DETROIT I t,,.,. ,,,,,, , ...,, , :,-,ci,•,•., • .•,,,:ic•N::: , --,- Red Cross Aids Survivors In Search For Relatives ,‘s AMY J. MEHLER Staff Writer • ;:s•e., ,<— • • t:n e — .,... k sk ‘ i„,. 41 : > i k ,,, k ... : ..4. , ... •. -,,,,, ,-.: „„ . ,...., „kT‘ ,....., r ttijt \'Nc. lei ,,,,,,,,,, sacra; .‘,•;,::,•., it & Wasda f,a i GLASS CLOUDED INSULATED UNITS?? r:sto.00 oFF- I jrirl - 5-071 ri2- • EACH I ON ON EACH - I I I WINDOW IDOOR WALL! 10 Year Warranty I NOW OPEN-SOUTHFIELD 24055 W. 10 Mile (E. of Telegraph) 353-1500 11..... offer expires 5/15/92. 10 Year Warranty .1 Loffer expires 5/15/92 W. BLOOMFIELD FARMINGTON 573. 1 W. Maple 31205 Grand River 476-0730 855-3400 Joe Stamell's C:AorgW) 5.00 Dynamic Muffler & Brake 0 P w EN Mt ON a SdAT Mufflers Brakes Shocks Alignment Maintenance BRING IN YOUR COUPONS & WARRANTIES WE'LL WORK WITH YOU!!! 16 FRIDAY MAY 1, 1992 FREE ESTIMATES All services guaranteed !): \-4014 MILE RD '1 4 4 4,4, DYNAMIC CAR CARE CENTER 32661 Northwestern Hwy. Farmington Hills 851-3883 artin Water watch- ed many a Yom Hashoah (Day of Remembrance) come and go as he searched for his brother, three sisters, four nephews and niece ever since he was liberated from Auschwitz, Jan. 19, 1945. Writing to government agencies in Russia and Poland led nowhere, he said. So now, Mr. Water, 72, a survivor of the Warsaw and Lodz ghettos, is turning to an unlikely source: the International Red Cross. The Southeastern Mich- igan Chapter of the Ameri- can Red Cross is now accep- ting applications from Jew- ish and non-Jewish families inquiring about relatives lost between 1933 and 1952. The chapter office in downtown Detroit mails forms to inquiring families, and sends the completed forms to the Holocaust and War Victims Tracing Center in Baltimore, Md., estab- lished in September 1990. From there, inquiries are sent to the International Tracing Bureau in Arolson, Germany. "We know many Jewish people have reservations about the Red Cross, about what the Red Cross didn't do for Jewish civilians during the war,” said Diane Paul, director of the Baltimore center. Mrs. Paul spoke Monday to a group of 25 Holocaust survivors at the Holocaust Memorial Center in West Bloomfield. "We're trying to get the word out and let Jewish peo- ple know that we're available and that we can help," she said. "The tracing bureau in Germany has 46 million documents designated for 14 million people." The International Red Cross has a bloodied, tar- nished image among many Jews, especially Holocaust survivors, according to Rabbi Charles Rosenzveig, director of the BlVIC. He said it's because the Interna- tional Red Cross failed to report what was really going on inside the concentration camps. "Delegations of Red Cross officials visited There- sienstadt and admitted that they weren't fooled by the show the Germans put on," he said, "Yet, they didn't make their knowledge public or inform the proper authorities." Rabbi Rosenzveig said suspicions linger because of the International Red Cross' refusal to officially recognize the Magen David Adorn, the ambulance and blood service of Israel. "It's been a source of con- cern for many years," the rabbi said. Mrs. Paul said the Red Cross has described its failure to react during the Holocaust as "the greatest defeat in our 125-year hu- manitarian mission." "Two books written about the International Com- mittee of the Red Cross con- cluded that the Red Cross could've done more during the war," Mrs. Paul said. "We want to accept and understand the feelings of The Red Cross failure to inform the world of the Holocaust, and its failure to recognize Magen David Adorn, leaves Jews skeptical. / / survivors, but it's sad that; \ many don't want to take ad- vantage of what we can ( offer." While Rabbi Rosenzveig thinks the tracing service is c/ valuable, he also thinks it's scope is too limited. "It could be helpful to many people," he said, "but ( there were too many Jews I murdered without any records." Mrs. Paul said the tracing center has received 8,000 in-' quiries since it opened in 1990. Families may have to wait up to a year-and-a-half for an answer. "But no matter what the response is, a case worker , will inform the family mem- ) bers in person, face to face," she said. Mr. Martin still isn't so sure. He has heard it all ( before. "I left the Warsaw Ghetto in January 1940 to travel to I Lodz to buy some food with < the money my mother gave me," Mr. Martin said. "Once <, I got there, I couldn't go back. "I know my chances of fin- ding something about them are nil, but I couldn't live with myself if I didn't try." ❑