6 | JANUARY 19 • 2023 

1942 - 2023

Covering and Connecting 
Jewish Detroit Every Week

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people of greater Detroit and beyond, and the State of Israel.

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Detroit Jewish community, reflecting the diverse views and interests of the Jewish community while advancing the 
morale and spirit of the community and advocating Jewish unity, identity and continuity.

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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thejewishnews.com

 
 
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The Detroit Jewish 
News Foundation

| Board of Directors:
 Chair: Gary Torgow
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 Founding Publisher 
 Philip Slomovitz, of blessed memory

 

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PURELY COMMENTARY

continued on page 7

I 

read with interest the 
article by Rabbi Eli 
Meyerfeld entitled “A New 
Beginning for the Zekelman 
Holocaust Center” (DJN Dec. 
22, 2022). The comment, 
“the darkness 
that descended 
over Europe 
was a result 
of everyday 
choices made 
by ordinary 
Germans 
and their 
collaborators,” I found to 
be particularly insightful. 
Clearly, preventing that 
apparent lack of generally 
accepted morality 
characteristic of “ordinary 
Germans” would potentially 

solve the problem. Especially, 
in the face of presently rising 
antisemitism worldwide, 
despite the efforts of 
many groups to address 
the problem, an approach 
that fosters the moral 
development of all peoples 
could provide an avenue to 
lessen the problem. 
There must be a way 
of creating a safer world 
where security systems, law 
enforcement and the military 
would not be as required as 
they are today to maintain life 
and limb.
In an abstract of his 
publication, Seth Izen 
articulated the need for 
moral education (Strategies 
for Conflict Transformation, 

Fall 2011, “Roots of Moral 
Courage”): “In the midst of 
the Holocaust, courageous 
non-Jews saved Jewish 
strangers, neighbors and 
friends from death. Yet, it 
was only decades after the 
Holocaust that research begin 
into what led ordinary people 
to risk their lives to save 
others. Over the past 30 years, 
researchers have identified 
key orientations (extensive 
relationships and a sense of 
responsibility for others) and 
personality traits (empathy, 
high moral judgment and 
risk-taking) that distinguish 
the rescuers from non-
rescuers. The findings 
are significant for two 
reasons: First, it is internal 

traits, rather than external 
circumstances, that led people 
to rescue Jews. Second, the 
findings point to a childhood 
development path that is 
conducive to fostering these 
traits. This research leads to a 
significant conclusion: Moral 
courage can be taught.” 
Samuel and Pearl Oliners’ 
1989 extensive European 
study that involved detailed 
interviews of rescuers and 
non-rescuers pointed out 
the place where child moral 
development needs to start. 
They found that parents 
played important roles both 
for rescuers and non-rescuers. 
“Significantly more 
rescuers, however, perceived 
their parents as benevolent 

Dr. Gerald H 
Katzman 

guest column
Prevention: The Key to Minimizing the 
Incidence of Antisemitism and Violence

