COMPILED BY ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM
Israel Looks At Books
I
2
1
2
srael recently hosted two
major book fairs in honor
of Israeli Book Week,
which began this year on
June 2.
Tel Aviv was the site of
the Israel Book Fair, hosted
in an outdoor plaza (pic-
tured), while the nation's
capital city held the 16th
Biennial
Jerusalem
International
Book Fair,
featuring
some
100,000 vol-
umes from
44 countries.
Among the
exhibits were
several world
"premieres,"
such as Yev-
geny Yev-
tushenko's
Don't Die
Before Your
Death, print- _
ed in Israel !:
in a limited '-
edition for
Israel's
Russian-
reading public; the Dead
Sea Scrolls facsimile edition
of the texts from the Judean
Desert, containing repro-
ductions of 5,000 pho-
tographs; and a miniature
book (that can fit in the
palm of one's hand) with
100 blessings.
For the first time since
the Jerusalem Book Fair's
inauguration in 1963, repre-
sentatives from India,
Thailand and the People's
Republic of China manned
stands featuring books of
their countries. The Chinese
stand included poems by
Mao Zedong in bilingual
Chinese/ English editions,
according to Israeli reporter
Lili Eylon. A display from
an Egyptian
publishing
house ex-
hibited the
entire works
of Nobel
Prize winner
Mahfouz, all
signed by the
author.
One popu-
lar Book Fair
feature was
"Children's
World," a
large area
lined with
children's
books in var-
ious lan-
guages.
Here, chil-
dren listened
to stories
read aloud, wrote their own
books in collaboration with
authors and watched pup-
pet shows.
A two-day forum, "The
Writer as Conscience of the
World," featured American
authors Calvin Trillin and
Cynthia Ozick; Israeli
writer David Grossman;
and Russian poet Yevgeny
Yevtushenko.
AAEJ Votes To Close Its Doors
A j
fter 24 years of work
on behalf of Ethiopian
ews, the American
Association for Ethiopian
Jews (AAEJ) has voted to
close its doors after Rosh
Hashanah.
With a membership of
45,000 nationwide, the
Washington, D.C.-based
organization worked with
both the Israeli and U.S.
governments, including cre-
ating the Congressional
Caucus for Ethiopian Jews,
which grew to include more
than 155 members of
Congress.
AAEJ's board of directors
has decided to close down
because the organization
has accomplished its mis-
sion. "With the 50,000-
strong Ethiopian Jewish
community past the initial
phase of absorption, the
board decided to close rather
than to change its mandate,"
a spokesman said
Among the AAEJ's pro-
jects was helping coordinate
Operation Solomon, the
1991 airlift that brought
14,193 Ethiopian Jews to
Israel.
In May 1990, AAEJ repre-
sentatives in Ethiopia initi-
ated a mass Migration that
brought 20,000 Jews from
their mountain villages to
the capital city of Addis
Ababa. Once in the capital,
the AAEJ provided housing,
food, medical care and an
employment program for the
refugees.
Council Formed
On Environment
T
he American-Israel
Friendship League
recently created a new
environmental advisory
council, headed by AIFL
board member Alan Smith.
The council will help facil-
itate the exchange of infor-
mation and technology on
environmental problems
between the United States
and Israel. It also will sup-
port new research to
improve the environment in
both countries, and encour-
age greater awareness
among Americans about
environmental issues in
Israel.
For information, contact
the AIFL, 134 E. 39th St.,
New York, N.Y. 10016.
Israel Opens
Rehab Center
H
aifa — Israel has just
opened a private
drug rehabilitation
center for alcoholics, drug
addicts and victims of eating
disorders like anorexia.
Located at the Herzliya
Medical Center in Haifa, the
program lasts six weeks and
costs $3,500. It is similar to
the Betty Ford Treatment
Center in the United States.
Program Helps
New Doctors
B
en-Gurion University
of the Negev has
established an insti-
tute aimed at easing the
absorption of immigrant
physicians into the Israeli
medical system.
The Postgraduate Studies
Institute for Immigrant
Physicians will upgrade the
knowledge and skills of par-
ticipants and enable them to
compete for senior positions
in the medical system.
The 47 participants will
be chosen from 300 appli-
cants. They will specialize
in family practice, internal
medicine, pediatrics, pathol-
ogy and psychiatry.
For the past four years,
BGU has offered courses for
newly arrived physicians in
preparation for the Israeli
licensing examinations.
Key Demjanjuk Backers Are Linked
To Programs Admitting Nazis To U.S.
ewly
discovered
American intelligence
records reveal that
the two chief American sup-.
porters of John Demjanjuk,
convicted in Israel of being
the deathcamp guard known
as "Ivan the Terrible," were
key players in secret post-
World War II operations to
admit wanted Nazis into the
United States.
Charles Allen Jr., a war
crimes investigator, writes
in the current issue of
Reform, Judaism that the
two principal Demjanjuk
backers also were leaders in
top-secret, post-war U.S.
government programs run
by the Army Counter-
intelligence Corps, the State
Department and the Central
Intelligence Agency to
recruit Nazis in the Cold
War against the Soviet
Union.
Mr. Allen identifies the
late Edward O'Connor as
chief architect of the pro-
grams. A ranking official
with the National Catholic
Welfare Conference, he was
appointed to such top gov-
ernment posts as the
Displaced Persons Com-
mission and the National
Security Council, where he
conceived and implemented
the Nazi rescue operations.
Mr. O'Connor's close asso-
ciate was Jerome 13rentar, a
Cleveland travel agent who
briefly attended the
University of Michigan.
The two men, Mr. Allen
writes, worked to save
accused war criminals, from
deportation from the United
States until Mr. O'Connor's
death in 1985. Both testified
in federal courts or spoke
out on behalf of former
Treblinka guards Liudas
Kairys and Feodor
Federenko.
While with the National
Security Council, Mr.
O'Connor conceived plans
for U.S. Army Labor Service
units, to comprise nationals
of Soviet-occupied countries
who would serve as combat
support and occupation
troops in the event of a
Soviet attack on Western
Europe.
Among the thousands of
Eui-opean Nazi collaborators
admitted to the Army Labor
Service units was Ivan, later
John, Demjanjuk, according
to Mr. Allen.
How To Help Victims Of The Floods
S
t. Louis (JTA) — As
record flooding devas-
tates much of the
Midwest, Jewish communi-
ties have initiated relief
efforts to aid victims.
Flooding
in
Iowa,
Minnesota, Missouri,
Nebraska, South Dakota
and Wisconsin has left at
least 17 dead and forced
thousands from their
homes. Officials have esti-
mated crop and property
damage at more than $1 bil-
lion.
The Jewish Federation of
St. Louis has started an
emergency fund drive, with
plans to match donations up
to a total of $10,000.
In Iowa, which has been
declared a federal disaster
area, the Des Moines
Jewish Federation is coordi-
nating a fund-raising drive
and food-collection cam-
paign. Jewish institutions
in the Des Moines area have
not been damaged by flood
waters, though the entire
city has been without drink-
ing water for days.
For more information
contact the Des Moines
Jewish Family Service at
(515) 277-6321. Donations
also may be sent to the
Jewish Federation of St.
Louis, 12 Millstone Campus
Dr., St. Louis, MO 63146
(make checks payable to the
St. Louis Bi-State Chapter,
Red Cross St. Louis
Disaster Fund).
Cash donations to help
those in the Iowa-Illinois
area may be sent to the
Disaster Relief Fund, P.O.
Box 399, Davenport, Iowa
52805, or make a credit
card donation by calling 1-
800-842-2200.