Victims

The power of believing over the power of wishing to know the historical truth

But relaxing in the home of Dr Kerryn Phelps and Jackie Stricker as the media brouhaha over their book Kerryn & Jackie played itself out, they speak of the passion and peace that being Jewish brings.

"I was quite disconnected from Judaism until Kerryn came along," Ms Stricker explains.

"I always felt some discomfort because of what happened in World War II. If you kept your head down, you wouldn't cop any trouble. But now my religion gives me a deep sense of spiritual peace, and it calms me down."

In fact, so overwhelmingly positive were the feelings Ms Stricker felt for her reclaimed heritage that she experienced a sense of sorrow that it had taken so long.

"I realised I was more connected to Judaism than I thought. I wish I'd reached this phase when my grandmother was alive."

Married by a New York Reform rabbi in 1998,Ms Stricker revealed it was Dr Phelps, president of the Australian Medical Association, who suggested a Jewish ceremony. "It wouldn't have felt as meaningful if we hadn't," Dr Phelps said.

"The sense of respect for the individual in Judaism is very important for us; the respect for the family is also central."

Dr Phelps' conversion to Judaism in 2000, under the guidance of Temple Emanuel's Rabbi Jeffrey Kamins, followed 18 months of study and culminated in a dip in Sydney Harbour, which served as mikvah.

"The Jewish religion has long held a fascination for me, going back to when I read Anne Frank's diary," she enthused. "Meeting Jackie and studying the religion and being so warmly welcomed by the Stricker family, it made sense to me on every level to become Jewish. It seemed the right framework for us."

Paying tribute to Rabbi Kamins, Dr Phelps described him as more than a spiritual adviser, but a close friend who has offered his counselling on many occasions.

Dr Phelps's son, Chris,17, who has not converted, often joins them in synagogue and is an enthusiastic supporter of her decision to convert.

Travelling to the Washington Holocaust Museum and to Wannsee in Germany, where the Final Solution was decided, made the couple determined to double their efforts to fight for Jewish rights, just as they have fought to be accepted as "normal" because of their sexuality.

"What I see happening here in Australia is that the rights of gay people are eroded in the same way Jewish rights have been over the century," Ms Stricker said. Equal rights for gay couples in marriage, superannuation, family health insurance and inheritance are just some examples she offers.

Reflecting on the controversy that erupted in the Jewish community in 1999 when a contingent of Jews marched in the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras and the Australian Jewish News reported it, they believe the response in the letters pages clearly demonstrated the community's overwhelming support for gay rights.

"Homosexuality is an issue for the Orthodox community only. There is so much in the Torah that Jews, even Orthodox Jews, do not follow anymore. We call it selective Leviticus," Ms Stricker said.

Suggesting that a poll should be taken to gauge support for Jewish marriages between same-sex couples, both believe the choice for Reform Jews in Australia is not far off.

Looking forward to visiting Israel when the situation improves, the couple admitted that the pressure caused by their public stand has not been easy, but in the best Jewish tradition they had no other choice3 but to stand by their beliefs.

These ladies are lucky in that they have not been gagged for expressing their beliefs so freely. I am not permitted freely to express my belief about the 'Holocaust' and about the Auschwitz homicidal gassing claims. Since the 17 September Federal Court of Australia judgment, I have a gag order that prevents me from taking issue with the assertions made in this article, namely about the Wannsee Conference, which Professor Jehuda Bauer called "hardly a conference"; and about the Anne Frank Diary hoax that professor Robert Faurisson so competently demolishes as a fabrication.

There is now a new book, a biography, called The Hidden Life of Otto Frank, by Carol Ann Lee, Viking. Lee delineates Anne's father's role in shaping her as a 'Holocaust' saint, through which children make their first contact —'painful identification — with the 'Holocaust'.

Also, what many forget —and the recent Anne Frank exhibition that toured Australia failed to mention — was the fact that Anne and her father spent time at Auschwitz, but then were transferred out of that so-called death camp. Gitta Sereny claims it was not a death camp.

The book clearly shows that after the war Otto Frank was not interested in finding the person who betrayed them to the Nazis. That he also had business connections with the Nazis is also not further explored.

That Dr Kerryn Phelps was inspired by such a work reflects upon her critical faculties, and upon those who for decades have pushed such material into our school systems.

I could go on offering more critical comments about this fraud and how it shaped the minds of a whole generation of impressionable youngsters, but the 17 September 2002 court order prevents me from doing so. And that is very sad indeed.

This is not new to you I think, but we were taught that people tend to believe what they wish to believe, when I was studying for my psychiatric nursing ( 3 year course at Glenside in those days, now a uni. subject ). Our belief systems cater to meet our individual psychological needs, financial or other gains from these so called 'facts'.

We can't change human nature, but proper history teaching and not creating or perpetuating huge lies must be a help.

Thanks to stumbling over your web-site, and discovering the Birdman, Norman Finkelstein and many other honest folk, I have been privileged to find out so much information, and have been able at long last to glean out some facts previously unknown to me.

If I had known about the holocaust exaggerations many years ago, I could have been spared the secret little anguish and worry about it, because having been born in post-war Germany as you know, I couldn't come to terms of how 'SIX MILLION' people were exterminated, without a trace left, or anyone even NOTICING the complete disappearance of what would have been the total population of Adelaide, Perth and Darwin combined?

Fortunately I am a little skeptical and enquiring in myself, so while agonising over supposed war atrocities, I carried a seed of doubt.

Sorry, I get carried away with the excitement of all this new enlightenment, but I owe you a great thank you, for pursuing your goal towards truth and freedom of debate and speech.

There are dark forces around who wish to silence this knowledge, which only reinforces that they have something to hide.

Ms Stricker's statement about Jews losing rights over the century is laughable. Who controls Hollywood, the major Wall street Banks, etc. Christ! I wish I had those rights!. I wouldn't want the right to impose usurious interest rates on the third world which is a privilege they seem to enjoy.

Having a disproportionately high number in the medical and law faculties in major U.S universities, and controlling the Russian mafia are privileges most don't have. Ms Stricker is confused!. Incidentally, would the American establishment allow Arab control of the above? It appears only Jews can monopolise these things by right.