Fun_People Archive
10 Dec
Another Temp Story

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From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 97 01:38:05 -0800
To: Fun_People
Precedence: bulk
Subject: Another Temp Story

Forwarded-by: Daniel Steinberg <dss@opcode.com>

[This is from my aunt, who gets the most interesting temp jobs.  the last
one she reported was transcribing recorded interactions on 900 phone lines
("Yes!  I want it now!  Give it to me!  Give me your credit card number!"),
at which she lasted about an hour and a half.   - d]


From: Louismerry <Louismerry@aol.com>

Worked for the founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center--The Museum of
Tolerance--had a very interesting time.  Checked out the bulletin boards
and there is an opening or two there, so I left a resume.  Introduced myself
to the PR Director, with whom there is an opening.

Rabbi Hier was very nice.  He has photos papering his walls taken with
presidents of the US, Israel, Spielberg, Arnold  Swartzenegger (sp?) and
Maria Shriver, and many, many famous people.  There are ennumerable
citations, including one from France with a huge gold medal on a blue
ribbon, and an Oscar, standing proud in its lucite case for the film "The
Last Mile Home," which Rabbi Hier co-produced.

In the afternoon I worked on a file which they'd dubbed Nazi Gold.  I read
the confidential interview with a man named Meili (sp?) (pronounced
"Mylee"), the Swiss bank security guard who, was instructed to shread the
deposit records from '42-'45 (covering billions of Swiss francs confiscated
from the Jews of Europe from sale of their silver and gold possessions sold,
melted, including the gold taken from the teeth of those gassed) as well as
records of loans from the Swiss bank on those funds backing the German war
effort.  Mieli first was impressed by the books because they were very old.
So he began to examine them.  When he read the records, noticed the dates,
then the vast deposits, then the sources--many from German officers, and he
became convinced that he held something very hot.  So instead of shreading
the files, he stole them.  Eventually he contacted the head of the small
remaining Jewish community in Zurich--only about 1800.  Although he was not
fired until 6 weeks later, he began receiving threats.  He and his family
have now sought refuge in the US.  As a result of this incident, the Swiss
government has released the names of hundreds of frozen, unclaimed accounts
of deceased Jews and Nazis.  Many accounts were of Jews who thought they
could protect the family's funds by having them in a Swiss bank, and who
were killed in the Holocaust.  The accounts total billions. There is
extensive correspondence between the center with the Swiss government.  It
is now illegal in Switzerland to destroy bank records from this period.
The center has also attempted to contact relatives of individuals on the
list.  The names include former residents of countries all throughout
Europe.  There is also correspondence discussing the Nazis on the list, and
questioning their right to the accounts because of the way the money was
obtained.  The lists are on the internet.  The website is Wiesenthal.com.

I consciously avoid the news, so you may already know all about this.  But
reading portions of, and compiling the file was a real eye-opener for me.

© 1997 Peter Langston