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Fwd: Forwards: A Gust of Wind, Rain, a Crash, Then Death at Yiddish Concert



Here is an article on the Yiddish concert disaster.  
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  Forwards, July 13, 2001

LETTER FROM STRASBOURG
A Gust of Wind, Rain, a Crash, Then Death at Yiddish Concert
  By RAFAEL GOLDWASER 
  This was not the way our concert was supposed to end. We had set out to 
breathe new life into Yiddish culture here in Strasbourg, near the 
French-German border in the heart of Europe. Last Friday we reaped death.
  The little tent had been set up under the trees to serve as a refreshment 
area for the audience during intermission. When the storm came, about 120 
audience members rushed there to escape the rain, while the performers 
retreated to a lounge area behind the stage. The rain was not heavy, but the 
winds were fierce. One terrible, gale-force gust uprooted a huge plane tree 
towering over the makeshift shelter and brought it crashing down, crushing the 
people underneath. 11 people were killed, most of them teenagers, and 84 more 
were wounded, 17 of them seriously, according to police.
  The program was a musical performance by a group called "Les Yiddishe Papas 
et Mamas." It was an outdoor concert that took place Friday night in Chateau de 
Portales park as part of the Summer Animations culture festival sponsored by 
the city of Strasbourg.
  The audience was a mixture of Jews and non-Jews, all faithful fans of this 
much-loved singing group, which itself is composed of Jews and non-Jews. About 
150 people were in attendance, many of them teenagers and young parents with 
their children. Yiddish culture has developed a devoted following here over the 
last decade or so, reviving an ancient tradition in the region where the 
language was born more than 1,000 years ago.
  There had been warnings of storms the afternoon before the concert from the 
meteorological service. Magistrates will be investigating the events, we are 
told, but those involved say there was no reason to suspect any real threat to 
public safety.
  Already there are voices whispering that the catastrophe was the hand of God, 
acting in response to the staging of a secularist Yiddish cultural event on the 
Sabbath eve. We have heard that sort of talk before. Some religious people say 
the same sorts of things about the Shoah. Does that make Hitler God's angel? Is 
our love of Jewish culture less profound than another's?
  There are comforts, to be sure. Thanks to the efforts of local artists and 
writers, Yiddish culture is truly beginning to blossom here in Strasbourg. A 
summer Yiddish course, beginning next week, has enrolled more than 40 people 
from all over the world, including seven young students invited from the former 
Soviet bloc - even from Lithuania, once the capital of the Yiddish world - as 
well as students from Italy, Germany and Cyprus.
  Still, the magnitude of our catastrophe has scarcely begun to sink in. Our 
prime minister, Lionel Jospin, has sent condolences to the victims and their 
families. The mayor of Strasbourg, Fabienne Keller, came in person to offer her 
sympathy, although not everyone was happy to see her. Some of our local 
Yiddishists are angry at the newly-elected mayor and her right-wing governing 
coalition, which recently decided to cancel the funding promised by the former 
Socialist city government for a Yiddish festival planned for next November. 
Doubts have also been raised about the promised funding for a European Center 
for Yiddish Culture, which was supposed to open in 2004.
  The mayor is not responsible for the tornado, of course. For some of us, 
though, it feels as though we are in a season of catastrophes, one following 
another.
  In the flood of telephone calls and emails we have received since the storm, 
most voices have been warm and sympathetic - though they have followed certain 
patterns. Reactions from Argentinian Jews, for instance, have speculated that 
our disaster was the work of terrorists. To each his own ghosts.


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