ANTI-SEMITISM IN IRAN

MATTHIAS KÜNTZEL ("Defining Jew-Hatred Down," November 17) points out that the anti-Semitism expressed by Iran's leaders is in no way mitigated by the fact that "the Iranian regime tolerates the presence of a Jewish community in Tehran." Küntzel's point is particularly important since some former U.S. officials have indeed pointed to the treatment of Jews in Iran as proof that Iranian president Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is not as terrible as generally assumed.

For example, former State Department official Martin Indyk has been quoted on Israel Radio as saying it is wrong to compare Ahmadinejad to Adolf Hitler, since "the fact that 25,000 Jews live largely unharmed in Iran means Nazi parallels are inappropriate." Similarly, former Pentagon official Dov Zakheim has been quoted in the New York Times as saying, "Iran doesn't treat its 20,000 Jews as wretchedly as its rhetoric would suggest." The Times columnist who interviewed him then added: "Iran continues to be home to more Jews than any Middle Eastern country save Israel."

The size of the Jewish community in Iran is not proof that the Jews are well treated. Sometimes factors such as family ties, poverty, or hope for a change in government are sufficient to persuade people to stay in a country where they are mistreated. Recall that in 1937-fully four years after Hitler's rise to power-Germany was still home to more Jews than any other Western European country. That wasn't because they enjoyed Hitler's rule.

In her book Beyond Belief, Professor Deborah Lipstadt describes how, in the 1930s, the U.S. public's ability to recognize the evil nature of the Hitler regime was undermined by reports from wishful thinkers who insisted that the treatment of Germany's Jews was not as bad as people assumed. It would be a tragedy if today's pundits repeated that mistake by minimizing the suffering of Iran's beleaguered Jewish community.

RAFAEL MEDOFF
Director
The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies
Washington, D.C.

PARKERSBURG LANDMARK

I WAS ATTRACTED TO Stefan Beck's article because of the title ("How to Write," November 3) and then was pleasantly surprised and delighted to read about my hometown's Carnegie Library, where I spent much of my paycheck every month before I was married.

I am curious what brought him to my happy but unheralded hometown of Parkersburg, W.Va., to visit that great bookstore where one could gladly set up tent and spend a week. How did he find us?

Thanks to Mr. Beck for his important article, mostly, and to a somewhat lesser extent for visiting and writing about my hometown's great little (actually quite big) bookstore.

MIKE AZINGER
Highland, Ind.

HOW TO SAVE CAPITALISM

I AGREE WITH WILLIAM KRISTOL when he writes that the challenge for the GOP over the next four years will be "to figure out how to save capitalism from its own worst aspects and most damaging tendencies" ("Beyond Doom & Gloom," November 24).

The answer is both simple and difficult. The simple part is in observing that we, as a society, must be in accord with Judeo-Christian ethics for capitalism to survive. This is especially so for our elite. But when secularism is the de facto state religion, a Darwinian survival of the fittest philosophy prevails and poisons everything. This leads to uncontrolled greed.

The difficulty comes in trying to figure out how to convert our elites to the faith that they, as a class, have long abandoned.

PETER SKURKISS
Stow, Ohio

RUSSIAN TECHNOLOGY

I JUST READ REUBEN F. JOHNSON'S article on the Russian military ("Tennis Shoes and Stolen Toilets") in the November 24 issue. It reminds me that every time I hear about the international space station, I think about the fact that substantial portions of it were built by the same people who built the "MiG-25 ... with vacuum-tube technology." I would be scared to death to be a resident of the space station.

PETER FARB

Larsen, Wis.

BIDEN'S MEMOIRS

I JUST FINISHED READING Matthew Continetti's article "Biden: the Book" (November 24) and laughed so hard I had to send my thanks. The nation is in such bad shape and likely to continue that way for a long time. A good, hearty laugh is not only appreciated but required. I mean that. I really mean that and I am serious!

JOHN DE GENNARO
Kingman, Ariz.