obituaries Obituaries from page 105 LARRY WOLOK, 71, of White Lake, died Oct. 16, 2012. He is survived by his daughter and son-in- law, Ann and Avi Rubin of Owings Mills, Md.; son and daughter-in- Wolok law, Mark and Laura Wolok of Potomac Falls, Va.; brother, Mitchell Wolok of Steinhatchee, Fla.; grandchildren, Hailey Wolok, Ella Wolok, Elana Rubin, Tamara Rubin and Benny Rubin; many loving nieces, other family members and friends. Contributions may be made to the American Cancer Society. Arrangements by Dorfman Chapel. George McGovern, A Pacifist Who Wanted To Bomb Auschwitz Rafael Medoff J TA G eorge McGovern is widely remembered for advocating immediate American withdrawal from Vietnam and sharp reductions in defense spending. Yet despite his reputation as a pacifist, the former U.S. senator and 1972 presidential candidate, who died Oct. 21 at 90, did believe there were times when America should use military force abroad. Case in point: the Allies' failure to bomb Auschwitz, an episode with which McGovern had a little-known personal- connection. In June 1944, the Roosevelt administration received a detailed report about Auschwitz from two escapees who described the mass-murder process and drew diagrams pinpointing the gas cham- bers and crematoria. Jewish organizations repeatedly asked U.S. officials to order the bombing of Auschwitz and the railroad lines leading to the camp. The proposal WEB STREAMING FROM ANYWHERE Online funeral video streaming is now available from our Chapel, any temple or synagogue, graveside or a cemetery chapel. Our commitment to this community. No Cost. No Password. Anytime. Anyplace. THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL Bringing Together Family, Faith & Commimity 18 325 W. 9 Mile Rd. Southfield, MI 480/5 • 248.569.0020 • Irakaufman.corn . 106 October 25 • 2012 Obituaries was rejected on the grounds that it would require "considerable diversion" of planes that were needed elsewhere for the war effort. One U.S. official claimed that bomb- ing Auschwitz "might provoke even more vindictive action by the Germans." Enter McGovern. In World War II, the 22-year-old son of a South Dakota pastor piloted a B-24 "Liberator" bomber. Among his targets: German synthetic oil factories in occupied Poland — some of them less than 5 miles from the Auschwitz gas chambers. In 2004, McGovern spoke on camera for the first time about those experiences in a meeting organized by the David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies with Holocaust survivor and philanthro- pist Sigmund Rolat and filmmakers Stuart Erdheim and Chaim Hecht. McGovern dismissed the Roosevelt administration's claims about the diver- sion of planes. The argument was just "a rationalization:' he said, noting that no diversions would have been needed when he and other U.S pilots already were flying over that area. Ironically, the Allies did divert military resources for other reasons. For example, to rescue artwork and historic monuments in Europe's battle zones. "There is no question we should have attempted ... to go after Auschwitz: McGovern said. "There was a pretty good chance we could have blasted those rail lines off the face of the earth, which would have interrupted the flow of people to those death chambers, and we had a pretty good chance of knocking out those gas ovens:' Even if there was a danger of accidentally harming some of the prisoners, "it was cer- tainly worth the effort, despite all the risks:' McGovern said, because the prisoners were already "doomed to death" and an Allied bombing attack might have slowed down the mass-murder process, thus saving many more lives. McGovern said that if his commanders had asked for volunteers to bomb the death camp, "whole crews would have volun- teered:' Most soldiers understood that the war against the Nazis was not just a military struggle but a moral one, as well. "We must never again permit genocide," he said. ❑