Date: 04 Sep 95 17:40:14 EDT From: "Alan M. Rice" <76500.3727@compuserve.com> Subject: JPFO Press Release on Elie Wiesel Jews For The Preservation of Firearms Ownership - Press Release FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Aaron Zelman, Executive Director 2872 So. Wentworth Ave., Milwaukee, WI 53207 Phone: (414) 769-1491 FAX: (414) 483-8435 INTERNET EMAIL: 76500.3727@compuserve.com ELIE WIESEL: NOTHING FORGOTTEN, NOTHING LEARNED In Parade Magazine, (August 27, 1995, pp. 4-6), Elie Wiesel tells how the Jews in his village (Sighet, Hungary) slowly fell into the Nazi murder machine. His family had a chance to escape. His father chose deportation rather than seek refuge arranged by their Christian housekeeper (p. 5). We cannot question that decision. Mr. Wiesel did at the time what he thought was right. We can question if Elie Wiesel has learned from this bitter experience? Genocide has become more - not less - common since World War 2, so this is a timely question. Wiesel does not advise flight from those who would commit genocide. He breathes not a word about resisting murderers. What did he learn from his experience? His vagueness extends to Jewish teaching. He refers to the Talmud, the Code of Jewish Law. But he offers no specific quotations. In Tractate B'rachos (Blessings) it is twice written: "And the Torah says 'if someone comes to kill you, arise quickly and kill him'" (p. 58a and 62b). This imposes on every Jew the duty of self- defense against a deadly threat. As a teenager, Wiesel may not have learned Talmud B'rachos. JPFO enlightened him about it months ago. But he still has not learned. Wiesel reports that, "Special units of the army and the notorious Hungarian gendarmerie began raiding Jewish homes. ...It would be hard to exaggerate the maliciousness of the Hungarian gendarmes. Ordered to implement the Eichmann plan for our extermination, they did so with a zeal and brutality that will forever remain the dishonor of the Hungarian army and nation." (page 5). This article shows Wiesel to be a complainer, not a thinker or a doer. He cannot draw even a basic lesson from his experiences. Perhaps he has been so brutalized by the Nazis that he no longer thinks critically. That may explain his support for gun control (See JPFO's "Firearms Sentinel", April 1995 p. 5). Those who want to prevent genocide - not just bewail it - should not waste their time on Elie Wiesel's books. If he knows anything about preventing genocide, he has yet to say it. Supporters are urged to contact the editors of "PARADE MAGAZINE" and share the contents of this news release with them: Mr. Walter Anderson Editor - Parade Magazine 711 Third Avenue New York, NY 10017 JPFO would appreciate copies of your correspondence; Thanks. [end]