were giants who killed little chil-
At the same time, he added, "the
dren."
situation has improved, and the fact
After the war, the family was
that Jews are saying they want to live
reunited in Warendorf and decided
in Germany is not a bad sign for us."
to stay in Germany. Spiegel's father
He expressed concern about the
renovated the town's tiny Jewish
effect of "extreme right-wing and
chapel and led the first services
antisemitic poison" freely available
there.
on the Internet. But he applauded
Spiegel's election came over the
youth exchange programs between
objections of some who wanted a
Germany and Israel and said the
leader from a younger generation.
interest of young Germans in learn-
ing about
Judaism and
the Holocaust
has "never
been as great
as it is today."
Spiegel's
family comes
from the vil-
lage of
Warendorf in
the state of
Westphalia.
During World
War II, he was
hidden, along
— Paul Spiegel, pictured
with his moth-
beneath a portrait
er, Ruth, by
of the late Ignatz Bubis
Belgian farm-
ers. His father,
Hugo, and his
older sister, Rosa, were discovered
"I would prefer that the second
generation would have been elected,
and deported by the Nazis. Rosa
to overcome the shadow of the
never returned. Spiegel's father sur-
vived Buchenwald and Auschwitz
Holocaust," said Ronnie Golz, 53,
of Berlin. "We are living here for
and was liberated from Dachau.
In a recent interview, Spiegel
positive reasons and it is time for a
recalled how during the war years
change," said Golz. "This is only
"people had told me that Germans
half a change." ❑
,.....4ft,143414644:4
GRAND
OPENING
"They know
they are Jews,
but they don't
know what
Judaism is.
tions, Hajdenberg has frequently been
at odds with WJC officials over resti-
tution issues.
During the past year, a French gov-
ernment-appointed commission has
been probing the extent of Holocaust-
era looting of Jewish assets with an eye
to restitution.
Hajdenberg has emphasized the
importance of French institutions
acknowledging moral responsibility,
rather than financial compensation,
for Jews who suffered persecution
under the nation's World War II pro-
Nazi Vichy government.
The WJC has focused on the mon-
etary component, arguing that those
responsible for the wartime theft of
Jewish assets should repay what was
stolen. The differences led to a num-
ber of acrimonious exchanges between
Hajdenberg and WJC officials
In New York, WJC's executive
director, Elan Steinberg, said the ten-
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sion of six months ago has been
resolved. "I look forward to working
with my good friend Henri," he said.
Hajdenberg, who wrote a letter to
the WJC just prior to his election
expressing confidence that "we will
work in the future in close coopera-
tion," said in a phone interview,
"There is no more conflict."
As part of his pre-election platform,
Hajdenberg also promised to create a
pan-European Holocaust educational
program, encourage the continuing
renaissance of Eastern European Jewry
and to create closer ties between
European Jews and the peoples of the
Middle East and North Africa.
Hajdenberg, who became CRIF
president in 1995 and is now serving
his second term, has become personal-
ly involved in Middle East peace
efforts, including a visit to the region
last year when he met several Arab
leaders. ❑
33080 Northwest ern Hw
At Orchard Lake Road
West Bloomfield
248'5384;7747 • Fax 248 538 7749
1 / 1 4
2000
ff
\\\ \\\
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