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Never Too Young: Boy
Talks About Genocide
RUTH LIMIANN STAFF WRITER
I
Robert Gniewek
n a decade of surveys show-
ing that 50 percent of Amer-
ican high school students
don't know what the word
"Holocaust" means, Michael
Fleischmann, 9, believes no
child is too young to learn.
Earlier this month, the
fourth-grader delivered an oral
report about righteous gentiles,
who helped Jews during World
anti-Semitism two years ago.
Vandals painted swastikas on
his parents' house in Bloomfield
Township. He also pointed to
rising waves of neo-Nazi vio-
lence in Germany.
"I think children should be
educated about the Holocaust
as soon as they can under-
stand," Michael said. 'The more
educated you are, the less like-
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Michael Fleischmann with parents Yossi and Martha Jo.
War II, to his class at Pine Lake
Elementary School in the
Bloomfield Hills School District.
Michael says his peers should
understand the atrocities of
Nazi Germany. Michael's
grandmother is a survivor.
Many of his relatives perished
in the war. Because of these ex-
periences, Michael feels espe-
cially responsible for educating
himself and his classmates.
"The message I always heard
was: Never forget. Today, there
is a renewed Nazi sentiment,"
he said.
To prove his point, Michael
showed his class a police report
documenting an incident of
ly you are to fall victim to it."
Michael's parents, Yossie and
Martha Jo Fleischmann, point
to the "Revisionist" movement,
which denies the Holocaust oc-
curred. Revisionist articles have
been appearing with frequency
in campus newspapers around
the country.
"The story is not going to be
told unless this generation picks
up the baton," Ms. Fleischmann
said.
To prepare for his presenta-
tion, Michael read Number The
Stars, a Newbery Award medal
winner, and Twenty and Ten.
Both books describe Jewish chil-
dren's encounters with right-
eous gentiles, whom Michael
describes as heroic, compas-
sionate and loyal.
He chose to focus on right-
eous gentiles to show that the
world is not all bad. The fourth-
grader was encouraged by local
philanthropist and friend Wal-
ter Field, who last fall donated
$250,000 to establish a fund to
promote Jewish history educa-
tion. Mr. Field stresses that chil-
dren should learn positive
aspects of history, not just
calamities.
That's why Michael con-
structed a badge of honor.
Shaped like a Star of David, the
badge illustrates the universal
attributes of righteous gentiles.
Someday, Michael hopes to pre-
sent it to a righteous gentile like
Preben Munsch-Nielsen, a
Dane who helped save 1,400
Jews during the early 1940s.
Mr. Munsch-Nielsen lectured
at the Holocaust Memorial Cen-
ter in West Bloomfield earlier
this month.
Michael said reading books
about the Holocaust "was pret-
ty scary." But learning about
people who acted courageously
to save the Jews tempered his
feelings of despair.
"I was afraid while reading
both of the books," he said. "But
they also showed the brighter
side of things."
Michael's teacher, Joan
Cousins, said the class focused
on similar values during sub-
sequent discussions about his
report.
"If we grow up with these val-
ues, then maybe it won't hap-
pen again," she said. "Michael
pointed out to everyone in the
classroom that we all live in the
same world and we all need to
be sensitive to each other's
needs."
❑
Lawyer Accused Of
Anti-Semitic Remarks
JENNIFER FINER JEWISH NEWS INTERN
arlier this month, the
State of Michigan Attor-
ney Grievance Commis-
sion rested its case
against Matthew Beer, a lawyer
accused of making obscene and
anti-Semitic remarks to two
Jewish lawyers.
Last summer, Mr. Beer al-
legedly called Joel Serlin and
E
Barry Rosenbaum "heebs," used
obscene language and pushed
Mr. Serlin in a courthouse cor-
ridor, according to the formal
complaint filed with the griev-
ance commission.
Mr. Beer denies making ant-
Semitic comments.
"I think this whole thing was
really unnecessary," Mr. Beer
said. "I've had to defend myself
against these charges, and it
hasn't been the most pleasant
thing to go through."
The allegation arose during
a civil lawsuit over control of a
Pontiac nonprofit animal shel-
ter.
Mr. Beer purportedly ap-
ANTI-SEMITIC page 19