6 MAY 2000, Page 28

Life's worth

From Mr J. Nemec Sir: Taki asks (High life, 22 April), 'Is a Jewish life worth more than a Russian one?' Of course it is not. What Talci does not seem to understand — or more likely pretends not to understand — is that the Holocaust was a unique event in the history of mankind in that a whole population group was sentenced to death simply because they were born into a certain race. This did not happen to Russians or Poles. As a son of an officer of the Hungarian White Army which defeated the terrorists, I have no sympathies for the Bolsheviks. However, the horrors caused by communist criminals should not be used to excuse the deeds of the Nazis.

J. Nemec

Etobicoke, Ontario, Canada