Jan. 9



AUSTRIA:

Austrians' Alleged Nazi Salute Probed


Authorities began an investigation Monday into claims that a Web site
operated by a fan club of a soccer team in Adolf Hitler's hometown posted
photos showing supporters raising their arms in the Nazi salute.

Austrian media reports described several photos, including one of several
young ''Braunau Bulldogs'' -- fans of the second-division Braunau soccer
team -- carrying a club banner and with arms raised high while visiting
the former Mauthausen concentration camp. Other photos showed several fans
making the same gesture while gathered in a pizzeria in the nearby town of
Pasching, media reports said.

Austrian law bans the glorification of Hitler and attempts to diminish,
deny or justify the Holocaust, and of using threats.

Austrian media said the photos were taken two years ago and were displayed
on the fan club's Web site until late December.

Braunau Mayor Gerhard Skiba said that he met with fan club officials
Monday and that ''they did not deny'' that the photos had been displayed
on the fan club's Web site.

Calls to fan club officials seeking comment went unanswered.

Skiba said he had seen 12 of the reported photos but could not say if all
had been posted on the fan club's Web site. All the fans in the photos
appeared to be in their teens, some of them possibly younger than 15, he
said.

Police in Linz, the capital of Upper Austria province, confirmed that
authorities were investigating the reports but declined to give details.

Last year, a 20-year-old was sentenced to 18 months in jail for making a
Nazi salute and screaming ''Heil Hitler'' during a demonstration in
southern Austria.

Skiba said he planned to meet with members of the fan club ''to find out
their motivation and to make sure that youths do not display such (future)
behavior.''

Austrian news reports said fan club officials apologized in a statement
published on their Web site over the weekend. On Monday, however, the Web
site displayed a racist and sexist joke -- and hundreds of e-mails
critical of the photos -- but no apology.

Hitler was born in Braunau in 1889. Although his family moved a few years
later, the town on the border with Germany remains a shrine for right-wing
extremists.

Mauthausen, about 60 miles east of Braunau, was the site of Austria's
largest Nazi concentration camp. About half of its 200,000 inmates were
shot, gassed, beaten or worked to death in the main camp or its
affiliates.

(source: Associated Press)





UKRAINE:

Ukraine Inaugurates New Holocaust Square


The Ukrainian city of Kirovograd hosted an inauguration ceremony for a
new square dedicated to victims of the Holocaust. The festive ceremony,
hosted by the local FJC-member community, took place near the Great
Choral Synagogue.

This development is a victory for the local Jewish community since, until
just recently, there was a struggle over this particular plot of land with
local entrepreneur who wanted to use it for construction of a new trade
complex. Members of the local Jewish community rallied in support of the
creation of a new square, surrounding the memorial to Holocaust victims
which has stood here for many years already.

Many long-term residents of this city attest to the fact that this site
was the point where the occupying Nazi army gathered Jews from throughout
the city and even beyond. On that tragic day Yom Kippur of 1941 Jews of
Kirovograd were taken to be murdered. It was for this reason that this
location was chosen for the monument.

The inaugural ceremony involved addresses by the city's Mayor, Nikolai
Chigrin, as well as members of the City Council and other local
authorities. Chief Rabbi of Kirovograd Dan Zakuta also spoke to
participants, congratulating them on Chanukah and thanking all those who
were involved in the square and contributed both morally and financially
to its completion.

Pavel Shtutman, a Deputy in the Regional Legislature and a member of the
Jewish community, who played a significant role, investing time, money and
effort to see this achievement through. "We are obligated to honor the
memory of our ancestors," he explained, "and this memorial square will
ensure that this is also done in future."

(source: The Federation of Jewish Communities of the CIS)





USA/INDIANA:

Lawmakers propose several unique bills


While some legislative bills, such as property tax relief and
telecommunications deregulation, will be in the news regularly, hundreds
of others get little attention.


But in each session, lawmakers submit what they believe should be law for
Hoosiers.

The Indiana Senate convenes for the first time this session today, and
with that comes a deadline for senators to file bills for the 2006 General
Assembly. House representatives, who started last week, have until Tuesday
to propose bills for the session.

As of Friday, nearly 500 bills had been filed. Typically during a short
session like this year's, fewer than 1,000 bills are introduced. Here's a
look of some interesting, but perhaps lesser-known, bills that have been
offered thus far.

HOLOCAUST IN THE CLASSROOM

Indiana high schools would have to teach about the Holocaust under a bill
proposed in the House of Representatives.

Rep. Clyde Kersey, D-Terre Haute, is backing the proposal for the second
straight year. The bill failed to receive a hearing last session, but
Kersey is hopeful the House Education Committee will take it up in 2006.
Kersey said the bill was inspired by Eva Kor, a Holocaust survivor who
runs the CANDLES Holocaust Museum in Terre Haute.

"Eva Kor feels that as time goes on, we tend to forget about the Holocaust
and the horrible things that happened," Kersey said. "She's hoping that if
we can make it a requirement in the classroom, students will know what
Jewish people like Mrs. Kor went through."

If adopted into law, House Bill 1072 would require the Holocaust to be
taught to high school students for one semester.

Kersey said that this year, with the help of Rep. John Day,
D-Indianapolis, they'll be able to get some Republicans to back the bill.

"If we get to the right people and can get a hearing in committee, I think
it will pass committee and it will fly through the House and Senate,"
Kersey said. "Getting it through committee is going to be the biggest
hurdle we'll have to get over."

If it doesn't pass, Kersey said, he's promised Kor he'll bring the bill
back every year he's in office until it is made law.


********************


USA//FLORIDA:

South Florida a haven for Holocaust survivors


New survey says 16,000 Jews who endured Nazi camps live in Palm Beach,
Miami-Dade and Broward counties


Most of the Jews who survived the horrors of the Nazi-inflicted Holocaust
during World War II are spending their golden years on the east and west
coasts of the United States.

A demographic study of the Jewish community in South Florida released
Wednesday says 16,000 Holocaust survivors live in South Florida. That
figure may be a little off because the estimate for Broward County is from
1997.

The next largest enclave of men and women who endured the Holocaust seems
to be Los Angeles, which lists 14,000. Bergen County, New Jersey, has
about 1,800, the survey says. Another 1,000 live in Washington.

As Holocaust survivors age and pass away, the number of residents
decreases. South Palm Beach County had 4,900 Holocaust survivors in 1995,
but that figure has dropped to 2,600 today.

Children of those who lived through Nazi camps decreased in South Palm
Beach County, from 3,300 in 1995 to 1,600 today. Overall, Palm Beach
County counted 3,900 children of Holocaust survivors in 2005.

The demographic study was conducted at the request of the Jewish
Federation of Palm Beach County, which serves residents from Boynton Beach
to Jupiter, and the Jewish Federation of South Palm Beach, which services
Boca Raton, Delray Beach and Highland Beach.

Boca Raton has more Jews than any other community in the county - 76,800.
Delray is next with 60,000 and Boynton Beach is third with 58,600.

While Boca Raton and Delray Beach have the largest number of Jews of any
Palm Beach County communities, Boynton Beach has experienced the most
rapid Jewish growth, with the number of Jewish households rising by 300
percent, from 4,800 in 1987 to 19,200 in 1999. That figure now stands at
31,200 households.

For Boca, the new figure shows an increase of 760 households a year (26
percent), and Delray grew by 410 households a year -- or 13 percent.

(source: Boca Raton News)