,, December 24,1982 The Jewish Floridian of Tampa Page 11 Report from Italy fews of Milan Faring Well These Days By BEN FRANK [ILAN (JTA) - city is the gateway to jy the money maker of republic, the industrial commercial capital of nation of 62 million kple. This European (ding center boasts in- itional fairs, a silk rket, nearly 1,000 banks, firms and 26,981 mfacturers. It is a city it produces and sells fcy thing. /ithin this thriving and obbing metropolis is also a I Jewish community of 10,000 Iple. about one-third of the lire Jewish population of Italy. Is and Jewish sites are visible frywhere. There are about 10 lagogues, five kosher butcher ps, Talmud Torahs and a day iiol. Jewish and Italian cultu- |and social activities are inter- I in a complex mosaic. )R INSTANCE, next to the rid famous Ambrosiana Muse- of Piazza Pio XI Square, tch contains Judaica and fea- the designs of Leonardo da lu-i. is 'Coen's Butcher Shop," rated by Jews from Egypt. with typical Italian street les are also streets such as Tel Aviv and Via Sally Italian Jewry survives by the immigration of new groups which replace those who have become assimilated. MILAN JEWS are engaged in professions rather than as entre- preneurs or small businessmen, as are the Jews of Rome. Jews here are conscious of the need for acquiring higher education. While higher education is not free in Italy, 90 percent of the Jewish youth attend college where they study medicine, engineering, chemistry, business and archi- tecture. Part of the reason Jews settle in Milan is the cultural life and the diversity of social activity. It is after all, the home of the legendary La Scala opera house, the home of Verdi and Puccini. It is also the center of fashion shows and of taste and tastebuds. Many Jewish businessmen told this visitor that Milan is actually "a famous fortress of delicious cuisine." There is an easy intermingling of Jews and non-Jews. Kosher food can be obtained at the senior citizens home as well as through the Lubavitch center. Jews hold kosher banquets and Bar Mit- zvahs and weddings at the Hilton Hotel. Many Jewish businessmen gather at the Hotel Executive on Viale Surzo, which caters to com- mercial and government person- nel from around the world. visible sign of any anti-Israel feeling among Italians here. There was an attempt by a small subversive, illegal leftist group. Communists Organized for Pro- letarian Liberation (COLP), to bomb the Jewish community tenter on the night of September 29, but this was severely con- demned by officials and the public. The official Communist Party itself undertook a propaganda campaign against Israel and every night sent out a sound truck blaring anti-Israel state- ments. As the truck travelled through the city, nobody seemed to listen; nobody seemed to care. The war was far away and there were pleasures at hand to attend to. Kochubievsky Sentenced to Two and A Half Years ALTHOUGH ITALIANS are a politically involved people, they are more interested in "la dulce vita" (the good life), in vacation- ing, in getting away to the shore, in indulging their palates, in visiting the numerous cafes and in visiting the museums and the opera. Italian Jews are not im- mune to the pleasure principle. But politics does intrude, and there are controversies and- discussions. During the war in Lebanon, Israel's popularity slipped. However, there was no NEW YORK (JTA) - Feliks Kochubievsky, a Soviet Jewish activist from Novosibirsk, was sentenced to two-and-a-half years in a labor camp last week, it was reported here by the National Conference on Soviet Jewry. The 52-year-old electrical engineer was convicted for "circulation of fabrications known to be false which defame the Soviet state and social system." He faced a maximum penalty of up to three years im- prisonment. Kochubievsky has been the target of KGB harassment since ' he first applied to emigrate to Israel in 1978. the National Conference said. He and his wife, Valentina, were denied permis- sion to join their iwo sons in Israel on the jrrounds of "regime considerations." His subsequent efforts to reestablish a "USSR- Israel Friendship Society" exacerbated his already strained situation. According to the National Conference, Kochubievsky is presently in very poor health. He is suffering from a kidney aliment which requires immediate surgical attention. Sharansky Demonstration Israeli Arab Youth is a Finalist In Weizmann Science Fair PARIS (JTA) Demonstrators in dozens of cars blocked all the streets leading to the Soviet Embassy to protest the continued imprisonment of Soviet Jewish 1'risoner of Conscience Anatoly Sharansky. The demon- strators blocked all traffic to the Embassy and paralyzed r who'wasTnoteTjewisn a central part of Paris for close to three hours Sunday ustrialist and philanthropist, night. ere is a Jewish day school at 4- fia Sally Mayer. iz/.a [yer which is named after Sally shops and outdoor cafes of | famous Galleria, the center of tical and social life of the city situated near the Milan Ihedral and the La Scala pa, on can hear men and wo- speaking Arabic. Some of are Jews from Libya. Seve- i In msand Libyan Jews came in 1948 because they spoke San. Until the middle of World 11, Italy controlled Libya. there are also about 1,000 ian Jews here. They maintain own synagogue and club for K' people. They are excellent I'ssmen, skilled in the lond and carpet trade. They very pro-Israel and are ac- ily involved in behalf of the ki'sh State. Many Egyptian Is also settled here, the result (the emigration from Egypt fcr the 1956 and 1967 wars, from Nazi Germany also lied here. They fled Hitler in [l930's. 1941 [HE DIVERSITY of the vish community in Milan is characterized by the pres- of many Ashkenazim, who I the last century found their to this city as they moved Southern Europe. In the few years Milan has also Dme the home for a small uber of Soviet Jews and Israe- The protestors lit Chanukah candles outside the Embassy while chanting "Freedom for Sharansky" and "Exit visas for all Russian Jews." Sharansky, who is serving a 13-year prison sentence, began a hunger strike September 27 in Chistipol prison to protest the denial by authorities of visitation rights and correspondence with his family. TEL AVIV (JTA) An 18- year-old Israeli Arab boy, Muhamed Mustafa Agabria, of Uum El-Faham village, was one of 19 finalists in the 1982 Weizmann Institute of Science- Discount Bank science fair which ended with prize awards in Rehovot. Agabria, who submitted a paper analyzing Albert Ein- stein's theory of relatively, was also the first Arab youngster to participate in the annual science fair held on campus for talented young people. Other finalists included first prize winner Ron Karidi of Tel Aviv who designed a mathemati- cal model for solving the Rubik cube and variations of it, and Legh Orbach of Eilat who placed second for her study of the effect of light on a certain type of giant clam which lives in symbiosis with single-cell alage in the Red Sea. Gilad Bendel of Kehovot and Amos Lapidot of Ilamat Gan shared the third prize for com- puter programs. Another shared third prize went to Itavid Sagyn of the B*nai Yehuda settlement in the Golan Heights, who built a sophisticated model of a green- house controlled by a microprocessor. The youngest prize winner, for his project on the homing sense of dogs, was Robert Alterson, 13. He received a consolation prize. =/ SemtrGeMienn/ot headquarters of the Jewish nmunity and the Documen- on Center on Italian and rid Jewry is at Via Eupili 6. the Documentation Center visitor saw Jews studying history of the Holocaust as as the history of Jews in ' before the 20th Century. 1944 Hie Lubavitch movement lintains a synagogue and a Bhiva at Via Carlo Poerio 35 has made progress in im- Img the Jewish community |th a measure of religious cons- Qusness. Jewish leaders, vever, point out that the tavitch are not part of the linstream of Jewish life and t the separation between them ' the highly assimilated Ital- i Jews remains to be overcome. 1945 N is a great deal of assimila- m and mixed marriages, but In 1982 Federations across North America are celebrating the 50th Anniversary Year of their national association, the Council of Jewish Federations. This is the second of five "Semi-Centennial Minutes, decade-by- decade chronicles tracing the major events which shaped Jewish Fed- eration life in the past half-century. 1941-1950 Federations decry dissolution of United Jewish Appeal caused by disagreements between United Palestine Appeal (UPA) and Joint Distribution Committee (JDC). CJF leaders, led by Chair- man of the Board William J. Shroder, succeed in forging recon- ciliation between UJA partners through intensive discussions dur- ing the 1941 GA. Feb. 1-3. "/ have attended every General Assembly the CJF ever held and I douht if any one of them has ever been as full of dramatic impact as this Assembly in Atlanta. That dramatic interest was based on a clash of fundamental thinking. In this Assembly we have weathered the first great test of the validity of our organ- ization."-William J. Shroder. Dec. 7-Japanese attack Pearl Harbor. United States declares war on Axis powers. Federations join with all agencies of vol- untary sector to sustain the strength, spirit and resolve of the American people. Federations intensify fund raising efforts to support rising level of worldwide service needs, including those at home caused by dislocation and hardships of war. and those abroad encompassing care of new immigrants in Palestine and desperate needs of European Jews. With support of Federations, JDC works to rescue Jews through escape networks in Vichy France, Spain, Portugal and the Balkans-and to alleviate suffering of Jews trapped in ghettos and under German occupation. General Assembly Resolution makes urgent plea to U.S. Gov- ernment to call for abrogation of British White Paper limiting Jewish immigration to Palestine. . "Palestine has been the haven of refuge to hundreds of thou- sands of persecuted Jews, and untold numbers of European Jews look to Palestine as their source of life and hope."-GA Resolu- National Jewish Community Relations Advisory Council (NJRAG) formed by Federations through CJF. to coordinate national and local community relations efforts. World War II ends. Stunned world beholds evidence of Nazi annihilation of European Jewry. Federations, working through CJF. insist that UPA and JDC 1942 continue combined fund raising in United Jewish Appeal Suc- cessfully reconstituted UJA provides integrated coordinated pro- grams of overseas aid. 1946 North American Jewry, sharing grief, shock, horror as full tragedy of Holocaust unfolds, makes unconditional commitment to rescue survivors. Federations set unprecedented campaign goal of $100 million-and surpass it. Campaign total for 1946 reaches $131 million, up $60 million from previous year. Federation leaders travel to DP camps in Europe to bring mes- sage of hope to survivors awaiting resettlement in Palestine: "Although I was often moved to tears, the only time I wept in all my travels was when I went into one of these very, very primi- tive, very poor 'Hachshara' (Aliyah Training Centers). And as I came into the room the young people-all of them with a prison brand of Auschwitz on their wrists-broke into Hebrew song. And I thought: if young people who had been through hell and suffered like this still have song in their hearts and the courage and hope to go on. then the world is not lost, and Jewry will sur- vive ."-Mrs. David M. Levy. 1946 General Assembly 1947 Heroism of Jews aboard "Exodus 1947" call? world attention to plight of survivors prevented from entering Palestine by British immigration policies. United Nations Special Committee on Palestine recommends that British Mandate be terminated and that Palestine be par- titioned into independent Jewish and Arab States UN General Assembly accepts UNSCOP recommendation. Arab violence be- gins. 1948 Working through CJF. Federations form Large City Budget- ing Conference (LCBC) to coordinate national budgeting. Golda Meir, head of Political Department o; the Jewish Agency, comes to General Assembly, Jan. 24-26, asking Federa- tion leaders to provide cash to help Jews in Palestine counter multi-front attack by Arabs. "No white flag (for surrender) of the Jewish community will be raised to the Mufti. That decision is made. Nobody can change that. You can only decide one thing: whether we shall be victori- ous in this fight That decision American Jews can make. That decision has to be made quickly, within hours, within days. And I beg of you only one thing: do not be too late. Don't he in a po- sition that in three months from now you will be sorry for what you have not done today. Then it may be too late The time is now."Golda Meir, 1948 General Assembly Federations raise S2S million in cash for Israel in the weeks following Golda Meir's tour. Federation campaign total for 1948 will reach unprecedented $201 million. May 14One day prior to British evacuation of Palestine. People's Council convenes in Tel Aviv Museum and approves Proclamation of Independence. The State of Israel is now a reality. War of Independence continues. 1949 75,000 Jewish DPs from Germany and additional thousands from Austria and Italy enter Israel. 1950 Economic Conference in Jerusalem sets framework for finan- cial assistance from Diaspora Jews to Israel.