EDITORIAL
Papal Politics
American Jewish leaders have expressed "shock and dismay" over
the fact that Pope John Paul II agreed to receive Kurt Waldheim, the
Austrian president, for a Vatican meeting scheduled to be held
yesterday.
The "dismay" is understandable, since Waldheim has been accused
of taking part in deportations and executions of Jews and Christians
in Greece and Yugoslavia when he was a German lieutenant in World
War II. But why "shock," when the Pope has already lent
respectability to another criminal against humanity by giving an
audience to PLO leader Yassir Arafat?
At least two of the four major Jewish organizations scheduled to
hold a largely ceremonial meeting with the Pope on Sept. 11 in Miami
are considering boycotting the meeting unless tensions are resolved
first.
The conflict between American Jewish leaders and the Vatican,
which in turn pronounced itself "surprised and grieved" at the Jewish
criticism, points out the important differences that remain, despite
years of dialogue, over the way Jews and Catholics view the Holocaust.
In December, John Cardinal O'Connor of New York angered many
Jews when, after visiting the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in
Jerusalem, he spoke of the Jews' privilege of martyrdom suffered at
the hands of the Nazis. And Jewish leaders believe that recent actions
by the Pope indicate a failure on his part to recognize the Holocaust
as primarily a Jewish experience.
The Vatican explanation for the Waldheim meeting that it was
agreed to by the Pope only because the Austrian president had made
numerous requests for such an audience does not make sense to us.
Surely that does not mean that His Holiness will grant a private
audience with anyone who badgers him enough.
The Pope's decision to meet with Waldheim is truly disappointing,
but it only underscores the need for continued dialogue between
Catholics and Jews so that each group can better understand the
concerns and sensitivities of the other.
Tannenbaum, presents a compelling story on the moral complexities of
the case. (See page 40).
Estimates of the number of kapos in the Third Reich run as high
as the tens of thousands. Of these, Jews were in the minority. After
the war, some of these were killed by immates, some were
"excommunicated" by the Jewish community. The only deportations of
Jewish kapos sought by the U.S. occurred in the early 1950s. Of these
three, two were acquitted and one died before he could be retried on a
technicality.
The anxiety the Tannenbaum case has elicited is almost palpable:
As far back as 1979 (when OSI first started investigating
Tannenbaum), prosecutors shied away from the case. They frankly
admitted they were frightened by the thorny morality and ethics
implicit in the case: Faced with death or beatings, just how much
volition did Jews have in Nazi camps?
These are not easy questions and they will yield no easy answers.
There is one crucial difference between the Tannenbaum case and
such current war trials as that in Israel of John Demjanjuk, a
Ukrainian guard in Treblinka accused of atrocities. Tannenbaum, like
all kapos, was recruited by Nazis; Demjanjuk volunteered for his
despicable job. But beyond that distinction lies the wide abyss of
personal morality and responsibility, of coercion and personal volition.
That is the confusing and murky abyss the jury on the Tannenbaum
case will have to traverse when the case finally comes to trial.
But it should come to trial. As one Jewish leader noted, "The
Jewish community is for the prosecution of everyone who committed
crimes during the Holocaust, regardless of their ethnic or religious
origin. Just as there is no collective guilt, there is no collective
innocence."
Mal Of A Kapo
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The Justice Department's recently filed case against a Jewish
kapo, or overseer, in a Nazi forced-labor camp promises to be one of
the more sensitive and perplexing prosecutions to emerge from the
department's Office of Special Investigations. The defendant, Jacob
Tannenbaum, 75, of Brooklyn, has been charged with persecuting
immates at Goerlitz, a camp about 55 miles east of Dresden. Survivors
of Goerlitz have told The Jewish News that Tannenbaum killed, beat,
tortured and raped prisoners.
In a Nazi camp, this was virtually the norm. But there is a
discomforting wrinkle to the case: Tannenbaum was Jewish and his
alleged victims were all Jews.
Arthur Magida, who went to Brooklyn to talk to alleged victims of
•
LETTERS
Orchards' Record
Is Set Straight
In an article on June 12 con-
cerning the Orchards residen-
tial homes, it was implied that
all children were there due to
abusive or neglectful parents.
As the mother of a boy at the
Livonia home, I felt some men-
tion should have been made of
the children who are there due
to emotional problems, but
come from loving, caring,
homes.
It is because of the love for my
son and my concern for his
future well-being that he is
there, and only through the ef-
fort of devoted staff and parents
6 Friday, June 26, 1987
do children thrive and grow in-
to responsible young adults.
Name withheld
On behalf of the Orchards
Children's Services Inc., I thank
you for the well-written and
sensitive story Ellyce Field
wrote on our agency.
We have had many people call
and positively comment on the
article and how well your story
portrayed the caring and quali-
ty programming we strive so
hard to achieve.
The plight of emotionally
disturbed children and their
families is a difficult one. Your
article helped the community
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
gain greater insight and
understanding, and for that we
are extremely grateful.
Suzanne Franklin
Executive Director,
The Orchards
Letters Could
Close Down PLO
President Reagan described
the Palestine Liberation
Organization as "one of the
world's most vicious terrorist
groups." Yet, the PLO is provid-
ed de facto official recognition
by being allowed to maintain of-
fices in Washington, D.C. and in
New York.
Our Jewish community can
do something to help end this
legitimizing the gang responsi-
ble for the murder of thousands
of innocent people in Europe,
Lebanon, and Israel by urging
their U.S. representative and
Senators to support bills now in
Congress to shut down those
terrorist PLO offices and to stop
their activities in America.
Norman Naimark
President, Detroit
Zionist Federation
Cantors Play
A Major Role
On behalf of the Cantors
Council of Detroit, I wish to
thank Mr. Slomovitz for the in-
formative and supportive arti-
cle on the forthcoming Cantors
Convention in Israel, which ap-
peared in the issue of June
12th.
While the facts presented by
Prof. Birnbaum are most in-
teresting from an historic
perspective, I wish there had
been more emphasis in your ar-
ticle on the important role and
accomplishments of hazzanim
today in the contemporary
American synagogue. I refer to
the vital role that the hazzan
plays, not only as the inspira-
tional force during the service,
infusing congregants with a
new sense of feeling and respect
Continued on Page 18