A merican Apish Periodical Carter

CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, OHIO

P urely Commentary

Which Course Would You Pursue?

Chronicler, columnist for the London Jewish
Chronicle, recently carried the following item
on "Blitzkrieg" among his observations:

It was in the High Road, Tottenham, last

week, after the raid warning in the London

area had sounded. An air-raid warden, obviously
Jewish, was engaged in his duties when a burly
passer-by loudly c ommented: "It's you Gold-
steins and Goldbergs that's causing all this
trouble. It's you we're fighting for." The war-
den, a small and unassuming man, paused in
his task, looked at his critic, and then landed
a terrific blow on his chin which sent him
reeling to the g round. The critic just picked
himself up and made off sheepishly.

In the same column, under the heading "When
All Were 'Broke'". Chronicler wrote :

I

.:

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31

A true story with a moral comes to me from
a c orrespondent. A Jewish friend of mine in
the R.A.F. (he says) was housed at his camp
with nine others, o ne of whom was a big felloN,
from the Borough district of London. On enter-
ing the room "Ginger" made a derogatory re-
mark about Jews and inquired if there were
any there. My friend replied that he was a
Jew. "Ginger" said: "When I meet Jews in
the Borough, I push them off the pavement."
However, my friend, who is anything but ag-
gressive, forbore to reply. Towards the end of
the week, when everybody was "broke," my
friend received a present of c igarettes from
home. He offered them round to all, including
"Ginger," who, after ov ercoming his surprise—
and suspicion—took one. Nothing else was said,
but some days later a visitor said something
unpleasant about Jews in g eneral. "Ginger"
went straight up to him and declared: "We've
got a Jew i n here and if you want to say any-
thing about them come outside and say it to
me." He left no doubt as to what would hap-
pen then!

It is now generally admitted that occasionally
the fist leaves a better impression than honeyed
words. But here are two instances in which both
the fist and the honey did their tricks. Apparently
situations vary, and neither the smooth tongue
nor the mailed fist should be excluded when
dealing with ignorance and rowdyism.

•

Disarming the Anti-Semites

One thing is certain about the anti-Semites:
they are not invincible.
With the din of war drums in our ears, we
turn back the pages of contemporary history to
read of an occurrence in July, 1929, in Paris.
It is Pierre Van Paassen writing in his column,
The World's Window, in the now defunct New
York World:

ANTI-SEMITES DISARMED
The ant I-Semit ic disturbances in Poland and LIM -
lying myth
u.anla recently—In the latter count ry the
of ritual murder had been revived—had a pr ttttt pt
..- ,. repercussion in Paris. A ntass demonstration was
organized in the Salle Wagram and all that Is liberal
In the French capital flocked there one evening to hear
the speeches. However, the "cantelots du Rol," the
young Roy 'dist troops, who are avowedly ant I-Semit i , ,
decided to break up the meeting. In seeded ranks
t hey marched to the hall, 500 strong, all armed w it la
canes. Their appearauwe caused a sensation on the
Champs Elysees anal t heir shouts of "Down with the
Jews!" "A mort !" mule people shudder and go indoors
with all sorts of horrible 1 isions t roubling their peace
of mind. However, at the Salle Wnizram shunt M.
Chlappe, the tittle Corsican Prefect. The chiefs of t he
Camelot s parleyed with him. "This Is a public meet-
ing," they said. "You have no right to keep us oat!"
"I have no intention to keep you out, elf her," said the
Prefect. "nut you must comply with the regulations."
i
And then he show ed them at large notice that 111111 been
put up by the police In it hurry and which said: "Um-
brellas and walking sticks to be left at t he vestaire"
I hat-checking plate). So the Royalists left their sticks
behind and came in. For three hours t hey haul I 0 sit
t here and listen to the speeches and not once did they
Interrupt the speakers. Their anti-Semitic ardor and
courage, apparently, had also been left in the I es-
take."

3

The lesson is a simple one: let the anti-Semite
have his way and he gathers followers and
strength and courage. But let him be greeted by
the strong arm he deserves, and his influence
crumbles.
There is only one way to deal with the anti-
Semite: firmly, determinedly, without making
concessions. The history of battling anti-Semitism
in the past two decades will reveal that there
has been weakness in the ranks of the decent
people who thrived on the hopes that the bigoted
will see the light, that they will repent, that
they will crumble under the force of the incon-
sistency and indecency of their own acts. What
we and our friends overlooked is the fact that
hatred thrives on hatred and that is is possible
to gather a following when you give a mob
something to hate. Therefore, it is time we ad-
mitted that the tactics of the past were wrong,
that strong methods must be adopted in dealing
with the forces of reaction, and that there is
nothing more damaging than to make concessions
to them

•

5

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

November I, 1940
==,

•

The Coming Election

On Tuesday, when we cast our ballot for our
choice for the Presidency of the United States,
we shall not be disturbed by various rumors
regarding racial and religious prejudice ; nor
=hall we be bound by strict party alignments. We
are not frightened by threats of dictatorship in
this country aroused by the third term condition.
We are only slightly disturbed by the fear injected
in the current campaign by the pressure that
comes from the Axis powers.
There is only one thing that matters in the
present critical period : the responsibility for di-
recting the affairs of our Government must be
placed in experienced hands. This is not a time
to invite danger by assigning crucial matters of
state, especially those dealing with foreign affairs,
to novices.
We have said that we shall not be bound by
party ties. There are able men on the ballot repre-

•

Trees Planted in
By Philip Slomovitz Palestine Forests

senting both of the major parties. On both tickets,
there are candidates seeking election, or re-elec-
tion, who have earned the confidence of the con-
stituents. The voters should know, and if they
do not know they should learn, how to split the
ballot. One need not be bound by party ties re-
quiring a single check on a long ballot when
there are men of ability who have been tried in
office and found gapable and who therefore merit
re-election.
This Tuesday is a genuine holiday for the free
people of America. We shall be able to go to the
polls with heads erect, as the masters who are
about to decide who is to serve them, not as serfs
who are compelled to shout "ja, ja." This free-
dom imposes great responsibility upon all of us,
to select men and women for office who will strive
to perpetuate this freedom and to prevent the
rise of any semblance of danger for the demo-
cratic ideal and the American system of gov-
ernment.

•

The Abominable Factors in the Campaign

continually looking up-
By
wards, our minds will them-
selves grow upward.—Dr. Ar-
nold.

Planting of trees in forect of
Palestine is acknowledged by the
Jewish National Fund Council of
Detroit as -follows:
In the Fred M. Butzel Forest:
one tree in memory of Yetta
Goldie Lax by Mrs. R. S. Sklar;
one tree in memory of Ephraim
Ticktin by Kvutzah Haplomin in
"Gan Ticktin."
In the J. H. Ehrlich Forest:
one tree in memory of Sarah
Bernstein by her son, Ralph Bern-
stein; five trees in memory of Dr.
J. Levitt by Mr. and Mrs. S.
Schwartz; two trees in memory
of Joseph A. Siegel by Mr. and
Mrs. Joseph Benjamin; one tree
by Mr. and Mrs. Morris Zack-
heim in memory of Benjamin
Frumin.
In the Meyer Berlin Forest:
one tree honoring recovery of
Mrs. Rebecca Brenner and one
tree honoring Bar Mitzrah of Leo
Cousen by Sisters of Zion Miz-
rachi.
To plant trees in Palestine
Forests—the J. H. Ehrlich For-
est, the Fred M. Butzel Forest,
the Meyer Berlin Forest or the
Shipliakoff Forest—call the chair-
man of the tree committee of the
Jewish National Fund Council of
Detroit, Mrs. Alexander W. Sand-
ers, Hogarth 0967, 12342 Broad
street.

Many of the occurrenceeln the present political
campaign are most regrettable. They have hap-
pened before, and will be repeated again, but
it is doubtful whether there ever before was as
much ferocity in mud-slinging as was in evidence
this year.
Egg-throwing at the Willkies is objectionable
and must be condemned ; but so, also, is the
horrid attack upon the President's family. The
manner in which Mrs. Roosevelt is being abused
is totally unworthy of the American spirit of
gallantry and fair play.
The pamphlet issued by a Negro committee ac-
cusing Mr. Willkie of race prejudice is an unfair
piece of campaign propaganda. But what about
the "I AM A JEW" leaflet accusing the New
Deal of race hatred and making the prejudicial
comparison of Roosevelt with Blum? This silly
leaflet, the language of which does not indicate
that an informed Jew had penned it, belongs
to the same realm of un-American campaign liter-
ature as the Negro article.
Then there is our old friend John L. Lewis who
made an appeal for Wendell L. Willkie and di-
rected a special plea to the "members of the
Christian church." Are we too sensitive when we
raise an objection and venture to ask Mr. Lewis
whether he knows that considerations in a politi-
cal campaign in this country are not traditionally
based on religious affiliations of our voters?
A word to General Hugh Johnson, one of
whose columns accused the Jews of seeking to
launch this country into war against Hitler. His
hatred for President Roosevelt has blinded the
former NRA chief's vision and has caused him
to dip his pen into venom. What a pity! He is
not a man who suffers from race or religious hatred.
Nevertheless, in his attempt to encourage the de-
feat of the President for re-election he has writ-
ten a column which may do immeasurable harm
to the 4,500,000 Jews of America. General John-
son has not judged us correctly. It is not true
that Jews, much as they hate Hitler, seek to
plunge this country into war. Jews are in favor
of sending all the aid we can to Great Britain
and to help in Hitler's defeat. General Johnson
and Wendell L. Willkie are committed to a similar
program of support for the democracies. Why
single the Jews out for attack as war-mongers?
Why, even though you have repudiated Coughlin,
adopt Coughlin's language to suit your political
prposes? Must the devil always quote "scripture"
( in this case it is Coughlinite "scripture") to fit
his purpose?
There have been unfair manifestations in both
political camps. When displays of temper are
shown by the ordinary person, it is understand-
able, even though subject to the same severe
condemnation as if resorted to by the most in-
telligent. But when the guilty persons are classi-
cists like Johnson and Lewis, their acts are inex-
cusable.

•
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•
•
•
•

(Christian Register Special War News
Service)

The news that Hitler is contributing money
to the British Red Cross is indeed surprising
---but then Hitler always was unpredictable
( by others). However, here is the evidence,
taken from the classified advertisement sec-
tion of The Amateur Photographer (London) :

Hitler's Pamphlets Dropped in England,
very limited quantity for sale at 10s.
each; a souvenir that will increase in
value ; all proceeds to Red Cross.—Peach-
ey, Dorset House, Stamford St., London,
S.E.I. (1865

We understand, but this time through pure
a priori ratiocination, that any British leaf-
lets dropped in Germany are not used for a
corresponding purpose.

This is excellent commentary on contrasts be-
tween democracies and dictatorships. The same
"pure a priori ratiocination" applies to the press,
to the radio, to the church; to the man on the
street and to the average person in the home.
The battle is on for the preservation of the
best form of life, now being defended in London
and wherever there is a British vessel or airplane.
And we are all in this fight for the better way
of life.

•

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Hitler Contributes Sizable Sums to British
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•

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