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Page 2-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, December 14, 1989
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RABBI W. GUNTHER PLAUT
I. just rcad:a long letter from Rabbi Saul Fein-berg, who writes about his impressions of serving Jewish communities in Soviet Russia. He is distinguished in that he combines his Western training with ii knowledge of Russian, and he reports on his lecture experiences in va'nous cities. Here - ar^e some excerpts from ^
: his missive:
"The policies which have granted Jews the freedom of speech and association have also enabled a fringe group to exprfess^a" message 6f hate and bigotry./ On my first night in Moscow I turned on the TV in tny hotel room. The program, a        Rabbi Plant Soviet equivalent of 'Nightlinei, ■ featured an interview with young men in jackboots. The camera shifted to scenes of a demonstration in aMoscow sports stadium where thousands were
- cheering for a speaker \v ho seemed the epitome of a demagogue. - ^
"This organization is Pamyat. a Russian word meaning "memory." and it claims 60.000 followers.Its leaders call for a return to prerevoiution-ary principles and a purging of foreign elements from the motherland. They claim not to hate Jews ,but:only.Zioni&t el(fments.-whic]iihey see. retleci-
'ed in the famous forgery. The Protocols'of the '.
, Elders of Zion."        ; ;
Many arrested by KGB %r their activism
Rabbi Feinberg writes what happened when he addressed the first meeting of a new Jewish group devoted to combating anti-Semitism.    > ■
"I am sure thateach of those attending had personally suffered from discrimination; some of them. I had learned, had been anested by the KGB
for their activism in the pre-Glashosi era.
''During the question and answer period one young woman asked me what a similar organization in America would do if a swastika were])'ainted on a synagogue. I said the matter wQy|d be taken , to the pcilice. who would attempt to apprehend the^' perpetrators. My answer to thaf question resulted in silence and a sea of blank faces,
I asked someone if my Russian was not clear. 'Absolutely not,' he replied, *we understand yoiir words, but it is impossible for us to com prehen^d/from our vantage-point, that Jewish organizations would contact the police if a synagogue were desecrated. Here in Moscow,. we
"wouTTnever dream of calling the authorities for
.help.''-, '
Spiritual leader
o
oscow
"This exchange reinfoi-ced my perception of the vulnerability, which SovieUews experience today; While people are taking every opportunity presented by Glasnost to express their Judaism, they re^ main uncertain about the future. Soviet Jews themselves are convinced that, if Gorbachev fails, his successor would return to the old system of fear and repression^
'■ "For members of our group, as well as foir thousands of Jews throughout the "Soviet Union who are returning to their heritage, the^question.which -looms overthe horizon is the future oiGlasnost;"'
If giveirtotal freedom-tp leave "the country^ would Soviet Jews'choose to einigrate? Rabbi Feinberg thinks that many would, but also that many would choose to stay. These must besup-plied with the means of building a meaningful JewishTjfe within the Soviet Xinion.
The rabbi serves the new Liberal congregation in Moscow", his letter came to me courtesy of the World -Union for Progressive Judaism.
Von Weizsacker assures BB leaders
BONN (JTA) -
. President Richard von Weizsacker of West Germany assured a visiting delegation of American Jews last week that he fully underJitands the concern of Avwld Jewry over the prospect of a reunited Germany.
Biit the German people have learned the lessons of history, and their objective is democratic rule aind support of human rights, he: said.
Weizsacker addressed 25 members of the Anti-Defaniation League of B'nai B'rith. who came to
German
in
BONNtiTA)-;:::.:;;;-,: -
The German lahguageiis being taught for the first time in Israeli high schools, the West Gerrnan Foreign:
Ministry  reported last week.
It hasbeen added to the curricula of two high. 1 .schools, one in Haifa and the other in Kfar Sava.
German was all but. eliminated from the Israeli school system, until now bec;ause:of the sensitivities of Holocaust survivors."
It has been taught, however, in private schools
and universities-and by the West German government-sponsored Goethe Institute, which has branches in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem.
Bonn to present the Ger-^ man cb,ief-...af.,..sl.ale.,,:.,wiih ADL's Joseph Prize for human rights, the first tinie the award has gone to a German. ;
ADL National Chairman Burton Leyinson, who made the presentation, praised Weizsacker for '■encouraging his countrymen to examine their responsibility for the Nazi era and the horrors it \spawned:, ,
Weizsacker greeted the
ADL delegation at the Villa Hammerschmi4l.-the president's official residence. They were his guests at a luncheon attended by the U.S. ambassadofto Bonn, Vernon Walters.
The German president told them, ' 'You have , come to Europe at a time when the basic ADL philosophy is coming to. life." an apparent reference to the movement for democratic reforms-sweeping Eastern. European
countries.
-.A. The reforms in East Ger-'ra^anyV* particularly the opening of the Berlin Wall, have focused world atte n-; tion on the possibility that the two Gerrhanys may be united in the near future.
West German Chancellor Helmut Kohl has offered a 20-point proposal for reunification.
Weizsacker told his guests, "I know it is not easy to envisage the outcome of the unification of
75 million Germans. But on the other hand, those engaged in democratic re-form.s cannot but_ welcome these moveifjferiits.''' They will visit East Berlin on Thursday for a scheduled meeting with Hans Modrow. the newly elected prime minister of the German DemocraiiL-Republic. The ADL delegation will also meet with representatives of the East Gcrriian Jewish, .community.
B.G. leader makes^ visit to Dachau
V Bv   ■■        , =•
MAURICE LUCOW |
VICTORIA -   ^ I
British. Columbia Pre- ='
mier William Vahder Zalm ^
made an unheralded and. =
unpublicized visit to the =
Dachau concentration camp = during-.a recent trip to ..-S
Munich,_where he opened e
a B.C. trade office. =
According to Ian Jessop; . e
. the. premier's press se- =
cretai^,. Vander Zalm took ,e
ah early mornlpg tour of e
the death camp;acxompa- e nied'by-Ithiedirector/ -"""^^
He went to. the camp's e.
museum where he vyatched e .• a 20-minute movie show- ' e
ing some of the horrors ■ e
perpetuated at Dachau. .=
FoUowing/his'-visit, the e
. premier, a devout Roman e
Catholic, went to a'nearby e
chapel to pray. e
Jessoptold The CJN the |
premier went to Dachau. e
because ''he felt it was e
something he.just had to e
do. But he didn't tell any- e . body about it ... . even I : =
didn't know he went to the e
camp and he didn't want e.
any publicity about it."  . e
However, a brief item =
about the \/isit got into Jim e
Hume's B.C.  politics e
. column in., the Victoria e_
fjmes-Colonist.. "That was ^
The first r knew abqnt it," e
■ he told The CJf^A^en- e
queried about the visit. e
s in E. Europe
By
RICHARD COHEN
nia, Georgia and, indeed, the Ukraine are not Soviet republics by virtue of Stalin's imperialism; tlie czars did that work for him. Stalin merely changed flags, the hammer and sickle instead of the czarist eagle; T<) oppressed peoples, the difference was without much distinction. /
' The collapse, disintegration or. even, contraction of a mighty empire is a momentou.s event.. Nations.- like nature, abhor a vacuum. Something will rush in to fill the empty space. For that rea.son. Bush and his advisers are awed by the rush'of events. How. will the Lithuanians react.to events in Gemiany? What will happen in Latvia and feisty,-little Estonia? Will the Soviet Union'.s 50 million Muslims embark on an Islamic revival and, if so. what will that mean? . '
WASHINGTON -
In network babble; "history"' occurs when live pictures are available. Thus, the breaching of the
e Berlin Wall, was history — an historic occasion.
= we were told time and time again. If by history;
e the networks mean something new, the term may
e be inappropriate. .WiiatOfonbles much of Europe
= is a return to something old. .
e That something; is nationalism. Since the French
e Revolution, it has been the curse of Europe, a ; powerful emotional force that, in a .sense, lifted
e : Napoleon on its .shoulders and carried him to
= Moscow. Nationalism was a cause of the First ,
e World War and. many would argue, of the Second
e World War also. In its dota^e..^heS(lyjet empire
e can be credited with at least one achievement: for,
e years, it has put its boot on ]he-neck of national- '
e ism.in Eastern Europe: , /
e But what happens now? No one knows. That
e uncertainty, coupled with an innate caution, ac-
e > counts for why the White House greeted the new
e t Eaist German travel policy like a man giving a
e ;.perfunctory toast to someone promoted over
e him. Appropriate things were said, biit the
e mobd was solemn. Powerful forces have been
e unleashed. President George Bush, as miich as
e the man in the street, must think he is the cap-
e ■   tive of events. ,.-■.;;' ;
e When it comes to history, it's appropriate that
e the Berlin Wall became a sieve on the eve of an
e important anriiyersary: the Nov. 11.1918. end of
e ,   the First World 'War, In theory, that calamity^
e should never have happened. Among others. Com-
e' muni.sts and socialists believed th_jit the workei-s of
e Germany would never fight the workers of France
e x|r Russia. Why should they? Why should the ex--!^
e ^'loited figiht onbehalf of a monarchy — lose their
e. lives to defend the nobility, the propertied, the
e capitalist. Theory rhet reality in the trenches. In
e the name of nationalism, workers killed workers
e. . by the millions.
e_ Does that reality Still prevail? Wf dqat know.
e In a sense, the Soviet empire put history on freeze;
e All^sorts of nationalisms were contained and,a
e greater cause was proclaimed: Communism. But
e it was repression and terror, notsolidarity between
e '   vvprkers^     kept Ukrainians. Estonians- Latvi-
"e ' ans, Lithuanians and countless others; in their place.
e It.was Soviet fprce that^settled all sorts of border ■
e questions in Eastern and Central Europe.
e The real challenge is not just to Communism
e but to the Russian empire, assembled first by
= the czars and then extended by Stalin. Arme- (c) 1989; Washington Post Writers _ ifllllllMllillllllllTllillllllllllllllllllllillilllM^
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..How will.the Poles react to the possible reuriifi- ■ cation of Germany? More importantly, how will Moscow react? Indeed, can it even stop reunification from proceeding?
The President and his. advisers are hardly unschooled in history; They see it. bearing down on them. The stakes are enormous. They include, most. importantly, the fate of Mikhail Gorbachev and his reform rnoveihent. Should events really spin put of control, should. Gorbachev become the victiiTi of a reactionary cOup, then world peace would be in peril. An aging empire, like an old elephant,-is an irritable bea.st.
The Bush administration has been criticized for its caution and, indeed, it sometimes seems Jhiit. it doesn't know the difference between pru-;
dence and paralysis. Confusion and conflict wi-:thinth.e administration has tended to make the President seem unsure and hesitant. But aside from increasing aid to Poland and Hungary or being quicker to embrace Gorbachev, it's hard to know precisely w hat the President should do. In the face of political convulsion in Eastern Europe, patience may be the ultiniille yii tue.
The term "history" has been rriuch tak^n in vain FeCeritly. Some intellectuals say it has end-ed w^^^^ television, it is proclaimed to coincide with the hurried arrival of anchormen.
But history is also the unseen but powerful movement of economic, politicalTaind social forces, a change in the status quo. The immense challenge facing Western, leaders, particularly the President, is to ensure that history does not double back on them and that the future of Europe does not turn out to be its past.      -'
yOL. XXX, NO. 32 (2,484)
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