obituaries

Obituaries from page 61

ROCHELLE
ZUCKERMAN,

91, longtime resi-
dent of Detroit,
passed away
March 29, 2013,
in Los Angeles.
Rochelle was
Zuckerman
born in Chicago
c. 1948
and lived in six
different states
over her lifetime, finally settling in
Los Angeles to be near her children.
She raised her family in Detroit
between 1953 and 1987, and she
was active in Hadassah and a
member of Temple Israel. She had
a lovely, outgoing personality with
a giddy sense of humor and was
loved by all who knew her.
She is survived by her husband
of 70 years, Louis Zuckerman;
her children, Edward Zuckerman
and Ellen Zuckerman; and her
granddaughters, MollyJane Levine
Zuckerman and Margot Sadie
Levine Zuckerman; her daughter-
in-law Liza Levine; son-in-law,
Philip Fields; stepgrandchildren,
Joshua Fields and Amy Fields.

Did FDR Fool Jews Over The Holocaust?

Dr. Rafael Medoff

I Commentary

D

id President Franklin D. Roosevelt
hoodwink American Jewry?
This notion, which has been the
subject of much discussion in the Jewish
community over the years, was articulated
most notably in a 1974 article by Philip
Slomovitz, founder and for more than 40
years editor of the Detroit Jewish News.
Slomovitz described a meeting that he and
two colleagues had in early 1945 with the
senior U.S. senator from Michigan, Arthur
Vandenberg. "The moment we stepped into
Vandenberg's office Slomovitz revealed, "he
pointed to the streamer headline [of a Jewish
publication] quoting [American Jewish leader
Rabbi Stephen] Wise that President Roosevelt
reaffirmed his interest in and friendship for
Zionism. Throwing the paper into the waste-
basket beneath his desk, Vandenberg said,
`The trouble with you people is that every
time the Great White Father waves his wand
you jump right through the hoop:"
Looking back at the contrast between
FDR's private assurances to Rabbi Wise and
his actual record concerning the Holocaust

and Zionism, Slomovitz concluded that Wise
— and, by extension, American Jewry —
was "tragically misled" by Roosevelt.
Sadly, the historical record confirms
Slomovitz's assessment.
At the height of the Holocaust, in October
1943, a reporter asked President Roosevelt
whether he intended to do anything about
"Jewish victims of atrocities or persecution:'
FDR replied: "That I don't know ... the heart's
all right — it's a question of ways and means:'
In fact, there were many ways and means
to rescue Jews. Instead, however, FDR and
his spokesmen made excuses. For example,
they claimed that to rescue Jews, the U.S.
would have to divert ships that were needed
to transport soldiers. But troop-supply ships
returning from Europe were so empty that
they had to be weighted down with ballast so
they would not capsize.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Celler (D-N.Y.) revealed
that after the war FDR twice personally
promised him he would pressure the British to
cancel their White Paper policy, which closed
off Palestine to almost all Jewish refugees. But
he never kept those promises, leading Celler, in
1975, to conclude Roosevelt was "silent, indif-
ferent and insensitive to the plight of the Jews:

TRANSFORMING LOSS

❑

Dr. Rafael Medoff, director of David S. Wyman Institute

for Holocaust Studies in Washington, D.C., wrote the

new book FDR and the Holocaust: A Breach of Faith.

TRANSFORMING LOSS

A DOCUMENTARY

The Ira Kaufman Chapel is proud to sponsor a special
screening for the community of this 50-minute film that
provides support and inspiration for people struggling
with the loss of a loved one. It provides an authentic
look at human loss, suffering, hope and transformation.

The screening event will include a panel discussion
including Judith Burdick, the Michigan-based
psychotherapist who is the film's director and writer.

Despite his near-adoration for Roosevelt,
Rabbi Wise gradually realized FDR had done
little or nothing to aid Europe's Jews. In a
letter to a friend in early 1943, shortly after
news of the Nazi genocide was confirmed,
Wise mentioned that Roosevelt invited Wise's
daughter and son-in-law to dinner at the
White House. "If only he would do something
for my people!" Wise added wistfully.
Wise's closest friends were more candid in
their postwar reflections on FDR. In previ-
ously unpublished interviews, Synagogue
Council of America president Dr. Israel
Goldstein conceded that "[Wise] was taken
in, to a large extent, by President Roosevelt;
and Christian Zionist leader Carl Hermann
Voss said of Wise: "He was hoodwinked by
Roosevelt. Because over and over again, from
1933 on, Roosevelt had promised to do some-
thing, promised to say something and never
once would he move, either utter a word or
take an action ... There was an adoration [by
Wise of FDR] of the man, a trust in him which
I think was not justified:'

"Each person
transforms his or
her loss into a force
for good and living
with purpose"

-Mamey Rich Keenan,
Detroit News

"Crazy powerful!"

Transformation...
an opportunity to become

-Rabbi E.B. (Bunny) Freedman,
Director of The Jewish Hospice
& Chaplaincy Network, West
Bloomfield

EXTRAORDINARY

Please join us on Thursday April 10th, beginning at
7 p.m., at the Main Art Theatre -118 North Main Street
and 11 Mile in Royal Oak.

"A perfect balance
of loss and hope"

-David Techner, Past President
of the MI Funeral Directors
'Association and Owner of The
'Ira Kaufman Chapel

Professionals attending may be eligible for CEU credits.

"A very honest film"

Sponsored by The Michigan Funeral Directors
Association District Six and The Ira Kaufman Chapel.

-Pat Lynch, Past President of
the MI and National Funeral
Directors Association and
President of Lynch & Sons
Funeral Directors

THE IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL

Bringing Together Family, Faith & Community

248.569.0020 www.irakaufman.com
18325 W. Nine Mile Road Southfield, Ml 48075

Directed & Written by

Judith R. Burdick

Sound Recording

Executive Producers

Judith R. Burdick

Original Music Composed

Marguerite Parise

and adapted by

Brian Fees

Gerald Roesser

Producer

Andre Bond

Original Music Composed by

Lauren Guz

Director of Photography

John Anderson Beavers

A Film By Judith R. Burdick

noel the Process Pr. ..oboes 30300 Telegnon Road, suite 125 Bingham Farms. ell 48025 vessefaceboolscomOrransformingLoss www.transtorrninglossclocument,ry corn

1805940

62

April 4 • 2013

Obituaries

