Letters

Who is a survivor?

Is it someone who survived a camp? Yes. Is it someone who was forced into a ghetto? Yes. Was it a child left in a convent? Yes. Was it a child put in the arms of a kind stranger to save it from extinction? Yes. Was it a child whose name was changed, moved away from parents forever? Yes. Was it the Jewish woman who went over the Alps on foot from France to Italy during the bitter-cold winter of 1942 to land eventually in Rome and wear a nun's habit? Yes. Is it the Jewish child whom the nuns wanted to keep for the priesthood? Yes.

I worked in homes in Belgium where children whose parents died in camps, were taken care of by the Jewish community. I say, "They are all survivors."

One possible definition to consider: Anyone who was displaced because of Hitler's policies towards Jews is a survivor. Why? Because they were all traumatized! All of the above — and many others I did not mention — are certainly, all of them, "eyewitnesses to history."

Arnoldine Berlin | Oakland




Revitalize the faith

As president of the Jewish Vegetarians of North America and author of the book "Judaism and Vegetarianism," I am very pleased that PETA issued an apology for offending Jews and others with their insensitive "Holocaust on Your Plate" campaign. While I still have some disagreements in philosophy and tactics with PETA, I believe that it is now essential to emphasize common ground in working to end the current mistreatment of animals on factory farms, the current epidemic of diseases that have been strongly linked to animal-based diets and the current widespread environmental degradation and waste of resources caused by modern intensive animal-based agriculture.

The Jewish community should apply basic Jewish values in addressing the many ways that animal-based diets and agriculture threaten human health and environmental sustainability, mistreat billions of farmed animals and violate basic Jewish mandates to preserve human health, treat animals with compassion, preserve the environment, conserve natural resources, help hungry people and pursue a more peaceful world.

A shift toward vegetarianism would improve our health, shift our imperiled planet to a more sustainable path and demonstrate the relevance of Judaism to some of the most critical issues of our time, helping to revitalize our ancient faith.

Richard H. Schwartz | Staten Island




Danish apology

The Danish historian and Holocaust researcher V.O. Viljalmsson recently sent me his new book "Medaljens Bagside" ("The Underside of a Medal"), about the fate of Jewish refugees in Denmark 1933-45. Among the more than 130 deportees from Denmark is my own story. Luckily I survived Flensburg prison.

According to the evening news, the Danish prime minister has offered an apology now. Until then the Danish government only wanted to be known for having saved their 7,000 Jewish fellow citizens by facilitating their escape to Sweden, albeit a year after the German surrender at Stalingrad.

I am supposed to meet the historian again as well as a man from Danish Broadcasting on an upcoming trip to my native town of Barntrup near Hanover, where I am officially invited to attend the ceremony for a high decoration to the former mayor of Barntrup, who helped me greatly in having erected a special monument (Mahnmal) for my murdered mother and two sisters. The highly educated and decent man has become a close personal friend since then. He was a child in those horrible years.

Eugene Katz | Napa




'Essence of inhumanity'

It is appalling that our local Holocaust survivors are being honored at a hotel that's been on a boycott list since last November because the hotel multi-employer group has refused to negotiate in good faith over wage increases while proposing unconscionable cuts in medical and pension benefits.

This is a group of hard-working men and women who are being asked to make a choice between paying their rent or taking their children to the doctor.

The luncheon invitation quotes George Bernard Shaw: "Indifference is the essence of inhumanity." In essence, the JCRC and other groups sponsoring this tribute have decided it is fitting to honor our most cherished survivors at the expense of hotel employees.

More troubling is that the venue was not changed.

Do you think the organizers are honest enough to tell our most cherished Holocaust survivors the truth about the boycott? No. That is the essence of inhumanity.

Karen Lipney | San Francisco




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