Shlomo Dahan’s friends remember him as a skilled plumber, a dedicated scholar of the Torah, a humble man whose bearish frame belied his quiet demeanor — but most of all as someone who rushed to help anyone in need.

Tommy Velinskie said Mr. Dahan, his landlord and neighbor, brought him food when he had trouble making ends meet on his disability payments. Avi Chen, another plumber, said Mr. Dahan would take time off his own work to advise him on thorny jobs. Moshe Kindil, a longtime friend, said Mr. Dahan had been a powerful role model to his 23-year-old son, Harel, setting him up in his business and leading by example to make him a serious, prayerful young man.

On Monday, Mr. Dahan, 49, died in a desperate attempt to help Harel, who had fallen into a toxic well the two were trying to vacuum at the Regal Recycling Company in Jamaica, Queens. Mr. Dahan climbed in to try to reach his son, and also fell into the murky water below.

A third man, Rene Francisco Rivas, 52, an employee of Regal, died trying to rescue the Dahans, all of them apparently overcome by toxic gases that had built up in the well.

Shlomo Dahan was so modest that he had often refused the honor of removing the Torah scrolls from their case before a reading, said Yirmi Levy, the rabbi at the Mill Basin Sephardic Congregation, where Mr. Dahan studied Torah. But on Monday, he accepted the privilege and carried out the ritual. A few hours later, he was dead.

“It was your last mitzvah,” Mr. Levy said, addressing the memory of Mr. Dahan before several hundred mourners on Tuesday at the Shomrei Hadas Chapel in Borough Park, Brooklyn. Loud sobs came from both sides of the curtain separating men and women inside the funeral chapel.

A crowd of men silently followed the coffins of father and son, draped in black velvet, out of the chapel, to be flown Tuesday night to Israel for burial. Sarah Dahan, Shlomo’s wife, walked unsteadily behind, supported by two other women, with a black scarf covering her face.

The Dahan family was too overwhelmed with grief to speak to reporters, friends said.

Earlier, mourners sat on the tall front stoop of the family’s house on East 73rd Street in Georgetown, Brooklyn, some resting their heads in their hands. “He was like nobody else in this world,” one woman said.

A man who other mourners said was Mr. Dahan’s business partner came to the door and ordered a reporter to leave.

Questions remained about how the men died and whether the accident could have been prevented.

Ellen Borakove, a spokeswoman for the medical examiner, said that autopsies on the Dahans on Tuesday were inconclusive and that a cause of death required further study. The autopsy on Mr. Rivas was set for Wednesday, she said.

It was unclear on Tuesday when funeral services would be for Mr. Rivas.

The Queens district attorney’s office makes a preliminary inquiry into all suspicious deaths in the borough, and on Monday sent an assistant district attorney to the transfer station, officials said. Based on that review, the office will decide whether further investigation is warranted.

The federal Occupational Safety and Health Administration is investigating what standards apply to the case and whether they were followed, Ted Fitzgerald, a spokesman for the agency, said on Tuesday.

The state Department of Environmental Conservation, which licenses state recycling and waste transfer operations, inspected the site after the accident and found no violations of state regulations, said Arturo Garcia-Costas, an agency spokesman.

Mr. Fitzgerald declined to provide specifics of the federal investigation, but possible areas of inquiry could include whether there was or should have been signs posted around the well warning of possible dangers; and whether either the recycling company or Mr. Dahan’s company — S. Dahan Piping and Heating Corporation of South Ozone Park, Queens, hired as a subcontractor to clean the well — properly tested the air in the pit and followed federally mandated procedures for entering a confined space.

Firefighters said the well contained toxic levels of hydrogen sulfide, a colorless gas that is commonly found in sewers, landfill pits and silos, and is a well-known hazard in the sewage and waste management industries. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

OSHA cited Regal Recycling in February for several serious violations, including failure to properly train its employees on the handling of hazardous materials and the use of respiratory masks. But none of those involved work in confined spaces, Mr. Fitzgerald said.

Harel Dahan was the second of four sons; the youngest is still in his teens, friends said.

Shaul Hanuka said Harel, a childhood friend, had persuaded him to stop using drugs. “He made sure to keep his younger brothers in line,” Mr. Hanuka said. “His only drug was poker.” Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

This set was obtained from a source whose identity, according to documentation released
to me by the Bureau, AFOSI has deemed must remain classified to this day.
Before addressing the involvement of the FBI’s Foreign Counter-Intelligence
division in this matter, let us focus our attention on Dallas FBI. On October 25, 1988, the
Dallas office transmitted a two-page Secret Airtel to headquarters that read as follows:
Enclosed for the Bureau is an envelope which contains a possible classified
document. Dallas notes that within the last six weeks, there has been local
publicity regarding ‘OPERATION MAJESTIC-12’ with at least two appearances Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
on a local radio talk show, discussing the MAJESTIC-12 OPERATION, the
individuals involved, and the Government’s attempt to keep it all secret. It is
unknown if this is all part of a publicity campaign. [Censored] from OSI, advises
that ‘OPERATION BLUE BOOK, mentioned in the document on page 4 did
exist. Dallas realizes that the purported document is over 35 years old, but does
not know if it has been properly declassified. The Bureau is requested to discern
if the document is still classified. Dallas will hold any investigation in abeyance
until further direction from FBIHQ.
Partly as a result of the actions of the Dallas FBI Office and partly as a result of
the investigation undertaken by the FBI’s Foreign Counter-Intelligence people, on
November 30, 1988 an arranged meeting took place in Washington DC between agents of
the Bureau and those of AFOSI. If the AFOSI had information on MJ12, said the Bureau,
they would like to know.
A Secret communication back to the Dallas office from Washington on 2
December 1988 read:
This communication is classified Secret in its entirety. Reference Dallas Airtel
dated October 25, 1988. Reference Airtel requested that FBIHQ determine if the
document enclosed by referenced Airtel was classified or not. The Office of
Special Investigations, US Air Force, advised on November 30, 1988, that the
document was fabricated. Copies of that document have been distributed to
various parts of the United States. The document is completely bogus. Dallas is
to close captioned investigation.
At first glance, that would seem to lay matters to rest once and for all.
Unfortunately, it does not. There can be no dispute that the Air Force has played a most
strange game with respect to MJ12. The FBI was assured by AFOSI that the MJ12 papers
were fabricated. However, Special Agent Frank Batten, Jr., chief of the Information
Release Division at the Investigative Operations Center with the USAF, admitted to me
on April 30, 1993 that AFOSI is not now maintaining (nor ever has maintained) any
records pertaining to either MJ12, or any investigation thereof. This begs an important
question. How was AFOSI able to determine that the papers were faked if no
investigation on their part was undertaken? Batten has also advised me that while AFOSI
did “discuss” the MJ12 documents with the FBI, incredibly they made absolutely no Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
written reference to that meeting in any shape or form. This is most odd: government and

“It’s a very innovative paper,” says Chien Ho, the director of the Pittsburgh NMR Center for Biomedical Research, who was not involved in the study.

In the future, MRI scans could distinguish between cancerous and healthy cells by coating different-sized micromagnets with substances that bind preferentially to each type of tissue, says lead author Gary Zabow, a physicist at NIST. http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US For example, particles tuned to the show up blue on an MRI could bind to healthy tissue, while particles tuned to appear red could stick to cancer cells, he says.

The technique also increases the sensitivity of MRI, and in the future may allow researchers to detect individual cells, Zabow says. In order for that to be possible, the signal from a single micromagnet bound to one cell would need to be detected. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Currently, MRI images are black and white, although functional MRI often color codes regions of different grayscale intensities to enhance contrast. MRI scans are also not very sensitive. But, the scans can view the body in 3-D and can penetrate deeper into tissue than optical techniques, Ho says.

With a touch of flickering flame to the top of a bronze candelabrum yesterday, a Vatican official sought to reassure the Jewish community that there is no room in the Catholic Church for anti-Semitism or Holocaust denial.
Discuss
COMMENTS (16)

Cardinal Walter Kasper, a German theologian who is Pope Benedict XVI's top adviser on Catholic-Jewish relations, visited the headquarters of the Archdiocese of Boston yesterday and took several steps to calm the controversy that has erupted since the pope lifted the excommunication of four traditionalist bishops, one of whom denies that the Nazis used gas chambers to kill Jews.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Over a salmon lunch with 50 Jewish community leaders, Kasper fielded a series of tough questions about the Vatican's actions. He then joined a ceremony to rededicate a Holocaust memorial, originally located at the archdiocese's former headquarters in Brighton, which depicts six men and women holding torches to represent the 6 million Jews killed before and during World War II.

"The memory of what happened, now 65 years ago, cannot be forgotten," Kasper told a crowd of about 200 at the rededication ceremony, including priests and rabbis, several Holocaust survivors, and consuls general of Israel and Germany. "No Holocaust denial, which is a new injustice to the victims, can be allowed or permitted."

But the raw emotions exposed by the controversy over Bishop Richard Williamson of the Society of St. Pius X were clear.

Israel Arbeiter, the president of the Boston chapter of the American Association of Jewish Holocaust Survivors, recounted the deaths of his parents and brother in concentration camps and of seeing the remains of Jews killed in gas chambers at Auschwitz-Birkenau, before addressing Kasper and saying, "Pain and suffering have been inflicted again on the Holocaust survivors by a representative of the church, namely, Bishop Williamson, and by the action and inaction by Pope Benedict XVI."

Arbeiter also praised the Catholic Church, calling Kasper's visit "deeply meaningful." He referred to Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley of Boston as a friend and said that the pope has taken a number of constructive steps in recent weeks to address the controversy.

But he said he would like to hear the pope directly refute Williamson's assertion that the Nazis did not use gas chambers.http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US

"Years after the liberation of Auschwitz, with all the available documentation, confirmation by the German government, testimony by the perpetrators, Bishop Williamson still denies the truth, the fact of the Holocaust," he said. " . . . I will never understand that he denies that there were ever gas chambers, that Jewish people were gassed and murdered. . . . I wonder whether Bishop Williamson knows where my parents and my brother are."

Local Jewish and Catholic community leaders said they viewed Kasper's visit as a significant development, in that it affirmed the high priority the Vatican places on Catholic-Jewish relations.

"Words are helpful, but actions like today's rededication are more powerful, more meaningful, and more enduring," said Derrek L. Shulman, New England regional director of the Anti-Defamation League. "We welcome and celebrate this day as a major step forward for strengthening relations between Jews and Catholics in the Boston area."

O'Malley, who organized the event, called the Holocaust "the greatest act of inhumanity ever perpetrated on this planet" and said yesterday's event was intended "to assure the entire community of the Holy Father and the church's commitment to furthering these wonderful relationships that have been cultivated the last decades."

O'Malley pointed out that Catholic-Jewish relations in Boston have been strong since the days of Cardinal Richard J. Cushing, who in the 1960s helped draft a pivotal document at the Second Vatican Council that repudiated the basis for Christian anti-Semitism.

Kasper said that the outcry from Catholics irate over Williamson's remarks and over the Vatican's action, was evidence that Catholics have internalized the importance of Catholic-Jewish relations.

Nancy K. Kaufman, executive director of the Jewish Community Relations Council, said that the response to the uproar had provided evidence of the overall strength of the Jewish-Catholic relationship, citing the speed and candor with which local leaders had been able to meet and talk.

"It speaks to the power of the relationship that we have worked on so hard in this community over 40 or 50 years," Kaufman said. "Some of us here today can remember a time when relations between Catholics and Jews in Boston were not so good, and we didn't have the ability to have an honest and open dialogue among and between each other, and I think the ability to raise difficult issues like this one, and to have the discussion . . . speaks to the strength of the relationship."

Michael Paulson can be reached at mpaulson@globe.com.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
READER COMMENTS (16) Post a comment

Learning from history thru reading this kind of yesterday's event is a kind of very horible scenario. Killing such 6 million people is an evil action towards this pitty people. Now a days, it's unjust... Click here to see full comment Learning from history thru reading this kind of yesterday's event is a kind of very horible scenario. Killing such 6 million people is an evil action towards this pitty people. Now a days, it's unjust to criticise a group of people where ever religion they belong. Religion either Catholic, Born Again Christian, Protestants and etc. is not a passport that we will be save. Save from what?...from final judgement of GOD. It's our own self who will save us from the eternal fire - The Hell. What we did towards our fellowmen while we are still in this earth is the measurement our God will judge us during our final moment.http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US
by kulit March 26, 8:34 PM
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Frj256: You know its amazing some of the comments you hear about Catholics. One bozo was calling the Pope an anti-semite the other day. He didnt realize that while Ratzinger is German and was requi... Click here to see full comment Frj256: You know its amazing some of the comments you hear about Catholics. One bozo was calling the Pope an anti-semite the other day. He didnt realize that while Ratzinger is German and was required to be in Hitlers youth movement, he left the group and his father fought the Nazis in Germany. Incredible stuff.
by Snowbound1993 March 26, 5:53 PM
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Frj, it was Paul the apostle who called the Jews Christ-killers, and this is what is meant by catholics calling for the Jews to be "converted". You are incorrect.
Much misery has been created by... Click here to see full comment Frj, it was Paul the apostle who called the Jews Christ-killers, and this is what is meant by catholics calling for the Jews to be "converted". You are incorrect.
Much misery has been created by the church towards the Jews from the very beginning. The host libel, the blood libel, the crusades, the tragedy of 1096, the disputations, the vatican ghetto, the list goes on and on all the way to Hitler's Pope. Some things are true, whether we believe them or not. And yes, 5 million non-Jews, including Hitler's political opponents, the Roma, gays and lesbians, the handicapped and the mentally ill or the physical disabled were brutally killed along with the 6 million Jews. I sincerely doubt the families of these innocents would give the Church a free ride in this either.Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire
by sweetlandoliberty March 26, 5:38 PM
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There were five million others also, mostly Christians, killed in the holocaust. Christians seem to take the nonsense of Williamson's comment in stride. And the statement that it is Catholic doctrine ... Click here to see full comment There were five million others also, mostly Christians, killed in the holocaust. Christians seem to take the nonsense of Williamson's comment in stride. And the statement that it is Catholic doctrine that Jews cannot be saved is false. Some very opinionated people should get the facts before they criticize the Church. http://LOUIS2J2SHEEHAN.US

No. 49

FROM: Rome (ITRRK)
June 20, 1941
TO: Circular: Bucharest, Moscow (RIKUDUN)
#303.

According to a spy report German Supreme H. Q. has already been located at Konigsberg for about a week. The source is the same as wire 300[a].

[a] Not available.

Trans. 2-28-45


No. 50

FROM: Rome (ITRRK)
May 8, 1941
TO: Tokyo
#265.

1. According to a reliable report from Italian government sources, Italy has decided to give assistance to Iraq by sending (her) 4 or 5 (ck. 4, 5) air squadrons. Prior to this (Italy) has also considered the transfer of Italian planes to Iraq —1G—.

2. It has been confirmed that yesterday, 7 May, HITLER and MUSSOLINI held a conference at a certain place in Northern Italy.

Trans. 4-25-45


No. 51

FROM: Teheran (PRSRK)
September 14, 1941
TO: Tokyo (AUTUMN) (Head, General Affairs Dept.)
#432.

Persia Wire #41.

KO MOUDDAKKER[a] came to Tokyo around 1939 or 1940 and organized a Mohammedan temple there. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US At the time of the world Mohammedan Congress, he was appointed as a representative of the Netherlands East Indies. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

Presently his picture is appearing on propaganda letters from Tokyo in behalf of the Mohammedan federation.

[a] Imperfect text at beginning of name.

Trans. 4-23-45

[31]


No. 52

FROM: Teheran (PRSRK)
September 22, 1941
TO: Rome
#446.

A. In regard to the Russian Army's invasion of Persia:

1st: There are 36 tanks, 52 planes and 1 cavalry brigade at Meshed.

2nd: Northeast Persian and Caspian Sea units combine ordinary and inferior equipment and it appears that with the departure of the 83rd (check 8, check 3) Rifle Division (SIDAN) they are mobilizing new forces.

3rd: Air bases are under construction at Sari, Gurgan and Tabriz.

4th: Communication lines are being laid (1) between Tabriz and Dzhulfa; (2) between Tabriz, Ardebil and Astara.

5th: The Russian Army is confiscating rice, wheat and imported silk within the territory it has occupied and is sending these back to Russia.

6th: It appears that England has thus far sent no material and not more than 10 planes to Russia.

B. In regard to the Persian Army.

1st: On the Russian front Persian forces have all been (?wiped out?).

2nd: On the English front the 6th (check 6) and 16th (check 1, check 6) Divisions (SIDANS) and the Teheran government are falling back to Isfahan.

Addressee: General Staff Headquarters, Germany, Italy, and Turkey.

Trans. 2-17-45


No. 53

FROM: Teheran (PRSRK)
September 22, 1941
TO: Rome (RIKUGUN)
#447.

Russian forces that entered Teheran:

1 cavalry regiment. 1 tank regiment (about 60).

English forces:

1 armored mechanized brigade (partially Indian troops, such as vehicle drivers; greater part of troops, English). Addressee: General Staff Headquarters, Germany, Italy, Turkey.

Trans. 2-15-45


No. 54

FROM: Bangkok (SIAMD)
May 3, 1941
TO: Tokyo (AUTUMN (HEAD, GEN. AFFAIRS DEPT.))
#822.

1. According to a spy report, CROSBY, the English Minister in Bangkok, has received communications from the American authorities.

Following is a telegram which was dispatched to the French-Indo China Governor-General.

"You (French-Indo China Governor-General) will arrive in Corregidor in the Philippines (?tomorrow, the 13th?). We would like you to take the arms and ammunition America has consigned to you. You will —2G— in accordance with ship sailings to Singapore."

2. After investigating the authenticity of the above, please report. Addressed to the General Staff.

SUMITA

Trans. 9-1-45

[32]

THE "MAGIC" BACKGROUND OF PEARL HARBOR


No. 55

FROM: Tokyo (NERNS) (Vice-Chief, General Staff)
May 17, 1941
TO: Bangkok (RIKUGUN)
#796. Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire

(Strictly Secret.) We are sending Major AOYAMA KAZUICHI to Siam to work under your orders in the intercepting and deciphering of British and American Army codes used in the South Seas area.http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US He is expected to leave early in June.

Major AOYAMA will have with him Interpreter KAZAMA RYU, operators SATO JIN JURO and BABA TERUKUNI, and employee NAOMIYA NAOYOSHI. AOYAMA will be attached to your office and the others will have the status of attache office personnel.

Trans. 6-16-45


No. 56

FROM: Bangkok (SIAMD)
May 22, 1941
TO: Tokyo (Autumn (Head, Gen. Affairs Dept.))
#861.

Intelligence from Japanese Agents who have infiltrated Victoria Point (at the southeast tip of Burma).

1. About 200 GURKHA and Indian troops are stationed there, and they have some light tanks.

2. Central part. There are two emergency airfields, but no warplanes are in evidence. Furthermore, there are no hangers, and planes land but infrequently.

3. In the bay there are some small ships, two of them being gunboats; also there are two destroyer squadrons on patrol.

4. It is rumored that 1000 Chinese troops are stationed at Moulmein.

Trans. 9-21-45


No. 57

FROM: Tokyo (NERNS) (Vice Chief Gen. Staff)
July 26, 1941
TO: Bangkok (RIKUGUN)
#016.

1st. We have received Siam Special Message #54 (check 54) and thank you for the timely and valuable information.

2nd. Please report as soon as possible on the following matters relating to the PHNOM PEN BANGKOK RAILROAD:

1. The degree of completion and future prospects of completion of the ARAZANYA-SISOPHON railroad.

2. Situation on equipment for the SISOPHON MONGKOL BOREY railroad.

3. Is through-service between PHNOM PEN and BANGKOK possible from a technical standpoint?

Trans. 2-13-45


No. 58

FROM: Bangkok
July 31, 1941
TO: Tokyo (SUMMER RIKUGUNJIKAN) (Vice-Chief, General Staff, and Vice-Minister of War)
#021.

Re enemy aggression against French Indo-China.

[33]

On the 29th, the Siamese authorities issued the following declaration concerning their general policy.

1. Maintenance of good neighborly relations.

2. They feel that they will not suffer either militarily or economically at the hands of any nation whatsoever.

3. They believe that they need not fear military invasion from any foreign power.

4. A policy of non-intervention.

5. A desire to continue trade with foreign countries as usual.

Items 1 and 4 above represents not only the stand of the Siamese but are items fervently desired as well. http://LOUIS-J-SHEEHAN-ESQUIRE.US

Trans. 2-24-45


No. 59

FROM: Bangkok
November 8, 1941
TO: Tokyo (SUMMER (VICE CHIEF, GEN. STAFF))
#428.

To Lt. Col. MATSUMAE.

1. It is now the rainy season in southern Thailand and although there was considerable rain (I found that) the places you selected as airfields were, on the whole, as suitable as you had anticipated. I will report successively on further developments.

2. The road, together with the bridge on that road, (the one leading from the old road), which (would be used) in invading the TAPEH (TAPE) airfield, is as shown on the photograph you mentioned.

This is addressed to the Vice Chief of Staff and to Saigon.

Trans. 9-1-45


No. 60

FROM: Bangkok
November 12, 1941
TO: Tokyo
#442.

If war centering in Siam breaks out between Japan and Britain the question of Siam's attitude is so delicate that it cannot be written. Therefore we are sending Lt. Col. YAHARA to make a report. Please get the facts from him.

Trans. 9-7-45
Louis J. Sheehan, Esquire