Army won't bury Holocaust survivor

The Army has rejected an appeal by the family of Abraham Klausner, a leading advocate for Holocaust survivors, to be buried at Arlington National Cemetery. The family was told Monday that Klausner's cremated remains may be stored at the cemetery, but that his brief service as an Army chaplain did not qualify him to receive full burial honors.

The decision drew protests from Jewish groups and a prominent congressional Democrat, who said a man with his reputation and who witnessed the horrors of a Nazi prison camp should be exempt from the rule.

Klausner, a rabbi, was the first Jewish chaplain from the Army to enter the Dachau concentration camp after it was liberated in 1945. After the war, Klausner became an advocate for survivors of the Holocaust, trying to reconnect families and writing a book about their experiences.

He was 92 when he died Thursday night at his home in Santa Fe, N.M.

"It's just unbelievable to me he would be denied being buried at Arlington cemetery," said Marvin Hier, founder of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, an international Jewish human rights organization based in Los Angeles. "It's a rule that violates religious principles. So I want to know who made the rule and why it wasn't challenged."

Army officials on Monday attributed the decision to a regulation adopted in 1967 that narrowly restricted ground burials at the popular cemetery to conserve space. In general, the regulation allows burial only of active-duty members, retirees after lengthy service and veterans who have won special awards or medals.

According to Army spokesman Paul Boyce, Klausner qualifies for ground burial at any veterans' cemetery, but not Arlington.

"Since 1967, the Army has not granted any exceptions based on a chaplain's faith, religious accomplishments, or their personal or religious beliefs," Boyce said in a statement.

Jess Hordes, Washington director of the Anti-Defamation League, said Klausner should be made an exception primarily because of his work with Holocaust survivors.

"It was really exceptional work at an exceptional time," said Hordes, who noted he was calling officials at the White House and Defense Department, hoping they would intervene. "To offer cremation is not an option for a rabbi."

Holocaust survivor Rep. Tom Lantos, D-Calif., chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, wrote to the Army last week on Klausner's behalf. On Monday, Lantos tried calling President Bush's national security adviser, Stephen Hadley, but could not reach him, said a spokeswoman. Hadley was traveling with Bush on Monday, and a spokesman said he was unaware of the case.

Klausner's son, Jeremy, said in an interview Monday that he needed to decide by the day's end where to bury his father and said cremation was not an option.

"The family feels strongly that for religious and (Holocaust) experience reasons, he not be required to be cremated," his son said.