Letters to the Editor 1-9-09

Issue of Jan. 9, 2009 / 13 Teves 5769

Exploiting a tragedy

To the Editor:

In reference to Yaffi Spodek’s review of the film “The Boy in Striped Pajamas” (Dec. 19, 2008) as being “a riveting Holocaust film,” I would say that it is a film that is on the slippery slope of revisionist history.

I am a twin survivor of Mengele’s brutal pseudo-scientific experiments in Auschwitz and this film is not just a fairy tale but a profanation and deeply troubling in terms of minimizing and altering the truth about the most unimaginable evil that engulfed the world from 1933 to 1945.

To suggest that Bruno, the eight-year-old son of the Nazi Commandant at Auschwitz lives within yards of the concentration camp actually believes that the adults dressed in stripped pajamas spend their time drinking in cafes while their children play games all day long is reprehensible. Add to this the absurdity of having clandestine meeting daily with a same-aged Jewish boy at the electrified fence (avoiding electrocution) without being observed is beyond absurd, especially since there were no children, save the Mengele twins in Auschwitz.

Suffice it to say that this movie exploits and trivializes the historical tragedy it claims to be trying to illuminate. It makes me weep.

Irene Hizme

Losing something in the translation

To the Editor,

I have been reading The Jewish Star since it’s inception and have seen many improvements in the quality of the content of the articles. However, there seems to be one thing that lowers the integrity of those articles, and that is the use of Yiddish and Hebrew terms and phrases.

First, there are readers out there who don’t understand those Yiddish or Hebrew words. Many of these terms are not even translated in parenthesis, leaving some people lost and confused about the content. Second, some of these words are transliterated incorrectly (i.e. maiser instead of ma’aser), leaving even those of us in the know a bit confused.

I’m sure The Jewish Star wants to reach as large an audience as possible. By using these Hebrew and Yiddish terms (or Yinglish and Hebrish) you are excluding and frustrating readers who might otherwise enjoy reading your paper.

Lenny Koegel

Oceanside