Crete fire prompts call for Jewish literature

Founder of National Yiddish Book Center has been recruited to aid in the replacement of books destroyed.

By GREER FAY CASHMAN
Aaron Lansky, the founder and president of the Amherst, Massachusetts-based National Yiddish Book Center, has been recruited to aid in the replacement of books destroyed following two separate arson attacks which devastated the 600-year-old Etz Hayyim Synagogue on the island of Crete, and destroyed or damaged the bulk of its library. Although there was no Yiddish literature in the collection, Lansky was a natural source for help due to his 30-year history of salvaging Yiddish books which might otherwise have been destroyed. He has rescued more than a million Yiddish books
Lansky has published an urgent message on the Website of the National Yiddish Book Center calling for assistance in the replacement of the library in Crete. Most of the books are in English or Hebrew, and many of the titles, of which there is an extensive list, can be found in Jewish homes and printing and publishing houses all over the world.
The list of volumes required forCrete can be accessed at www.yiddishbookcenter.org/crete. Anyonewilling to donate books that are on the list is asked to send them toLorenzo Garcia at:

PSC 814 Box 36

FPO AE 09865-0036