Obituaries

Obituaries from page C35

the cantorial soloist at Temple Sinai in
nearby Amherst for 91/2 years. She taught
musical and spiritual workshops, con-
ducted youth and adult choirs and per-
formed in concerts in the United States,
Canada and Israel.
She is survived by her two sons, Jacob
and Jonah Mink. Jacob is currently in
Vermont and Jonah is in Israel, Berghash
said.
Israeli Foreign Ministry officials
said that representatives of Continental
Airlines had called the families of the
Israeli passengers and notified them that
the two were listed on the passenger list.
One of the Israeli victims was 27-year-
old George Abu-Karem from Tiberias,
who had traveled to the U.S. to visit a
relative.

Australian Survives Inferno

Sydney/11'A — A 90-year-old Jewish man
feared dead in Australia's worst bush fires
has been found.
Eugene Goodvach had visited his

country property in Marysville, a small
Victorian country town reduced to smol-
dering ash in the firestorm that killed
more than 180 people, on Feb. 7.
Goodvach's family was unable to
contact him a week ago and feared the
worst. But they learned over the weekend
that he was evacuated by emergency
personnel to a nearby town, according to
reports.
Officials expect the death toll to top
230 because many people are believed
to have been incinerated in the inferno.
Among the dead is John Barnett, a Jewish
academic, who died with his wife, Jenny,
as they tried to flee the fire in their car.
Marysville, which is less than 100
miles north of Melbourne, has become
known as the ground zero of the inferno;
about 100 of the town's population of
nearly 500 were killed in the firestorm.
Orthodox Jews have celebrated Passover
in Marysville for the past two decades at a
local retreat that has been razed.
Meanwhile, Australians have raised

more than $65 million for the disaster
relief fund. The Westfield Group, owned
by Holocaust survivor Frank Lowy,
donated $650,000, as did the Gandel
Group, owned by Jewish philanthropist
John Gandel.
Richard Pratt's family foundation
pledged $165,000, and will match his
Visy Group employees' donations. Jewish
National Fund patron Harry Triguboff,
who won a court battle this week saving
him $130,000 in land tax, said he would
donate the amount to the fund. Leonard
Cohen, who has been touring Victoria,
also donated $130,000.
Special prayer services were held in
synagogues in Melbourne on Feb. 12 and
13, and included a recital of Kaddish for
the victims.

Holocaust Scholar
Warsaw/JTA — Scholar Jan Blonski,
whose writings were important catalysts
in Poland's exploration of its role during
the Holocaust, has died.

Blonski died Wednesday, according
to an announcement from the Judaica
Foundation-Center for Jewish Culture in
Krakow. He was 77.
Blonski, who was not Jewish, was
a founder of the foundation and had
served as its board chairman. He was
a professor at Krakow's Jagiellonian
University.
In 1987, his essay "Poor Poles Look at
the Ghetto" ignited a heated debate in
Poland on Polish moral responsibility in
the face of the Holocaust.
"He was a virtuous man, an eminent
humanist and scholar," said Stanislaw
Russek, director of the Center for Jewish
Culture.
Blonski's death came two days after
that of Maria Orwid, a Holocaust
survivor and psychiatry professor at
Jagiellonian, whose writings on the
Shoah and the impact of trauma were
influential.
Orwid was a founder of the Children of
the Holocaust project. She was 78.

worthy

A life well lived

A tradition well served

We strive to honor each person
with dignity and respect

THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL

Bringing Together Family, Faith & Community

18325 WEST NINE MILE ROAD. SOUTHFIELD, MI 48075

C36

February 19 • 2009

iN

248.569.0020 j

FAX

248.569.2502

WWW.IRAKAUFMAN.COM

