Letter from Edythe Katz (Las Vegas, Nev.) to Editor of the Desert Echo (Mesquite, Nev.), August 2, 1993

:i'if>9 Cnllr ' j X Curv!An f n t 1'r,f,i?-. 'Wrmrln MHO f ) J \ i i k e J { a i z 11 r A f t 1 August 2, 1993 The Editor Desert Echo Mesquite, Nevada Dear Sir: City Manager Henderson's remark, referring to Mr. Hardung as "a Russian Jew," was, in my opinion, used as an inappropriate epithet. That is extremely unfortunate and dangerous. His remark can negate all the efforts that good educators have been making through the past fifteen years to convey under-standing and compassion for minority groups and the suffering that so many have endured. Perhaps Mr. Henderson was not a resident of your community several years ago when Joe Bowler and Dave Anderson assembled one of the finest student confer-ences on "Holocaust and Human Rights." It was a full day seminar, held at the Virgin Valley High School, to which students from the immediate and extended area were invited. The keynote speaker was actor Robert Clary, a survivor of the Holocaust who has lost several family members in that catastrophy. There were several workshops teaching the students about minority groups and their backgrounds. It was, without a doubt, one of the finest conferences of this type held anywhere in our country. The response of the students was electrifying and the effort made to make this conference possible was more than gratifying. The fact that Mr. Hardung is neither Russian nor Jewish is hardly the point. Mr. Henderson's remark, as quoted in the Las Vegas Review-Journal was callous and could destroy the work that good people have accomplished. I can only hope that Mr. Henderson's words were uttered out of ignorance. Perhaps he, too, has a lot to learn. Sincerely