Letters

German Attentiveness to Shoah Provides Lesson

I have visited the city three times and was deeply impressed with how German institutions deal with the Shoah and the racist and anti-democratic tendencies that led to the Holocaust and World War II.

I was amazed by how well-informed so many Germans were and what they had internalized about that part of their history. I saw numerous school children being taken to Dachau and Sachsenhausen. I watched TV programs that told the story of the contributions made to German culture and science by Jews. We visited Jewish cemeteries kept in pristine condition by church groups and, as Leiter notes, ubiquitous monuments dedicated to the memory of those murdered by their fellow countrymen.

Most other European countries have either whitewashed or rewritten their past involvement or collaboration in the destruction of Europe's Jews. Some, like Austria and Croatia, now cast themselves as innocent victims of Nazism.

But even after nearly 70 years, Germany is willing to confront the question of how a cultured society could become xenophobic and fixated on the need to purify itself of the "other."

Perhaps this should be a lesson for our own nation. The growing mood of anti-immigrant sentiment in America is certainly not a healthy sign and one that we ignore at our peril.

Burt Siegel
Elkins Park

Writer Was Right to Put Emphasis on Refugees

I believe Mervin J. Hartman was astute in placing the crux of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations on the refugee issue (Editorial & Opinion: "Until the Refugee Issue Is Settled, There Will Never Be Peace," Jan. 5).

I'd like to make two other points. First, the Palestinians are the only refugees in the world that the United Nations continues to count as refugees beyond the generation that was displaced or left their homes. Since 1948, there have been several generations who have been born, grew up, married and had families. They are still being treated as refugees.

Second, in 1948, about 900,000 Jews were displaced in the Middle East and Northern Africa. They were forced from their homes in Arab lands because they were Jews. What happened to them? What happened to their property? Do they still walk around with keys to their homes? They do walk around with keys, but most of them to their new homes in Eretz Israel.

The United Nations did not resettle these refugees. The Jewish Agency and the State of Israel resettled them. And it was not easy for the state or the refugees (we call them "olim"). No one gave them reparations for their lost property.

As soon as the world understands these simple facts, maybe we can convince the Palestinians that their host countries have not been very hospitable. In some places, like Lebanon, they are not even permitted to work in many occupations. They are being warehoused as pawns by their Arab "hosts." And they are not Israel's responsibility.

Bernie Dishler
Upper Gwynedd

Hebrew Has Always Had a Home at Gratz College

As a graduate of Temple University who majored in Hebrew, I was surprised and saddened to read about Temple's decision to eliminate its Hebrew major and minor (Cover story: "Temple Set to Cut Hebrew Major, Minor," Jan. 5).

Dr. Hanoch Guy, whom I remember fondly, is incorrect that the only college-level Hebrew instruction in the area is at the University of Pennsylvania now. Gratz College has been teaching Hebrew for generations, and we now offer Hebrew online as well as on campus.

In addition to modern Hebrew at various levels, Gratz will be offering two new courses in biblical and liturgical Hebrew in the fall. There is sometimes a tendency to forget that the best resources are offered in our own back yard.

Joy W. Goldstein
President
Gratz College
Melrose Park