“In regard to the Holocaust, he was very aware of the history of
Christians persecuting the Jews. He wanted to identify with their
suffering, their moral outrage, and to agree that this must not be
allowed to happen again. That’s part of his moral leadership.”
Gerald S. Strober, in his book Graham:A Day in Billy’s Life, tells
this story:
Rivka Alexandrovich, a Soviet Jewish woman from the city
of Riga, came to the United States to attempt to win public sup-
port for her daughter, Ruth, then a prisoner of conscience in
Russia. I called Billy one afternoon and reached him in the bar-
bershop of Washington’s Madison Hotel. After hearing of Mrs.
Alexandrovich’s problem, Billy invited me to bring her to
Chicago in two days’ time so he could meet and talk with her.
The Chicago session was packed with emotion. There was defi-
nite positive chemistry alive in the room, and Billy expressed
great sympathy for young Ruth Alexandrovich. At one point in
the conversation, he walked to the telephone, took out an
address book, and dialed a long-distance number.
“Is Henry there?” he asked. “Well, tell him to call me the
minute he comes in.”
No one in the room had to ask who “Henry” was, and there
was little doubt in our minds that the call had been placed to
Key Biscayne, Florida, where Henry was staying with his boss,
the President of the United States.
Five minutes later the telephone rang, and it was Henry
[Kissinger]. Graham gave him a briefing on Mrs. Alexandrovich
(he had carefully jotted down the pertinent facts as she talked),
and he then asked the caller to try to do something for the dis-
traught émigré. Later that night, Graham issued a statement
from his Minneapolis headquarters calling attention to the plight
of the Soviet Jews. Two months after the Chicago meeting, Ruth
Alexandrovich landed at Lod Airport in Tel Aviv.■ ■ ■Yet for all Billy’s kindness and compassion, he felt the normal
human emotions. At times, he was confronted with situations
Leading with Love