Restitution Claims: A Survivor's Perspective
New York City
little over 50 years ago, the
late Dr. Nahum Goldmann
was driven by a vision when
he convened representatives
of 23 major Jewish organizations and
organized the Conference on Jewish
Material Claims Against Germany.
At the time, all survivor organiza-
tions and many survivors were
against dealing with the Germans.
What Dr. Goldmann and his col-
leagues saw as a measure of justice to
the survivors — we saw as "blood
money" and fought against it.
Over the years, the Claims
Conference pursued and expanded its
A
Eli Zborowski, who survived the
Holocaust hiding in Poland, is a founder
and chairman of the American and
International Societies for Yad Vashem.
He is also the founder and honorary
president of the American Federation of
Jewish Fighters, Camp Inmates and
Nazi Victims and vice president of the
American Federation of Polish Jews. His
e-mail address is YadVashem@aol.com
mission, negotiated dozens of agree-
ments and secured more than $50 bil-
lion in compensation for survivors.
As survivors are now aging, many
are becoming more in need of physi-
cal and psychological assistance.
Restitution funds are now being used
— and must continue to be used —
primarily to provide essential services
such as homecare, medical care,
hunger relief and social programs
that bring comfort and companion-
ship.
The Jewish survivors who walked
away from the ashes of Nazi Europe
knew they had the responsibility of
being the voice of those who did not
survive.
But 50 years from now, when there
are no Holocaust survivors alive to
tell their stories, how will we ensure
that the world still learns of the
Shoah and of the Six Million mur-
dered Jews? It is the Jewish obliga-
tion of today to ensure that the
memory of the Holocaust does not
fade with the passing of the last sur-
vivor in years to come.
We can guarantee this lega-
cy , by supporting current
efforts to assist researchers
and develop educational pro-
orams such as seminars for
teachers and providing teach-
ing materials. We can also
educate future generations by
supporting efforts to docu-
ment, archive and-preserve
irreplaceable documents, pic-
tures, artifacts and, of course,
first-hand survivor accounts
of the Holocaust.
Yad Vashem is the world's
leading archive of
Holocaust-related materials.
Its principal missions are
commemoration and docu-
mentation; collection, exam-
ination and publication of
testimonies to the
Holocaust; the collection
ELI
ZBOROWSKI and memorialization of the
names of Holocaust victims;
Special
and research.
Commentary
The resulting databases
and archives have enabled
survivors and heirs to learn of the
fates of mysteriously disappeared
Conference Aid
family members, even decades later.
In 1953, when the Knesset estab-
Such troves of material were also
lished Yad Vashem, the
extensively used by parties to
Remembrance Authority in
Holocaust-related litigation that has
Jerusalem, the Claims Conference
led to recent compensation settle-
provided half the funding for the
ments for survivors such as the Swiss
first building and has been support-
Banks Settlement and the German
ing it ever since.
Foundation to compensate slave and
As a survivor, I am proud to have
forced laborers.
served as Chairman of the American
Surely most Holocaust survivors
and International Societies for Yad
support both the ability of families
Vashem.
ZBOROWSKI on page 34
Murder In The 101st Airborne
ow did the enemy get into
3,
our camp?
That's what Bart
Womack, a command ser-
geant major of the elite 101st
Airborne Division, asked himself as
a grenade rolled past him after 1
a.m. on Sunday at an American
camp in Kuwait.
The attacker worked methodically,
destroying an electricity generator,
throwing grenades into Womack's
tent and the two other command
tents, then shooting soldiers as they
fled their tents. One soldier died and
15 sustained injuries.
The enemy in this case appears to
be not what one might expect — an
Iraqi soldier or a Kuwaiti Islamist.
The only suspect in custody is
Hasan Karim Akbar, 31, a sergeant
in the 101st Airborne Division.
If Akbar were responsible for the
rampage, what might be his motiva-
tion? First reports suggest that, as a
devout African-American convert to
Islam, he identifies with the Iraqi
enemy against his fellow soldiers.
The Loss Angeles Times quotes him
stating, after he was apprehended,
"You guys are coming into our coun-
tries and you're going to rape our
E
Daniel Pipes is director of the Middle
East Forum. His e-mail address is
pipes@MEForum.org
women and kill our children." NBC
found that he "was opposed to the
killing of Muslims and opposed to
the war in Iraq." Reuters quotes one
source saying that "he's a Muslim,
and it seems he was just against the
war," while another told the news
agency that the violence was "politi-
cally motivated."
There is evidence to suggest that
Akbar expected to get in trouble
even before he arrived in Kuwait.
His former stepfather quotes him
saying that Akbar "did not want to
fight in this war, he didn't want to
go over there." A neighbor explains
why: "America shouldn't be going,"
Akbar told him; he judged it not
"right" to attack Iraq. And his moth-
er quotes him: "Mama, when I get
over there I have the feeling they are
going to arrest me just because of
the name that I have carried."
Two Major Issues
This incident raises two issues.
First, the U.S. government's initial
response indicates that, once again,
it is ascribing violence by an
American Muslim to purely personal
causes. Here's its take on prior homi-
cides:
• "A prescription drug for or con-
sistent with depression" to explain
why El Sayyid A. Nosair in 1990
shot Rabbi Meir Kahane.
cials are in a state of denial
• "Road rage" to explain
and confusion that is almost
why Rashid Baz in 1994 shot
as frightening as the terrorism
a chassidic boy on the
they are supposed to be fight-
Brooklyn Bridge.
ing," observes Dennis Prager,
• "Many, many enemies in
only slightly exaggerating.
his mind" to explain why Ali
Second, the Akbar incident
Hasan Abu Kamal in 1997
points to the suspect alle-
giance of some Muslims in
shot a tourist on the Empire
DAN TEL
U.S. government service.
State Building's observation
PIP ES
The case of Gamal Abdel-
deck.
Spe cial
• "A work dispute" to
Comm entary Hafiz has recently surfaced
— an FBI agent whose col-
explain why Hesham
leagues say he twice refused
Mohamed Ali Hadayet in
to record conversations with suspect-
2002 shot two people at the El Al
ed financiers of militant Islamic ter-
counter of Los Angeles International
rorism ("A Muslim does not record
Airport.
another Muslim"). Other cases are
And Akbar in 2003? U.S. Army
under investigation.
spokespersons talk variously about
All of which reinforces what I wrote
an "attitude problem," a desire for
in January: "There is no escaping the
"retribution," and "resentment." The
unfortunate fact that Muslim gov-
chief chaplain at Akbar's home base,
ernment employees in law enforce-
Fort Campbell, Kentucky,
announces (completely without evi-
ment, the military and the diplomat-
dence) that the incident is "nor an
ic corps need to be watched for con-
nections to terrorism, as do Muslim
expression of faith."
No one yet knows Akbar's motives,
chaplains in prisons and the armed
but ignoring that it fits into a sus-
forces. Muslim visitors and immi-
grants must undergo additional
tained pattern of political violence
background checks. Mosques require
by American Muslims amounts to
willful self-deception. When will
a scrutiny beyond that applied to
churches and temples."
officialdom acknowledge what is
staring them in the face?
As Sergeant Womack noted, the
enemy has already managed to "get
Its avoidance of reality has real conse-
into our camp." Do we have the will
quences, increasing the dangers
to stop him before he strikes again?
Americans face. "This country's offi-
3/28
2003
33