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from it. On the other hand is the dan-
ger of overexposure, which immunizes
people to the Holocaust and whatever
lessons one might derive from it."
Samek said Svoray was invited to
speak again because of the need to
relate the Holocaust to current events.
"Kristallnacht is an occasion that has
not recently been commemorated on
campus," Samek said. "It was the
Celia Alcoff
"It was difficult," Schnee said,
"because we didn't fit in. Absolutely
did not fit into the American psy-
che, which is so different.
"We come here, the first day we
arrived in Detroit. Of course nobody
had a job, nobody had any money.
Do you think we went out looking
for jobs? No. My dad took us to the
art institute [Detroit Institute of
Arts]. Because that's how you did it
in Europe: You go to a strange city,
and you look at the art," she
recalled, her voice rising with light
laughter.
Despite gaps in culture and lan-
guage, she and her family found suc-
cess in their new environs. She stud-
ied design, married Ed Schnee and
together they opened an interior
decorating shop (Adler-Schnee) in
downtown Detroit.
Judy Endelman, who is the muse-
um's chief curator and director of
historical resources, as well as a
friend of the Schnees, facilitated the
desk's donation and expedited its
display.
"I just thought it would be really
wonderful to have it up for
Kristallnacht," Endelman said.
"Coincidentally, we actually have the
Jewish Community Council exhibit
largest initial step in Hitler's Final
Solution and marking it would conse-
quently serve to bring about a positive
discussion of discrimination and anti-
Semitism, which still exist today.
Svoray is the perfect man to tell this
story.
Gitelman said he considers
Kristallnacht an event worthy of com-
memoration. For contemporary peo-
Josh Samek
(celebrating the JCCouncil's 60 years
of service) here right now."
She thinks the desk fits right in
with the museum's collection and
credits the Schnees for seeing an
opportunity to contribute a piece of
great significance. "They, I think,
were familiar with the way we've
redone our furniture exhibit, part of
which talks specifically about the
emotional element that can be in
things like pieces of furniture,"
Endelman said.
Schnee, of course, has the most
emotional connection with the desk
and the most intimate history with
it. "I remember what my mother
kept in each drawer. It's kind of nice
to remember it that way. Strangely
enough, I don't remember just how
badly that desk was damaged," even
though she could recall vividly the
destruction throughout her child-
hood home.
"It's really hard to really talk
about it," she said, "because you talk
about it and it all comes back and
you try not to think of it, because
it's been very good here (in the
United States) for us." But that dif-
ficulty, she suggested, is a good rea-
son that the desk is on public dis-
play.
pie, the message of Kristallnacht can
be that sometimes what starts out as a
riot or a limited government action is
either the planned or unintended pre-
lude to greater horrors to come," he
said.
Alcoff said Svoray "demonstrates
through his own actions that we must
take the initiative and challenge the
Neo-Nazi movement if we are ever
going to overcome it." P1
Yaron Svoray will speak 7:30
p.m. Monday, Nov. 8, in the
University of Michigan's Union
Ballroom in Ann Arbor as part
of a Kristallnacht commemora-
tion hosted by the Holocaust
Conference Committee at U-M.
As a related event, the 1999
Academy Award-winning Shoah
Foundation documentary, The
Last Days, will be shown 7 p.m.
Nov. 10 in Ann Arbor's
Michigan Theater. There is no
charge for either program. For
information, call U-M Hillel,
(734) 769-0500.
Community
Events
The Survivors of the Shoah Visual
History Foundation and the Hillel
Foundation for Jewish Campus Life
will present the Holocaust film The
Last Days 8 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 9,
at Eastern Michigan University's
Roosevelt Hall and 8 p.m.
Wednesday, Nov. 10, at Oakland
University's Vandenberg cafeteria.
The Oakland building requires
valid picture ID for entrance. For
information about the OU show-
ing, ill (313) 577-3459 or
hillel@wayneeedu; for the event at
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EMU, which includes an education
program led by University of
Michigan professor and Holocaust
researcher Henry Greenspan, call
EMU Hillel at (734) 482-0456.
The Jewish Community Center
of Metropolitan Detroit's
Yiddish/Jewish Video Series pre-
sents More Than Broken Glass:
Memories of Kristallnacht 7:30 p.m.
Sunday, Nov. 21, and 12:45 p.m.
Monday, Nov. 22, at the Jimmy
Prentis Morris Building, 15110W
10 Mile Road, Oak Park.
11/5
1999