Setting the record straight

It is most unfortunate that the article “Senior religious-Zionist leader Rabbi Nachum Rabinowitz dies at 92” (May 7) was marred by a falsehood.

Rabinovitch did not denounce Yitzchak Rabin as a “moser” (informer against the Jewish people). I remember vividly that before Rabin’s assassination, Rabinovitch was interviewed on the radio. After defining what a moser is, he was asked if the prime minister actually was a moser. He responded in effect, “Chas veshalom. Mesirah depends on intent. The prime minister is misguided, but his intent is for the welfare of our country.” I heard this interview replayed after Yitzchak Rabin’s murder, minus that portion where he forcefully denied the accusation against Rabin.

An anthology about the prime minister was published here and in England. One of the writers repeated the calumny that Rabinovitch called Rabin a “moser.” The rabbi sued the publisher in an English court for libel and won. That publisher was forced to destroy all copies of the book and pay a substantial fine. RAPHAEL GRONER

Jerusalem

Regarding “Far-right German leader: Victory over Nazis ‘day of absolute defeat’” (May 8), it is difficult to deal with the memory of wartime defeat. The German politician who says that day was an “absolute defeat” is stating a historical fact.

There is large museum (Panorama) in the center of Cairo celebrating the fabulous victory of Egypt over Israel in the 1973 war. How? Their history stops after the first day, in which they were, in fact, victors. No mention is made of their ultimate loss. Would it be better for Germans to have a museum dedicated to their sterling victory in WW II in which history stops in 1941?

Or perhaps the Germans could take a page from the American South. Segments of that population proudly display the Confederate flag and glorify and romanticize a war started with the aim of keeping certain people in a category of subhuman possessions. Should Germans wave Nazi flags glorifying their short-lived Reich?

Calling Germany’s absolute defeat just that is coming to terms with reality.

NORMAN LOBERANT Nahariya