new price in two weeks
or sooner.
By the time he received his
August salary, he found he
could buy fewer dollars
with the shekels he
received. This worried
him, for the first time.
He hardly pays attention any-
more to the government's frequent
announcements that the controlled
price of basic commodities and petrol is
going up. He knows that the value of
his present three-bedroom flat is about
$70,000. To figure its worth in shekels
would take a calculator.
When he shopped for his new car
recently — before the freeze — he was
not surprised to find the sticker price
in dollars. He went to a dime store last
week to buy himself a pocket diary. It
too was priced in dollars.
The key to Mr. MCI's confidence is
that wonderful device, the cost-of-
living (C.O.L.) index which links his
wages to general price hikes. To be
sure, the linkage covers only 80 per-
cent of the C.O.L. rise and is taxable.
Continued on Page 34