Copyright (c) 1997 - Ingrid A. Rimland
"Zundel returned to Eastern Europe in August 1994 to confer with Vladimir Zhirinovsky, Russia's leading right-wing extremist. Writing in the September/October 1995 Journal of Historical Review, the world's leading Holocaust-denial publication, Zundel predicted:
'The upheaval I foresee in Russia won't be neat and orderly, as it was in Germany. It will be brutal and messy. If Boris Yeltsin and his government are not able to halt the country's economic deterioration. . . I predict massive anti-Jewish pogroms in Russia. And I mean massive. Many ordinary Russians blame the Jews for their present and past problems. There are still many Jews in very influential positions, and because there are many more Jews in Russia than statistics indicate, it's likely there will be many more victims.'
In the same article he added, 'Russia today is like the Weimar Republic Germany. . . humiliated, weak and disorganized, but still a great and racially homogenous nation.'"
I received a copy of this ADL write-up about a month ago, and as I was reading
this passage, a cartoon came to mind that I had seen somewhere showing the
legendary "Russian Bear" roaringly breaking out of the Star of
David, depicted in the form of prison bars.
Well, here we are, in September of 1997, and via e-mail now comes this most
telling letter, sent to me by a friend:
"I got this bit of junk mail the other day, and I thought you might
be interested in the contents. The letter comes for a group called "On
Wings of Eagles: A Ministry of The International Fellowship of Christians
and Jews." The appeal is for money to get Jews out of Russia and into
Palestine."
The main appeal letter is as follows:
On Wings of Eagles (logo) From the desk of Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein.
In the 1940s. the world either did not know or chose to ignore Hitler's "Final Solution" for the Jews until it was too late..........
We cannot let history repeat itself in the 1990s. (underlined)
Dear Friend of Israel:
By the time the world awoke to the truth of the Holocaust, more than 6 million innocent people had been lost - fathers, mothers, little children, babies-murdered and incinerated in monster ovens that ran around the clock. (paragraph in bold type)
Why? For being Jews! (underlined)
The world hung its head in shame and swore collectively never to let such an atrocity happen again.
Never, ever again! (underlined)
Yet, the possibility of another major outbreak of anti-Semitism being unleashed is bearing down on the Jews today, and again the world either does not know or chooses to ignore it. (bold type)
Ironically, such a horrific event has its roots in one of the greatest victories for freedom the world has ever seen-
-- the collapse of the soviet Union-of Communism itself - when the hand of God moved over this biblical "Land of the North," and people everywhere rejoiced as blood-stained walls of separation were leveled, torn to the ground. (italicized)
Soon, religious freedoms accompanied the new political freedoms. Churches were re-opened, Bibles published, western Christians and Jews poured in to help and educate those of their faiths, and aid flowed in countless ways.
Moreover, a miracle of tremendous proportions took place among Russian Jews:
For the first time in modern history, the Soviet Union opened its Iron Curtain barriers to allow Jewish emigration to Israel. (bold, underlined)
Families who, in desperation, dreamed of escaping to the Holy Land now had an open door for the first time this century!
Ever since, Jews from America and around the world have rushed to help their brothers and sisters from the former Soviet Union through the UJA's Operation Exodus, an effort that has already airlifted more than 700,000 Jewish emigrants to Israel.
Yet even now, as we rejoice over those who have found freedom in their Jewish homeland, over 100,000 others are waiting in line right now with their visas in hand. (bold)
Everything they need to do to legally escape to the Holy Land is done, with one exception...they have no airline ticket.
Behind that group is another group, ten times larger-ONE MILLION PEOPLE.
But our greatest fear is growing that this door to freedom will soon slam shut once again! (bold)
A dark shadow is beginning to fall across Russia and the various former Soviet republics. A vicious new strain of nationalism is spreading across the land.
The Russian ultra-nationalist, Vladimir Zhirinovsky, seems to grow more and more powerful and influential every day.
Many see him as a "buffoon." But he is a clever politician in a constant state of rage. His speeches are filled with hate, especially anti-Semitism. He is extremely dangerous. (last sentence underlined)
The Russian economy is in a shambles. Tens of thousands of Russian workers have lost their jobs and Zhirinovsky and others are convincing them the Jews are to blame for all of Russia's problems.
Anatoly Shabad, a Jew and leader in the pro-Yeltsin faction of parliament, reported in the Jerusalem Post, "I have never seen such direct incitement before. One leaflet showed a Russian child pleading, 'Daddy, kill a Jew for my future.'" (bold)
The danger to the Jews in Russia and the now-independent Moslem states is real. It grows more and more serious daily.
Because of Zhirinovsky and others like him, experts predict our present "good relations" with Russia will last no longer than the next two and a half to three years. (bold)
That's how long we have to rescue the remaining Russian Jews who have already lined up to leave Israel. There are many who say even that timetable is much too optimistic.
If Zhirinovsky or another Hitler "look-alike" gains power, the airlift will immediately end. A new Iron Curtain will slam down on a million or more human beings who could have been saved...... (bold)
...for the lack of an airlift.
That's right. Just $300 can snatch a marked person, a Soviet Jew, from the jaws of the Russian bear. Such a small price to pay for a human life.
Jews around the world are giving sacrificially to rescue our brothers and sisters. But, frankly, they have reached the point they can no longer do it alone. (bold)
And so, I am appealing to you, my Christian brothers and sisters, to help in this most noble and urgent cause. (underlined)
We are overwhelmed by sheer numbers. At the present emigration rate of 6000 a month, even using the optimistic 36-month projection of time available to bring Jews out, barely 200,000 Jews will be rescued.
Imagine 900,000 human beings, families with young children and babes in arms, lined up, watching the last plane leave without them!
These are decent, God-fearing families, whose sole "crime" is once again that they are Jews. They are a people marked for destruction. (bold)
These people may not make it without the help of Christians in America. You and your circle of friends are their greatest hope. (underlined)
The problem is that the Jews have no money to buy their own tickets. They are emigrants - refugees - not tourists. They leave Russia and the other former Soviet republics with only the clothes on their backs and a few bags in their hands.
They can convert only a few rubles into foreign currency - and the ruble itself is almost worthless today. Anything more must be left behind in most cases. They are paupers.
Once they reach Israel, the government cares for them for at least the first six months. They help them find housing, learn the language and prepare them to enter the culture of Israel. (bold)
But we must get them there first! (underlined)
The prophet Jeremiah foretold 2500 years ago what we are witnessing today:
"Therefore behold, days are coming, declares the Lord, when it will no longer be said, 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel out of the land of Egypt;' but rather 'As the Lord lives, who brought up the sons of Israel from the Land of the North and from all the countries where He had banished them.' For I will restore them to their own land which I gave to their fathers." (Jeremiah 16:14-15) (italicized)
A wise man once said, "Do not petition God to go where you are going; rather find where God is going and travel with Him." Today, we know where God, the Lord, is going. He is restoring the Jews to the Holy Land from the "Land of the North." And He has asked us to accompany Him in this "Second Exodus." (bold)
Will join us? On Wings of Eagles is an American project providing airlift tickets and much needed support for those standing in line. (underlined) The enclosed response document was patterned after the airline ticket that will bring out these helpless families to freedom and safety in Israel.
Wings of Eagles enjoys the support of a wide range of Christian leaders including our co-chairmen, Pastor Jack Hayford and Pat Boone, along with Lloyd Olgivie, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, Debbie Boone, and many others.
Can you give the $300 to bring one person to safety? Perhaps you can sponsor an entire family of three, four or even more. Or maybe, you can provide for part of the passage for one person!
Whatever your situation provides, I believe God will lead you in His direction.
God Bless You,
signed
Rabbi Yechiel Eckstein
The appeal also includes this note:
Dear Friend of the Jewish People,
You don't know us. Our name is not one you are familiar with. But you do know our story. And that is because of the movie Schindler's List. You see, we are survivors of the Holocaust. We live today because of a Christian, Oskar Schindler.
During the darkest periods of the Holocaust, we were able to keep hope alive. You see for us, hope had a face. It was the face of a man named Oskar Schindler.
We were deeply touched when we learned from our friend Rabbi Eckstein of your commitment to the Jewish people and the tangible help you can demonstrate by rescuing the Russian Jews and delivering them safely to Israel. We wish we could meet and thank you personally for your generous support of this cause.
We thank God that you know how important it is to rescue the Russian Jews while there is still time to do so and while the doors remain open. We have seen in our own lifetime how quickly they can close; we have lived the agony of the consequences.
And so, we write to thank you for helping the Jewish people and supporting the Wings of Eagles project. We are alive today because of Schindler's sacrificial support. And even though the situation of the Jews and their rescuers is vastly different today than it was during the Holocaust, in a very real sense, you are the Schindlers of today to the Russian Jews.
Their children and grandchildren will forever speak of your kindness, even as we speak of Oskar Schindler today. Your act of mercy in giving sacrificially is giving hope to those Jews who remain in Russia, if only for a short time, until they can be rescued.
On behalf of all Holocaust survivors, we extent you our deepest thanks. May God bless you.
Sincerely,
Charles and Margo Schlesinger."
(end of letter of appeal)
So. There you have it. It is a strange, strange irony that Russia, chosen
to become the bloodiest playing field of Communism and forced for more than
seven decades to endure the most brutal oppression the world has ever seen,
is likely to turn out to be THE country to start purging.
Ingrid
Thought for the Day:
"Some call it Marxism - I call it Judaism."
(Rabbi Stephen Wise in the May 15, 1935 edition of the American Bulletin)