Archive
Australian Nazi suspect wins appeal against extradition to Hungary
(WJC)–An Australian citizen, Charles Zentai, has won an appeal against extradition to Hungary on war crimes charges. He is accused of killing a young Jewish man during World War II while serving in the Hungarian army, then allied to Nazi Germany – a charge he denies. Australia’s Federal Court found that the government had not explored options other than surrendering him to Hungary, such as prosecution at home.
Mr Zentai, who is in his late 80s, had spent five years fighting extradition. He moved to Australia after World War II and was living in the western city of Perth when the Hungarian government began extradition proceedings. Speaking after Friday’s ruling, Mr Zentai said long legal battle had put him and his family “through hell” and cost him his life savings. “I have lost practically everything,” he said.
The Federal Court overturned an extradition order made last year by Australia’s Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor, saying the case had exceptional elements that “set it apart from any precedent”. The court ruled that “the more humane solution” – trying Mr Zentai in Australia – had been dismissed “on the basis of longstanding policy”. Judge Neil McKerracher pointed out there were apparently “no live witnesses to the alleged events” and that statements relied upon to prove his guilt “were secured in arguably questionable circumstances”.
Charles Zentai is accused of killing Jewish teenager Peter Balazs in Budapest in 1944. At the time, Mr Zentai was a warrant officer in the Hungarian army. The Hungarian government alleges that Mr Zentai took part in the fatal beating of Mr Balazs for not wearing a Star of David to identify him as Jewish. Mr Zentai says he was not in Budapest at that time.
The allegations against Mr Zentai were initially brought by the Simon Wiesenthal Center, a Jewish rights organisation dedicated to hunting down Nazi war criminals.He is listed as one of the centre’s 10 most-wanted suspects, for having “participated in manhunts, persecution and murder of Jews in Budapest in 1944”. The Australian government has not said whether it would appeal against the ruling.
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress.
The Jews Down Under~Roundup of Australian Jewish News
Garry Fabian
Compiled by Garry Fabian
Jewish community has get together with law enforcement officials
MELBOURNE– 2 July – Victoria’s top cops rubbed shoulders with rabbis and other communal dignitaries at a reception last week highlighting the close working relationship between the community and the state police.
Among the boys in blue at St Kilda Town Hall were Commander Ashley Dickinson and Chief Commissioner Simon Overland, while enforcers of Jewish law included Rabbis Yaakov Glasman, Meir Shlomo Kluwgant and James Kennard.
Addressing the gathering, Jewish constable Anthony Tannenbaum spoke of the rigorous
application process for joining the force. “I remember the sergeant doing my interview asked me why there weren’t more Jewish police applicants. I replied with as honest an answer as I could . Jewish mothers.”
Recalling his graduation ceremony in 2008, he added: “I know my family felt tremendous pride. They could now tell everyone they had a son who practised criminal law.”
Thursday night’s event, hosted by the police and supported by the Jewish Community Council of Victoria, was also attended by representatives of other faith groups as well as the Mayor of Glen Eira and the Deputy Mayor.
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Proposed Eruv raises angst among locals
SYDNEY, 1 July – Jewish community plans to overcome an ancient and restrictive religious
commandment by creating a virtual wall around an entire North Shore suburb is upsetting local residents.
But its push for greater freedom has caused angst among some St Ives residents, who say it will
block their views and create a “Jewish ghetto”.
Under Jewish law it is forbidden to push or carry objects beyond the private home on the Sabbath
and during holy festivals such as the Jewish new year, Rosh Hashanah.
That means parents are often unable to take babies and young children to synagogues or parks
because they cannot push them there in prams. Likewise, the elderly and disabled cannot be pushed in wheelchairs.
But the creation of a part-symbolic, part-physical zone known as an eruv allows Jews
to carry out such activities within its boundaries.
“Really the ultimate aim is to basically help families, liberating people from their homes,
such as young mums with kids in their prams,” said David Guth, 32, of St Ives.
The married father of three children, including a five-month-old baby, is a member of Northern
Eruv, a group seeking Ku-ring-gai Council’s approval to create an eruv around St Ives.
An eruv already exists in the Waverley area, including along the promenade at Bondi Beach, but
is so inconspicuous few people know it is there.
Most of the 20-kilometre boundary of the St Ives eruv would be demarcated using wires, cables and
power poles owned by Optus, Foxtel and EnergyAustralia. But about 20 per cent would be
formed by erecting 26 aluminium poles six metres high in 14 locations across St Ives. The poles would then be linked by a wire.
The development application drew 21 public submissions. Four, including one from the NSW
Opposition Leader, Barry O’Farrell, were supportive.
Most objectors were concerned about the impact the poles would have on views but some went
further, claiming an eruv would benefit one religious group at the expense of others.
The chief executive of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Vic Alhadeff, dismissed the concerns,
saying the plan would have little effect on the environment because it was “in the form of existing poles and wire”.
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Foreign Minister’s statement draws community ire
CANBERRA, 1 July – Tensions flared between the community and the Government this week over a
statement released marking the fourth anniversary of the kidnapping of Gilad Shalit.
The clash came in the wake of comments by Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, which the Executive
Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) slated as “tepid” and “especially troubling”.
Friday’s statement from Smith noted that “Shalit was captured in a cross-border raid into Israel
by the armed wing of Hamas and has been held in captivity in the Gaza strip by Hamas since that
time.” It went on to say “Australia joins other members of the international community in calling for his immediate release.”
The statement then focused on the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians, and humanitarian assistance for Gaza.
While he thanked the minister for calling for Shalit’s release, in a letter sent to Smith on Monday, ECAJ president Robert Goot claimed: “The remainder of the announcement was disconcertingly lacking in substance and tepid in its tone. To say, as you did, that Gilad Shalit ‘has been held in captivity in the Gaza strip by Hamas’ is to gloss over the most heinous aspect of his captivity – the fact that he has been held incommunicado for four long years.”
Goot went on to observe, “At the time of your statement . the Foreign Minister of Italy, is reported as stating ‘that the condition of Gilad’s captivity breached all international rules and showed the terrorist nature of Hamas’.
Meanwhile, Rome’s City Council made Gilad Shalit an honorary citizen of the Eternal City.”
He also drew a comparison with a statement from Human Rights Watch, which claimed “Regardless of
Hamas’ grievances against Israel, there are no grounds to cut Shalit off completely from his family”.
Describing Shalit’s captivity as “a burning humanitarian issue which must be considered in
its own right and divorced from the issues in contention between Israel and Hamas”, Goot said.
“It is regrettable that your announcement omitted to make this distinction. It is an omission that
is especially troubling to Australian Jewry, in light of the general tenor and positive outcome
of our recent discussions at the Lodge.”
He was referring to a meeting last month between then-prime minister Kevin Rudd and community
leaders intended to heal any rift following the Government’s harsh line against Israel following
the passport crisis and flotilla affair.
Goot concluded: “We cannot help feeling let down by the inexplicable failure of your announcement
to make the clear statement of principle, and send the strong message of support which the occasion required.”
When asked about the ECAJ letter, a spokesperson for the Foreign Minister told The AJN, “Australia
was one of only a handful of countries to make a formal statement urging Shalit’s release,
reflecting the strength and sincerity of Australia’s views. Sadly, many others have remained silent in the face of his deplorable detention.”
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New Minister’s appointment welcomed by community
MELBOURNE, 1 July – Jewish school representatives plan to rekindle their relationship with newly
appointed Education Minister Simon Crean.
Crean, who Jewish leaders have nicknamed Shimon because of his strong friendship with the
community, was appointed Minister for Education, Employment, Workplace Relations and Social
Inclusion on Monday by Prime Minister Julia Gillard.
His former portfolio of trade was given to current Foreign Minister Stephen Smith.
Nechama Bendet, co-chair of the Australian Council of Jewish Schools, expressed satisfaction
with the former Labor leader’s appointment to the important position.
“We warmly congratulate Minister Crean on his appointment as Education Minister and are confident he will continue to support the education of every child in every school and the
sector’s capacity to provide Australian families with meaningful choice and diversity in their child’s schooling,” she said.
Bendet explained that when Crean was shadow minister for education in the mid-1990s, Jewish
educators had an “extremely good relationship” with him.
He showed “an understanding of the Jewish community, and Israel, for which the community has been most appreciative”.
The co-chair, who is also business manager at Melbourne’s Yeshivah-Beth Rivkah Colleges, said
the council would request a meeting with the new minister shortly “to offer any assistance to him”.
The Australian Council of Jewish Schools represents the interests of the country’s Jewish educational institutions to Government. It, and other Jewish representative organisations, had a close working relationship with Gillard, the previous minister, in looking after the specific needs of Jewish schools, including resolving funding anomalies and incorporating Holocaust education into a new national curriculum.
Meanwhile Smith, who has been occupied in recent months with matters pertaining to Israel –
evicting an Israeli diplomat over allegations the country had forged Australian passports, acting
to try and prevent Israel’s enemy, Iran, from developing nuclear weapons, and responding to the
deaths of nine people on a flotilla that challenged Israel’s blockade off Gaza – will have an even fuller plate. Smith told reporters he was confident he would manage the extra workload.
“The two ministers in the past have been served by one department [of foreign affairs and
trade],” he told the ABC. “Now one minister will be served by one department.”
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PM says slurs don’t’ stand up
CANBERRA, 2 July – New Prime Minister Julia Gillard hit back at accusations she has a conflict of interest over her support for Israel, saying her commitment to the country goes back many years.
She also confirmed she was hopeful a planned visit to Israel by new Education Minister Simon
Crean would go ahead in coming weeks, and emphasised her soft spot for the local Jewish
community based on a shared passion for education.
Speaking on Wednesday – in her first interview with a newspaper since becoming Prime Minister –
Gillard denied her partner Tim Mathieson’s employment with property group Ubertas – directed
by Australia-Israel Cultural Exchange founder Albert Dadon – influenced her parliamentary activity.
“My interest in Israel and my support for Israel is longstanding, much longer standing than my
partner’s employment with Ubertas,” she said. “The things that I’ve done, for example when I
was acting prime minister dealing with the Gaza crisis and issuing a response on behalf of the
Australian Government, that was well before any suggestion that Tim would go and work with the Ubertas Group.”
She continued: “Seriously, I don’t think it stands up”.
Dadon confirmed that Mathieson’s role at the company is simply to sell apartments.
The PM, who was sworn in by the Governor-General last Friday, said she understands intense
interest in her and her family’s lives goes with the position.
“I understand and accept that, it is the way things are going to be,” she said.
Commenting on her predecessor’s recent decisions to expel an Israeli diplomat after intelligence
suggested Israel had forged Australian passports and to call for an Israeli inquiry into the Gaza
flotilla crisis and for additional humanitarian items to be allowed through the Gaza blockade,
Gillard said she backed Kevin Rudd’s stance.
“I have served as a member of the national security committee in my capacity as deputy prime
minister and the decisions that you’ve seen of the Government were taken by the national
security committee,” she said. “On the question of the passports issue, as a nation, we’ve made
our point there about the use of Australian passports and we are looking to move on.”
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Adelaide Shop keeper rejects exhibition poster
ADELAIDE, 2 July – A Holocaust survivor staging an Adelaide exhibition on the Shoah was appalled
when told a flyer for the event could not be posted outside a local store because a regular
customer “does not believe in the Holocaust”.
Adelaide sculptor Andrew Steiner , 77, who survived the war in Budapest, losing 13 members
of his family, said he was shocked when a staff member informed him that a A3 sized poster,
affixed to a pillar outside the shop, had to come down.
When contacted Digital Concepts in Norwood (an Adelaide suburban shopping mall), the shop
assistant who had spoke to Steiner said “The flyer had ‘Holocaust’ written on it, and we have
customer that comes here regularly, who doesn’t believe in the Holocaust, so if we have stuff
like that, then we have to get into arguments with people, and we cannot be bothered”.
The store manager later issued an additional explanation and confirmed that notorious Holocaust denier Fredrick Toben was regular customer. However he insisted the content of the flyer was not the reason it was removed. He added that posting notices in the common areas in the shop violated his lease A spokesperson for the centre confirmed it was its policy.
Steiner said he had posted about 40 flyers in libraries, civic centres and shopping areas around Adelaide, and had not any objection elsewhere. Anti-Defamation Commission executive director, Deborah Stone expressed her dismay at the shop assistant’s reaction. “The Holocaust is not a matter of belief, it is fact of history.Exhibitions like this one are an important part of educating people to understand what happened and protecting human rights in the future. Fredrick Toben’s offensive behaviour in denying
the Holocaust has been condemned by Australian courts. No retailer should be pandering to that”.
The exhibition – Remembering the Holocaust: Art and the Holocaust – was devised financed and
curated by Steiner, who had been preparing it for 18 months. It is running at the Adelaide
Immigration Museum until the end of August.
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Call to prayer goes high tech
MELBOURNE< 5 July – Tefillah and technology merged last week, after a businessman introduced an
innovative way to gather a minyan for afternoon prayers in Melbourne’s CBD.
David Werdiger, who hosts a mincha minyan in his city office, implemented an SMS system whereby a
message is sent to a distribution list in the morning.
“Every morning we broadcast a message asking who can make it. Once we get a minyan (10 men over
the age of bar mitzvah), we broadcast another message confirming. If we don’t get a minyan in
time, we advise people so they can make other arrangements,” Werdiger said.
Werdiger approached a partnering company responsible for developing customised SMS
applications and the business was “happy to assist” in turning his idea into reality.
“The original idea was that the system would automatically broadcast a confirmation once 10
yeses had come in. We aren’t there yet, but it requires minimal effort from the coordinator,” he said.
The minyan, called Jews in the CBD or JBD, is currently held in a Collins Street office near the Rialto Towers.
“When we were running the minyan in previous venues, people would be standing there calling or
texting friends to see if they could come.
“So I thought it would be much easier if we could automate it,” he said, adding that after just one
week of using the new method, people are already giving their suggestions for further ideas.
“People seem to respond to SMS much faster than to emails. Using it for the first week has
brought forth some other ideas and enhancements, like a secondary list of people who would respond
to a call to be a “tzenter” [Yiddish for 10th one], and other ways to automate the system,” Werdiger said.
“People have been very supportive in suggesting others to add to the distribution list, and ways
we can make the minyan more attractive.”
With more than 10 attendees each day last week, Werdiger is now considering extending the minyan further.
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Fabian is Australia bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World.
Roll call on Gaza flotilla portrays the values of international community
By Shoshana Bryen
Shoshana Bryen
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Israel was victimized twice this week, first by terrorists hiding yet again among the civilian population (one Turkish-sponsored jihadi boat traveling with five more-or-less civilian boats) and second by a world all too ready to blame Israel for the violence engendered by those who sought a bloody death for themselves and any Jews they could take along. By the end of the week, things began to look more normal-those who are already against remained against; those who try to split the difference split it (consider the “abstain” list below); and a few stood honorably above the rest.
1) Italy, Netherlands and the United States voted against resolution A/HRC/14/L.1, “Grave Attacks by Israeli Forces against the Humanitarian Boat Convoy” in the UN “Human Rights” Council. It is of note that the major Italian newspapers supported Israel editorially as well. In the United States, public opinion ran strongly in Israel’s favor, as usual.
After a nasty and public denunciation of Israel by President Sarkozy and Foreign Minister Kouchner, France abstained, probably reminded that in 1985 French commandos sunk a Greenpeace ship in what was called Opération Satanique. (You know what a threat those satanic environmentalists pose to Paris.) France was joined by Belgium, Burkina Faso, Hungary, Japan, Republic of Korea, Slovakia, Ukraine and UK.
Voting in favor of the commission whose conclusion is in its title were Angola, Argentina, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Chile, China, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Gabon, Ghana, India, Indonesia, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Mauritius, Mexico, Nicaragua, Nigeria, Norway, Pakistan, Philippines, Qatar, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Slovenia, South Africa, and Uruguay.
Surprised?
2) President Obama: He almost got it right in a TV interview, but missed the essential point. “You’ve got a situation in which Israel has legitimate security concerns when they’ve got missiles raining down on cities along the Israel-Gaza border. I’ve been to those towns and seen the holes that were made by missiles coming through people’s bedrooms. Israel has a legitimate concern there. On the other hand, you’ve got a blockage up that is preventing people in Palestinian Gaza from having job opportunities and being able to create businesses and engage in trade and have opportunity for the future.”
The President doesn’t know, or didn’t say, that Hamas is responsible both for the attacks on Israel and for the misery of the Palestinians in Gaza. Instead, he wanted to “work with all parties concerned-the Palestinian Authority, the Israelis, the Egyptians and others-and I think Turkey can have a positive voice in this whole process once we’ve worked through this tragedy. And bring everybody together…”
Aside from the fact that Turkey is fully complicit in the incident and thus should forfeit any seat at any future table, the Palestinian Authority has not represented Gaza Palestinians since Hamas evicted it in a bloody putsch in 2007. Instead of hoping to “bring everybody together…” the President should be working to evict Hamas from Gaza, for the sake of the Palestinians as much as anyone else.
3) The Czech Republic: Small countries that know what it means to disappear when others find them inconvenient stick together and we are grateful that they do. The President of the Czech Senate, Dr. Přemysl Sobotka, told Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin, “As a doctor, I certainly regret any loss of life, but there is no doubt that this was a planned provocation designed to drag Israel into a trap… Many in the European community feel as I do, but they are afraid to speak out publicly… I support the position that views Hamas as a terrorist organization… It is too bad that European countries present an unbalanced position on this matter. Unfortunately, the positions of the international community are not always to my taste, particularly in Europe.”
We are reminded that 18 months ago, the Czech foreign minister issued this statement: “I consider it unacceptable that villages in which civilians live have been shelled. Therefore, Israel has an inalienable right to defend itself against such attacks. The shelling from the Hamas side makes it impossible to consider this organization as a partner for negotiations and to lead any political dialogue with it.”
And finally…
4) Mesheberach: During the Jewish Sabbath service, there is a prayer is for those who are ill or injured. The “Mesheberach” includes the name of the person for whom the prayer is offered and, in an unusual practice, the name of the person’s mother rather than his or her father. Whether in the synagogue or not, we hope readers will remember the six soldiers injured while protecting the people of Israel:
Dean Ben (son of) Svetlana
Roee Ben (son of) Shulamit
Daniel Lazar Ben (son of) Tina Leah
Yotam Ben (son of) Dorit
Ido Ben (son of) Ilana
Boris Ben (son of) Eelaina
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Bryen is senior director of security policy of the Jewish Institute for National Security Affairs. Her column is sponsored by Waxie Sanitary Supply in memory of Morris Wax, longtime JINSA supporter and national board member.
Holocaust Survivor offers hope to teenage moms
SAN DIEGO (Press Release)–Edith Palkowitz, local Holocaust survivor, held 60 students spellbound at the Lindsay Community Day School on Thursday, May 13, as part of the Words Alive Adolescent Book Group program.
The Lindsay Community Day School is a part of the Juvenile Community Court School (JCCS) system, which offers an alternative school setting for young parenting and pregnant teens. Lindsay has been a part of the Words Alive Adolescent Book Group (ABG) program for over 10 years, which facilitates book group discussions at the school monthly.
Palkowitz recounted her experience as a Holocaust survivor; living in a Budapest ghetto, losing her entire family and escaping to the United States at the ripe age of 19. “I cannot live in your shoes…you cannot understand what it is like to live in mine. But if you have hope, you will overcome anything,” Palkowitz remarked as she encouraged the teenage mothers to succeed and reach for their goals.
As part of the ABG program, the Lindsay students read Maus 1 by Art Spiegelman, which several copies were donated by Words Alive. The lead teacher, Dawn Miller also incorporated studies and lessons about the Holocaust and WWII.
Throughout Edith Palkowitz’ presentation, the students were encouraged to listen, ask questions and learn. When asked how she could recover from such a tragedy, Palkowitz definitely said, “I turned to books. Those 26 letters in the alphabet can become your best friends.”
She ended her presentation by looking at each girl, stating that “knowledge is power…with hope, anything is possible.” There was not a dry eye in the room.
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Preceding provided by Words Alive
Many UN members walk out after yet another Ahmadinejad diatribe
(WJC)–Iran’s hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad once again triggered a walkout by Western countries at the United
Nations following a blistering attack against the United States and Israel at a nuclear non-proliferation conference of the United Nations in New York. Ahmadinejad called for the US to be dismissed from the Board of Governors of the International Atomic Energy Agency for “threatening non-nuclear states”. In a 35-minute speech Ahmadinejad – who was the only head of state to attend the conference – berated the Obama administration for menacing other countries and accused it of hypocrisy for supporting Israel.
“The Zionist regime continues to threaten other nations with terror and invasion and its nuclear program is assisted,” he declared. The delegates of Australia, Britain, Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Morocco, New Zealand, the Netherlands and the United States boycotted his speech or left the General Assembly Hall when Ahmadinejad launched his diatribe.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was not present during the Iranian leader’s speech, but afterwards held a bilateral meeting with him, apparently at the request of Ahmadinejad. Ban urged Iran to restore trust with the international
community.
Canada’s Foreign Minister Lawrence Cannon, who was not in the room during Ahmadinejad’s speech, said: “We are extremely disappointed in his statement. He had a wonderful opportunity … to dispel certain doubts around Iran’s intentions. It was the same speech, the same aggressive tone. Nothing in here would indicate that Iran wants to conform to what over 100 countries have been able to do.”
Unlike Israel, Iran is among 189 signatories of the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT). With non-proliferation and the downsizing of nuclear arsenals key goals of President Barack Obama, the UN conference is better to check the spread of nuclear weapons and bring about their gradual elimination.
The director-general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Yukiya Amano, opened the NPT Review Conference by saying that Iran had failed to provide “necessary cooperation” with the IAEA. “In the case of Iran, the agency continues to verify the non- diversion of declared nuclear material, but remains unable to confirm that all nuclear material is in peaceful activity because Iran has not provide the necessary cooperation,” he said. “I continue to request Iran to take steps towards the full implementation of its Comprehensive Safeguards Agreement and relevant resolutions of the IAEA Board of Governors and the United Nations Security Council, and to clarify activities with a possible military dimension,” Amano added.
Outside the UN compound, American politicians and Jewish leaders held a rally against Ahmadinejad.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who addressed the UN conference a few hours after the Iranian leader
, lambasted the regime in Tehran for “flouting the rules” and for its failure to comply with the NPT and with international demands concerning its nuclear program. Clinton also revealed that the United States possesses 5,113 nuclear warheads. That number was until now a closely kept secret. After Clinton’s speech, the Pentagon said that figure had plummeted from a peak of 31,255 in 1967. “We think it is in our national security interest to be as transparent as we can about the nuclear program of the United States,” Clinton told reporters. “We think that builds confidence.”
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Preceding provided by World Jewish Congress.
ADL lauds walkout on Ahmadinejad’s nuclear speech at U.N. conference
Abraham H. Foxman, ADL National Director issued the following statement:
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Preceding provided by the Anti-Defamation League
The Jews Down Under … Roundup of Australian Jewish News
Garry Fabian
Compiled by Garry Fabian
Aid for orphans in Cochin, India
MELBOURNE, 22 April – A year 9 community service project at Bialik College grew into something bigger after a group of students raised more than $3000 for an Indian orphanage. Under the leadership of Jewish Aid Australia, the class was divided up and each group received $10. The challenge was to turn that $10 into a charity windfall for the cause of their choice.
One group of students Joel Rabinov, Joshua Hanegbi, Jessica Worth, Joel Kuperholtz, Nathan Hanegbi and Steven Gringlas developed a strategy for their chosen charity, Emmanuel Children’s Home in Cochin, India.
Using their $10 to purchase lollies, which they sold at school to make $60, the team then used the profits to buy more lollies, successfully making $140 in preparation for their final major fundraiser: a sausage sizzle at the school’s senior sports carnival.
“The sports carnival was a beautiful day. The sun shone, the kids shlepped and organised,
cooperated and cooked . the atmosphere was pure goodwill and fun,” Sharon Kuperholtz, the mother of fundraiser Joel, said. “By the end of the day, the team had managed to turn $10 dollars into $907.”
Meanwhile, Kuperholtz held an event at her home, to raise additional funds for the orphanage, bringing the total to more than $3000.
The Kuperholz family then visited the orphanage on a recent trip to India to personally deliver the cheque. They also took over toys, games, dress-ups, make-up, cricket sets and stationery.
The response from the orphanage director was “full of gratitude and blessings”. The money
enabled the purchase of two computers and a washing machine.
“The children will benefit enormously from these purchases. Our children will benefit just as much from being empowered to do something wonderful for a community that may now enter their thoughts and conscience,” Kuperholz said.
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Jewish themes at German film festival
MELBOURNE–Of all of the countries in Europe, it is not surprising that Germany is the one whose filmmakers most consistently attempt to deal with Jewish concepts and themes.
This can be seen again in this year’s Audi Festival of German Films, which opens this week in Australia.
Three of this year’s films have significant Jewish themes and two more include key Jewish characters.
It is often said that truth is stranger than fiction, and the events that are dramatised in
the film Berlin 36 serve to remind us that stories of Jewish survival are fantastically varied.
This film tells the true story of Gretel Bergmann (played by a very luminous Karoline Herfurth), a champion German-Jewish high jumper during the period of the 1936 Berlin Olympics.
Although Bergmann has already migrated to Britain and become a star athlete there, she is coerced by the Nazis to return to Germany to participate in the German Olympic team trials in the lead-up to the 1936 Games.
Under pressure from the International Olympic Committee and a threatened American team boycott, the Germans need to be seen to be including a Jewish athlete, so an extremely reluctant Bergmann participates in the team.
When her sympathetic coach is replaced by a bullying Nazi, her life becomes almost unbearable.
The film also introduces a second fascinating (and true) complicating story: Bergmann ‘s
roommate, fellow high jumper Dora Ratjen, turns out to be a man, recruited by the Nazis.
The film includes a short interview with the real Gretel Bergmann, who survived the war and moved to the US, revealing even a more astonishing sequence of events in the following years.
The Mein Kampf film appearing in this year’s festival is not the 1960 feature documentary with the same name, which was reportedly the first comprehensive documentary on the Nazi era to be widely shown in Germany at the time.
Instead, the film was made in 2009 and is a dark comedy based on a play written by the late
Hungarian Jewish avant-garde playwright, George Tabori.
The bizarre plot of this film – which has had only a limited cinema release outside Europe –
takes place in Vienna in 1910, when a young painter named Adolf Hitler rents a room at a
homeless shelter, finding his roommate to be an older Jewish bookseller named Shlomo Herzl
(surely an intentional reference to Theodor Herzl, the founder of modern political Zionism).
When the young Hitler fails at painting, it is the older Jewish man who recommends that he
enters politics, and assists in the creation of his signature moustache and facial look.
Resonating Charlie Chaplin’s 1941 classic The Great Dictator (one of the few films that
successfully satirised Hitler) and out of the tradition of Life is Beautiful and Train de Vie,
this German-Swiss-Austrian co-production is recommended for those whose tastes run to European fabulism.
An interesting side note is that the “mein kampf” of the film refers not to Hitler’s notorious
anti-Semitic tract, but to the book that Shlomo Herzl wants to write. The satire may be obvious, but no less cutting.
A retrospective screening of the award-winning 1999 Golden Globe-nominated Aimee & Jaguar is also included in the festival.
Again based on a true story, this film tells the story of a German housewife and mother who falls in love with a hidden Jewish woman during the war.
Two other festival entries feature key Jewish characters: the international Emmy Award-winning mini-series The Wolves of Berlin charts six key characters (one of them Jewish) living in Berlin from 1948 to reunification in 1989. This four-and-a-half hour production provides a great history lesson for those fascinated by the trials of that besieged city.
And John Rabe (based on a true story of an Oskar Schindler-like character in Nanking, China) slips in star actor Daniel Bruhl (Inglourious Basterds) as a German-Jewish diplomat.
There is a great irony in John Rabe as the main character – a nominal Nazi – becomes the saviour of many thousands of Chinese, at one point shielding them from Japanese warplanes under a large Nazi flag.
The Audi Festival of German Films has grown in popularity since it was first launched in
Australia in 2002, with more than 19,000 attending the festival last year.
It runs for two weeks in Melbourne and Sydney, with shorter programs in Adelaide, Brisbane and Perth.
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Israel at last for Aussie marchers
WARSAW, Poland, 22 April – Australia’s March of the Living (MOTL) contingent finally took to the skies on Wednesday (April 21), five days after it was scheduled to arrive in Israel.
Stranded in Poland following the closure of airspace as a result of an ash plume, which was
caused by the eruption of Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajokull, the 95-strong year 11 students
and 25 staff missed Yom Hazikaron and Yom Ha’atzmaut celebrations in the Holy Land.
“They were very low but spirits are now very high. They just want to be in Israel,” MOTL
Australia director Sue Hampel said in a phone interview as the group were on route to Budapest airport. “It has been a roller-coaster ride.”
While the contingent was tentatively booked on a number of flights — one on Friday afternoon
before Shabbat, another on Monday morning, which was later pushed back to the afternoon — all were cancelled as Polish airspace remained closed.
Late on Tuesday night Australian time (April 20), a decision was made to move the group via a 10-hour bus trip to Budapest, where a chartered El Al plane would fly them to Israel.
While slightly delayed, the aircraft finally departed at 4.30am local time on Wednesday, and
was scheduled to arrive in Israel that same morning.
“They were absolutely exuberant and over the moon that the plane was coming,” Hampel, who did not go on the march, said from Australia on April 23.
“We made the right decision because Polish airspace remains closed.”
While all the other MOTL contingents flew out of Poland late last week, the Australian and Turkish groups had their flights cancelled.
However, they awoke to news that airspace over Europe was closed indefinitely due to the ash in the atmosphere.
“They have been beyond exemplary. They accepted the situation and made the most of what they could do,” Anita Baker, whose husband and daughter are on the trip, said. “Sue has been
outstanding; if not for her, nothing would have happened. She has been on the phone day and night to Poland, Israel and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.”
Hampel commended the efforts of MOTL International, saying that board member Aharon
Tamir remained in Poland with the Australian group, while executive director Yossi Kedem “did everything possible” from Israel, including extending accommodation, food and tours.
She also praised the students, their parents, the madrichim and logistics coordinator Sam Rosenberg who accompanied the contingent.
The group will now spend four “action-packed” days in Israel, before flying home as originally scheduled on Saturday night.
Hampel said she was very proud of the efforts and the ultimate outcome.
“It’s been mad and brilliant,” she said.
While not as they had hoped and expected, the group spent Yom Hazikaron with the Polish-Jewish community and celebrated Yom Ha’atzmaut at a barbecue with members of the Turkish contingent and the local community.
Meanwhile, the travel chaos also forced the Chief Rabbi of Poland to cancel a six-day trip to
Australia. Rabbi Michael Schudrich had been due to attend various synagogue, school and charity engagements in both Victoria and New South Wales during his visit, including tonight’s (Thursday) launch of Magen David Adom’s 80th anniversary humanitarian aid appeal in Melbourne. The charity said it was hoping to reschedule the event for later in the year.
*
Fabian is Australia bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World. He is based in Melbourne.
The Jews Down Under… Roundup of Australian Jewish News
- Garry Fabian
Compiled by Garry Fabian
The Zentai saga rolls on
PERTH 13 April – The Federal Court in Western Australia will next month begin hearing an appeal from Perth man Charles Zentai against his
extradition to Hungary to face war crimes charges.
The court has postponed the start of a judicial review into the case to April 27; it was supposed to begin last month. A review favourable to
Zentai is widely seen as his final opportunity to avoid extradition.
Earlier this month, lawyers representing Zentai and Home Affairs Minister Brendan O’Connor met inFederal Court over the defendant’s right to see a full version of the documents used by O’Connor in reaching his decision to green-light the extradition.
Zentai is accused of playing a role in the murder of Peter Balazs, a young Budapest Jew who was beaten to death in November 1944.
Zentai, who was arrested in 2005 on a Hungarian warrant, denies the charges.
*
Remembering Six Million
MELBOURNE, 12 April – Commemorations for Yom Hashoah, Holocaust remembrance day, were held around Australia on Sunday, April 11 and Monday, April 12.
In Melbourne, survivors from the “Buchenwald boys” lit memorial candles at a memorial at
Monash University’s Robert Blackwood Hall.
Sydney’s Jewish community hosted a number of functions, including a name reading ceremony at
the Sydney Jewish Museum in Darlinghurst. More than 300 people, including consul generals from
Germany, Austria, Poland, Lithuania, Costa Rica, Britain, Croatia and Romania, joined school
children, many of them from non-Jewish schools, at Sunday’s moving commemoration.
Moriah College hosted a Yom Hashoah event, with a keynote speech from Israel Embassy deputy Eli Yerushalmi, while Masada College had scheduled its own commemoration for Monday night.
Yom Hashoah memorials were also held in Perth, where Associate Professor Mark Baker was keynotespeaker, and in Canberra, where diplomats,politicians and representatives of various faiths
came together to remember the Holocaust.
*
Goodby to politics but not Jewish Community
SYDNEY, 12 April – After years of involvement, Malcolm Turnbull said his resignation as
Wentworth MP will not see him cut ties with the Jewish community.
Speaking the day after announcing he would not contest the next election, the former Liberal
leader called the local Jewish community “the heart and soul” of his electorate.
“I don’t intend to stop my association with the Jewish community just because I am out of
Parliament. I’ve loved my involvement at so many communal events and just having so many friends in the Jewish community.”
Using the new social medium Twitter, Turnbull announced on Tuesday he would not recontest the
inner-eastern Sydney seat come the next election.
The decision was made, he said, following his loss of the Liberal Party leadership to Tony
Abbott by one vote in December last year. The catalyst for that vote was the emissions trading
Bill, which Turnbull continues to strongly support, but which much of the Coalition opposes.
But he never had trouble keeping the Jewish community on his side even those who weren’t
Liberal voters held Turnbull in high esteem because of his commitment to the community.
It was Chanukah parties that Turnbull highlighted as some of the best memories during his time in
office. “I really enjoyed Chanukah celebrations, whether it was the event at Double Bay that Yanky
Berger does, or the Russian ceremony,” he said, adding he once gave a memorised speech in
Russian, which “amused some of the older attendees”.
One organisation that Turnbull has had a strong involvement with for the past three years is
Sydney’s Montefiore Home, where he is the ambassador.
This week, Montefiore vice-president Gary Inberg said he hoped Turnbull’s role as the home’s
“ambassador, supporter and friend” would continue. “Our residents are always delighted to
see Malcolm and we have enjoyed hosting him at the home on numerous occasions. It is a pleasure
and an honour to be associated with him,” Inberg said.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Robert Goot also paid tribute to the politician.
“We regret, but understand, Mr Turnbull’s decision. He was a most effective advocate for a
variety of matters of concern for the Jewish community,” Goot said.
In terms of a successor, the Liberal Party has opened nominations for a new candidate to contest
the increasingly marginal seat.
A number of Jewish names have been suggested including party bigwigs Richard Shields and
Julian Leeser, as well as former Turnbull staffer Anthony Orkin and current local councillor
Anthony Boskovitz. The vote is expected to be held within a month.
Turnbull weighed in on the speculation of his successor, but in a non-partisan way.
“People often assume, in a somewhat patronising way, that the Jewish community will always vote
for a Jewish candidate. I think there are a lot of people in the Jewish community who would make
great candidates for Parliament, but ultimately it is the quality of the candidate that matters,” he said
*
Push for closer diplomatic ties
CANBERRA, 13 April – Ronen Plot, director-general of Israel’s Ministry of Public Diplomacy and
Diaspora Affairs, was in Australia this week in what is seen as part of a larger effort to
cultivate a better relationship between the local community and the Jewish State.
The director-general, who also spent time liaising with Jewish community leaders in Hong
Kong and New Zealand as part of his regional sweep, said that his trip had a dual purpose: as
a fact-finding mission to learn more about Diaspora communities and develop a working
relationship with their leadership, while also looking for opportunities for new collaborative
projects in education and other spheres.
Speaking in Hebrew, Plot said that his visit was considered essential in order to carry out the mission of his department.
“You can’t have a situation where you have an office of Diaspora affairs and run it exclusively
from Israel,” Plot said. “It’s extremely important to meet and get to know people in the
Diaspora communities themselves.”
Dr Ron Weiser, past president of the Zionist Federation of Australia and current committee
member of the Board of Governors of the Jewish Agency, was one of the many communal officials
who met with Plot during his Pesach visit.
Dr Weiser said that Plot’s visit represents the beginning of a long-term process to change the
relationship between Jerusalem and the Diaspora. He recalled the words of former prime minister Ehud Olmert in a speech to the Jewish Agency Board of Governors. “[Olmert] said, for the past
60 years, Israel has been the project of the Jewish people. For the next 60 years, the Jewish
people will need to be the joint project of Israel and Jewish communities around the world.”
The current visit is the latest step in that process, Dr Weiser said.Plot dismissed speculation that his trip had any connection to recent allegations that Israel had forged Australian passports.
His visit, he said, was planned well in advance of the scandal and had very clear objectives far
removed from such controversies.
Plot added that, at any rate, there has been no proven link between Israel and the forgeries.
In related news, Plot could not confirm the accuracy of a report in The Jerusalem Post last
Thursday that PM Binyamin Netanyahu’s former bureau chief Ari Harow may accept the position of
deputy director-general of the Public Diplomacy and Diaspora Affairs Ministry.
*
Passport report in, but no action to date
CANBERRA, 15 April – Foreign Minister Stephen Smith has said he will not rush his response to
an Australian Federal Police (AFP) report into the alleged misuse of four Australian passports
in the assassination of Hamas terror chief Mahmoud al-Mabhouh .
The AFP investigation, which saw three officers travel to Israel, was completed recently, with
Smith receiving the findings last Friday. The Foreign Minister said he had looked at the
report, but was not ready to make any decisions.
“I haven’t yet had the opportunity of very carefully considering that, but it’s clear from a
preliminary assessment of that report that I need to get further advice and see further work and
have further discussion with other agencies,” he told Channel Nine.
He said he would be discussing the report with Australia’s two premier security agencies the
Australian Security Intelligence Organisation and the Australian Secret Intelligence Service before making any decisions.
“When that work has been done, and I’ve had the chance to fully consider, not just the AFP
report, but also that further work and advice from other agencies, then I’ll make the detail of
the government’s deliberations about this matter public.”
Responding to whether the Australian investigation was taking too long, Smith said he
wanted to be sure of the facts.
“I need further work done by our intelligence agencies and I’m going to get this right rather
than rush it in any way. It’s a very important issue. It has very significant ramifications for
use of passports and our relationships with a number of countries, and I’m not proposing to be
rushed. I want the exhaustive work to be done carefully and properly.”
The investigation was launched in late February after forged passports in the names of
Australian-born Israelis were discovered by Dubai police. Fingers were pointed at Israel’s Mossad
secret service, with Smith calling Israel’s Ambassador to Australia Yuval Rotem to Parliament
for an explanation and asking for his cooperation.
Last month, Britain expelled an Israeli diplomat after completing its own investigation into
forged passports in the names of British-born Israelis
*
Rabbis reach out to youth
MELBOURNE, 15 April – Local Orthodox rabbis are this week launching a range of programs in a bid
to relate better to younger Jews and to become more professional.
Tonight (Thursday), the Rabbinical Council of Victoria (RCV) will unveil a number of projects
at a gala reception in the presence of Victorian Government ministers, community dignitaries and young people.
Speaking in the lead-up to the event, RCV president Rabbi Yaakov Glasman said the rabbis
are hoping to offer their expertise to the community in different ways.
“The RCV hopes to work in collaboration with other communal organisations and believes the
Victorian rabbinate has a wealth of knowledge and experience to offer the Jewish, and indeed, wider community,” the North Eastern Jewish Centre rabbi said.
One way it hopes to do this is through the “Mashpia” or mentoring program, which will link rabbis with young Jews.
“The purpose of this initiative is to encourage young Jewish adults, particularly in their latter
formative teenage years, to feel comfortable thinking and speaking about matters relating to
spirituality and religion, which some may feel naturally inhibited to do because of societal norms and expectations,” he said.
Those older than school age will also be catered for, with Rabbi Glasman hinting at a program that
will help young adults entering the workforce find a place in their busy lives for religion.
Some of the community’s most prominent businessmen are being engaged to assist.
The other area the RCV is pushing into is professional development. “We want to be
professional, we don’t want rabbis to deal with crises en route,” the president said.
These initiatives are currently being sponsored by the Victorian Multicultural Commission, but
Rabbi Glasman said the community will also be called upon to assist.
“We want communal donors to recognise that investing in the rabbinate is worthwhile.”
*
Limmud Oz back for another year
MELBOURNE, 15 April – Planning for Limmud Oz, the festival of Jewish learning and culture, is
currently underway, with the conference returning to Melbourne for the Queen’s Birthday long weekend in June.
Held annually this year over three days Limmud Oz gives participants an opportunity to
engage with and learn topics of Jewish interest.
“It will take you another step further in your Jewish journey,” Limmud Oz committee member
Sylvia Urbach said. “It will have some appeal to all people regarding any aspect of Jewish life
and Jewish thought ever considered.”
A host of international presenters are already on board, including executive director of the Israel
Religious Action Centre and Women of the Wall participant Anat Hoffman, Israeli professor of
political studies Efraim Inbar and Dr Aaron Rosen, a research fellow in Jewish history and culture at Oxford University.
Diverse local speakers will also feature on a broad range of topics including Adam Goodvach’s
analysis of Australia’s closest neighbour Indonesia, Victor Majzner talking about art and a
discussion with Lionel Sharpe, one of the community’s foremost genealogists.
“There is a wide array of Jewish topics and speakers from religious to secular in every way,
shape or form,” Urbach said. “What’s important is that it is non-denominational and inclusive, with
subjects and speakers relevant to all Jews.”
*
Artistic memlories of a bleak place
<http://jewishnews.net.au/wp-content/uploads/2010/04/jma_page.jpg>
Detail from the Jewish Museum of Australia’s newest exhibition.
Detail from the Jewish Museum of Australia’s
newest exhibition. Photo: Peter Haskin
MELBOURNE’– Jewish Museum of Australia launched its latest exhibition, titled Theresienstadt:
Drawn From the Inside, last week in the presence of MPs including Victorian Arts Minister Peter Batchelor.
More than 20 years ago, Holocaust survivor Regina Schwarz donated a battered suitcase containing 142 watercolours and drawings created in the Nazi concentration camp at Theresienstadt by her husband Paul and fellow artist Leo Lowit.
The rare collection of artworks was exhibited at the Jewish Museum of Australia in 1990, but has
remained in the museum archives since then.
A year ago curator Mera Brooks started sorting through the collection to select 90 works for the museum’s latest exhibition.
Paul and Regina Schwarz and Leo and Jindriska Lowit arrived in Theresienstadt in December 1941,
among 6000 Jews who arrived at the camp by rail transport from Prague that month. Paul, Leo and Jindriska were killed in Auschwitz in October 1944. Regina survived Auschwitz and settled in
Melbourne after World War II where she died in 1987.
The Theresienstadt: Drawn From the Inside exhibition is at the Jewish Museum of Australia
from April 11 until March 13, 2011.
*
Nonagenarian still an active athlete
MELBOURNE, 19 April–90 years young and still as active as ever – Simon Shinberg, you are an inspiration! When ‘Friend of Maccabi’, Simon Shinberg called the office this week to RSVP to the upcoming Friends of Maccabi Luncheon, he told me that he was very much looking forward to hearing motivational Special Guest Speaker, Brian Rabinowitz, as Brian was Simon’s Spinning
instructor! I had to find out more…..
Simon Shinberg not only takes 45 minute Spinning classes 4 days a week, he also does a couple of
hours of gym 4 times a week too!
Simon has been involved in sport for as long as he can remember. He was a member of the first
AJAX Athletics Club, focussing on sprints, high jump and shotput. He represented Victoria at both
the 1937/38 Carnival in Melbourne and the 1938/39 Carnival in Sydney, where he won the High
Jump. He also played soccer for Hakoah when he was 18 years old.
During the many years of running his successful clothing manufacturing business, Simon went for a
run at 6am every morning, keeping him energised for the remainder of the day.
And Simon has no plans to slow down now, saying that keeping active and his wonderful friends
both from Maccabi & other walks of life is what keeps him going each day. Simon Shinberg, you are an inspiration!
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Agitating for change at Yeshivah
MELBOURNE, 19 April – Yeshivah Centre members in Melbourne have called for more democracy in the 52-year-old organisation after accusations the facility’s dayan, Rabbi Zvi Hirsch Telsner, censored their newsletter.
The Pesach edition of the publication included three articles discussing the value of removing
or retaining the controversial “Yechi” sign on the wall of the main shul. But by the end of
Pesach, the two pieces calling for a vote on its presence had been deleted from electronic and paper copies. When asked for confirmation, Rabbi Telsner said he knew “nothing about it”.
However, in a letter to Rabbi Telsner, congregant David Werdiger claims that during a discussion
they had had, the dayan admitted that he had instructed their removal.
Werdiger said he objected to the censorship and would, after 40 years, stop praying at the main
Yeshivah shul. “It is sad and ironic that this has happened in our community, many of whose
founders lived under an oppressive regime in Soviet Russia where there was a standard method
for dealing with dissent,” Werdiger said.
The sign, according to an article by YeshivahGedolah head Rabbi Binyomin Cohen, implies that
the late Lubavitcher Rebbe is the messiah and that he never really passed away.
Despite the sign being up for some years, its presence came to the fore in January when Rabbi
Telsner excised a small group of people – the “Moshiach Men” – from the community.
A number of Yeshivah members called for the sign to be removed, claiming it was divisive and
promoted disharmony. Despite securing more than 100 signatures, Rabbi Telsner and the va’ad
ruchni, or committee, ignored the request.
Articles in the recent newsletter continued the debate about the Yechi sign. In the piece that
was retained, Rabbi Cohen argued in favour of leaving the sign because that is what the late
Yeshivah director, Rabbi Yitzchok Dovid Groner, wanted.
“There should be enough room for all of us, and no-one should feel that his emunah [faith] is
going to be somehow compromised by davvening [praying] together with another Jew who sees
things very differently,” Rabbi Cohen wrote.
Another congregant and one of the organisers of the petition, Yudi New, argued in the original
newsletter that the shul was alienating members of the Jewish community, against its own
philosophy. He called the sign a “slogan” and said there was no room for slogans in a place of
worship, adding its benefits had not been made clear.
On a more general note, New implored the centre’s leadership to welcome mature debate among
members. “Whatever course the leadership and community charters, we must concede that Yeshivah has become a shell of its former self.”
Another member, Pinchas Henenberg, also had his say before the newsletter was censored. “The
issue is not going to go away by itself – responding ‘no comment’ to the public and
instructing mispallelim [congregants] to ‘listen to your leaders and put aside your own thoughts
and concerns’ simply exacerbates the issue,” he wrote, before calling for a public members vote.
*
Fabian is Australia bureau chief for San Diego Jewish World
sdjewishworld 
