Tue, 16 May 2000

Six million Jews, officially

In your article PKB tells Gus Dur to publicly declare his wealth (May 12, 2000) you quoted Mr. Nurcholish Madjid as follows:"Whatever the problem is, the legal approach should be the answer," he said, citing that many cases such as genocide to thousands of Jews by Nazi Germany also ended up going to court.

Although I appreciate the quote, I am sorry to say -- in more than one aspect -- that in the historical example lies a (doubtless unintended) understatement: the "thousands of Jews" in fact were millions. More exactly: the official number is six million.

With much respect for your excellent paper -- in Dutch: kwaliteitskrant (newspaper of good quality).

JAN BUZEMAN

Jakarta