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EXODUS^
P.O. Box 13369
Charlotte, NC 28226
Address Correction
Requested
Non-Profit Organization
U.S. Postage PAID
Charlotte, NC
Permit No. 1208
The Charlotte 'TEWISH «NEWS
Vol. 12 No. 5
Charlotte, North Carolina
May 1990
Lubavitch to Celebrate Las B’Omer
Special Concert and Picnic to be Held
Update: Operation Exodus
On Sunday, May 13, Luba
vitch of North Carolina will
present the Charlotte Jewish
community with a major Jewish
“Country Western Concert” and
barbecue picnic at the grounds
of the Chabad House adjacent
to Shalom Park.
Moshe Yess, the famed Jewish
folk singer and guitarist, will
lead the concert as part of the
exciting program for Lag
B’Omer and Mother’s Day.
Moshe Yess has published over
12 albums of his music and was
cofounder of the successful
Magama Duo.
Mr. Yess gained fame as a lead
singer and composer with songs
like “My Zaide” and “1 Have The
What Page Are We In The
Prayer Book Blues.”
The event will begin with a
grand picnic at 12:30 p.m. “It is
geared as a family event, with
good wholesome Jewish fun for
children and adults,” said Rabbi
ModMYcw
Yossi Groner, director of Luba
vitch of North Carolina.
The Lag B’Omer event will
feature delicious Kosher BBQ
and New York Chicken Wings.
Famed Canadian hot dogs will
be the order of the day. Vege
tarian dishes will also be avail
able.
For more information call the
Lubavitch office, 366-3984.
By the time you read this,
Charlotte may have welcomed
our first Soviet Jewish family for
resettlement by the Federation
since April, 1983. On April 2,
1990, HIAS was notified that we
would like to receive the families
of Igor Vakhovsky and Lev
Tsirlin. Both families are orig
inally from Kiev.
Igor, 29, is a radio technician
and his wife, Liliya, 30, is an
elementary school teacher. They
have two sons, Yevghny, 6, and
Konstantin, 2.
Lev Tsirlin, 39, is an electronic
engineer and his wife, Inni, 33,
is a computer programmer. They
have one son, Igor, 10.
Helping these families become
financially independent and
emotionally secure must be a top
priority of our Jewish commu
nity. Their acculturation into
both the Jewish and general
communities is the responsibility
of all of us collectively and in
dividually.
We need to resettle as many
families as we can as quickly as
East Germany Donates Shoah Artifacts
(JTA) — East Germany do
nated hundreds of artifacts to
the U.S. Holocaust Memorial
Museum ranging from Nazi
euthanasia instruments to an
IBM machine used by Nazis to
register Jews.
Gerhard Herder, the East
German ambassador to the
United States, made the presen
tation at the museum’s office. He
said the presentation “underlines
that my government is serious
in stating that the entire German
people has a responsibility for
the past. That is why the nego
tiations with Jewish organiza
tions to provide material sup
port to those who became vic
tims of the Holocaust in the
years from 1933 to 1945 will be
continued.”
The one other East European
country that has contributed
artifacts to the museum is Po
land, which contributed bar
racks from the Auschwitz and
Birkenau concentration camps
as well as a railway car used to
transport Jews.
In addition, the museum has
received archival material from
Eastern Germany, Czechoslo
vakia, Hungary and the Soviet
Union.
The Nazi euthanasia program
killed roughly 500,000 Germans
and set a precedent for the mass
killings of the Holocaust.
The registration machine, an
IBM Hollerith punch card tab
ulating and sorting machine, was
originally developed in the Uni
ted States for the census of 1890.
In 1933, 1935 and 1939, the
Third Reich used the machine
to conduct national censuses,
which provided a vital link in the
chain of identifying Jews, Gyp
sies and other ethnic groups.
East Germany also presented
V-2 rocket parts made by slave
laborers. More than 10,000 of
the 60,000 slave laborers died in
the Holocaust, some killed by
the SS, others dying from grim
working and living conditions in
the underground tunnels.
In addition, the museum re
ceived portions of tree trunks
inscribed with messages from
prisoners of the Sachsenhausen
concentration camp.
The messages were carved by
Jews, political prisoners and
Soviet prisoners of war in a
forest as British and Soviet
forces closed in on the camp in
1945. Thousands of prisoners
had been marching from the
camp when the convoy halted
for some days in a forest, where
they ate tree bark to stay alive.
The Holocaust museum,
which is under construction in
Washington, D.C. on a federal
site near the Washington Mon
ument, is scheduled to open in
the spring of 1993.
• «
IT WAS SHALOM AND WELCOME HOME, u Marvin Lender, UJA Operation
Exodus Cfiairman, warmly greeted a newly arrived immifrant from tiie USSR —
one of 7,300 Soviet Jews to set foot on Israeli soil during March — at Ben Gurion
Airport during recent UJA Operation Exodus Mission to Moscow and Israel.
Photo/Robert Cumins
possible to help meet the U.S.
quota for 1990. We are fortunate
in Charlotte that we have the
financial resources and low
unemployment which will help
facilitate the resettlement pro
cess. Also, we have over 150
volunteers, including profes
sionals, who are willing to share
their time and expertise.
Although the general cam
paign for Operation Exodus
(resettlement in Israel) and long-
range funding for local resettle
ment will not officially begin
until fall, the fundraising com
mittee, chaired by Meg Gold
stein, Bill Gorelick and Jared
Schwartz, has already raised
over $150,000. New gifts are
coming from people who have
not given to Federation cam
paigns in the past as well as from
past contributors.
People of all ages and finan
cial means must realize the
importance of this project. Push-
kas have been given to the
children in religious schools to
encourage their support. Many
have already made financial
contributions and volunteered
to help. The Chai Group has
made a significant financial
contribution and has volun
teered their help also.
Events are moving quickly in
the Soviet Union. Today we are
talking urgency. Tomorrow it
could be emergency. Right now
we are dealing with resettlement.
In the future it could be rescue.
We have the opportunity and
obligation to save lives. We must
act now. Call Sally Schrader,
Soviet Resettlement Coordina
tor, for further information at
364-6594.
Were You in Latvia in 1941?
The United States Depart
ment of Justice, Office of Special
Investigations asks for assis
tance in locating Holocaust
survivors who can describe the
treatment of Jews or of other
targeted groups in the town of
Valmiera (Wolmar), Latvia, or
in the Valmiera district. The
period involved is early July to
the end of October 1941, espe
cially the early summer.
All responses should be sent
either to Elliot Welles, Director,
ADL Task Force on Nazi War
Criminals, 823 U.N. Plaza, New
York, NY 10017 or to Betty
Shave, Senior Trial Attorney,
Office of Special Investigations,
Criminal Division, U.S. Depart
ment of Justice, 1400 New York
Avenue N.W., Bond Building,
Washington, D.C. 20530, tele
phone (202) 786-5033. OSI is
seeking both English-speaking
and non-English-speaking wit
nesses.
In The News
Calendar 11
Classifieds 23
Editorials 2
JCC 8-10
Lubavitch 16-17
Organizations 21
Recipes 23
Teens 14-15
Temples 22
This 'n That 7
Tributes 11
World Beat 4-5
— Special Feature —
A Pictorial Review of
Operation Exodus Mission
pages 12-13
J
Jewish Commuiiity Center
invites you to
Celebrate With Us
Sunday, May 13
Noon-7 p.m.
All mothers will receive a present
Tennis Clinic and Tournament
Barbecue Dinner
Fee: $5 per person / $3 children 5 and under
RSVF to 366-5007 by May 6