CONTENTS

OPINION

24

CLOSE-UP

Confronting
The Missionaries

SUSAN WELCH
A fledgling group is fighting back
against local "Hebrew Christians."

47

SPORTS

One-Handed Wizard

MIKE ROSENBAUM
The Michigan Jewish Sports Hall
of Fame honors a boy named 'Susie.'

LIFESTYLES

Relig ious News Serv ice

Numbers And Photos

56

CARLA JEAN SCHWARTZ
Accountant/photographer
Jim Grey is profiled.

Jewish survivors re-enact the death march at Auschwitz in 1985.

Remembering Kielce, Poland:
The Good Times And The Bad

HELENA SHAVELL

S

ix years ago a Nazi death camp
survivor, William Mandel from
New York, returned to his bir-
thplace, Kielce, Poland. He was shocked to
find the Jewish cemetery serving as abon-
doned plots of land where children played
among the graves. There were no visible
signs of the burial site of the 42 Jewish vic-
tims who were massacred by the Poles on
July 4, 1946, one year following the end of
World War II, in what can be termed
Europe's "Last Pogrom?' The 1946 killings
were sparked by_a rumor that "Jews kid-
napped a Christian boy to get blood for
Passover matzah."
These Jews were concentration camp
survivors who returned to their homes in
search of relatives.
Mandell spent the next six years in an
endless effort to raise funds 'to erect a
monument to the 42 victims and restore
the remains of the Jewish cemetery.
Hundreds of Polish and American Jews
gathered around this historical dedication
on Aug. 23. Many of the Jews who were
among the gathering were Holocaust sur-
vivors, such - as my parents, or they were
comprised of second generation children of
survivors, such as my brother and myself.
Others were Polish governmental delegates
and still others were American and Cana-
dian Jews.
They were present for the erection of a
monument which read, "Here rest the
ashes of the 42 victims of Kielce events.
Honor to their memory?' The cemetery
commemoration marked the 45th anniver-

Helena Shavel is a program coordinator for the

Jewish Association for Retarded Citizens.

sary of the beginning of the deportation of
Polish Jews to Treblinka, Belzac, Sobibor
and Auschwitz.
Before World War II, Kielce had a
population of more than 100,000, including
27,000 Jews. During the war, the Jewish
population increased to between
32,000-35,000 as they were temporarily
displaced from nearby towns and brought
to Kielce prior to their deportation to the
concentration camps.
During my week-long visit to Poland,
our tour group witnessed what anti-
Semitism can do. What was once a thriv-
ing Jewish community, with beautiful
synagogues and meeting places for
scholars, was now devoid of the Jewish life.
While we were in Kielce, the dedication
took place in front of a building which once
was the synagogue. it now houses town
records, but even with that the building
was not opened to the gathering. It was sad
to come to terms with the fact that there
is not one remaining Jew in Kielce. In a
land where 3.5 million Jews lived and
thrived before World War II, now less than
5,000 people remain.
As we toured city after city, concentra-
tion camp after concentration camp, the in-
credible realization surfaced with regard to
the horrors of the extent of anti-Semitism.
Nothing better expresses this point than in
Treblinka where there are myriads of
endless stones. Each stone represented a ci-
ty during World War II whose Jewish
population perished solely because they
were Jews. There were tremendous efforts
on the part of people who went out of their
way in order to humiliate, intimidate and
annihilate the Jews.
Being a child of survivors, I spent my

Continued on Page 20

59

YOUTH

Fast Start

BBYO's kickoff dance
got the new year
off to a fast start
for local teens.

Photograph:
A dancing Lara Wineman.

71

Comic World

MICHAEL ELKIN
Comedian Jackie Mason has turned
his career completely around.

90

. The New Man
Of Moment

JAMES DAVID BESSER
Hershel Shanks has taken over
at Moment magazine, and seeks
a new direction.

SINGLE LIFE

Turning. On To Torah

106

JAN LOVELAND
Detroit's Singles Chavurah is
involving 150 in both learning
and socializing.

DEPARTMENTS

34
38
52
62
71
84

88
96
102
106
108
136

Inside Washington
Synagogues
Life In Israel
For Women
Entertainment
Cooking

.

Business
Engagements
Births
Single Life
Seniors
Obituaries

CANDLELIGHTING

October 9, 1987 6:43 p.m.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS ,7