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<DIV>This was shared by a fellow Victim/Offender Dialog facilitator. Cate</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>As a Jew, this story touches me very deeply. I want to share it.
<BR>Warmly, Marty <BR><BR><BR>In her book, Not By the Sword, Kathryn
Watterson tells the story of Michael <BR>Weisser, a Jewish cantor, and his
wife Julie. They had just moved to their <BR>new home in Lincoln, Nebraska
in June 1991, when their peaceful unpacking <BR>was interrupted by an
ominous threatening phone call. <BR><BR>Shortly after, they received a package
of racist flyers with a card <BR>announcing, "The KKK is watching you,
scum." The Weissers called the <BR>police, who told them it looked like
the work of one Larry Trapp, a <BR>self-described Nazi and Grand Dragon of
the local Ku Klux Klan. Trapp, in <BR>fact, had been linked to fire
bombings of African-American homes in the <BR>area and a center for
Vietnamese refugees. The 44-year- old Trapp was <BR>wheelchair bound and
suffering from diabetes, yet was a leader of the white <BR>supremacist
movement in the area. At the time, he was making plans to bomb <BR>B'nai
Jeshuran, the synagogue where Weisser was cantor. <BR><BR>Julie Weisser
was frightened and even infuriated by the hate mail, but she <BR>also felt
a spark of compassion for the man in the wheel chair who lived by
<BR>himself in a one-room apartment. She decided to send Trapp a letter
every <BR>day with passages from the Proverbs. When Michael saw that Trapp
had <BR>launched a TV series spewing hatred on the local cable network, he
called <BR>the Klan hotline and kept leaving messages: "Larry, why do you
hate me? You <BR>don't even know me." <BR><BR>At one point, Trapp actually
answered the phone and Michael, after <BR>identifying himself asked him if
he needed a hand in doing his grocery <BR>shopping. Trapp refused --
politely -- but a process of rethinking began to <BR>stir in him. For a
while he was two people -- the one still spewing hateful <BR>invective on
TV, the other talking with Michael Weisser on the phone <BR>saying, "I
can't help it. I've been talking like that all my life." <BR><BR>One
night, Michael Weisser asked his congregation to pray for someone who
<BR>is "sick from the illness of bigotry and hatred." That night, Trapp
did <BR>something he'd never done before. The swastika rings he wore on
both hands <BR>began to itch, so he took them off. The next day he called
the Weissers and <BR>said, "I want to get out, but I don't know how."
Michael suggested that he <BR>and Julie drive to Trapp's apartment so they
could "break bread together." <BR>Trapp hesitated, then agreed. <BR><BR>At the
apartment, Trapp broke into tears and handed the Weissers his <BR>swastika
rings. In November, 1991 he resigned from the Klan, and later <BR>wrote
apologies to those groups he had wronged. On New Year's Eve, Larry
<BR>Trapp found out he had less than a year to live and that same night,
the <BR>Weissers invited him to move in with them. Their living room
became his <BR>bedroom and he told them, "You are doing for me what my
parents should have <BR>done for me." <BR><BR>Bedridden, Trapp began to read
about Gandhi and Martin Luther King, and <BR>learn about Judaism. On June
5, 1992 he converted to Judaism -- at the very <BR>synagogue he had once
planned to blow up. Julie quit her job to care for <BR>him in his last
days, and when Larry Trapp died on September 6th of that <BR>year, it was
with Michael and Julie holding his hands. <BR><BR></DIV>
<P>
<HR>
<P></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN
class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">As a Jew, this story touches me
very deeply. I want to share it.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN
class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">Warmly, Marty</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span size=4><SPAN
class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><BR
class=khtml-block-placeholder></SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">In her book, </SPAN></FONT><A
href="http://rs6.net/tn.jsp?e=001HuytKhTugG8aefFiaXzMFX1QmEkFfgILqZd4aGOLzEjHn_mxsp9hdvOSLP96VzwHloglLLGwoybq8gOpOU8zP9YYC-_--O7V8KlXZf75afsch9TOZ0NkWSKb7ZLwE0h9h60bx-fxc_g="><FONT
class=Apple-style-span face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span color=#0021e7>Not By the
Sword</FONT></SPAN></FONT></A><FONT class=Apple-style-span face="Comic Sans MS"
size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">, Kathryn Watterson
tells the story of Michael Weisser, a Jewish cantor, and his wife Julie. They
had just moved to their new home in Lincoln, Nebraska in June 1991, when their
peaceful unpacking was interrupted by an ominous threatening phone
call.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">Shortly after, they received a package of racist flyers
with a card announcing, "The KKK is watching you, scum." The Weissers called the
police, who told them it looked like the work of one Larry Trapp, a
self-described Nazi and Grand Dragon of the local Ku Klux Klan. Trapp, in fact,
had been linked to fire bombings of African-American homes in the area and a
center for Vietnamese refugees. The 44-year-old Trapp was wheelchair bound and
suffering from diabetes, yet was a leader of the white supremacist movement in
the area. At the time, he was making plans to bomb B'nai Jeshuran, the synagogue
where Weisser was cantor.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">Julie Weisser was frightened and even infuriated by the
hate mail, but she also felt a spark of compassion for the man in the wheel
chair who lived by himself in a one-room apartment. She decided to send Trapp a
letter every day with passages from the Proverbs. When Michael saw that Trapp
had launched a TV series spewing hatred on the local cable network, he called
the Klan hotline and kept leaving messages: "Larry, why do you hate me? You
don't even know me."</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">At one point, Trapp actually answered the phone and
Michael, after identifying himself asked him if he needed a hand in doing his
grocery shopping. Trapp refused -- politely -- but a process of rethinking began
to stir in him. For a while he was two people -- the one still spewing hateful
invective on TV, the other talking with Michael Weisser on the phone saying, "I
can't help it. I've been talking like that all my life."</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">One night, Michael Weisser asked his congregation to
pray for someone who is "sick from the illness of bigotry and hatred." That
night, Trapp did something he'd never done before. The swastika rings he wore on
both hands began to itch, so he took them off. The next day he called the
Weissers and said, "I want to get out, but I don't know how." Michael suggested
that he and Julie drive to Trapp's apartment so they could "break bread
together." Trapp hesitated, then agreed.</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">At the apartment, Trapp broke into tears and handed the
Weissers his swastika rings. In November, 1991 he resigned from the Klan, and
later wrote apologies to those groups he had wronged. On New Year's Eve, Larry
Trapp found out he had less than a year to live and that same night, the
Weissers invited him to move in with them. Their living room became his bedroom
and he told them, "You are doing for me what my parents should have done for
me."</SPAN></FONT></P>
<P style="MARGIN: 0px 0px 13px"><FONT class=Apple-style-span
face="Comic Sans MS" size=4><SPAN class=Apple-style-span
style="FONT-SIZE: 13px">Bedridden, Trapp began to read about Gandhi and Martin
Luther King, and learn about Judaism. On June 5, 1992 he converted to Judaism --
at the very synagogue he had once planned to blow up. Julie quit her job to care
for him in his last days, and when Larry Trapp died on September 6th of that
year, it was with Michael and Julie holding his
hands.</SPAN></FONT></P></BODY></HTML>