Wiesenthal’s legacy one of tolerance

I read, with a great deal of sadness, on many front pages of the passing of the great Simon Wiesenthal. While most articles and obituaries spoke of his surviving the Holocaust in concentration camps and his tenacious pursuit of Nazis throughout his long life, I have seen another aspect of this man’s legacy. Although some articles have a link to the Simon Wiesenthal Center (SWC), there was little to indicate what awaits people if they pursue that link.

Has anyone heard of Wiesenthal’s other legacy, the Museum of Tolerance associated with the SWC? I would guess very few have.

It’s a wonderful, thrilling attempt to make children and all ages understand the roots of prejudice through interactive and thought-provoking displays. It’s not just about anti-Semitism but all bias and intolerance in the world. It’s about tolerance.

While the Holocaust museums that I’ve visited all over the world are evocative and humbling, they might be ignored by many as a “Jewish thing.” What can’t be ignored is the role intolerance plays in everyone’s life today and how everyone suffers for it. That is the focus of the aptly named museum and its positive lessons.

The advent of hyphenated Americans makes it easier than ever in the U.S. to generalize and ascribe unfavorable characteristics for immigrants (we’re all immigrants in this nation) and people different than ourselves. It’s the lazy thing to do. Instead of the U.S. being the melting pot in which I grew up, it’s becoming a centrifuge.

Without being didactic or strident, the Museum of Tolerance (MoT) illustrates where even the most banal generalization can lead. The MoT proactively allows students and guests to discover how opinions are created and how the lack of critical thinking allows those opinions to morph into monstrous actions, such as the genocides of Rwanda, Sudan and Armenia.

I travel extensively throughout the world. I am a member and go to the MoT every time I’m in town. I’ve brought colleagues and clients from India, Japan, Singapore and all over to the MoT. All were mightily impressed.

Unfortunately, the Museum of Tolerance is located all the way on Pico Boulevard in Los Angeles, not too far from the multi-cultured neighborhoods which it serves. It’s a short school bus ride from Beverly Hills, Watts, South Central, and large Hispanic neighborhoods, but only a few clicks away on the Web.

What the world needs is for the Museum of Tolerance to become a franchise to help spread Simon Wiesenthal’s legacy.

Ed Dlugosz

Eatontown

Student housing hurts quality of life in towns

I read the letter to the editor that Patty Chavez wrote in the Sept. 22 issue of the Atlanticville which was addressed to me and my wife Pamela. In the letter, Ms Chavez conveyed how her quality of life has suffered as a result of college students living in her town of Elberon.

I just wanted to say that you, and all my neighbors in Long Branch, Ocean and West Long Branch, have my complete sympathy in what you are experiencing. We feel your pain because we have experienced the same degradation in our quality of life. Now that the university’s expansion application has been passed by our Zoning Board, we will face even greater intrusions if our appeal is unsuccessful.

For the last four years, I have been paying very close attention to what is happening in our towns. I have also been trying to convince Monmouth University that expansion and intrusions in all of our towns is affecting our quality of life, as your letter demonstrates. I have also heavily supported “animal house” legislation and have personally met with other local citizens action groups to listen to their concerns and to try to figure out ways to help.

If students are living in your town, that is because the university is enrolling more students than it can accommodate in its current dorm facilities.

The answer is not to place the burden from one town or neighborhood to another. The answer is for the university to either decrease enrollment or to build a satellite facility in an area which permits and welcomes such housing. This satellite campus should not be located in a residential area or zone in any of our towns.

I have worked tirelessly on quality-of-life issues in West Long Branch for the last four years with the help and support of many of my excellent neighbors and my wife.

I am still hopeful that under its current leadership, the university can come to terms with the impact it is having on many of our towns’ residents, and I am also hopeful that we can find solutions.

I also recognize and respect many of the admirable qualities of some of the people I have met from the university, including some of the students I run into in our town.

I feel the same compassion and sympathy for you and your neighbors, Ms Chavez, that I do for the members of MTOTSA who are fighting against their homes being taken from them [through eminent domain].

I think the best way for us to find solutions to our quality-of-life issues is to ask our local leaders where they stand on these important issues.

Once we determine that the council person or mayor is willing to fight for the residents’ quality of life (including issues dealing with the university), then we should work hard to make sure these officials get elected in November.

Joseph G Hughes

West Long Branch

Coalition of Neighbors