Page 54-The Canadian Jewish News, Thursday, June 30, 1988
or lews:
By
BEN ROSE
TORONTO -
When Uya Gefol visited the jQrst Jewish cafe jn-Moscow's history he spotted a notice: on a wall exhorting Russians to take part in an attack against Jews, even giving the dates for it.
As a Jew who worked on Soviet newspapers and radio stations for 20 years, Gerol was stunned by the viciousness of the notice. He had returned to the Soviet Union (surpris-
ingly with Uttle difficulty) as a correspondent for The Ottewa Citizen to cover the Reagan-Gprba-chev summit.
"Does this mean that glasnost is bad for the Jews? The CJN asked. "I'm afraid so," Gerol replied. "Of course anti-semitism is not unknownin Russia, but the regimes suppressed it officially and used it only for special purposes of their own."
Soon after the opening of the cafe, meant to be a literary and cultural centre.
receives grant
..By ■ , GARY POGROW
VANCOUVER--
C H E C. V a n c o u v e r' s Community Hebrew Education Council, has just received a substantial 2-year grant from the L:A. Pincus Fund of Jerusalem. The fund was .set up to assist Diaspora communities with their Jewish educational programming.
''This grant of $30,000 a year for two years will enable us to expand our services and develop programs we couldn't provide before," said Betty Nitkin, CHEC executive director.
The council, formed in 1980, is an educational resource centre which serves the three Jewish day schools in Vancouver and the nine supplementary sc hool s i n the greater Van-couyer lower mainland;
Nitkin described the seven areas that CHEC has designated for the use of the funds:
• Through the Vancouver institute of Adult Jewish StiJdies, CHEC will offer enrichment courses such as Jewish history, the Bible, and Jewish literature for educators and for the general community;
• There will be an increased number of professional development
Workshops for teachers including bringing in more outside professional re-• source leaders;
• CHEC will hold a CAJE (Coalition for The Advancement of Jewish Education) confereiice of Jewish educators in BC and the Pacific Northwest in November that will coincide with a University of British Columbia conference on Jewish Education in Medieval Time;
• CHEC, together with public high school .social studies teachers, will design materials and workshops on Israel;
• The grant will allow CHEC to expand its resource centre by acquiring more books, audio-visual material and computer software;
• Teachers will now be able to get assistance, when needed, to attend professional development cpn-ferences;
• The grant will enable Nitkin to visit remote Jewish communities in BC and help them in the development of curriculum and materials.
''This is wonderful," said Nitkin. "The grant enables CHEC to increase its services and accessabil-ity to the Jewish and general communities of greater Vancouver and to the rest of the BC as well."
swastikas appeared on the walls and windows immediately, and a hooligan spit in the manager's face. Ironically, Soviet TV gave the cafe opening (but not the ugly incidents) coverage.
Gerol is a 48-year-old Writer who has been in. Canada for nine yeans. He was fired from his jobs in the Soviet Union and forced to emigrate with his wife, Larissa, and son Dimitri. 23. now living in Vancouver. The Gefols have another son. Misha. 8, who was born in Canada and attends a Jewish day school. They live in Ottawa.
He was in Toronto recently to promote Manipulators: Inside the Soviet Media, of which he is a co-author along with Geoffrev Molvneux, a Vancouver journalist. It is published by Stoddart.
He is how, working on a book about Kurt Waldheim.
anizational data
in '
MYRON LOVE
WINNIPEG -
A computerized data bank on Jevk'ish organizational life in Manitoba has just been completed by the Jewish Historical Society of Western Canada. The JHS cdllected about 20^000 references to Jewish organizations to enhance its already substantial archives.
The references have been . divided into an alphabetical list of about 350 organiza-. tioris. There isa second al-. phabetical listing. of organizations under 20 thernatie^headings. ,
Funding for the 4-year prpjecT^i'as provided by the Manitoba Heritage yj'ederation, the Canadian Council of Ai^chives, The Jewish Foundation of Manitoba, the Manitoba Jobs Fund and the provincial department of cul-
recreation.
The idea for the project was sparked by a request from a JHS member as to whether the Society had records of every Jewish organization that had existed in Winnipeg.
"We had various minutes and ledgers, biit nothing organized," said; JHS researcher Babe Hefsh-field. "We started thinking, though. We had all the newspapers dating back to 1911 for the Yiddish-language ; papers and to 1925 and its beginnings for The Jewish Post. Thus, we hired some Yiddish-reading researchers and went to work." ^'
Includedin the listingsis information on inaugural meetings, elections, lists of board members, agendas of _ activities and special events. "We have already had interest from historians, sociologists and genealogists," said
Ilya Gerol
"I had a 4-hour interview with him on March 12," he said. "1 saw tears in his eyes. Kyjl NValdheim is not a murderer, just a coward and opportunist.'.'
Gerol is a foreign affairs analyst for The Ottawa Citizen and his column is .syndicated to 17 Canadian newspapers and to 200 American newspapers by
Scripps Howard.
He is somewhat of a phenomenon on the Canadian scene, a broad-shouldered breezy version of the Hollywood foreign correspondent who mixes with royalty and heads of state. ;
While living in the USSR he also moved in the right circles, for in addition to being an editor or news director he was a .speech writer for the late Mikhail Suslov, who led the coup again.st Nikita Khrushchev in 1964.
It was a few articles he wrote under an assumed name for American magazines about anti-semitism and discrimination against the German minority that led to his ouster in 1979. He was then news director of Radio Riga in Latvia and editor of Atlantic news service for Russians living abroad.
After-his pseudonym cover was blowlT, Gerol said he was saved from prison or exile by the interces--^ion of his father-in-law7 who was a high court judge. When he sought permission to return to the USSR in 1987 to cover the 70th anniversary of the revolution, he was aided by his friendship wjth Alexander Yakoylev, former Soviet ambassador to Canada and now No. 3 man in the Politburo, according to Gerol.
When he arrived in the Soviet Union, a deputy minister told him: "We know you are an enemy, but a clever enemy is better than a stupid friend."
While there, Gerol was interviewed by the prestigious magazine Moscow News, and told their reporter: "The Soviet press has shaken off so many stereotypes so fast that one really enjoys
reading Soviet news-paperstoday. This is real glasnost. "
"Glasnost and perestroi-ka are- interrelated processes, but each develops in its own way. Whereas all is well with glasnost, peres-troika has only just begun and has many opponents."
Gerol said there are many Jews working for the media in the Soviet Union, but few profess their Jewishness openly as he did.
Gerol believes that there should be as much pressure put on Moscow to allow Jews to lead a "decent" life in the Soviet Union, including their religious rights, as there is in pressing for in-crea.sed emigration.
"To be realistic about It," he said," at least half of the 2 millioh Jews in Russia will want to stay there because it is theiir land and because of intermarriage."
Send Your
s
To Family and Friends Th^
Mr/ & Mrs. Ben Israel Carol, Judith and Nachum
4485 Bathurst Street
Wish their relatives, friends & neighbors a happy and healthy New Year.
Mr. & Mrs. Ben Israel Carol, Judith and Nachum
wish their relatives and friends a happy and healthy New Year.
Best wishes for a year of peace and serenity, health and happiness to our relatives and friends and the people of Israel
The Israel Family
Wishing all our family and friends a happy and healthy New Year.
The Israel Family
4485 Bathurst Street
Ben & Hannah Israel
.;: 4485 Bathurst Street
Wish their relatives and friends a peaceful,happy and healthy New Year.
B3
Ben & Hannah Israel
, Best wishes to our children, grandchildren, friends and relatives for a happy, healthy & peaceful New Year.
51.00
45.00
Copy changes will not be accepted after
an ad has been placed. Deadline for ads is Wednesday, August 17
Please call us today with your choice.
422-2331