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Show DAILY H t It A I AS D Ed TOEIALS EDITORIAL BOARD IVnnis. f'ri kii'lf Vul'iiihet 'iif;hl I o ufiw f if, (or Jim lyiHM. (dfcriii) I'ufii' I tlilnr O'Mij; K.ll)il HERALD POLL Is it really Joseph Smith? A flurry of action on the Internet has focused on whether an old photo is actually that of Joseph Smith, the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-da- y Saints. We'll help you decide for yourself with an interactive graphic online. You can superimpose one photo over another and see for yourself how the facial features fit. The graphic can be found at heraldextra.comjoseph. But first, you should know a bit about the latest photograph. It's a daguerreotype, an early type of photograph that came into the United States in the 1830s. It shows a man in his 20s or 30s looking rather intently at the camera. The photo is owned by the Misso. uri-based Community of Christ, once known as the Reorganized Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. In 1965, a woman who claimed to be a descendent of Smith donated the daguerreotype to the Community of Christ. The trail ends there. Researchers say that the plate was made after the Mormon prophet was killed in 1844, but that does not necessarily mean that it could not be an image of Joseph Smith. The plate could have been copied from the original. , Arizona author S: Michael Tracy studied the photo for ten years, and put it through extensive forensic comparisons. He and his team compared the image to a death mask of the Smith, along with photos of Smith's skull taken during an exhumation in ; the 1920s. Tracy also drew on two measurements of Smith's skull taken when he was alive, in an era that believed the shape of a person's skull could reveal his character. Tracy found 32 points of anatomical agreement between the man in the photo and Smith. Other purported images of Smith have surfaced from time to time, but Tracy said that "This is the only one that matches up forensi-call- y with what we know of Joseph Smith's anatomy." Tracy doesn't not come right out and say that the portrait is in fact of the founder of the LDS Churcli He only says the image deserves "serious consideration" as a genuine portrait and that he is publishing a book, "Millions Shall Know Brother Joseph Again," to prompt further debate, rather than make a A? LETTERS Consenting adults s. watch Oprah Winfrey, but I saw promos that indicated she would devote an hour toward the subject of polygamy. I was pleasantly surprised Provo that her investigation was fair and balanced. Oprah admitted that there were stereotypes of polygamy that Restore the arrows prejudiced her. She was expecting to Once again thanks and congratulasee women in 19th century dresses g tions to the Herald for the and found three working women in editorial of March 26 entitled: "MeaCentennial Park, Arizona, who lived modern lives and enjoyed modern suring losses in Iraq." Some of us do need to be reminded that while 4,000 conveniences with one husband and deaths in Iraq is saddening, just being nearly two dozen children. After interviewing the husband and his wives, in the military, even here in the states, is often dangerous or even fatal, due to Oprah said her eyes were opened. To be sure, most citizens (including training accidents. We need to keep in mind that the fighting in Iraq against incest, Oprah) denounced fanatical Islamists has so far helped to abuse, and fraud. But, what made the Oprah interview stand apart was that keep us safe here at home. it revealed a sentiment that adult poWith this awesome editorial in mind, lygamy among consenting adults who will the Herald now restore the arrows in the left talon of the eagle on their are open and honest with each other should be That would masthead? I still mourn the loss of these arrows, which signify that Amerremove the shadowy life which otherica is willing to fight for her country wise good people shroud themselves and for the freedoms we enjoy. in, to practice their religious beliefs with regard to marital arrangement. I ) Vernon J. Moulton, Pleasant Grove don't practice plural marriage (but my I seldom What do you think? Is the d image of Joseph Smith really the Mormon prophet? For an interactive presentation comparing photographs, go to heraldextra.comisitjo-seph- . Send your comments to dhpollsheraldextra.com or call Please leave your name, hometown and phone number with your comments. comments should not exceed 100 words; voice-mai- l comments should be no longer than 30 seconds. Anonymous and unverifiable responses will not be published. hard-hittin- 344-294- child-bride- The Daily Herald will publish comments on April 6. the overall height of the head from hairline to chin; the overall width of the face; the length of the nose (don't be fooled by the shadow beneath the nose on the hairdo photo). In addition, the shape of the lips and the way the subject holds his mouth in both images is similar. And finally, there are the definitive claim. The Community of Christ eyes themselves. People who met has also avoided statements of Joseph Smith remarked that his certainty. The LDS Church this ,"' eyes were his most striking feature. The man in the photo also week issued a news release adahas piercing eyes. mantly denying that the church had verified the image's authenTrue, there are some differences in the two images. But one ticity. "On the basis of available evidence, it is not possible to con- should consider these in light of firm that the image is, in fact, of the difference in pose, the difference in the subject's age and the Joseph Smith," an official statefact that the two photos were ment reads. Note, however, that the Church likely shot with different lenses. doesn't say it is not a portrait of It's not reasonable to expect a Smith. perfect match. After all, Smith had undergone severe physiSo, how to decide? Try the Herald's interactive graphic. This cal hardships from time to time, will allow you to compare the dahaving been jailed and severely harassed continually. This could guerreotype with a have affected his weight or other portrait from just before Smith's the one with the characteristics. death, in 1844 Of course, as experts have alio funny pompadour hairdo that was in vogue at the time. noted, the real comparison is that between the mental images peoExperts say that the bad-haple have built up of Joseph Smith picture has been heavily reand his physical reality. Some touched; even a casual glance confirms this. Brush strokes flat- people will find a confirmed ten the eyebrows, for example, photo inspiring; others might find it disillusioning if it doesn't match and the mask around the hair their romantic or heroic concepand face that removed the backtion of the prophet. ground is very crudely done. Either way, it is a fact that JoSuch retouching was common in the early years of photography. seph Smith has affected millions But a number of features on ' of people who have had only a ' the pompadour photo (also a vague impression of what he actually looked like. A photo might copy of a daguerreotype) and be helpful in making the man the Community of Christ image match with eerie precision the more accessible. "widow's peak" of the hairline; I For more information online, the width of each eye; the width across both eyes to the outside go to http:smithphoto. corners; the width of the mouth; notlong.com weu,, unose POWUKNOtUTHe MIK5 T t is that, OUTTHBie PLACe,IWOUUXfTB UOULPIf VOUIKWf! 344-298- Provo, UT 84603. I Letters must include the author's full name, address and daytime phone number. I We prefer shorter letters, 100 to 200 words. Letters may be edited for length. I Writers are encouraged to include their occupation and other personal information. I Because of the volume of letters, we Cannot acknowledge unpublished letters. I Letters become the property of the Daily Herald. was get rid of the Jews." Traum celebrated V-- Day in TrafalTraum, gar Square. But after seeing pictures from the death camps following their with soft eyes and a quiet manner, liberation, he knew his parents would paged through documents he had not have survived. He went on with an never seen before. There was an apeventful life joining the Israeli army plication to the Vienna Jewish Comwhen the state of Israel was declared munity for financial assistance, typed him. "I used to come back from school and marrying a Holocaust survivor and signed by his father in 1938. Also who had been hidden as a child by a the Gestapo records of his mother and by cutting through the park. One father's transportation from Vienna time, they pulled the school satchel Belgian family. He never knew the defrom my shoulder and threw it in the tails of his parents' fate. to Minsk in 1942, the last evidence of Until this year. In their strange, their existence. grass. Back then, grass in the park It is part of an urgent effort to give was something to look at, not feel exacting bureaucratic professionalbeneath your feet. When I went to get ism, the Nazis kept a record of the a dwindling number of Holocaust surit, a policeman grabbed me, gave me a transport of Elias Israel and Git el vivors back a part of their past. The massive Nazi archives at Bad Arolsen, dressing down, and took my name and Sara Traum, who left Vienna by train on June 2, 1942. His parents would address." Germany, were only fully opened in Placed on report by the authorihave died three toiive days later in 2007, and they include 100 million original records of arrests, camps, prisons, ties, Traum's mother was called to his Minsk. We know from witnesses that groups of men, women and children elementary school. "Vienna schools ghettos and transports. Researchers were very strict. Whenever an adult on the Holocaust Museum staff sift were taken to open areas, made to dig entered the room, all the kids stood up a trench, and were shot and buried. through digital copies of this mass of out of respect. But when my mother From Gestapo forms, Traum learned . material, along with other historical his parents' birthdays and the likely entered the classroom, the teacher sources, with the goal of returning stolen memories. (Disclosure: I sit on said, 'Don't stand up for her. She is a day of their death neither of which he had known before. the museum's governing council.) For Jew,' " Traum recalls with wet eyes Museum researchers have given and fresh anger. Traum, these memories began with "a pretty happy life" in a Traum a gift. "I don't like the word From such small tragedies was a Holocaust made. closure," he says, "because I don't neighborhood of Vienna in the 1930s. "urchin" in The synagogue where Traum sang have any such thing. But it is good to Pictures show a know something of what happened. To leather shorts and knee socks. "It was in the choir was burned down on like I stepped out of 'The Sound of Mu- Kristallnacht. In desperation, his parput a date to that, so I can commemoents sent him and his sister to England rate their deaths." sic,' " Traum says. But the greater gift is Traum's to us: as part of the Kindertransport. After the Anschluss the Nazi takeover of Austria in March 1938 Austrian Traum only hints at the hardness of the memories of a his life as a refugee. The gentile family boy of how hate and Traum remembers German planes and that took him in was authoritarian, for- a Holocaust begin with a satchel flying overhead on April 20, Hitler's bidding him and his sister to converse thrown in a park. birthday, dropping tiny swastikas "like snow coming down." He recalls in German. After the bombings of Lonhow German soldiers allowed him to don began, he was evacuated to the I Michael Gerson writes a column sit on the large gun at an emplacement home of an emotionally abusive young for the Washington Post Writers down the street. couple. "I remember the woman telling Group. Traum becomes emotional only me that the best thing Hitler ever did sat in a conference room at the States Holocaust Memorial I United a man Museum as Fred when recounting how his neighborhood playmates gradually turned against him after they joined Nazi youth organizations. "At first, they showed me their uniforms and the daggers they had," Traum remembers. But soon they began to shun and mock E non-Jewis- h ' Garry Trudeau ' IMEAN.WUCM letters to dhlettersfeheraldextra.com 5 Fax to Mail to P.O. Box 717, Documents show how Holocaust began ir D00NESBURY s, How to comment MICHAEL GERSON long-accept- SIC! did). Matrimony is Debest left to clergy, not criminalizing plural marriage among adults would help weed out abuses and let quiet people live their lives in peace. I James A. Marples, MALLARD FILLMORE Bruce Tinsley 11 j 1 UNLOCK tmkv air is A V Offend WvUfe into ftawis.. -- (7 |