PURELY COMMENTARY Anti-Semitism And Japan Continued from Page 2 percent of the Japanese popula- tion doesn't know what Judaism or people of Jewish origin are," says Walter J. Cit- rin, a businessman who is chairman of Tokyo's Jewish Community Center. "They just consider them foreigners." Still, he is worried. "We feel the contents of these books will create a wrong impression among Japanese young people," possibly leading to anti- Semitism, says Citrin. A few foreigners believe it is already here and that the books are a new sign that nationalist extremism is on the rise in Ja- pan. "Anti-Semitism has greater intellectual currency and re- spectability in Japan than in perhaps any other indus- trialized society," wrote David G. Goodman, a University of Il- linois specialist on Japan, in a recent letter to the New York Times. Japanese commentators tend to see the books as gener- ally benign, a passing fad that shows how ignorant the Japanese remain of the world beyond their shores. "The books sell well because of the Japanese' feelings of isolation," says Jewish-studies specialist Shichihei Yamamoto. "Japanese are being criticized from all over the world and they want to know who is doing it and why." The resentment of what has arisen in an area where there are so few Jews caused more alarm in American Jewish communities than in Japan itself. In Chicago, for example, a group hopes to initiate a boycott of Japan. The think- ing is that there can be an end to Japanese bias in the literary world if a boycott is initiated, just as some 20 years ago an anti-Israel government action was squelched in Mexico. But in Mexico it was the government that was biased and cancellation of thousands of tourists' reservations brought desired results. There is hardly a comparison in the two situations, the Japanese being a prejudice initiated by authors. Prejudice often pays off, as it does in Japan, where anti-Jewish books re- sulted in large circulations. There probably will never be an end to "scapegoatism" when the Jew is available for prejudice that paid off. It is the "familiarity" that is disgusting. We learn that much from John Burgess' report in the Washington Post. International Red Cross: Duped During Holocaust Whenever evidence is provided of the guilt of the Holocaust, it must be emphasized, even if it is repetitive. The American Red Cross leader- ship has tried, it appears, to adhere to a policy of justice in the treatment ac- corded the Magen David Adorn, Israel's counterpart of the Red Cross. The In- ternational Red Cross nevertheless re- fuses to pay attention to the appeals of the American member and pursues a prejudiced policy toward Israel. The recognition given last year to the Arabs' Red Crescent, while denying such equality to Magen David Adorn, gives proof of the bias. Does the repeated prejudiced action of 1986 echo the movement's failure to provide mercy to the Nazis' victims in the early 1940s? A letter by Gil Troy, a Harvard University PhD candidate, corrects a misapprehension and relates the recorded Holocaust facts. Gil Troy wrote: Flora Lewis, in "The Guilt of Doing Nothing" (column, May 15), dismisses as "nonsense" the notion that the International Red Cross could have inspected World War II concentration camps, delivered packages and otherwise aided the suffering Jews. This, she states, is only common in our more "humanitarian" era. If only it were so. Unfortunately, the Red Cross not only did not help the suffering Jews, but it played into Nazi hands as well. The Red Cross did inspect a camp, the so-called model camp, Theresienstadt. Satisfied with a superficial look at the or- chestra, the children's facilities and spruced-up barracks, Red Cross inspectors gave their blessing to an artifice. This helped perpetuate the German charade by discrediting the accurate reports trickling in about concentration camp hor- rors. Worse, the Red Cross re- fused to minister to Jews in- carcerated in the camps. The International Red Cross aided prisoners of war. The national Red Cross organizations aided civilian internees. The Jews, be- longing to neither category, were deprived of Red Cross packages. The Germans de- lighted in this casuistry. By 1944, the International Red Cross began to help the Jews. But these tardy efforts only served to underline what later Red Cross commissions and scholars like Nora Levin in "The Holocaust: The Destruc- tion of European Jewry, 1933- 45" confirmed — that the Inter- national Red Cross joined the Allies in the conspiracy of si- lence. Recollections of the horrors that are collectively titled "The Holocaust" keep reminding the generations of the crimes against the Jews that have be- come atrocities against mankind. There are reminiscences as well as deeply-moving narratives, some of which have developed into novels of great merit. In addition, a continuing flow of books deals with Israel and the Middle East. There are many novels devoted to Israel. Many are mystery stories. In the latter category is Pattern Crimes, a novel by William Bayer (Villard Books). It's a mystery story about a murder in Jerusalem, with Arabs and Jews and Israeli detectives in the cast of characters. The status of the Middle East is constantly studied and Israel is endlessly under scrutiny. In Sands of Sorrow: Israel's Journey From Inde- pendence (Harper and Row), Milton Viorst takes into account all of the inner struggles as well as the confron- tations of the Jewish state. The crises are analyzed and criticisms abound. Himself a confirmed Zionist, Viorst has a practical approach to the issues. This helps explain the an- guished response to the recent Red Cross name change to the International Movement of the Red Cross and the Red Cres- cent, when it refused to recog- nize the Magen David Adom, the Red Shield of David Society in Israel. This insensitivity rubs salt in unhealed — and often unacknowledged — wounds. Nora Levin's Holocaust revelations in The Holocaust contain voluminous exposes of the manner in which the In- ternational Red Cross was duped into believing that the camp which has served as preparatory transfer points for Nazi victims destined for the death camps were model homes for temporary guests. In a detailed account of the rounding up of Yugoslav Jews, most of them women, for the death camps, Nora Levin appended the following as a post-war expose: Soon after the war, the Viorst takes into account the cur- rent disputes over the arms sales to Iran. He also deals with the U.S. and USSR relationships and he makes these comments on that score: The Israeli leadership's ex- planation for sending arms to the Khomeini regime raises a further fundamental question. (Shimon) Peres, serving now as foreign minister under Israel's `rotation' agreement, has con- tinued to be dependent. "We did not sell arms," he told the Knes- set. "We refused arms and we delivered arms ... This is not an Israeli operation. This is a mat- ter for the United States, not for Israel ... Israel was asked to help and we did it." If his words suggest that Israel submitted to an American request against its better judgment, it would not be the first time. In 1985, Israel consented to the installation on its territory of a Voice of Yugoslav State Commission re- ported that these Jews had been deported to the death camps in Poland. In 1948, the International Red Cross laconi- cally reported that "three camps were known to be situated in Serbia. The de- tainees who had been quartered there temporarily were after- wards taken to an unknown destination and nothing further was heard of them." No Serbian Jews were deported to Poland, however. The "unknown desti- nation" was the gassing van. Even at this point, the Interna- tional Red Cross treated the horror "la- conically." Such accusations cannot al- ways be kept secret. It is tragic that the facts keep emerging, many shamefully. These are the lessons of history — admonishing unforgetfulness. Enriching Bookshelves By Jewish Authors America transmitter to beam propaganda broadcasts to the Soviet Union. Some Israelis ex- pressed concern that a decision would provide Moscow with further reason to deny the emigration of Soviet Jews, long an objective of Israeli foreign policy, indeed of Zionism itself. It is no doubt appropriate for Israel to take an extra step to accommodate the United States. A client owes as much to a generous patron. But to ac- commodate the United States, how often has Israel been asked to violate its better judgment, even its national interests; and what is likely to be asked of it in the future. The arms incident following on the heels of the transmitter decision, raises the question whether Israel, in tying itself so closely to Ameri- can policy, has grown accus- tomed to compromising its in- dependence. Therefore the Viorst book serves an important purpose in arousing dis- cussion over the pragmatism of Israeli policies. The variety of books in the grow- ing library by Jews about Jews in- cludes a variety of topics dealing with social and family problems. A volume noteworthy in the new list is Talking With Your Aging Par- ents by Mark A. Edinberg (Random House). Counseling about the elderly and family relations is authoritatively discussed by the author whose experi- ences qualify him highly for the task. Love, Medicine and Miracles by Be- rnie S. Siegel (Harper and Row) is a book about healing and survival. Dr. Siegel treats the vast subject, including confrontations with serious illnesses, out of long personal experiences. Israeli Ambassador Benjamin Netanyahu took possession of 500 files from the UN War Crimes Archives on June 8. The files had been sequestered by the United Nations since 1948, hampering a number of criminal investigations.