Essays and viewpoints

PURELY COMMENTARY

essay

I Declined the Pilecki Prize to Support Brave Polish Historians Under Threat

In the past few weeks, I had the rare opportunity to publicly register my opposition to the Polish government’s efforts to revise and control the narrative of the Holocaust. It was a small gesture that will not change the situation but may offer some succor to activists, academics and other people in Poland opposed to the current government’s policies.

As is well known by now, the populist and nationalist Polish ruling party has not only passed a law to punish those who defame the good name of Poles during World War II, but also actively and energetically introduced rescue as the main aspect of Polish-Jewish relations during the war to be recognized and discussed in public.

Many Polish scholars have continued to produce cutting-edge work that engages with the complexities of life under the terrible German occupation, yet they do so under threat. In February 2021, two leading Polish historians were ordered by a court to apologize for work they had published. While many outside of Poland were appalled by this turn of events, there was little we could do to advocate for academic freedom and against the distortion of the Holocaust.

Thus, when my book, Survival on the Margins: Polish Jewish Refugees in the Wartime Soviet Union, won the Pilecki Prize, I suddenly had a chance to take a stand on behalf of my colleagues in Poland. The Pilecki Institute is a research institution dedicated to studying 20th-century totalitarian regimes and funded by the government. They are able to offer generous subsidies for their research projects, fellowships and prizes. They have also supported the government in undermining uncomfortable historical research findings and promulgating the paradigm of Polish non-Jews as rescuers of Polish Jews.

On Oct. 30, the institute wrote to offer me the prize and ask me to keep quiet about it until the official announcement on Nov. 16. After serious deliberation with friends and family, I declined the Pilecki Prize with a letter explaining my decision on Nov. 4. Eight days later, when the institute put out a press release regarding my decision, I allowed my letter to be published in Polish the following day. The institute responded with an open letter of their own. Here is my original letter, explaining why I could not accept the prize: Dear Mr. Stefanek,

I want to thank you for honoring my book with the Witold Pilecki Book Award. After a decade of research in archives around the world, it is truly heartwarming to receive recognition. Equally, I hope that the book will indeed bring attention to the important story at its core: the experiences of Polish Jewish refugees who survived the Second World War in the Soviet interior. Finally, the life of Witold Pilecki, after whom the Institute and the prize are named, is an inspiration to us all. It is thus with a heavy heart that I must decline this honor.

The Pilecki Institute, while very generous in supporting some historical scholarship on the Second World War, has also been involved in suppressing the work of historians who strive to show the complex and indeed tragic aspects of Poland’s wartime past. War and occupation push humans and societies to their limits. The situation during World War II was horrific for all Poles, albeit not in equal measure. Some non-Jewish Poles, as profiled on the institute’s website, lost their lives protecting their Jewish compatriots. Others, as we know from the scholarship of Professors Jan T. Gross, Jan Grabowski, and Barbara Engelking among others, profited in a variety of ways from the murder of their neighbors.

Across Europe, different

countries have slowly begun to come to terms with the Holocaust and its difficult legacies. The Nazis did not achieve their goals single-handedly. Rather, they relied on extensive local support in every country that they occupied, as well as collaboration from Axis and even neutral states. Recognizing and researching this entangled past is part of moving forEliyana Adler ward. After 1989, it appeared that Poland was on this path. Indeed, the quality, breadth and depth of research coming from Polish scholars of the Holocaust continues to be breathtaking. However, in recent years, the government, with the support of the Pilecki Institute, has moved to curtail this crucial research through the threat and reality of legal action. As an historian, I must stand with my many brave friends and colleagues in Poland and the remarkable research they are doing. Moreover, I believe that continuing the difficult work of confronting the complicated and uncomfortable facts of the Holocaust in Poland will help the country to make sense of its past and help scholars around the world to learn about the ongoing effects of genocide. Sincerely, Eliyana Adler

Dr. Eliyana Adler studies and teaches East European Jewish history. Her book, Survival on the Margins: Polish Jewish Refugees in the Wartime Soviet Union, was published in 2020. She lives in Maryland with her family and travels for research.

essay

You Really Should Have Been There

After 20 years of false hope for those awaiting aliyah in Ethiopia; we must make their cause our cause, stop standing on ceremony and bring them home.

How is it that what should be a Jewish cause par excellence has been reduced to a parochial story of seemingly marginal interest to the Israeli public? Some background. In 2013, Israel declared that it had fulfilled its historic mission of bringing the entirety of Ethiopian Jewry to Israel. In retrospect, it turns out that that declaration referred only to those whose Jewish lineage was maternal. It did not take into account those of patrilineal descent, nor the thousands whose close relatives were already here but who had inexplicably been abandoned.

Two years later, in response to appeals based on humanitarian considerations, the Israeli government decided that it would allow all those of Jewish ancestry to be brought to Israel if they a) had first-degree family in Israel requesting their reunification, b) had arrived in Gondar or Addis Ababa prior to 2010, c) appeared on the community’s membership list and d) declared their intention to convert to Judaism.

That 2015 decision has yet to be fulfilled, though it included the stipulation that its implementation was to begin within four months and completed within five years. In fact, the first of the new immigrants would only arrive in 2017, and, in the intervening years, only a fraction of those supposedly eligible to

make aliyah have actually been allowed to come. As the Council of Ethiopian Kesim and Rabbis in Israel, the local leadership of the community in Ethiopia and prominent activists for the cause all estimate that there are another 14,000 who meet the criteria for aliyah already approved, even the recent government resolution to expedite the arrival of an addiDr. David tional 5,000 would leave many Breakstone more than that still stranded. In addition to which, it appears that no date has yet been set for the beginning of the operation, nor any plan yet in place for its execution. Hence the demonstration. Given the broken promises of past governments, there is understandable — even if not justified — suspicion regarding the reliability of this one.

The author at the demonstration for Ethiopian Jewry.

continued on page 8

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The Hadas and Dennis Bernard Family Centennial Gift Reflects a Lifetime of Leadership and Commitment

“Tzedakah is Judaism’s gift to the world. When we repair the world, we are identifying as Jews and as supporters of humanity.” These words reflect the profound Jewish values that guide the lives of Hadas and Dennis Bernard, two of our community’s most committed individuals. Hadas, born in Israel and raised in Detroit, was steeped in local Jewish life at home, from camps and youth groups to her time as a student leader at the U of M Hillel. Since then, she has been involved in numerous Jewish and greater non-sectarian community organizations, for whom she has served in a range of leadership and board member roles. Originally from Cleveland, Dennis is also a longtime leader in Jewish Detroit, offering his business acumen and leadership skills to agencies and organizations across the community. Currently, Dennis serves as President of the United Jewish Foundation (UJF), the financial arm of the Jewish Federation and the central custodian of the communities’ resources. In addition to their leadership, Hadas and Dennis have established a long legacy of support for the Jewish community. “Tzedakah is important to us,” Hadas says, “because it not only lifts whoever receives the tzedakah, it also lifts our heart and soul.”

The Hadas and Dennis Bernard Family Centennial Gift will support the UJF’s General Fund, often described as our community’s rainy-day fund. “The General Fund is there for when our community needs it most,” Dennis says, “due to crises, bad economy or urgent needs. It’s for times when no one else is willing or able to step up.” Over the years, the General Fund has played a critical role in Federation’s ability to respond to changing needs in the community—as well as emergencies. “I can think of nothing more important than continuing to replenish the General Fund,” he adds. “It’s absolutely essential to the welfare of the community.” This notion is at the heart of the Centennial Fund itself and reflects the insight and vision that comes with the couple’s decades of service. “Many people have marveled on how Judaism has survived for 5,782 years,” the Bernards note. “One of the reasons is tzedakah. By giving to Jewish causes, we are supporting Jewish identity and values that create a continuum of Jewish life.”

continued from page 6

A woman at the demonstration

In the meantime, those praying for an airlift to Israel are facing an increasingly volatile security situation as the civil war raging in the country closes in on them, while, of course, also contending daily with abject poverty and serious health issues, exacerbated by the COVID-19 economic fallout.

So why the delay? Clearly there are those in positions of power who do not want them here at all, arguing that it is not Israel’s duty to open its gates to non-Jews, nor is it Israel’s responsibility to shoulder the social and economic burden of absorbing them.

A rather spurious position under the circumstances. Though indeed the prevailing rabbinic opinion is that those awaiting permission to come are for the most part not halachically Jewish, the overwhelming majority of the community’s members maintain a strictly traditional Jewish lifestyle and 95 percent of them convert under the auspices of Israel’s Chief Rabbinate within a year of their aliyah.

Furthermore, this is no longer an argument that any of us should countenance. It is far too late, and completely irrelevant, to ask if those awaiting aliyah in Gondar and Addis Ababa are Jewish, because what clearly isn’t Jewish is sustaining people’s hopes for 20 years, tearing families apart and then reneging on promises to reunite them out of concern for polluting the Jewish gene pool. An argument, by the way, never raised in regard to the more than half of the immigrants from the FSU who have arrived over the past few years who are also not halachically Jewish and who overwhelmingly do not convert, but who nevertheless are welcomed — as they should be — with open arms.

Besides, anyone not convinced that these Ethiopian immigrants are bona fide Jews even after their conversion need not marry them. As to those who are afraid that 14,000 more mouths to feed and souls to house will break the economy of our 9-million strong Start-up Nation, well, I’d suggest taking a look at the state budget just passed and calculating how very little of the earmarked “coalition funds” it would take to absorb them.

The ongoing procrastination, then, in bringing home the remnants of Ethiopian Jewry should be a cause for profound embarrassment, and their aliyah a cause we should all embrace. This is not a peripheral parochial issue, but a national moral imperative. The plight of those left behind is a blight on an otherwise stellar chapter in the annals of the Zionist enterprise, and it is our collective responsibility to right this wrong — as one. If Israel’s social fabric cannot be woven seamlessly of strands of black and white, it may well unravel altogether. None of us should be prepared to tolerate any longer a situation in which Israel remains in the business of tearing families apart.

Dr. David Breakstone recently completed a term as deputy chair of the executive of the Jewish Agency for Israel. He previously served as deputy chair of the World Zionist Organization and conceptual architect and founding director of the Herzl Museum and Educational Center in Jerusalem.

Yiddish Limericks

Thanksgiving

On Thanksgiving Day A shaynem dahnk we’ll say. Far alle gutte zakhn nisht ein, nisht tzvay. Far yingalakh un maydalakh, far alle zisse kinderlakh Nisht nor haunt, but every day.

A shaynem dahnk: a nice thank you Far alle gutte zakhn: for all the good things Nisht ein nisht tzvay: not one, not two ingalakh un maydalakh: little boys and little girls Far zisse kinderlakh: for sweet children Nisht nor haynt: not only today.

Chanukah

We add a lichtl yeder nacht It’s ein, tzvay, dri, until it’s acht. Ich hob azay lib the Chanukah food Dos vareme latkes, they taste so good. Nu, kum arayn, ess vos ich hob gemacht.

lichtl: little candle Ein, tzvey, dri: one, two, three Acht: eight Ich hob azay lib: I love so much Dos vareme latkes: the warm latkes Kum arayn: come in ess vos ich hob gemacht: eat what I made.

By Rachel Kapen

PURELY COMMENTARY

opinion

Why Is Iran Returning to the Negotiating Table?

After several months of uncertainty and delay, Iran has announced its return in November to talks in Vienna regarding a return to the 2015 nuclear deal. The question is, why? This is an unconditional return, contrary to the position previously expressed by Iran, which demanded an easing of sanctions as a precondition to resuming negotiations. The Iranian concession is an apparent American success.

The reason Iran is returning to the talks is simple: the present leadership in Tehran has a clear interest in returning to the 2015 agreement because it is a good agreement for Iran, which seeks to develop nuclear weapons. The Iranians understood that the nuclear deal was good for them and that it is now even more so in light of the rapid progress in their enrichment program.

The real question, then, is why did Iran delay?

The delay may have been a negotiating tactic on the Iranians’ part, designed to elicit concessions from the Americans. Moreover, the Iranians knew it was safe to delay the resumption of talks because they understood that no U.S. military option existed, neither in the current administration nor the previous one. The absence of a military option was the main weakness the Iranians sensed when the previous U.S. administration withdrew from the nuclear deal in 2018.

It was a significant mistake to withdraw from the deal without charting a viable military option and demonstrating the determination to use it if necessary. The Iranians realized that no matter what they did, with the exception of U.S. or other intelligence services detecting the actual assembly of a bomb, the United States was unwilling to use military force to stop the nuclear project.

The Iranian perception that there is no military option on the table will also be their basic assumption in future negotiations. The Iranians know that the United States has no alternative but to return to the agreement, so they will not rush to fold — and may first try to remove sanctions and gain other economic benefits.

The Iranians also observed that after launching drone attacks against an American base in al-Tanf in eastern Syria last month, the United States failed to respond in any serious manner. Even though there were no casualties, this event demonstrated

Iran’s determination and reading of American behavior. This lack of an American response signaled that the United States wants to return to negotiations at almost any cost. But, unfortunately, it also might lead Iran to conclude that it can continue its aggressive behavior in the Middle East as long as there are prospects for further Yaakov Amidror talks. JNS.org Further, the perceived American weakness will motivate the Iranians to run out the clock in negotiations. The talks themselves give the Iranians more freedom of action as they restrict the ability of the United States to respond to provocations, including even elementary acts of force protection, and thus harm U.S. deterrence.

ISRAEL’S POSITION

The United States emphasizes that the return to the nuclear agreement is only a first step, after which it intends to enter into talks aimed at a better and longer deal. However, the chances of reaching such an agreement are nil because the United States has no leverage over Iran.

Iran could drag the talks out again and things could end back at square one. Moreover, Iran now openly threatens that the talks will fail unless the United States offers guarantees that would bind future administrations’ behavior. Any such attempt to enshrine the agreement as a formal treaty, however, would require ratification by the Senate; the necessary two-thirds majority is nowhere in sight.

Israel cannot and should not interfere with the talks. Still, Israel must obtain from the United States a commitment to complete the negotiations in a short time and not let the Iranian procrastinate for months.

Israel must learn what the U.S. response will be if it turns out that there is no chance of reaching an agreement, and what the timetable might be for attempting to reach a longer and stronger deal.

Either way, Israel must prepare for the possibility it will have to defend itself — because a nuclear Iran is not an option Israel can accept. As has been declared by a few American presidents, Israel should be able to defend itself, by itself.

An effort to prevent Iran from going nuclear will not be simple and will perhaps even be dangerous—but it is necessary.

IDF Maj. Gen. (res.) Yaakov Amidror

was national security adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and chairman of Israel’s National Security Council (April 2011-November 2013). This article was first published by the Jerusalem Institute of Strategy and Security.