January 9, 1942

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE

Purely Commentary

Pierre Van Paassen—The Chassid

Why has so little been said about Pierre Van
Paassen's "That Day Alone", his latest book,
product of the Dial Press?
In many respects, it is better than "Days of
Our Years". It is history and poetry combined,
and it stirs your innermost feelings, as it beckons
you to carry on the tight for justice.
Van Paassen is a lighter; but he is also the
mystic. His brilliant writings lead you to believe
that he is a spiritually-inspired man destined to
awaken slumbering peoples.
In a sense, also, he is a Chassid. Ile never
loses his sense of humor, while retaining his
sense of justice.
•

•

5

and the Legal Chronicle

SCHLOSSBERG

By Philip Slomovitz

of Baghdad the German crew ran into Raziel's
ambush. He had distributed the te n machine
guns in five sections of two along the road.
It had been decided that ten of his men
were to rush out of their hiding place and
bring the German motor caravan to a stand-
still by hurling hand grenades at the trucks.
If they survived, they were to return to
the machine-gun emplacements. Four of
Raziel's companions died in bringing the
Germans to a halt. Thereafter the Germans
alighted from their trucks and opened fire
in the dark. Six more Jews crept forward
and set the German trucks on fire by means
of bottles filled with gasoline. The glare of
the burning trucks silhoutted the surprised
Germans as the Jewish machine guns mowed
them down. Shortly before dawn, when their
ammunition was exhausted, the Jews rushed
the Germans with hand grenades and drove
them off. Raziel was killed in that last dash.
Only six of his companions survived. But
the attempt on the oil refineries of Mosul
had failed."

ish Committee, will conclude the
series.

(Continued from Page 1)

be the second speaker in the
lecture series conducted by the
successive Tuesday
Center on
evenings from Jan. Ii through
Feb. 3.
General Secretary-Emeritus of
the Amalgamated Clothing Work-
ers of America, Mr. 4chlosslierg
is recognized as a bralliant lead-
er. A forceful speaker, he is
former editor of "The Advance,"
distinguished journal of the
Amalgamated Clothing Workers.

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Is a Labor Zionist

Mr. Schlossberg is it member
of the Board of Higher Education
of New York, appointed by Mayor .
LaGuardia in 1935. His knowl-
edge of world affairs is authorita-
The Challenge to God
tive, and he is the author of
In the episode "The Trouble in Flanders", in
numerous books dealing with
his "That Day Alone", Pierre Van Paassen re-
social problems, among w' hic'h
lates the story of a simple couple, Pol and Ilene,
are, "A Message of Internation-
and the troubles they encountered; of the out-
alism," "The Workers and Their
break of the war, of Fiene s ' worry over her
World," and "Problems of Labor
sons who were with the army. The superstitious
This is the story of Jewish heroism which is Organization."
folk had blamed the Comet of the summer be-
Chairman of the National Lab-
fore. Then came a challenge to God from Manit not even made known to a world that is either
shocked by Jewish demands for an army of their or Committee for Palestine, Mr.
"That God does this to us. I will not put
own or is in a quandary over the peculiar de- Schlossberg also serves as a
up with without a word or two. When I go
m and,
member of the administrative
to heaven, that will be the first thing I will
And these are the men—Raziel's wariors—who committee of the United Pales-
ask Him to account for . . . I'll have to
a are
re denied the right to fight for thei freedom tine Appeal, on the board of
hear that from His own mouth. It's all very
a ti Jews.
directors of IIIAS, as a member
well to say that God has His reasons. But
But to compensate for it all, the Gentile Cho:- of the Jewish Labor Committee.
this time He will have to give me an ex-
std Pierre Van Paassen who reveals the true He is co-chairman of the Religion
s g
e to in
planation. Else I wi II never b e a bl
facts about Jewish heroism in the story just and Labor Foundation and one
the hallelujah with the angels!"
referred to, is among the champion pleaders for of the editors
editors of the Jewish
And the thought immediately came to this the Jewish cause.
Frontier.
reader: Has Van Paassen been reading about the
And these pleaders for the cause of justice
Dr. Baron to Speak Jan. 20
famous Chassid, Rabbi Levi Yitzchok of Ber- will one day—very soon, we believe—see the
Continuing the series, Dr.
ditchev? How else are we to explain the simi- realization of their hopes.
Salo W. Baron, professor of
laxity of this challenge to the Almighty with
•
Jewish history, literature and in-
Levi Yitzchok's famous address to God on a
stitutions at Columbia Univers-
Roosevelt and Wilson
Yom Kippur?
ity, will be heard at the Center
Jacob S. Min kin's "The Romance of Chassid
It is already apparent that Franklin Delano on Tuesday evening, Jan. 20.
ism" contains this famous statement. It was on
Roosevelt is profiting by the knowledge of the
Minister of the Northwestern
a Day of Atonement that this great Chassid in - misfortunes that befell Thomas Woodrow Wilson
Reform Synagogue of London,
terrupted the services and addressed himself to
22 years earlier.
Dr. Maurice L. Perlzweig, chair-
God as follows:
Instead of going to the powers of Europe, they man of the British Section of
"Good m orning unto Thee, Creator of the
come to him.
the World Jewish Congress, will
Universe.
Winston Churchill's' visit in Washington is par- be the speaker on Jan. 27.
"I, Levi Yitzchok, son of Sarah, of the
tial proof.
The series will be concluded
City of Berditchev, have come in behalf of
Furthermore, it is said that Roosevelt is in on Feb. 3, when Dr. Max Gotts-
the
God
of
client,
Israel.
to
summon
my
better health today than he was six months ago chalk, director of the Research
Justice to a trial.
That's important. It was Wilson's paralytic stroke . , Institute on Peace and Post-War
"Speak, I demand of Thee, what hast Thou
in the heat of battle over the League of Nit- Problems, of the American Jew-
against the Jews? Wherein have they sinned
tions, that dragged the world back several gen-
to be thus tormented?
erations into darkness and away from peace.
"On all occasions it is 'Thou shalt com-
Prayer for the President's health is as im-
mand the children of Israel.'
portant as prayer for peace. The latter depends
"Merciful Father, there are so many na-
in great measure on the former.

i s Bab Ionians
y
tions in the wor Id — P ersan,
Idumeans.
"The Russians, what do they say?

"'Our emperor is king.'
"The Germans, what do they say?
" 'Our monarch is ruler.'
"The English people, what do they say?
" 'Our potentate is sovereign.'
"And I, Levi Yitzchok, son of Sarah, of
the City of Berditchev, say, 'Magnified and
sanctified be His great name i n the world

. . .
"Moreover, I, Levi Yitzchok, son of Sarah,
of the City of Berditchev, will not stir from
m y place, will not budge from the spot, until
Thou haat put an end to the sufferings of
Israel, and the Galuth terminated."

here you have the identical words—of a saintly
Chassid and a sanctified mother in Flanders--
both protesting against inhumanity of man to
man, and the injustice of permission of iniquities
to occur, without protest from the Almighty.
So c popular have become the words of Levi
Yitzchok of Berditchev that they have been set
to music and form one of the most popular
Jewish folk hymns; and so popular will become
the wtrnts of Fiene in Van Paassen's tale that
one day They will, like the words of the Chassid
from Berditchev, be heard, and there will be an
end to injustice.
Of course, Van Paassen's story does not stem
from the Berditchever Chassid, even though the
brilliant Judeophile knows Yiddish. But the spirit
of the two challenges to God come from the
same source: from the passionate desires of both
authors to see justice implanted upon this earth.
•

The Jew Who Saved Mosul Oil for Britain

If for one revelation alone, Pierre Van Paas-
sen's "That Day Alone" will remain one of the
very great books of our time.
It is the story "On the Road to Baghdad."
This is a story of General Sir Archibald Way-
ell, conqueror of Libya, and Raziel, whose name
meant "Mystery of God" in Hebrew •111(1 w h o
had served a jail sentence for the horrible crime
committed against the British Empire of o r-
ganizing the lrgun, the illegal National Jewish
Self-Defense Corps in Palestine.
Wavell needed men. He needed courageous
men. He thought of the Jews. And he had heard
the story of the heroism of this Raziel who
performed wonders in organizing the defense of
Jews in Palestine and who mastered his follow-
ers even from his jail cell.
Major Frederick Saunders of the British In-
telligence Service was asked by Wavell to pro-
duce this man who refused to permit Jews to
be slaughtered like Iambs and who gave 0, ,
order: "We must learn to hit back." With 2.1
of his trusted colleagues. Raziel went to Bagh-
dad and there learned of Raschid Galiani Bey's
plan to have a group of German mechanics blow
un the Mosul oil wells if lie were forced out
of power by the British. Van Paassen's account,
which reads like a movie thriller, concludes with
the following facts:

"The Jews did not have long to wait. A
few hours before Raschid Galiani fled to
Iran, he gave orders for the Germans to pro-
ceed with the demolition. But ten miles out

Then there is a story brought by underground
services to Inside Germany Reports from France.
The report states that the Germans in France
"live in tem»r of being sent to Russia after all
the frightful stories they've heard of the slaugh-
ter there. Not a one wants to go. They are so
happy when someone talks their own language
to them that they immediately warm up and
confide in you. Not long ago I asked a German
soldier, whom I didn't know, how he liked the
soldier's life. Ile looked very angry and said:
'I'm not a soldier, I am a tailor.' We were always
led to believe that Germans were extremely proud
of being soldiers. Apparently that has changed."
And it may well be that even the German
youngsters in the Nazi armies, who were re-
portedly the fanatic followers of Hitler, may
now be seeing the light.
The 'nightly are falling. We shall soon see the
end of the Hitler scourge. And Russia leads the
way to world salvation.
May the return to sanity be marked by a
decent peace and by human considerations.
•

For a Jewish Army

One of the inconceivable acts of the
British government in the present world
crisis is the dilly-dallying on the question
of a Jewish army.
Palestine and nearby countries are im-
portant factors in the defense of the de-
mocracies, and Jews are clamoring for
the opportunity to join in the battle
against the Axis. But the British hesitate
to accept these services and thereby post-

(Continued on Page 12)

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How the Nazis Are Falling!

"The number of suicides in the German
army of occupation (in Norway) has always
been relatively high . . . One somewhat older
German soldier who was taking leave of a
Norwegian acquaintance before being sent
to Russia told him: 'We are certain of one
thing that we won't come hack here again.
But probably we'll never see Germany a gain
either.' One young German said: 'I'd rather
end it all myself than be sent to the eastern
front.'
"It is not strange that the number of sui-
cides is growing all the time. Indisputable
evidence is the fact that the German Corn-
mand has posted notices in many places in-
forming soldiers that if they commit suicide
their families at home will receive suitable
punishment."

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FREDSON'S

•

The little things in life usually reveal the im-
portant occurrences in the world.
The minute things about the Nazis expose the
weakness of the tyrannical Hitlerite system.
Inside Germany Reports for December tell a
a few tales of importance.
For instance, these underground reports, issued
by the American Friends of German Freedom,
of which Dr. Reinhold Niebuhr is chairman, bring
the following interesting fact:

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2ND WEEK BIG MUSICAL SENSATION

Friday Eve., Sunday Mat. and Eve., January 9th ti 11 th

Mischa Fishzon

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presents the Four Young Stars of the Yiddish Theater

Leon

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Abraham

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Ethel

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"THE ENTERTAINER"

By

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Music

dlrection . Sam Solomon

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Coming Sun. Eve., Ian. 11, at 8:30

JULIEN BRYAN

WITH HIS OWN EXCLUSIVE
MOTION PICTURES OF

INSIDE SOVIET RUSSIA

From his own vast library cif exclusive motion pictures taken
during his nine expeditions through Russia. JULIEN BRYAN
has selected eight reds that w ill give the full geographic back-
ground of the present struggle. and of the lands, peoples and
vast resources that Hitler wants. Bryan has show n many of these
pia tires in Detroit before. bet never in a single unified show
designed to make dear the story behind the scones in the present
war. A few highlights: Leningrad and Nlowow the Ukraine:
the Crimea along the Volga : the Caucasus and its oil: the region
of the Eastern Front : the German and Russian troops. equipment.
training. war maneuvers. Julien Bryan will give his own informed
Opinion of what will be the outcome of the present campaign.

Tickets at the World Adventure Series office at the

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