Defying And Defeating Evil

Holocaust survivor and grandson say 'Never Again' to world's murderous forces.
i•
Li n
those they tried to still."

Keri Guten Cohen
Story Development Editor

THE six MILLIum

At a question-and-answer
session after the speakers, an
emotional Rabbi Dr. Mordehi
Waldman of Berkley said he
enry Gleisner of Oxford
felt the presence in the HMC
was born a Jew in
of the Six Million slain in the
Vienna, Austria, but he
Holocaust. With permission
survived World War II by pos-
from Gleisner, he sang a
ing as a non-Jewish Pole for four
poignant "El Maleh Rachamim"
years.
from the Jewish funeral service
Using false documents, 17-
that left many in tears.
year-old Gleisner became an
The event was sponsored
interpreter for a German con-
by the Zionist Organization
struction company working with
of America, StandWithUs-
the German army. In this job, he
Michigan and the HMC.
traveled throughout the Third
At the outset of the pro-
Reich "observing the absurd,
gram, ZOA representatives
barbaric regime more than those
urged political action, asking
stuck in concentration camps,"
audience members to contact
he told an audience of more than
Michigan elected officials to
300 on Jan. 27, U.N. Holocaust
support U.S. House Resolution
Remembrance Day and the 63rd
758, which calls for Palestinian
anniversary of the liberation
leader Mahmoud Abbas to
of the Auschwitz concentration
Chief Warrant Officer Eric Howe, U. S. Marine Corps, and his grandfather Henry H. Gleisner of Oxford.
abrogate 10 articles in the
Both spoke of fighting evil, each in his own generation.
camp.
Fatah constitution; House Joint
Gleisner shared the podium at
Resolution 76, condemning the
the Holocaust Memorial Center
turely gray hair, went straight to the core
the Kurds and Shia Muslims, Iraq's con-
sale of $123 million of bomb
in Farmington Hills with his grandson,
of his message about the modern-day evil tinued efforts to reconstitute its nuclear
delivery systems to Saudi Arabia; and U.S.
U.S. Marines Chief Warrant Officer Eric T.
the U.S. is battling in Iraq.
weapons program, reports that Iraq may
Senate Bill 2243, the Saudi Arabia account-
Howe of California. In different ways, both
"If we leave Iraq, it will be a great vic-
have had as many as seven mobile bio-
ability act.
have stared evil in the face and lived to tell tory for the most dangerous ideology on
logical weapons production facilities and
For more information on Jewish activ-
about it. Their joint message: Never again.
Earth today," Howe said. "We are fighting more.
ism, contact Lisa Glazer at (248) 282-0088
Like many survivors, Gleisner didn't
an ideology, supported by millions of
Howe effectively built his case for the
or at lisa@mizoa.org.
speak about his Holocaust experiences
people, that wishes to conquer the world
need to defeat the Iraq insurgents militar-
for 30 years. A rabbi urged him to write a
and routinely engages in mass murder
ily — no matter, he said, how unpopular
book because his story was so different.
of the innocent to achieve its totalitarian
that might be in the media and among the
He was finally compelled to start writing
goals."
American Left.
Answering
when Holocaust denier David Irving was
He said U.S. withdrawal from Iraq
Cheryl Israel of Farmington Hills
Israel's Critics
brought to trial in England in 1996.
would send signals that America can be
identified with Howe. The daughter of an
With the help of his wife, he finished his easily defeated. Islamists will be embold-
Air Force officer who served with Gen.
book Defying the Fates in two years. Now
ened to overthrow moderate Arab regimes, Douglas MacArthur in World War II, she
The Charge
his story will be made into a movie.
leaving no one to stand up to them. Iraq
says she realizes there's "suspicion and
Some Palestinian and Arab leaders
Gleisner spoke of how he became an
will become a more potent terror base
unfamiliarity with the military."
have called recently for Israel to cease
American citizen. It was not when he
than Afghanistan, and the U.S. military
"This was a good way to see the chutz-
being a state that connects its identity
received his citizenship papers in 1952 — • will suffer a crisis of morale difficult to
pah of the grandfather who survived the
to a religion.
but when he was working with American
overcome.
horrible things and his grandson who is
soldiers from Patton's Third Army who
Howe has served at the American
continuing to fight the same battle," she
The Answer
were liberating the Mauthausen concen-
embassies in Panama, Yugoslavia and
said.
This Arab argument is fallacious. About
tration camp in Austria in 1945.
Chile. He also took part in operations in
20 Arab and other nations declare
"These poor, relatively uneducated
Iraq, Kuwait and Somalia.
Emotional Responses
Islam as the state religion, and several
Americans stood and looked and cried,"
Throughout his speech, Howe reiterated
In 2005, U.S. Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, R-
others declare Christianity likewise.
Gleisner said. "When I saw this, I became
the message that "the civilian leadership
Livonia, attended the 60th anniversary of
Israel has no official state religion and
an American. It's ironic that I have a
[of the U.S.] has got to listen to the mili-
the liberation of Auschwitz.
guarantees freedom of religion, but it is
grandson who is a highly decorated
tary leaders on the ground and the troops
"Every representative of you, the people,
the homeland for Jews.
Marine. He has fought for this country
who are there." He likened this current
should see what horror can be unleashed
- Allan Gale,
valiantly"
disconnect to what happened in Vietnam
by a government that brought evil to the
Jewish Community Relations Council of
in the mid-1960s to mid-1970s.
world," he told the audience at the HMC.
Metropolitan Detroit
Threat Of Iraq
His thorough progress report on the
"The Third Reich set out to silence an
Howe, 38, ramrod straight in his dress
© Jewish Renaissance Media, Jan. 31, 2008
Iraq war since it began late in 2002 out-
entire people ... You could feel their pres-
uniform and with neatly combed prema-
lined Saddam Hussein's atrocities against
ence at Auschwitz and hear the voices of

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A26 January 31 • 2008

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