•••••••••••• • • • • • • • 1991 • , • . • • • • • • Early Dealer Demo CLEARANCE SALE! Chernobyl Children Find Chabad Haven ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM Assistant Editor F irst the plants began to shrivel; then they grew exceptionally large. Children in the area came down with nosebleeds, headaches and constant fa- tigue. Four student deaths, all from leukemia, were re- ported in one classroom alone. The source was a 1986 nuclear explosion at the Chernobyl power plant in the Soviet Union. And its victims were everything alive within thousands of miles. Among them were numerous Jewish children. A new group, the Children of Chernobyl, has been organized to help these chil- dren, who because of their age are most seriously af- fected by radiation poison- ing. The national coor- dinator of the group, Jay Litvin, spoke late last week in Detroit about the organ- ization's efforts. The Children of Chernobyl was formed in response to requests from Soviet parents who feared for their chil- dren's lives, Mr. Litvin said. Its main project is funding the children's care at Kfar Chabad in Israel. More than 340 children already have been flown to Kfar Chabad, where they receive housing, food and medical treatment. Mr. Litvin said another 2,660 Jewish parents have requested their children be brought to Kfar Chabad for medical care. Himself a father, Mr. Lit- vin said it must have been a terrible decision for the parents to send their chil- dren "to a place they've never been, to people they've never met. I can't imagine the pain of what it would take for me to do that." But Kfar Chabad is these parents' last hope, he said. The children are brought out from the Soviet Union on emergency medical visas. Affected by radiation poison- ing from the Chernobyl acci- dent, many suffer with "Chernobyl AIDS," Mr. Lit- vin said. Their immune system is seriously affected, "they have no resistance. When they get a cold, it turns into pneumonia." At Kfar Chabad the chil- dren are diagnosed and receive treatment for visible symptoms, Mr. Litvin said. Though the more serious effects of radiation may take years to surface, some im- mediate care can save the children's lives, he added. Just removing the children from the contaminated re- gions where they live is a critical first step, Mr. Litvin said. Not only have the chil- dren themselves been harm- ed, the food and water they ingest continues the poison- ing process. "If you live in Byelorussia you're taking radioactive material into your body. Period," he said. For years, the Soviet government forbade any discussion about the afteref- fects of Chernobyl, he said. It was against the law to link the unprecedented number of illnesses, including leukemia and kidney failure, with the Chernobyl accident. Mr. Litvin said that $12,500 provides transporta- tion and general care for each child of Chernobyl. At Kfar Chabad, the children also attend school and receive constant medical monitoring from Hadassah- based physicians. ❑ Nazi, War Crimes Witnesses Sought The governments of Australia and the United States have requested the assistance of the World Jewish Congress in connec- tion with on-going prosecu- tions of Nazi war criminals and their collaborators. The Australian government is seeking witnesses for two war crimes investigations in- to murders committed in the Vinnitsa district of the Ukraine: Vinnitsa, Tyvrov, Gorbaniyka, Sytkivtsi, Il- linetsky, Gnivan, Selyschi, Gryzhintsy, Shabelnya, Brailov. The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to identify and interview persons regar- ding the persecution and murder of civilians in the Joniskis district of Lithuania in the summer of 1941. In ad- dition, the Justice Depart- ment is also seeking to inter- view persons imprisoned at Austria's Gusen 1 (sub-camp of Mauthausen) from February 1940 to May 1945; or at Ebensee (sub-camp of Mauthausen) from April 1944-May 1945. If you have information useful to these investigations, contact: Ms. Bessy Pupko, World Jewish Congress, 501 Madison Ave., New York, N.Y. 10022, (212) 755-5770. YOUR CHOICE SEDAN DeVILLE, ELDORADO OR BROUGHAM 12 to Choose From All At $24,900 + Tax All Low Mileage and Backed by Factory 48 Month/$50,000 NEW CAR BUMPER TO BUMPER WARRANTY WITH $0 DEDUCTIBLE ...OR SMARTLEASE A NEW SEDAN DEVILLE a Month 36 Months No Money Down* 'First month's lease payment of $469 plus $550 refundable security deposit for a total of $1,019 due at lease signing. Tax, license, title fees and insurance extra. You must take delivery from dealer stock by June 10, 1991. GMAC must approve lease. Example based on Sedan DeVille: $32,211 MSRP including destina- tion charge. 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