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Beyond Kristallnacht
Your cover story highlights the 70th
anniversary of the Kristallnacht
pogrom, launched by the Nazis in
November 1938 against unarmed
Jews and Jewish businesses all over
Germany. The article, "Kristallnacht:
Recalling the horror of the 'Night
of Broken Glass' 70 years ago" (Nov.
6, page A11) mentions the 1935
Nuremburg laws, which stripped
German Jews of German citizenship.
Another pivotal law that facili-
tated Nazi oppression of Jews was the
German weapon control law, enacted
in March 1938. The 1938 law stripped
Jews of the right to keep and bear
arms.
In conjunction with Kristallnacht,
the Nazi government used the admin-
istrative authority of the 1938 weapon
law to require immediate Jewish
surrender of all firearms and edged
weapons, and to mandate a sentence
of death or 20 years in a concentration
camp for any violation. The Nazis had
reason to particularly fear the Jews —
many of whom were front-line veter-
ans of World War I. To carry out their
genocidal plans, the Nazis singled out
Jews to be disarmed of all weapons
— even knives and old sabers.
The anniversary of Kristallnacht
should serve as a reminder of the hor-
rors perpetrated by the Nazi regime.
And it should also remind Jews of
the insidiousness of laws that deny
citizens the right to the means of self-
defense.

Stuart Weiss
West Bloomfiled

United For Israel
On Nov. 2, we had the privilege of
attending and speaking at the Thank
God for Israel Day at the Sheraton
Hotel in Novi. This annual event, spon-
sored by the Friends of Israel Gospel
Ministry, is held to educate and bring
the Christian and Jewish communities
together in their steadfast support for
the State of Israel.
There were 150 enthusiastic pro-
Israel supporters who attended the
luncheon. We listened with great inter-
est to our keynote speaker, author and
journalist Don Feder, who reminded
us of how interconnected the United
States is to Israel historically. He very
succinctly presented the challenges
our two nations face today.
We came away from this experience
encouraged by our Christian friends
who expressed their wholehearted
commitment to the survival of the

State of Israel and its people.
As Psalm 133:1 states: "Behold, how
good and how pleasant it is for breth-
ren to dwell together in unity"

Susan Craft

Stand With Us/Michigan

Mark Segel
Zionist Organization of America/Michigan

Joshua Berkovitz

Friends of the Israel Defense Forces/

Michigan

Ed Kohl

Volunteers for Israel

Thirfty Council Shops
On behalf of National Council of
Jewish Women Greater Detroit Section,
I commend your recent MainStreets
article on the wonderful offerings of
our neighboring communities (Oct.
23, Section B). During these difficult
economic times, the media plays -a
critical role in supporting these estab-
lishments. As a Jewish newspaper, your
support of Jewish agencies and organi-
zations ids even more essential.
We at National Council of Jewish
Women/Grater Section Section would
like to remind readers about our
Council Thrift Shops among the shop-
ping venues in Berkley and Royal Oak.
The Council Thrift Shops will be
celebrating their 75th Diamond Jubilee
anniversary in 2009. For 75 years, we
have been supported by the generous
donations of our community and the
purchases of our customers.
We are proud that our stores pro-
vide quality merchandise at discount
prices, which, particularly in these
economic times, is a real find. The
income from these stores enable us to
provide our advocacy work on behalf
of women, children and families and
over 20 community service programs
including kosher Meals on Wheels,
Safe Place, our kosher temporary
housing for those in need of shelter
due to domestic abuse and our many
SPACE support groups.
NCJW/GDS has been a leading
Jewish Women's organization in our
community since 1891. With the sup-
port of our community members and
local Jewish newspaper, we will con-
tinue to provide needed services for
our community.

EAKS TO US. IT IN FIRES US.

D IT DEFINITELY TALKS BACK.

TENDER

Cathy Cantor, president

NCJW/GDS Southfield

EXCLUSIVE RETAILER

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Letters on page A8

271 WEST MAPLE

BIRMINGHAM, MICHIGAN

248.258.0212

November 13 • 2008

A7

