rt,
obituaries
Obituaries from page 140
legalizing circumcision in the fall. But
negotiations over the language of such
a bill have revealed that many in the
Bundestag may push for restrictions on
the practice, such as forcing the use of
anesthetics or requiring a doctor to be
present.
Such a bill would be unacceptable
because it would infringe on a tradi-
tion that is safe and causes no harm to
infants. It would also be an intrusion
into communal life by the authorities
that might set an ominous precedent.
Though campaigners against cir-
cumcision always claim they are only
seeking to protect children, their hostil-
ity to Judaism and Jews is a badly kept
secret. That was made clear even here
in America when those seeking to put a
bris ban on the ballot in San Francisco
last year published an anti-Semitic
comic book to promote their efforts.
At the moment, German Jews are
hopeful that this problem will soon
blow over. But even the greatest of opti-
mists cannot look around Europe and
pretend that Jew-hatred isn't growing.
Not even shocking crimes, such as the
shooting of a teacher and three Jewish
schoolchildren in Toulouse, France,
in March by an Islamist gunman was
enough to stifle anti-Semitism there.
As Jewish groups report, anti-Semitic
attacks on Jews have risen in France
since the incident. There, as is the case
elsewhere in Europe, hatred for Israel
has become the excuse for more blatant
cases of bias.
The bris ban may be the thin edge
of the wedge for other problems that
will crop up. Anything that chips away
at the religious freedom of Jews will
serve as a green light for the haters to
become more violent.
Though there was once hope that
Europe would again be a place where
Jewish life could thrive, as Israel and
Judaism itself become the focus of
more hostility, it is hard to envision
that Jews have much of a future on the
continent.
JNS Columnist Jonathan S. Tobin is
senior online editor of Commentary
magazine and chief political blogger
at www.commentarymagazine.com. He
can be reached via e-mail at: jtobin®
commentarymagazine.com . Follow him
on Twitter at https://twittercom/#1/
Fisherman From Dramatic
World War II Rescue Dies
ROME (JTA) – A fisherman who took part
in the dramatic rescue of about 30 Jews dur-
ing World War II died this week.
Agostino Piazzesi, 87, was the last survi-
vor of 15 fishermen who during the night
of June 19-20, 1944, rescued the Jews,
who were held by the Germans in a castle
on Isola Maggiore in the middle of Lake
Trasimeno in central Italy. Piazzesi rowed
the Jews away from internment.
The dramatic story of the rescue came to
light only a few years ago.
Using five small fishing boats, the fisher-
man took the Jews, who came from nearby
Perugia, to a point on the lakeshore that was
in the hands of the Allies; the island and the
rest of the lake were under German control.
The local priest, the Rev. Ottavio Posta,
organized the operation and took active part
in the rescue. Last year Posta, who died in
1963, was honored as Righteous Among
Nations by Yad Vashem and Piazzesi was
knighted by the Italian government.
Men like Piazzesi "remain embedded in
our hearts from generation to generation,"
Riccardo Pacifici, the president of the Rome
Jewish community, told JTA.
Damon Rose, Jewish Agency
Official For Northern Israel
(JTA) — Damon Rose, the Jewish Agency
for Israel's northern regional director of
partnerships, has died. The British-born
Rose died Aug. 29, 2012, after a 13-month
battle with stomach cancer. He was 51.
Rose was instrumental in establishing the
Hadera-Iron Partnership with a consortium
of 12 Jewish communities from the south-
eastern United States, including areas in
Florida, Tennessee and Mississippi.
Anne Frank Radio Play
Presented On Podcast
The radio play Anne Frank: The Diary Of
A Young Girl, written by Meyer Levin and
directed by Jennifer Strome will be available
via podcast on Sept. 15-18 at
ww-w.theidealistonstage.cona.
The Spellbound Development Company,
will present Levin's long-lost original radio
play in honor of its 60th anniversary. Not
heard since the eve of Rosh Hashanah
in 1952, when it aired nationally on CBS
Radio, Levin's play was the first adaptation
of Anne Frank's diary. A popular and critical
success, Billboard magazine described it as
"shattering to the emotions:"
TobinCommentary.
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