Tolerance Takes Deeds That Match the Rhetoric

I read Renee Tawa’s article (“The Sins of the Fathers,” July 30), with interest and wanted to share a thought. In private, Dominick Zotti, the Austrian intern, is comfortable expressing his (presumably unfavorable?) opinion of Joerg Haider. But, for publication, Zotti, “along with the center’s other interns, feels awkward about speaking for or against a government that pays their salaries.” Isn’t it ironic that some of the same people who teach tolerance won’t speak out when it counts? And isn’t that the point?

--VIRGINIA KATZ

Irvine

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The recent article about Austrian interns at L.A.’s Simon Wiesenthal Center Museum of Tolerance was a breath of fresh air with regard to Austria’s dealing with the darker elements of its Nazi-sympathizing past.

What fine young men these interns are. Such a full recognition of the need to accept responsibility for one’s actions gives hope for the future. What a grand plan it would be for every Austrian, as part of his or her military service, to be exposed to such experiences.

--FREDRIC J. FORSTER

Corona del Mar