LILLIAN HOFFMAN
"When Natan Scharansky was a prisoner in a Soviet prison camp in Siberia, Lil Hoffman picked up the phone and called the prison commandant. She told the official in no uncertain terms that he must improve conditions for Scharansky, who was being held in isolation."
"'And furthermore,' she informed him, 'I'm reversing the charges for this call.' The official readily agreed to pay." So began one of the many eulogies that appeared in the Denver papers for Lillian Hoffman, one of AFSI's most beloved members, who passed away at the age of 83 on April 26, 1996.
Lillian Hoffman was best known for her work to win freedom for Soviet refuseniks and was co-chairman of the Colorado Committee of Concern for Soviet Jewry. Patricia Schroeder, who worked with Lillian after first being elected to Congress, said, "Many, many people who escaped from the Soviet Union owe their freedom to her."
As the daughter of Russian emigres, the plight of Soviet Jews was very personal to Lillian. Lillian never forgot a story about her grandfather, said her daughter Nona. "She was told when she was a child, that her grandfather was dragged through the streets of Russia by his tongue -- because he was a Jew."
Over the years, Lillian has been enormously helpful to Americans for A Safe Israel, not only by the excellent political connections she developed through her work with Soviet Jewry, but because of her perfect understanding of the issues.
"She was always prepared to do whatever was necessary. When AFSI attended the General Assembly Conference of Jewish Federations in November 1995, Lillian, despite her poor health, manned AFSI's convention booth and had her staff assist us," said AFSI Chairman Herbert Zweibon, adding, "For me, the most amazing thing about Lillian was
her willingness to travel anywhere for a demonstration on issues worthwhile. She was committed to Jewish needs all of her life. She was also very close to the Netanyahu family and surely would have been proud to see their son become Israel's youngest prime minister."
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An example of Lillian's determination is when she donated a bust to the U.S. Capitol of Raoul Wallenberg, the Swedish diplomat who saved 100,000 Hungarian Jews during the Holocaust. Although she already was very ill and needed to travel with a nurse, she made the trip to Washington and even gave the best speech at the unveiling. It was her last public act.
Lillian is survived by two daughters, Nona Feiner and Sheila Bialek; a son, Rabbi Howard Hoffman, a sister, Libby Kane, five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren.
JOSEPH CHURBA
Joseph Churba, a long-time friend of AFSI, passed away on April 18, 1996. He was 62 years old. Churba was the Air Force's top Middle East intelligence expert from 1972 to 1976. He quit his post after criticizing General George S. Brown for commenting that Israel was a military burden. As an intelligence official,
Churba was not allowed to make public statements, but he felt obligated to attack Brown's remarks as "dangerously irresponsible" because they encouraged the Arabs and Russians to think that America no longer backed Israel. Following this, his special security clearances for signal and satellite intelligence were suspended and he resigned.
Churba later became a campaign advisor to Ronald Reagan in 1980 and an advisor to the Arms Control and Disarmament Agency in 1981 and 1982. In 1983, Churba founded the International Security Council and became editor-in-chief of its quarterly, Global Affairs.
He was a prolific writer and the author of The Politics of Defeat, Retreat from Freedom, The American Retreat and Soviet Breakout. Churba's last book, The Washington Compromise, was about "the widespread, inside-the-beltway forfeiting of the societal good for the sake of political expediency."
He is survived by seven brothers, Albert, Isaac, Jacob, Moses, Aaron, David and Rabbi Shlomo Churba; and three sisters, Grace Marcus, Sarah Churba, and Molly Levin.
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