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All the rsevvs that fits_ / Compiled b Elizabeth Applebaum

The Jewish Dimension
Of The Yugoslav Crisis

The Heart Of Terezin

osed in a wistful snapshot, sis-
ters Ghita and Zuzana Hojtas,
9 and 6, stare into the distance.
In a few months, July 1942, they will be
deported with their mother from Prague
to the Terezin Ghetto.
Three years later, the sisters are pho-
tographed again, this time in ill-fitting
Oothes and shabby shoes, but having
survived.
Encouraged by her husband, Milton
( Kaufman, Gita (the
spelling was chang-
ed in America) and
her sister, now Sue
Pinsky, have donat-
ed their collection of
Terezin Ghetto arti-
facts to A Living
Memorial to the
holocaust-Museum
*Jewish Heritage in
New York City.
Among their donations is a heart-
shaped pendant, bearing the transport
number AAL 409, belonging to Ghita
1-iojtas.
In the hope of bringing his family af-
ter him, the girls' father, Emil, immi-
grated to England before the war. But
he was not able to get Ghita, Zuzana and

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their mother out of Czechoslovakia in
time to escape deportation. Still, all three
managed to survive the war.
Zuzana can be seen in the Nazi pro-
paganda film The Fuhrer Gives the Jews
a City, created in 1944 to showcase
Terezin as a "model ghetto." Most of
the actors were killed upon the film's
completion.
After the war, Emil Hojtas was re-
united with his we and daughters. The
family immigrated
in 1948 to the U.S.
In addition to the
pendant, the Hojtas
contribution in-
cludes letters from
Ghita, written to her
mother while she
was quarantined in
the hospital; a port-
folio of drawings by
Zuzana; and Ghita's
brown, scuffed suitcase, which she car-
ried with her to the United States.
Terezin was constructed in northern
Bohemia at the end of the 18th centu-
ry. In the autumn of 1941, the Nazis
chose the fortress town as the site of
a Jewish ghetto and renamed it There-
sienstadt.

Happy News (Really)
About Paying Taxes

A new state tax law will make it
even easier to give to food banks like
Yad Ezra.
Beginning with 1992 taxes, Michi-
ganians will be allowed to receive in
state tax credits up to 50 percent of
the cash amount donated to a food
bank. The new credit may be applied
in addition to credits already given for
contributions to Michigan colleges
and universities, libraries and public
broadcasting facilities.
The credit is limited to half of the
total contribution. Those filing joint
returns may claim up to $200, while
those filing single returns have up to
$100.
Ithamar Koenigsberg, a CPA in
Southfield, gives this example:

Joe G.'s 1992 taxable income is
$10,000. The state income tax rate in
Michigan is 4.6 percent, meaning Joe
would have to pay $460 in taxes.
But suppose Joe is such a gen-
erous guy that first he gave $400 to
Michigan State University. He and his
wife would be able (under current
law) to deduct $200 from that $460
figure. On top of that, Joe gave an-
other $400 to Yad Ezra. With the new
law, he will be allowed to deduct an-
other$200, bringing his total tax to
$60.
Contributions applied for state tax
credits also may be counted as char-
itable deductions on the federal
return.

ow Jews have fared in the Yu-
goslav civil war, along with the
future of Yugoslav Jewry, is
the focus of a new pamphlet, "The Jew-
ish Dimension of the Yugoslav Crisis,"
published by the American Jewish Com-
mittee.
The nine-page booklet offers histor-
ical background and describes present-
day attitudes toward Jews in Serbia and
Croatia. It was written by Jennifer Gol-
ub, an AJCommittee research analyst.
Prior to the civil war, about 6,000
Jews lived in Yugoslavia, Ms. Golub
writes. Today, an estimated 300-700 re-
main.
Although Serbia is relatively free of
anti-Jewish incidents, Ms. Golub reports
the following:
1) In 1989, authorities seized copies
of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion
from bookstores near Belgrade Univer-
sity.
2) In February 1992, the Yugoslav
state news agency was quoted as as-
cribing Russia's recognition of Slovenia
and Croatia to "influence of the Jewish
lobby on the highest ranks of Russian
diplomacy."
3) In January, the official newspa-

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Tiny Treasures
In The News

* Israel is about to construct a mas-
sive new tunnel under Mt. Carmel in
Haifa, connecting the northern and
southern entrances to the city and ac-
celerating traffic flow. According to a
report in Engineering New Record, the
1.7 mile-long tunnel will cost about
$100 million.
* Keep your eyes open next month
for a "Mickey Mouse Club" segment
featuring Marvin's Marvelous Mechan-
ical Museum of Farmington Hills. Walt
Disney Production workers filmed the
segment at Marvin's, owned by Marvin
Yagoda, in August.
* Wales has become the latest na-
tion to establish a Friends of Alyn chap-
ter. Alyn is an Israel-based organization
that aids disabled children. The Welsh
Friends of Alyn was started by Peter
Gray, professor emeritus of pediatrics
at the University Hospital of Wales.
Another Welsh-Alyn tie: After hear-
ing an Alyn guest speaker, teacher Jane
Woodford initiated a program to twin
Pontlanfraith Junior High School in
south Wales with Alyn. The students
maintain regular contact with Alyn chil-
dren and have held a number of fund
raisers to benefit the organization.
* The Friends of Israel Disabled War
Veterans organization helps Israeli sol-
diers who, despite their disabilities, con-
tinue to demonstrate willpower as they
cope with pain, operations, setbacks
and new challenges.
For information, write the Friends of
Israel Disabled War Veterans, 15 E. 26th
St., New York, N.Y. 10010.

per of the Serbian Orthodox Church pub-
lished an article, "Jews Crucify Christ
Again." The Serbian media condemned
the article.
In Croatia, anti-Semitism has been
more visible. Croatia's President Franjo
Tudjman has publicly expressed what
can only be interpreted as anti-Semitic
views, though he has taken numerous
steps to suggest a more positive attitude
toward Jews, Ms. Golub writes.

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Recent anti-Semitic incidents in Ser-
bia include the selling of Nazi symbols
and publications, and the 1991 bomb-
ing of Zagreb's Jewish Community Cen-
ter and cemetery, "an attack that the
Croatian government at first blamed on
the Serbs but later attributed to right-
wing Croatians," Ms. Golub says.
"All in all," Ms. Golub concludes, "the
future of Yugoslav Jewry in a situation
of civil war is clouded and filled with fore-
boding."

Nothing Phoney About
This New Mom Service

all this telephone service the
new Dr. Spock (or Dr. Brazel-
ton, for parents in the know).
A group of women in Toronto have

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created a telephone "warm-up" line that
gives practical parenting advice to new
Jewish moms throughout the area. Six-
teen volunteers staff the lines, which
connect mothers with each other to dis-
cuss everything from getting baby to
sleep to how to prepare for a brit.
Called "Dial Another Mother," the
service operates six days a week (clos-
ing only for Shabbat). In addition to pro-
viding callers with names of other
moms, the volunteers can direct new
mothers to parenting services and sup-
ports, according to a column in the Jew-

ish Press.

"Dial Another Mother" comes com-
plete with rabbinic endorsement.

