A liferiedif t eutisk Periodical Carter.
swim AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, 01110
5
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
June 28, 1940
P urely Commentary
A Time to Take Stock
This is a time to take stock of our position and
to make important decisions for the future. Euro-
pean Jewry has collapsed with Europe. Palestin-
ian Jewry is threatened. Half of our people may
disappear if the insanity that is encircling the
globe continues.
American Jewry alone remains to carry on the
traditions which have been handed down to us
as a heritage. Are we worthy of this trust?
What we do in America will reflect for genera-
tions to come upon the future of world Jewry.
We must plan. We must take stock. It is as im-
portant to strengthen our position here as it is to
s ave European Jewry. If we here are secure,
our kinsmen overseas will have some one to look
to for guidance and help. If we are demoralized,
all positions will be weakened.
There are 500,000 Jews in Palestine, and they,
too, look to us for help and encouragement. Under
the worst conditions. the Palestinian settlement
will remain a solid unit, and there is reason to
believe that it will continue as a nucleus for the
establishment of a wholesome Jewish center for the
building of Jewish cultural values and for the
saving of tens of thousands who will continue to
look to Zion as a haven of refuge for the Jewish
body as well as the Jewish spirit. Faith in our-
selves, in the aspirations and hopes of the Jew-
ish people, is necessary at this time. In taking
stock we must keep this in view.
In taking stock of our position it is important
that we should realize that the attack on Jewry
is not limited to the Jews of Germany or France
or of England. There are forces in this country
that are out to harm us. They have been poisoned
by the Nazi virus, and they are spreading the
dangerous pollen. Rumors and innuendos are ar-
ready harming our position. They must be counter-
acted by a strong stand, by determined action;
by men of vision who are not motivated by party
differences.
As things stand today, we are being weakened
by dissensioin. One group in Jewish life declares
itself in support of the Allies and endorses the
program of the Committee to Defend America
by Aiding the Allies. But the other groups are
silent. It is proof of continued division in our
ranks. This is a matter on which all parties in
Israel should take a decisive stand.
Also; there is disunity in Zionist ranks, and
instead of strengthening the morale of our people,
it is being weakened. This is NOT the way to
act in time of emergency.
This is a time to call the bluff of the anti-
Semites, to defend our position at every step,
to strengthen our spiritual and moral forces.
A few days ago Jacob Landau, the director
of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, was a guest
in Detroit. He pointed to the weakness of his
organization. The news-gathering agency which,
keeps us informed on what is happening to Jews
throughout the world finds itself in a precarious
position. Revenue from other lands 'has been cut
off. One Yiddish newspaper in this country has
gone out of existence and the other existing Yid-
dish dailies are in finanical difficulties. The press
is among the remaining elements of strength for
our people and it must not be permitted to suffer.
And yet, American Jews have not yet realized the
importance of their newspapers in the present
tragedy, and they stand aloof from their com-
munity organs.
It is necessary that we take stock in our
schools and synagogues, in the home and in the
place of business. We must be spiritually strong
and moraly above reproach. We must hold high
the banners which signify that we cling to au
age-old Idealism which has been tried and which
has NOT been found wanting.
Let us take stock now, before it is too late,
in order that we may be strengthened and in
order that through our strength America be
stronger and world Jewry safer.
•
"The Mortal Storm"
Hollywood has produced some exceedingly pow-
erful appeals for decency and justice. Few, how-
ever, are as impressive as the picturization of
Phyllis Bottome's "The Mortal Storm" which now
has its initial run in Detroit. The picture is as
strong as the book. It exposes Nazism, represents
an appeal for human kindness, indicates that not
all Nazis are bad and reveals that even among
the Hitlerites there is doubt as to the validity
of their program.
"The Mortal Storm" is a very moving picture.
Its story, of a family uprooted, of Nazi brutality
running wild, is fairly well known by this time,
the book having been a best-seller for three
years. It is to the credit of the producers that
they did not portray actual bestiality but never-
theless indicated it well in some of the back-
grounds. The manner in which the picture shows
how the Nazis themselves doubt the values of the
extreme enforcement of their program is impres-
sive. The story is well acted by Margaret Sulla-
van, James Stewart, Robert Young and Frank
Morgan and an able assisting cast. You can't
afford to miss seeing this splendid film.
•
Moshe Smilansky in London
The many Detroiters who were among the
thousands of American Jews to he inspired by
the brief visit in this country of Nloshe Smilan-
sky. president of the Palestine Farmers' Asso-
ciation, will be pleased to learn that this emi-
nent pioneer is safe in London. An earlier report
gave the misleading informatioin that he was
stranded in Genoa. That would have made him
an unfriendly alien in Italy. Although he left this
country nine (lays earlier than he had planned, he
did not reach Palestine before the Ital-
ian declaration of war, and he was stranded in
Lisbon. From there he took a plane a week ago
Friday to London. For a time he had planned to
return to the United States for the duration of
the war, but his final decision was to go to
London and from there to find a way of return-
ing to his home in Rehoboth, Palestine. his friends
Pray that he will succeed and that he will soon
enjoy the fruits of a peace to be acquired by
the powers that stand for human freedom.
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
The Ends and the Means
Nazism, Fascism and Communism have been
alike in that they claimed that the end justified
the means. They proved that they meant business
by utilizing all means, no matter how brutal and
dastardly, to win their points. The Christian Sci-
ence Monitor recently illustrated this destructive
Macchiavellian ideology by publishing the fol-
lowing as a boxed item in lieu of an editorial:
BARRELS AND BOMBINGS
Ends
"CHUNGKING, June 12 — More than 100
Japanese planes, attacking in waves for 15
minutes, started fires today in the center of
this provisional Chinese capital. Yesterday
a Japanese bomb fell within 30 yards of the
United States Embassy in a two-wave raid
which destroyed at least 300 houses and
caused 50 casualties in the city." (From an
Associated Press dispatch.)
Means
"LOS ANGELES — Disclosure that Cali-
fornia oil by the hundreds of thousands of
barrels left ports here during April and May
to be stored in vast tank areas of Japan—
and possibly leak through Russia for use of
the Nazi war machine—is arousing advocates
of defense as well as opponents of aggres-
siion." (From a Monitor dispatch.)
No other comment is, of course. necessary. The
facts speak more eloquently than interpretations
in condemninr the totalitarian forces of enslave-
ment and in demanding a total blockade against
them by democratic governments.
•
What Hitler- Will Do to Vanquished
The clique in this country that shouts "inter-
national banker" in an effort to becloud the issue
created by Hitlerism may well be compared to
the group which was headed by Fritz Thyssen in
Germany. They, too, were blinded into believing
that Hitler will protect the industrialists. They
faied to read correctly the words of Adolf Hit-
ler in "Meini Kampf" which offer a policy of total
enslavement to the state and spares no one. The
isolationists or insulationists or pro-Nazis, who-
ever they may be, will do well to study the fol-
lowing excerpt from "Mein Kampf" to recognize
the fate of the vanquished at the hands of Hitler:
"A wise conqueror will dictate his demands
to his victims in successive stages. In this
way he can figure that the people who had
lost all character (and any people who have
voluntarily surrendered are characterless)
will not see in any one progressive demand a
sufficient reason to pick up arms. The more
such demands will be satisfied, the less will
these people think it worth while to rise
against new demands."
In spite of advance threats of such harsh treat-
ment and humiliatiion, the French accepted peace
terms. Apparently they were already crushed—
by superioir outer forces and by internal weak-
nesses created by treasonable Fifth Columns. But
the Hitlerian way of dealing with the vanquished
applies to all—nations, individuals who differ
with the Nazis, industrial groups, etc., etc. It is
a threat to the peace of the world, not merely to
it few enemies in Europe. The hands of Hitler
will be strengthened by the blind elements who
do not recognize this evil. Either Hitlerism is de-
stroyed, or we all suffer from its effects. The
sooner all in this country, Republicans and Demo-
crat alike, reogcnize it, the better for humanity
as a while.
JEWISH WAR VETERANS EXCURSION
TO BE HELD ON THURSDAY, JULY 4
Detroit Post No. 135 of the Florist, phone Ty. 6-6622. Ac-
Jewish War Veterans of the cording to Mr. Cowan, a sell-out
is expected. He urges those at-
United States will sponsor an tending to bring their lunches,
"Independence Day Cruise" on and announces that sandwiches
Thursday, July 4, on the private and refreshments will be avail-
boat "Erie Isle". The boat will able on the boat.
leave from the dock at the foot
of Randolph St. promptly at 1
Gifts to North End Clinic
p. m. and will return at the same
pier at 10 p. m. North End Clinic has received
Ben Cowan of 3741 Coning- the following contributions:
In memory of Edwin A. Wolf
wood Ave., Ty. 6-2365, junior
vice-commander of the post, from Ralph A. Mayer; in memory
chairman of the entertainment of yahrzeit of beloved father,
committee, in anouncing the boat Joseph Finley, from Mr. and Mrs.
excursion, extended an invitation Saul Copin; in memory of Morris
to the Jews of Detroit to par- Myers from Misses Henrietta and
ticipate in it. He announces an Setta Robinson; in memory of
excelent program for the day, Bertha Gomberg from Misses
to include (lancing, games, prizes Henrietta and Setta Robinson;
and many other features. Mr. in memory of Manuel Norman
Cowan states that the capacity front Misses Henrietta and Setta
of the boat is 400 and that tick- Rabinson; for the supplementary
ets will be sold up to that nuns- medical assistance fund for chil-
ber. Tickets, at $1.50 each, are dren from Mrs. Samuel Hart-
obtainable at the . Dexter-Joy man's Club.
Stein's
I Clover Lodge
On Grand Traverse Bay-20 Miles North of Traverse City
OMENA, MICHIGAN
A Trial of a July Fourth Visit Will Convince You to
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Our land is dying, our dreams have died,
But you are giving us back a country,
A Germany fit for love and pride.
Our hands are lifted towards the light.
You are Germany—you who fight!
This touching tribute will find a ready response
in the hearts of all liberatarians. Its sentiments
echo the efforts of an important group dedicated
to the task of rebuilding the highest ideals of the
German people. But it is most important for its
emphasis on the existence, in contrast to Nazism,
of an important German group that fights for de-
cency.
Those who are interested in the underground
anti-Nazi movement will find "Inside Nazi Ger-
many" an extremely important publication. Its sole
American distributors, the American Committee
for Anti-Nazi Literature, Suite 302, 20 Vesey St.,
New York, deserve encouragement for the dissem-
ination of this type of literature.
RESTAURANT
COCKTAIL LOUNGE
Livernois fully completed now.
Parking directly in front of Adler's.
BUICK'S Best Bet
"Inside Nazi Germany," the publicaction of
Friends of the German People's Front in London
of which Prof. Alfred Meusel is chairman, and of
the Committee of the German Opposition, of which
Heinrich Mann is chairman, in a recent issue pub-
lished a tribute in verse to "The Underground
Fighters." It was written by Alfred Kerr, the fam-
ous German poet now in exile, and in translation
by J, S. M. reads:
Our land was dishonoured: how should we
stay?
Long since most of us turned away
To trail our grief through lands of exile,
Is DELICATESSEN
15361 LIVERNOIS—Paving of
• -
"Still Lives the Unseen Anonymous Army"
How should the world know what their names
are?
They move like shadows mysteriously.
We bare our heads to greet them,
Hail them, salute them, they could not see.
They move through the storm with an ordered
purpose;
Though it strike some down in the midst of
their work,
Still lives the unseen anonymous army
Fighting our battle in the dark.
Under the menace of rack and torment
The fight goes on to its certain end..
They are the saints and the crusaders
For the coming kingdom of mankind.
4I!
(Paradise)
GET IN TOUCH WITH
Jack Alkon
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•
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