Feb. 18

USA----TEXAS:


Texas needs a holocaust and genocide commission


The American soldiers who entered the Nazi concentration camps in 1945
were appalled and sickened by the horrors that they uncovered. They forced
German civilians from the surrounding areas to tour the camps and to
witness the terrible atrocities that were done in their backyards, in
their names, by their own government.

This was a teaching moment. The Americans who liberated Europe from the
genocidal policies of the Nazi regime believed that if people were exposed
to what went wrong and if people could see how we ought not to behave
toward other human beings, people could learn valuable lessons about how
we should be acting today.

For more than 60 years, we have relied on the presence of Holocaust
survivors to be our reminder about the threats and dangers that they
personally witnessed and about the ones that we don't want anyone else to
ever have to face again. The march of time means that we will need to find
new ways to carry on their legacies in the future.

Texas needs a holocaust and genocide commission to advise, assist, support
and encourage quality programs to educate everyone, especially students,
now and in the future. Learning about the Holocaust and genocide teaches
us important lessons that are neither automatic nor self-evident and need
to be taught anew to each generation.

Senators Rodney Ellis, D-Houston, and Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, have
introduced Senate Bill 482 in the Texas Legislature to enable us to do
just that.

SB 482 would create an advisory commission whose members would be
appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor and the speaker of the
House. A part-time employee would coordinate the commission's business.

The commission would:

Raise awareness statewide by providing advice and assistance to public and
private primary schools, secondary schools and institutions of higher
education regarding implementation of Holocaust and genocide courses of
study and awareness programs.

Serve as a clearinghouse for new educational initiatives and best
practices, relying on volunteers, including survivors of the Holocaust and
genocides, liberators and defenders of the victims, scholars and members
of the clergy. These experts will share verifiable knowledge and
experiences, and support commemorations on recognized memorial days.

Provide a platform for the next generations to meet the opportunities of
the future through a thorough understanding of the past. The commission
offers a great opportunity to ensure that our neighbors and our children
will learn to make better and more responsible decisions when confronted
with injustices and atrocities regardless of whether they are committed
half a globe away or in our own back yards.

The Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for Education and Tolerance has joined
with the other Holocaust museums in El Paso, Houston and San Antonio, as
well as other groups to support this legislation.

We are mindful that a different world cannot be made by indifferent
people. The passage of SB 482 gives us an excellent opportunity to make a
significant difference.

(source: Jim Hogue is president of the Dallas Holocaust Museum/Center for
Education and Tolerance; Dallas Morning News)



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Holocaust survivor: No sale of Nazi items

A Holocaust survivor in Arizona says putting World War II-era Nazi items
on the auction block is "feeding hate."

R&R Auction in Phoenix is holding the auction Feb. 28. The items, from a
private collection, include Nazi flags, a plaque showing Nazi Germany
leader Adolf Hitler and officers' hats from the German military, KPHO-TV
in Phoenix reports.

Helen Handler, 80, was a prisoner in the Auschwitz death camp until she
was freed at the age of 16. The rest of her family -- parents,
grandparents, brothers, aunts and uncles and cousins -- died in the
Holocaust.

"What they are doing is giving life to something that killed," Handler
said of the sale of Nazi memorabilia. "They are feeding hate."

Buying and selling Nazi items is not banned in the United States and
auctions are common on the Internet auction site eBay.

(source: UPI)






ISRAEL:

Lawyer who defrauded Holocaust survivors to be jailed immediately


A lawyer who had defrauded Holocaust survivors of NIS 800 million and who
was arrested by the National Fraud Unit in Tel Aviv on Monday for
attempting to flee the country, will begin his prison sentence
immediately, the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday.

Yisrael Perry was convicted in 2007 of stealing hundreds of millions of
marks from thousands of Holocaust survivors in an elaborate scheme, and
was sentenced by the Tel Aviv District Court to 12 years in prison.

He appealed the sentence to the Supreme Court, which delayed implementing
the sentence by 30 days to March 8 as it examined the case.

The court then upheld Perry's conviction, but reduced the sentence to 10
years.

On Monday evening, officers pounced on Perry as he reported to a Tel Aviv
police station, charging him with plotting to escape the country with
false documents.

Police said detectives had uncovered a series of moves made by Perry aimed
at creating a fictitious identity and fleeing the country. He was taken to
the National Fraud Unit's Bat Yam Headquarters after his arrest.

The Justice Ministry wasted little time in dispatching prosecutors to the
Supreme Court the following day to convince the justices to incarcerate
Perry immediately, a request that was granted Tuesday evening.

"We are canceling the decision to delay the sentencing," Justices Edmund
Levi, Salim Jubran and Yoram Danziger wrote in their ruling.

Perry's lawyer, Yisrael Walnerman, said he believed the arrest was an
attempt by the prosecution to circumvent the court's decision to delay the
sentencing.

Perry was convicted of stealing money from a total of 9,000 clients. He
was convicted of two counts of theft and fraudulent receipt of goods under
aggravated circumstances, unlawfully dealing in insurance schemes, and
subverting the course of a trial, among other charges.

Perry's 2007 trial revealed how he stole the equivalent of 800 million
shekels, most of which came from insurance premiums paid by his clients to
insurance companies under his control.

In 1978, Israel and West Germany signed a treaty that gave Israeli
citizens a right to receive pensions from the German national insurance
institute. A one-time payment was needed to join the program to cover
monthly premiums and retroactive costs.

The Tel Aviv District Court said Perry deceived his clients by securing
funds from a German bank and using the money to found two loan companies,
BGA and BGF, to provide the clients with loans to cover the payment, while
pretending to have no connection with the companies.

Perry required his clients to sign statements promising that the loans be
repaid in the event of their deaths. Perry then obligated the clients to
commit to an insurance policy, while founding two insurance companies to
offer his clients the "required" policies.

(source: Jerusalem Post)