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20 Kislev, 5748 Friday, Dec. 11, 1987
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-. • u Omahans march for Soviet Jewry at Washington Summit fOre than 50 Omaha teenagers and adults joined an estimated 200,000 of their fellow Jews from across the United States in demonstrating for human rights during last Sunday's mobilization in Washington, D.C. In this group of photos, from l^ft, are Rachel Skolniek, Jaime Zacharia, Debbie Baraclt, Susan Gurwitch, Rachel Goldberg, Jennifer Rabin and AUison Kntler; Aofmi PoUak and Joshua Parilman, Gloria Kaslow and Stan-
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ley Mitchell, Shirley Goldstein being interviewed by Gary Kerr; Steven Rod, Scott Forman, Robert Birt and Ally Milder; and Danny Fellman. Above photos were taken by Robert Maline, Gary Parihnan, and Deborah Goldstein. See editariol and more photos on pages 6-7.
Omahans participate in history making demonstration
^K By Oliver B. Pollak ^^F Vice president, Jewish Press Monday morning New York Times headlines, "March by 200,000 in capital presses Soviet on rights." USA Today proclaimed "Rally cry: L*t our people go." An historical event had taken place and due to the support of the Omaha JJeWish Federation, over 50 Omaha Jews, teenagers and adults had- been privileged to take part. Beyond the astounding numbers of Jews gathered in .common cause, beyond the speeches of Elie Wiesel, Mayor Koch, Senator Robert Dole, refusenik Natan Sharansky and •Vice President Bush, whose commitment was expressed forcefully and eloquently, I felt a deep sense of historical significance and irony in the events that transpired on Summit Sunday. ' "Let my people go," the universal idiom, captures the gulf between freedom and its absence. It had been transformed into "Let our people go." The first beseeches the Almighty to intervene, to smite the oppressor and to part the paters. However, in the contemporary world, devoid tor the most part of miracles, people must take responsibility for freeing themselves. In the wake of the pogroms, the Czar and his advisers did not oppose the mass flight of Jews from Russia's Westem borders. Holy Mother Russia was pleasM to be rid of
an alien minority. Between 1881 and 1910, 1,119,059 left ship during the Cuban missile crisis, Detente and the frostRussia for the Goldene Medina, an average of 38,588 per ing over of American-Soviet relations following the invasion year. In the next four years two million came from East- of Afghanistan are fresh in bur American memories. ern Europe, Russia, Austria-Hungary and Rumania. The The Nazi Holocaust, the creation of the State of Israel First World War led to the overthrow of the Czar and the and the military threats to her existence are fresh in our estabUshment of the Soviet Union. Jewish consciousness. Decolonization, the Black civil rights movement and the Communist ideology opposed traditional religion ideas and capitahst economics. Fearful of the West and counter women's struggle, Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther revolution they sought uniformity and loyalty among its Kingi the preachings of equality and the imposition of one's citizens. The Iron Curtain, Winston Churchill's phrase, es- body in a human movement to right a wrong are not fortablished a cordone saniiaire. The West wanted to prevent gotten even in the passive and Yuppie 80's. Peter Yarrow the spread of communist infection into the European body. and Mary Travers, of Peter, Paul and Mary, provided a voAnd the Soviets, defensive by nature, did not want the out- cal spirit of the 60's. side world to learn its national secrets, exploit internal disRussia, Jewish survival and a principled peaceful method content or shortcomings, or benefit from Russia's educa-. of demonstrating all came together on the Mall on the eve tional investment in its citizens- The result was a rigid of the visit to the United States of Soviet leader Mikhail emigration control. Gorbachev. There are between 1.8 miUion and 2.5 million Jews in the The lessons of the past were haunting. What if Jews had Soviet Union, the world's third largest Jewish population demonstrated after they had learned about the concentraafter the United States and Israel. About 385,000 Soviet tion camps in 1942, or 1943, or 1944? Would history read Jews have applied to emigrate. In 1979, the peak of emigra- differently today? Elie Wiesel suggests it would. How tion, 51,320 left. In 1986, 914 left. And so far in 1987, 7,300 would parents and grandparents in Germany, Austria, Pohave left. land, Czechoslovakia and Rumania have fared if someone Joseph Stalin's excesses, the Cold War, Nlkita Khrush(Continued on Page 6) chev's shoe pounding at the United Nations, brinksman-
A sea of Jews:
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The family gathers because some are in trouble
^^H By Steven J. Rod, executive director ^^K Jewish Federation of Omaha "Hey, Omaha ... how'ya doing?'Great to see you here!" *'Omaha! That's great! How many came today?—55??! Is that the whole town?" "Omaha! Hey, do you know Lou Rich •... Ben Nachman ... Abner Rubin ..." ''Hey, Omaha... did you come in this morning? What a trip that must ha've been!" "What a trip that must have been." What a trip that was. The words which follow cannot describe the day in. sufficiently vivid enough terms. How does one describe the exdtement of leaving Omaha at 6:20 a.m., by some miracle landing at D.C. International five minutes early and having an arm-banded marshal! say, "Omaha! Hi, there. I'm bere to make sure you all get on your bus and over to the Bll^ae. Do you have any questions?" With about 26,000
people coming in by plane this morning, it was amazing that she found us—but a fine tribute to the organizing committee. I'm not sure I can describe the feeling I had when our bus pulled up to the curb across from the Washington Monument. It was a "Sea of Jews"—tens of thousands, everywhere we looked. I was elated: it was an awe-inspiring sight. The 55 o^ us alighted and Jody Epstein's wellorganized effort enabled us to work together to assemble our signs and banners and within 10 minuteis our huge banner which said "Omaha Committee for Soviet Jewry" was up in the au- on its four poles. As Scott Forman, Bob Birt, Ally Milder and I lifted it up in the air for the first time, an amazing thing started to happen. People worked their way over to us and started greeting us as if we were longlost family-and maybe that's what made the day unique
for all. It was our Jewish family, somewhere between 215,000 and 250,000 of us, all getting together to do what a family does best—spend a Sunday together. Only today we were getting together not just to say hello, but to let visiting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev know that some of our family couldn't make it to D.C. todaysome of them were not free to travel or emigrate. These were the tenS; of thousands of our family members in the Soviet union who have had the courage to apply for exit visas so that they can join the rest of the family. For the sin of asking to leave the Soviet Union they have lost their jobs, been exiled to Siberia, and, in some cases, imprisoned. Our family got together today, all 250,000 of us, just so we could say, "£)nough, Mr. Gorbachev. Let our people go!" We made our way through the hug^ crowd to the "Ne(Continued on Page 6)