DETROIT State Of Michigan Kills Funds For Holocaust Memorial Center KIMBERLY LIFTON Staff Writer G ov. John Engler's re- cent vetoes of discre- tionary grants for museums leaves the Holo- caust Memorial Center in the lurch and Jewish state legislators fuming. In previous years, the state contributed $110,000 to $115,000 to the Holocaust Center's annual budget of $900,000. For this fiscal year, which began Oct. 1, the state contribution is zero. Last March, Gov. Engler called for slashing the state's contribution to the HMC, which attracts nearly 150,000 visitors a year — more than half of them students. House and Senate compromise bills later called for $50,000 —a substantial decrease — to be awarded to the HMC. "I am disgusted," said Rep. Maxine Berman, D- Southfield. "This has been an attack on the cultural needs of the state. I thought $50,000 was a compromise. This is no compromise. It is another sign of the governor having absoutely no ability to unders- tand the importance of cul- tural organizations," Ms. Ber- man said. "The Holocaust Museum is used by many peo- ple — Jews and non-Jews." Mr. Engler's veto is part of a plan to cut back state- funded cultural arts pro- grams. He has merged the Michigan Council for the Arts, the Commission on Art in Public Places and the Film Office into one Arts, Film and Cultural Affairs unit within the state's Commerce Department. The purpose of this office is to advocate statewide pro- grams. No grants will be made. In protest of the moves, Bunny Goldman, a Democrat and director of the Michigan Council for the Arts, resigned last week. Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, founder and executive vice president of the Holocaust Memorial Center, said the HMC is not giving up hope of obtaining state funds. He will apply for a grant from the Outstate Equity Pro- gram within the Michigan Department of Commerce before the Jan. 15 deadline. Grants are expected to be awarded in March. "This is a travesty," said Sen. Jack Faxon, D- Farmington Hills. "The amount of money that was requested was much less than they got the previous year, and he (Gov. Engler) just blocked it out entirely. How do you account for that? "He (Engler) has two lists, and if you are on the wrong side of the list, you get cut," Mr. Faxon said. Sen. David Honigman, R- West Bloomfield, said he is not happy with the guber- natorial veto. "I am very personally dis- appointed," Mr. Honigman said. "Of course, I don't like it. The Holocaust Center is a memorial to 6 million and its core mission is educational. It is a unique institution in the country, where school children come in and learn an important moral lesson." Mr. Honigman said he has a "strong feeling" that the HMC will receive a grant from the Commerce Department and vowed to "use every ounce of in- fluence I have to see that they get some money." Sen. Lana Pollack, D-Ann Arbor, said Gov. Engler did not single out the HMC. But, she said, "he is at war with the state. He places ab- solutely no value in the chil- dren and adults in Michigan Holocaust Memorial Center having opportunities to understand the history of the Holocaust," Ms. Pollack said. Rabbi Rosenzveig, mean- while, said the HMC will not charge admission to the mu- seum. "It would defeat the pur- pose if we would charge ad- mission," he said. "We are trying to, find ways to secure funds. We hope the governor will realize that we serve the schools more than perhaps any other institution in Writer Says Holocaust Is Ignored NOAM M.M. NEUSNER Staff Writer s ill udith Miller, a New York Times editor and writer, said Sunday night that the preservation of the memory of the Holo- caust has been inadequate in several countries, including the United States. "To me, it is a barometer of how honestly people are con- fronting their past," she said in a speech at the Holocaust Memorial Center's annual fund-raising dinner. "There is a long way to go." Ms. Miller, in a summary of some of the themes and issues raised in her 1990 book, One, By One, By One, described how many Euro- pean nations have managed to marginalize the Holocaust as an element in their histories. Austria, for example, has inverted the events of the Holocaust by painting them- selves as victims of Hitler's aggression. This inversion, 14 FRIDAY, OCTOBER 25, 1991 Ms. Miller - said, besides be- ing incorrect, often leads to hostility to other victims, especially the most promi- nent victims of Hitler — the Jews. "The Austrians became very defensive, extremely hostile and quite unwilling to examine their past," said Ms. Miller. - Similarly, the Dutch take great pride in the legacy of Anne Frank, the Amster- She described how many European nations marginalize the Holocaust. dam Jewish girl whose diary has become part of the Hobo- caust canon. But the Dutch overlook their past, which included the highest kill rate of Jews of any country besides Poland, the highest percen- tage of Nazi partisans before German occupation and an alarming compliance with Nazi decrees for the roundup of Jews. Ms. Miller, who reported for the Times - the trial of Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie, said there are "troubling indications" that the lessons of the Holocaust, if not faced, lead to a resur- facing of the very same strains of racial hate. She pointed to the rise of neo-Nazi skinheads in. east- ern Germany as an example of this phenomencin because, she said, "this was not the part of Germany which was made to come to grips with its past." And in the United States, which became the second largest home to Holocaust survivors after Israel, the memory of the Holocaust has become a "political football" for fund-raisers and the .publicity-hungry. Detroit's Holocaust Memorial Center, she said, is a notable excep- tion to this. "Many of the projects (in the U.S.) are little more than sound and light shows," she said. "The Holocaust is not a theme park." What's worse, she said, the Holocaust has become an "obsessive interest of young Jews." What's left is a Jew- ish identity bereft of any of the positive elements of the religion and culture — its values and customs. "Is it any wonder that these young people later re- ject Judaism?" she said. Also at the dinner, held at the Westin Hotel, the Holo- caust Center honored Jan Karski with its annual Righteousness Award. Mr. Karski was a Polish diplo- mat during the war, serving as an underground courier for the Resistance. Mr. Karski, a Polish Catholic, personally witnessed the atrocities of the Warsaw Ghetto and the Belzec death camp, and he told Allied leaders —in- cluding President Franklin D. Roosevelt — what he saw. ❑ Michigan. To defeat such an extremely educational vehi- cle for the state is mindbog- gling." HMC opened as a museum and research center in 1984 on the grounds of the Maple- Drake Jewish Community. Campus. The museum raises about $150,000 a year from its annual fund-raiser, held last Sunday, and from its 2,200 members. Membership fees range from $100 to $1,000 a year. "The funding cut to the Holocaust Center eliminates its ability to continue to serve as one of the top research centers in the nation," Mr. Faxon said. "Michigan's Holocaust Center is the only Holocaust museum in the nation that will not receive some state support." 1=1 Sexuality Series Final Lecture Dr. Mark Evans will pre- sent the final lecture in a series of lectures entitled "Judaism and Sexuality," 8-9 p.m. Oct. 29 at United Hebrew Schools. Dr. Evans, director of the Division of Reproductive Genetics and associate pro- fessor of OB/GYN, Hutzel Hospital and Wayne State University, will speak on "Technologies of Parenting in Modern Medicine." The program is co- sponsored by the Midrasha- College of Jewish Studies, Congregation Beth Achim and Jewish Community Center for Metropolitan Detroit. There is a charge. For infor- mation, call the Midrasha of- fice, 352-7117.