DETROIT

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

S

tudents watched in
disbelief last week as
they viewed a news
tape of a home video game
called KZ (concentration
camp) Manager. _
The students were par-
ticipating in an interfaith
youth symposium on the
Holocaust at the Maple-
Drake Jewish Community
Center when a Channel 7
news team/brought in a tape
showing the game and re-
ported on their reactions.

KZ Manager, which has
about 140 other names in-
cluding Aryan Test, often
substitutes Turks for Jews.
Many Turks work as
laborers in Germany. The
games, which make anti-
Semitic references, have
been circulating underground
among youngsters in Austria
and Germany for the past
three years. •
In KZ Manager, the player
is camp manager. To win,
the player must sell gold
fillings, lampshades and
labor to earn money to buy
gas to kill Turks in gas
chambers.
According to the Simon
Wiesenthal Center, which
obtained copies of eight of
the tapes and has demon-
strated them in the past few
weeks, the tapes show
graphics of swastikas, Hitler
and of gassed and tortured
prisoners.
Users can get extra points
by taking gold fillings out of
the teeth of their victims.
Although the games are
not new, they have only re-
cently gained the attention
of the American media.
"Although they are illegal
in Germany, the govern-
ment has had a hard time
stamping them out because
the games are not produced
by an aboveboard company.
Rather they are an under-
ground phenomenon, said
Richard Lobenthal, Michigan
regional director for the Anti-
Defamation League. "The
computer discs are passed
from kid to kid in school
playgrounds."
The game is believed to be
neo-Nazi propaganda aimed
at influencing youths
through a technology that
their parents do not under-
stand.
The ADL and the Simon
Wiesenthal Center have
been in contact with the

14

FRIDAY, MAY 10, 1991

German government over
the issue. It is not known
whether computer software
is covered under anti-Nazi
laws in Germany and
Austria.
Mr. Lobenthal said the
ADL does not believe these
computer games have been
advertised in American hate
group publications and have
not been distributed in the
United States.
"The games could get
here," Mr. Lobenthal said.
"At this point, there is
nothing to worry about. It is
not widespread; it is not in-
fectious. It is being handled
underground by extremists."
Seventeen-year:old Ralf
Ressel, a German exchange
student at Redford's Thurs-
ton High School, called the
game "disgusting."
"Most people I know would
feel the way I do," Ralf said.
"Only a minimal number
would like it. I don't know
anyone who would play it. I
heard it exists, but only from
the newspapers."
Added Tim Blake, 18, of
Andover High School, "This
is very disturbing. It sur-
prises me that this is going
on. I wanted to believe that
things are different in Ger-
many."
The Wiesenthal Center
does not know who is writing
the programs, which are in
German, or who is manufac-
turing them. One of the
games, Aryan Test, says it
was made by "Adolf Hitler
Software Ltd." Another,
called Anti-Turk Test, says
it was made in Buchenwald
by "Hitler and Hess." ❑

Sinai Hospital Guild
Installs Officers

The Sinai Hospital Guild
will host its 38th annual in-
stallation luncheon May 16 at
Adat Shalom Synagogue.
Marta Rosenthal, of
Franklin, will be installed for
her second term as Guild
president. Other 1991-92 of-
ficers to be installed include
vice presidents Rose Lynn
Schlussel, Trudy Weiss,
Carole Blacher, Hope Silver-
man, Gail Bernucca;
secretaries 'Arran Leemis,
Helen Shevin, Leo Ash, San-
dy Schwartz, Thelma Rosen-
baum; treasurers Helene
Lublin and Elise Levinson.
The luncheon will feature
Rev. James Lyons, director,
the Ecumenical Institute for
Jewish-Christian Studies.
There is a charge. For reser-
vations, call the Sinai
Hospital Guild, 493-5300.

.

Photo by GI

Nazi Computer Games
Go Underground

Holocaust survivor Saul Raimi speaks to the students.

Students Study The Holocaust
At An Interfaith Seminar

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

a 1 f Ressel listened in-
tently as survivor
Saul Raimi told 125
students about starvation,
murder and death marches
of the Holocaust.
Then he raised his hand.
Ralf, 17, a German foreign
exchange student at Thurs-
ton High School in Redford,
asked Mr. Raimi what
today's Germans should do
to make amends for their
many ancestors who were
Nazis.
"I am convinced that the
younger generation of Ger-
many is truly sorry," said
Mr. Raimi, 66, of Southfield.
"You should teach the
younger generation so that
it never again happens."
Mr. Raimi shook Ralf s
hand and said, "I have
nothing against you."
Last week, teachers and
students from nine high
schools — including Allen
Park, Roseville, Grosse
Pointe, Centerline and Red-
ford —gathered at the
Maple-Drake Jewish Com-
munity Center and the
Holocaust Memorial Center
for an Interfaith Youth
Symposium on the Holo-
caust.
The symposium was spon-
sored by the Jewish Com-
munity Council, the Holo-
caust Memorial Center, the
JCC, Shaarit Haplaytah and
the Greater Detroit Inter-
faith Round Table of the Na-
tional Conference of Chris-
tians and Jews.

Guests viewed the film
The Courage To Care and
participated in group
meetings with survivors.
They toured the Holocaust
Memorial Center, dined in
the JCC's Shiffman Hall and
listened to keynote speaker
Dr. Emanuel Tanay, a sur-
vivor.
The day ended with a
candle-lighting ceremony —
with each of 11 candles rep-
resenting the victims who
perished in the Holocaust.
Eleven million - including 6
million Jews — never made
it out of Nazi death camps.

"In school in Germany, we
talked about it," Ralf said.
"We spent a year learning.
Hitler was not a hero."
Ralf and Max Huebner, a
16-year-old German student
at Andover High School,
said they feel a sense of
responsibility for the Holo-
caust.
"I would like to do some-
thing about it," Ralf said. "I
don't want people to think
we all feel the way the SS

did. Kids need to know what
happened. They are the next
generation."
Max said many Americans
believe most Germans are
the same as the Nazis. "But
there is only a small group
that still celebrates Hitler's
birthday."
Max was troubled after
listening to tales told by Mr.
Raimi and survivor Margo
Zimmerman, who worked in
a forced labor camp during
the Holocaust.
"I don't feel very good
about this," Max said.
"When I hear something
like this, I always remember
that my ancestors did this."
Max has a more personal
note to add. His grand-
mother's first husband was
Jewish and fled to Palestine
before the war.
At the time, intermar-
riages between Christians
- and Jews were not accepted
in Germany
"This fact always makes
me think that my grand-
mother could have gone with
Mm," Max said.

❑

JEFF's Appelman Wins
JESNA Covenant Award

PHIL JACOBS

Managing Editor

T

here are certain peo-
ple in this world who,
after you've met them
for' five minutes, you know
are something special.
For years, Detroit's educa-
tional community knew that

about Harlene Winnick Ap-
pelman, the supervisor of
the Jewish Experiences For
Families program (JEFF).
Now the rest of the country
knows it as well.
Ms. Appelman was named
one of three winners, from
600 nominations, of the
Covenant Award offered by
the Jewish Educational Ser-