44.

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Goldwater is among the best of the
tually escaped and returned to
uneven bios in the book, probably
Budapest where he survived in a
because he was such an interesting,
"safe house" provided by the Swedish
likable person. A practicing Christian,
diplomat, Raoul Wallenberg.
he never shied away from his Jewish
(Wallenberg's fame and the efforts to
background.
learn of his fate after the war resulted
"I'm very proud of the part of me
largely from Lantos' efforts.)
that's Jewish," Goldwater is quoted as
Gedjenson, whose father escaped
saying. "I just wish I had inherited a
the Nazis and fought in the Soviet
bit more."
Red Army, was born in an American
And then there is Fiorello Henry La
refugee camp in Germany.
Guardia, the six-term Republican
Fortunately, most Jewish politicians
member of the House of
didn't have to undergo such "interest-
Representatives, much better known
ing lives" and, not surprisingly, their
as mayor of New York, the quintessen-
stories are less gripping.
tial Italian politician, whose mother
But the bio of Barney Frank, D-
was Jewish. (La Guardia earned some
Mass., the controversial, flamboyant
Jewish bona fides when the Nazis
character whose exit from his homo-
called him a "dirty Talmud Jew.")
sexual closet in 1987 only seemed to
La Guardia also was a character,
make him stronger politically,
best known for reading comics on
deserved to be written about with
the radio during a
newspaper strike.
But it was his reac-
tion to an unfair cam-
paign ad by his Jewish
opponent during his
first race for Congress
in 1922 that fascinates
most. A few days before
the election, a panicky
Tammany Hall distrib-
uted thousands of
leaflets calling on
Jewish voters to support
the Democratic, "and
Jewish," candidate,
Henry Frank, against
La Guardia, "who is a
pronounced antisemite
Celebrate. tire 1.sitv's .ZORtk
&day >1.11} g kkiai loaf
jot
ar the war and tht' sig'clue.01.r Phoff ,grdAY
and Jew-hater."
He could have
365 days of Detroit history.
responded by noting
that his mother was
Jewish, writes Stone. However, La
more flair, as did some others.
Guardia had always considered him-
Despite its limitations,. The
self to be Italian and felt that talking
Congressional Minyan serves as a decent
about his Jewish background would
reference book for those interested in
somehow compromise his integrity.
"the Jews of Capitol Hill," and as a sign
So, instead he issued a challenge to
— especially with this week's
-
his Jewish opponent to debate him
announcement of a Jewish candidate
— "in Yiddish."
for vice president — of how far the
Frank knew no Yiddish.
American-Jewish community has come.
The following day, the Forward
— Aaron Leibel
newspaper endorsed La Guardia ("one
Washington
Jewish Week
who speaks Yiddish like a true Jew
and who over the years has been a
good friend of the Jewish people"). La
Celebrate Detroit
Guardia won.
The Detroit Historical Society is
Two current members of Congress —
marketing a special 2001 calendar that
Thomas Lantos, D-Calif., and Samuel
documents the history of our city and
Gejdenson, D-Conn. — have gripping
celebrates its 300th birthday.
20th century-Jewish stories to tell.
The full-color, wall-size "Days of
Lantos, featured in the Oscar-win-
Detroit 2000 Calendar" features an
ning documentary The Last Days,
event in Detroit's history for each day
was born in Hungary and worked in
of the year.
a Nazi forced-labor camp. He even-
For example, Feb. 1 notes the open-

Approved by Council of Orthodox Rabbis

ing of Central High School on Tuxedo
(1926), and March 22 annotates the
opening of Northland, the first region-
al mall in the country (1954). April 12
tells of the announcement of successful
field trials of the Salk polio vaccine at a
press conference at the University of
Michigan (1955). Nov. 21 documents
the creation of United Jewish Charities
(1899), and Nov. 29 remembers Harry
Houdini's performance on the Belle
Isle Bridge (1906).
Illustrations for the calendar, which
feature images from Detroit's history,
are taken from the collection of the
late Detroit Free Press photographer
Tony Spina.
The calendar, priced, at $11.95, is
available by mail order ($3 shipping
and handling) or through the Old
Detroit Shop located in the Detroit
Historical Museum, as well as
at many bookstores throughout
the metro area. Proceeds benefit
the Detroit Historical Society.
To order, call (313) 833-7937.

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Film Planned

A Polish Jewish filmmaker
known for the Holocaust film
Europa, Europa is making a
film on the life of a Romanian
Holocaust survivor, according
to Variety magazine.
Gnieszka Holland's film will
be based on the book The
Seamstress: A Memoir of
Survival. The autobiography of
Tuval Bernstein, it recalled her
childhood in a Romanian
mountain village, her survival
during World War II as a
seamstress, her imprisonment
in the Ravensbruck concentra-
tion camp and her search to find lost
relatives after the war.
Bernstein died in 1983 at the age of 65.

— Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Vatican Exhibit

The Vatican is hosting an exhibit
commemorating Holocaust diarist
Anne Frank. The exhibit, which
opened Aug. 10 and runs through.
Sept. 11, displays hundreds of photos
dealing with racial persecution during
the Nazi era and will include a collec-
tion of every printed edition of the
Dutch teenager's diary.
The exhibit "reinforces the dialogue
between Catholics and Jews, which in
recent years has made significant steps
forward," the Vatican Council for
Culture said.

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