THE JEWISH NEWS

SEVENTY-FIVE CENTS

SERVING DETROIT'S JEWISH COMMUNITY

DECEMBER 13, 1991 16 TEVET 5752

Soviet Disunion
Worries Emigres

AMY J. MEHLER

Staff Writer

I

t's fallen like a deck of
frayed playing cards, but
Moisey Grinshpun isn't
sorry. He said the rot had set
in long before leaders of
three Slavic republics poked
their fingers into the house
of cards once called the
Soviet Union.
Mr. Grinshpun, from the
city of Kishinev in the re-
public of Moldavia, can't
predict the overall effect of
this week's collapse of the
Soviet Union. But he is sure
of one thing: whatever
happens, it won't be good for
Jews.
"I'm afraid," said Mr.
Grinshpun, a computer pro-
grammer living in
Southfield. "I'm afraid the
national republics will feel
free to turn against the peo-
ple who are not their nation-
ality."
Despite Soviet President
Mikhail S. Gorbachev's
impassioned pleas for unity,
leaders of Russia, Ukraine
and Byelorussia rang the
death knell of the Soviet

Union Dec. 8 and proclaimed
the birth of a new Com-
monwealth of Independent
States open to all states of
the former union.
The move, led by President
Boris N. Yeltsin of Russia,
President Leonid M. Krav-
chuk of Ukraine and
Stanislav Shushkevich,
chairman of the Byelorus-
sian Parliament, stripped
Mr. Gorbachev of his office
and authority. The three re-
publics comprise nearly
three-fourths of the Soviet
Union's 290 million people
and most of its economic
strength.
For Mr. Grinshpun, who
left Kishinev five months
ago, the news did not deliver
such a harsh blow. "Gorba-
chev has been history for a
long time," he said matter of
factly. "Ever since August's
attempted coup, the country
as a union has been a step
from its grave."
William Zimmerman, di-
rector of the Center for Rus-
sian and East European
Studies at the University of
Continued on Page 38

HMC Still Hopes
To Retain Grant

KIMBERLY LIFTON

Staff Writer

B

Is it too late, or just in time,
for the Jewish community of Southfield?
L Staying Or Moving?

Some Jews are coming back,
others are fleeing Southfield.

L An Economic Center

Business is booming in the
metro area's new downtown.

L., Still Strong And Integrated

The changing face of education
in Southfield's public schools.
Page 22

ecause of efforts led
by a few state legis-
lators, the Holocaust
Memorial Center could re-
tain some funding from the
state.
This week, the state House
of Representatives approved
the Berman-Dobb bill call-
ing for reinstatement of a
$50,000 grant to the muse-
um as part of a $90 million
1992 budget supplement.
The state Senate, led by
Lana Pollack, D-Ann Arbor,
David Honigman, R-West
Bloomfield, and Jack Faxon,
D-Farmington Hills, ap-
proved a similar appropria-
tion in November.
Now the bill will be placed
before a House-Senate con-
ference committee and is ex-
pected to be approved or re-
jected by the end of this
week.

If approved, the bill re-
quires Gov. John Engler's
signature. John Truscott,
spokesman for Mr. Engler,
said the governor hasn't said
whether he would veto the
bill.
The HMC, on the grounds
of the Maple-Drake Jewish
Community Center in West
Bloomfield, raises funds
from its 2,200 members and
from an annual dinner that
nets about $150,000 each
year. It operates on a
$900,000 yearly budget.
"The Holocaust Center
contributes enormously to
public education in this
state," said Rep. Barbara
Dobb, R-Commerce
Township. "It also serves as
a valuable resource center
for educators across the state
and the country.
"It is not a shrine for the
Jewish people," Ms. Dobb
said. "Jewish people live
Continued on Page 38

MARCH 27, 1992

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