Letters to the Editor: Survivors. Garcetti cartoon, 99 Cents Only store

Survivor Stories Have Merit

I was not raised Jewish, but I like to read the Journal and discuss articles in it with acquaintances and friends. I learn so much from the Survivor stories.

I have just read the story of Charlotte Seeman (May 31). I read it twice! I couldn’t believe how much terror she and her family and friends went through, chased and hunted like animals and forced to run and hide from city to city, to try to keep living without basic provisions. It was a very moving story that brought me to tears, along with the section on Albert Rosa from Salonika, Greece (Survivor, March 15). I have visited a Nazi concentration camp in Europe, and it greatly impacted me.

I save these stories and plan to use them in public school for my students to read and discuss. I hope you will always publish them, along with their photographs.

In our narcissistic me-me-me age, these stories are a way to teach myself and my students about others, their incredible sufferings, to build a conscience and to teach mercy. I feel this is very important — and this builds community responsibility to others.

Since most public school texts have little about the Holocaust, and never survivor stories, I want my students to know that the Holocaust involved millions of REAL people, with lives, families and loved ones and stories to tell, which the Nazis snuffed out. Every person’s story is priceless! I enjoy learning about these survivors so much!!

The Journal provides a way to present their stories and photographs so they will be acknowledged and not forgotten.

This is an outstanding section of the Journal. Thanks again for publishing them!

Sharon Swan
Redondo Beach

Not Equal, Not Funny

As I read this week’s Jewish Journal, I looked at Greenberg’s View cartoon and found it offensive, confusing and not even funny (“Eretz Garcetti,” May 31). Mr. Garcetti is between the Latino and Jewish communities; in one hand he is holding a Kiddush cup and in the other he is holding a Margarita glass. Really? How is that an equivalent? How about a glass of agua fresca or a bottle of Jarritos, the popular Mexican soft drink? Seriously, I don’t get it and but it bothered me as a Jew and a Hispanic.

Cecilia Victor
Los Angeles

Unfair Assumptions

I don’t understand why people assume that an author writing about a shady character who happens to be Jewish automatically means the author is anti-Semitic (“ ‘Gatsby’s’ Jew,” May 31). One’s religion is hardly an indicator of one’s business ethics or how he or she might comport him or herself in relationships. There are plenty of people in this particular tribe — and all others, by the way — who are thieves, liars and miscreants. To infer that all people who happen to be Jewish must be portrayed in good light is absolutely ludicrous.

Nancy Nadler Frank
La Jolla
via jewishjournal.com

Such a Deal!

Many years ago, a friend and I strolled up and down the aisles of the Wilshire 99 Cents Only store (“Humility and a Deal,” May 24). I marveled at all the name-brand products that were being offered for 99 cents. It caused me to wonder out loud, “How do they do this?” At which point, a rather small, elderly lady with white hair pushed her shopping cart past us and remarked, “Who the f— cares?!”

Arlene Ford
Culver City

Corrections

An article about the Teen Impact program at Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (“Helping Teens Face Cancer,” May 17) stated that the organization has served 700 families. It has actually served 7,000 families.

In the Survivor profile of Charlotte Seeman (May 31), incorrect dates were included for the Anschluss and Kristallnacht, which took place in 1938.