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bituaries
Obituaries from page 52
An Intrepid Diplomat
Washington/JTA
R
ichard Holbrooke, the U.S. dip-
lomat who brokered a Balkan
peace and who enjoyed talking
about his Jewish roots, has died.
Holbrooke, the
Obama adminis-
tration's envoy to
Afghanistan and
Pakistan, suffered a
torn aorta Dec. 10
and was hospitalized.
The State Department
announced his death
Richard
on Dec. 13. He was 69.
Holbrooke
In a statement,
President Obama said he was "deeply
saddened by the passing of Richard
Holbrooke, a true giant of American
foreign policy who has made America
stronger, safer, and more respected. He
was a truly unique figure who will be
remembered for his tireless diplomacy,
love of country and pursuit of peace'
Holbrooke worked in foreign policy
for Democratic presidents since the late
1960s and spent his time out of govern-
ment as an investment banker.
President Clinton named Holbrooke
as ambassador to Germany in 1993.
Holbrooke, who became known for his
confrontational style, prominently hung
a photo of his grandfather in a German
World War I uniform at the ambas-
sador's residence and would point out
to German visitors that this proud
German patriot also happened to have
been Jewish.
As assistant secretary of state for
Europe in 1994, assigned by Clinton
the task of resolving the Bosnian war,
Holbrooke worked tirelessly and would
brook no refusals. By the beginning of
1996 he had forged a peace deal, the
Dayton accords, that seemed shaky
but has endured. A number of Jewish
groups honored Holbrooke for his
breakthrough.
Both of Holbrooke's parents were
assimilated Jews whose families had
immigrated to the United States from
Europe — his mother from Germany,
his father born to Russian parents in
Woman Hiker Slain
Warsaw.
He became more interested in his
Judiasm when his third wife, and
widow, Kati Marton, raised a Roman
Catholic, discovered that her own
parents were Hungarian Jews who hid
their identity.
In a May, 2008 column in the
Washington Post marking Israel's 60th
birthday, Holbrooke wrote: "Israel was
going to come into existence whether
or not Washington recognized it.
"But without American support from
the very beginning, Israel's survival
would have been at even greater risk.
Even if European Jewry had not just
emerged from the horrors of World
War II, it would have been an unthink-
able act of abandonment by the United
States.
"Truman's decision, although
opposed by almost the entire foreign
policy establishment, was the right
one — and despite complicated conse-
quences that continue to this day, it is
a decision all Americans should recog-
nize and admire." ❑
Jerusalem/JTA
T
he body of an American tourist was found
near Jerusalem a day after she was attacked
and kidnapped by Arab assailants.
Christine Logan's body was identified Sunday
morning by Jerusalem police. Her hometown in
the United States has not yet been reported.
Logan and a friend, Susan Kaye Wilson, a tour
guide from Givat Ze'ev who made aliyah from
Great Britan in 1991, were attacked Saturday
while hiking at Khirbet Hanut, an archaeological
site near Beit Shemesh.
Wilson told police, according to reports, that
two Arab men beat and stabbed the women
and tied their hands behind their backs. Wilson
said she pretended to be dead and later escaped.
Wilson was hospitalized at Hadassah University
Medical Center in Jerusalem's Ein Kerem with
stab wounds to her upper body.
A massive search began Saturday for Logan,
involving roadblocks and checkpoints, as well
as hundreds of Israeli army and Border Police
troops, Haaretz reported.
Police are working to determine if the attack
was an act of terrorism. ❑
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December 23 • 2010
Obituaries