The Foreign Service Journal, July-August 2016

THE FOREIGN SERVICE JOURNAL | JULY-AUGUST 2016 9 LETTERS Assuming Responsibility for a Dark Period I very much enjoyed the May issue of The Foreign Service Journal , as I do every month. However, the article by Jeffrey Glassman, “Israelit Friedhof: A Jewish Cemetery in Vienna,” presents the author’s personal assessment of how Austria has dealt with the darkest period in its history rather than a factual analy- sis of this delicate subject. That assess- ment is subjective and could perpetuate obsolete stereotypes. Mr. Glassman mentions the historic Washington Agreement, signed by the Austrian and U.S. governments in 2001, which finally ended a period during which Austria as a society struggled to accept the facts as to its involvement in the machinery of the Nazi dictatorship. Contrary to the author’s assessment of the Austrian policies, I am proud to say that our system today is comprehen- sive, just and often referred to as a best- practice model for restitution laws. No less an authority than State Department Special Adviser on Holo- caust Issues Stuart Eizenstat, in a speech on May 27, 2015, said: “I witnessed and have been deeply moved by how far Austria came from reluctantly and incompletely coming to terms with its complicated World War II role to now becoming a leader in Holocaust justice.” As the last step in the implementa- tion of Austria’s international obligations arising from the Washington Agreement, the Fund for the Restoration of Jew- ish Cemeteries in Austria was set up in December 2010. Managed by the Austrian National Fund, this account has been endowed with a total of 20 million euros by the federal government, to be disbursed over the next 20 years by matching contributions of the cemeteries’ owners after their conclusion of main- tenance agreements with the respective municipalities. More than 60 Jewish cem- eteries throughout Austria will thus be safeguarded from ruin. Furthermore, the city of Vienna signed a maintenance agreement with the Jewish com- munity on Oct. 1, 2013, to allow for restoration of the single most impor- tant project, the Jewish cemetery in Währing that is mentioned in the article. Vienna has already awarded 500,000 euros for the restoration of the janitor’s house there. Thorsten Eisingerich Minister, Austrian Diplomatic Service Director of the Office for Press & Information Embassy of Austria Washington, D.C. Police Volunteering I enjoyed reading “From Consul General to Police Volunteer” by Ann Sides in the May Journal focus on life after the Foreign Service. I retired in 1995 after a consular career and final tour as consul general in Kingston. I, too, became a police volunteer in retirement— after a 700-hour police academy, I was sworn in as a Texas Peace Officer. I will be retiring (again) in July from the Brazos County Sheriff’s Office, where I have been an investigator for the past 10 years. I explain to people who question my career change that police work and Foreign Service officer work are very similar. We make contacts, gather infor- mation, write reports and make recom- mendations to superiors (DA or CA) who decide whether to issue an arrest warrant or, maybe, impose sanctions. We both serve and protect the American public and enforce laws (although I was told that, as a consular officer, I was not enforcing visa law, just administering it). I now wear the exact same uniform I wore in the Foreign Service—suit and tie, albeit with room for pistol and hand- cuffs under my coat. James Carter FSO, retired Bryan, Texas Consular Work During the Vietnam War I recently read Lange Schermerhorn’s April 2015 article, “Doing Social Work in Southeast Asia.” Never mind why it took me a year to get around to reading the article, but it was worth the wait—and simi- larly worthwhile to read other articles about the Foreign Service in Vietnam in that FSJ focus marking 40 years since the fall of Saigon. Without being a scholar of that era—and never having set foot anywhere in “Indochina”— I found the articles wide-ranging and utterly fascinating. Amb. Schermerhorn’s description of the situation for consular work deserves the widest possible readership because of its insights about cultural differences and different legal traditions between Vietnam and the United States. Larry Lesser FSO, retired Washington, D.C.