
                               Another perverse and
                               distortive sequel of
                                  desinformative
                          "political correctness" (P-C) ?

             =============================================================

                              UNPLEASANT TOWN NAME
                              WIPED OFF FRENCH MAPS
                              ---------------------

             ( from "The Guardian", England )
             The Gazette, Montral, Saturday, November 27, 1993, page A-19
             -------------------------------------------------------------

             BRUSSELS  -  Anti-racist members of the European Parliament
             were claiming victory last night after they received the news
             that most unpleasant place name in France was about to
             disappear from the map.

             For more than 400 years a hamlet beside the village of
             Courtemaux about 70 miles south of Paris has been called
             "Mort-aux-Juifs", which means "Death to the Jews".

             Local historians has various learned explanations of why the
             name never implied anti-semitism.

             One said it was a corruption of "La Mare au Juif" ("The Jew's
             Pond") which evolved into "La Mort au Juif" ("The Death of
             the Jew") in the late 14th century and became
             "Mort-aux-Juifs" around 1560.

             Another said the hamlet was called after a Jewish trader who
             moved to the area some time between 1100 and 1300. According
             to this account the original name was "Le Marc au Juif". A
             "marc" was a weight measure during that period.

             But, whatever the origin, the MEPs thought "Mort-aux-Juifs"
             an abominable title should have been obliterated after
             Hitler's holocaust, if not long before. The commission was
             asked to put pressure on the French government to take
             action.

             Glyn Ford, the Labor MEP for Greater Manchester East, said he
             was delighted by a letter from Jean Gueguinou, the French
             ambassador in London, announcing that the name was to go.

             "A few days ago the local authority, which alone had the
             power to take such action, decided to change the name of the
             village in question," the ambassador said. In future the
             hamlet will be called "La route de Loizouer".

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