"WASHINGTON JEWISH WEEK" WRITES ABOUT CROATIA

WASHINGTON, Nov 19 (Hina) - This week's issue of the "Washington Jewish Week" magazine ran two extensive articles about Croatia and the life of the Jewish community in Croatia. Reporter Eric Fingerhut spoke with several prominent members of the Jewish community in Zagreb and Split, attempting to, through their eyes, shed light on Croatian policies towards Jews and some stances said to be those of Croatian President Franjo Tudjman. #L# Under the heading Croatian Jews defend Tudjman, feel a little anti- Semitism, the weekly relays the views of Dean Fridrich, Igor Francetic, Ana Lebl and Zoran Morpurg. The author drew a conclusion that some assessments about the number of Jews, victims in World War II and the NDH (1941-1945) should be stapled to political circumstances rather than anti-Semitism. Tudjman primarily wishes to keep in power the dying nationalist elements in his party, Fingerhut writes. He recalled that the Croatian President had in 1992 in a letter to the American Congress and later recognising Branko Lustig, expressed opposition to anti-Semitism and apologised to the Jewish community for those Croatians who participated in the Holocaust. Fingerhut noted a swastika drawn on a wall in Split, but stressed that several can also be seen in downtown Washington. In the second, almost five-page-long article, Fingerhut writes about the work of the Jewish community in Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik. He paid most attention to religious life, stressing that last year the first rabbi, Kotel Dadon, arrived in Croatia. He noted that the rabbi, although an Orthodox Sephardi, was coping well and getting along with the community made up mostly of liberal Ashkenazi Jews. The "Washington Jewish Week" noted Fingerhut recently visited Croatia as a guest of the Croatian Tourist Association. (hina) lml