DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and the Legal Chronicle

4

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE

Published Weekly by Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc.
Entered as Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post-
office at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879.

General Offices and Publication Bldg.. 525 Woodward Ave.

Telephone: CAdillac 1040
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JACOB MARGOLIS

Publisher-Editor

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fo insure publication, all correspondence and news matter
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fhe Detroit Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on sub-
jects of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims respon-
tibility for an endorsement of views expressed by its write s.

Readings of the Law for the First Day of
Passover. Thursday. April 2

Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 12:21-51; Num. 28:
16-25.
Prophetical portion—Josh. 5:2, 6:1.

Readings of the Law for Second Day of
Passover, Friday. April 3

Pentateuchal portion—Lev. 22:26, 23:44; Num.
28:16-25.
Prophetical portion—Kings 23:1-9, 21-25.

Readings of the Law for Sabbath Hagodol,
March 2R

Pentateuchal portion—Lev. 6:1-8:36.
Prophetical portion—Malachi 3:4-24.

NISAN 27. 5702

MARCH 27, 1942

Passover

•

Man's quest for freedom began when
the first conquerors found it more profi-
table to use the conquered as human
'motors instead of exterminating them.
This change was a revolutionary one,
according to that eminent sociologist
Franz Oppenheim. He found in his
researches that when man reached the
herding stage he discovered that a con-
quered enemy could more than earn his
keep as a tender of flocks and herds, so
out of pure self-interest he spared the
life of his erstwhile enemy. From that
dateless time till now the enslaved have
dreamed of freedom, and many have had
their dreams come true. Among these
enslaved people of antiquity were the
children of Israel in the days of the
Pharaohs of Egypt.
According to the story in Exodus, a
miracle had to be performed to achieve
the liberation, and we may say that it was
truly a miracle for an enslaved people
in those ancient slave empires to free
themselves from their masters.
And humanity has gone on and on
achieving political, economic and reli-
gious freedom, although at times it
seemed that all the gains were lost. We
must look at the picture as a whole in
order to appreciate the enormous ad-
vances that have been made. We must
bear in mind that in ancient and medie-
val states there were but a handful of
masters and freemen, while the underly-
ing population was slave or serf. Today
over vast areas of the earth there are
populations that enjoy unlimited political
and religious freedom and are on the
road to economic freedom.
At a time like the present we are
likely to believe that we are returning
to those ancient days, but such is not
the case. The peoples of Europe, be they
conquerors, conquered, or free, do not
have the freedom they had enjoyed in
times of peace. The economic require-
ments of a military regime or a country
at war are so enormous that the "human
motor," to use Oppenheim's phrase, be-
comes very valuable and, consequently,
must be regimented and controlled. When
we return to a civil peace time economy,
the world shall again enjoy the freedom
we knew before the catastrophy befell us.
As we passed over from slavery to
freedom in that bygone day, we may be
assured that once more humanity will
pass over from this dreadful time to a
period of even greater freedom than it
has ever known.

•
A Dismal Failure

According to reports from authorita-
tive sources, there is a rift in the Hitler-
Goebbels partnership. The Riom trials are
said to be the cause. These trials were
intended to prove the "war guilt" of
France, but to date they have proved that
France was unprepared ; that the men

and officers had no heart for the grim
business of war, while the subversive ele-
ments in France had infiltrated into every
national undertaking.
Goebbels had prepared the whole show
with that meticulous regard for detail
that has characterized all Nazi demon-
strations, spectacles and trials up till now.
This subtle propagandist had no doubt
persuaded Hitler that this was the oppor-
tune time for such a spectacle—oppor-
tune because German morale has not been
too high in recent months because of the
setbacks and defeats in Russia. But this
time something went wrong. The puppets
did not respond and react as planned.
Goebbels failed. Hitler is peeved and
irritated, for according to Nazi doc-
trine there is no excuse for failure. It is
interesting to speculate upon the reasons
for this failure and, in the absence of
precise and detailed information, we may
indulge in such speculations.
We believe this is another case of the
inability of the Nazi mentality to under-
stand the psychology of other peoples.
They seem to believe that terror can
frighten civilized people into complete
submission. Despite their experiences in
Rotterdam, London and all industrial
Britain, Belgrade and Greece, they still
persist in the belief that the conquered
peoples will do their bidding if enough
pressure is exerted.
In the case of France they no doubt
believed that the barbarous and indis-
criminate shooting of 100 hostages for
every German killed had so softened
the French that they would do as told
by Mr. Goebbels. We are very much
pleased by Mr. Goebbels' disappointment
and discomfiture, while we are genuinely
heartened by the forthright and heroic
stand of Blum, Daladier, Reynaud and
Gamelin. The stand of these men
strengthens our conviction that civilized
men, conditioned under freedom, decency
and integrity, cannot be converted over
night into cringing, crawling betrayers of
their people or their lifelong principles.
The actions of these Frenchmen have
more than an academic interest for us
who have persisted in the belief that
freedom, integrity and decency are the
bases on which an enduring and sound
civilization can be built.
If Goebbels, Hitler and company want-
ed to prove the "war guilt" of France
without any hitches or backfiring, they
should have put Laval, Brinon et al on
trial. These gentlemen would have con-
fessed to even more guilt than charged.
This trial proves that if you want to put
on a successful spectacle you must have
complete control of all your actors.

•

A Correct Procedure

The delegation composed of Mrs.
David de Sola Poole, Dr. Stephen S. Wise,
Maurice Wertheim, Louis Lipsky and
Henry Monsky, representing the official
majority of the national organizations and
organized communities of American Jew-
ish citizens, that presented a petition to
the American State Department to lend
its good offices to bring about a modifica-
tion of policies and practices of the Pal-
estine Administration in regard to admit-
ting Jewish refugees to Palestine, is a
correct procedure and in keeping with
the American right to petition to redress
grievances.
The petition is based on the Struma
incident and is not strictly an American
affair, yet, as one of the United Nations,
anything that may adversely affect the
joint enterprise in which we are engaged
becomes of vital concern to all of us.
We are confident that Under-Secretary
Wells and the State Department will use
its good offices to bring about a modifica-
tion of the policies and practices of the
Palestine Administration that will prevent
the recurrence of such tragedies as the
Struma.
America pays more than lip service to
justice, humanity and fair play. It is even
generous to its enemies; in fact, so gener-
ous that some of our more emotional
critics think we are too generous. We
may therefore rest assured that the tem-
perate petition presented to our State
Department will receive proper consid-
eration..

March 27, I q+. 1 .

.'.Heard in the Lobbies.'.

4

'-'

UT nC yH day
By DAVID D
aiE raS

PEACE, HALLELUJAH

Watch for a wide-open split
in the Central Conference of
American Rabbis, with a pos-
sible separate convention this
summer to create a new body
free of the "Zionist taint." . . .
Old-time Zionist-haters have dug
Samuel II. Goldenson from the
peace of New York's Temple
Emanu-El to serve as "front"
for a campaign against "nation-,
5511505" which has the backing of
one of the large—in power, not
in members — Jewish organiza-
tions whose president recently
threatened a knock-down, drag-
out fight with America's Zion-
ists . . . Passage of a resolu-
tion favoring the Jewish Army
at recent Cincinnati confab of
the C.C.A.R. riled the old men,
who are joined by a few newer
men of the cloth who've been
made to feel that better pul-
pits are in the offing for the
Zion defamers . . . The gentle-
men who get beet-faced when
Zionism is mentioned took it
hard when their colleague, A.
H. Silver, delivered the sermon
marking the centennial of the
first Reform congregation in the
U.S.A. showing that the fel-
lows who hated Palestine in 1842
had been proved wrong by the
events of the century . . . Sil-
ver spoke so powerfully that
the people who ordinarily don't
attend other rabbis! services
showered him with applause
afterward . . . So when an AP
dispatch came from London that
the Cleveland rabbi had spoken
a good word for the Jewish
Army in high places, his enemies
thought this was a swell chance
to take a rap at him and to
discredit him in London . . .
That's what they call cricket,
these old Eton boys who issued
a statement against a Jewish
Army of Palestine pioneers.

AFTERMATH

Wonder if Wesley Stout's
resignation from the editorship
of the S.E.P. had anything to
do with those Jewish articles
the Post's been running? They
say the departure had to do
with differences about isolation-
ism, but still this controversial
crusading couldn't have sat very
well on the stomachs of the
conservative owners of the Post
. . . Milton Mayer, Chicagoan
who took a heavy swat at Mar-
shall Field and the Chicago Sun
in the Nation, is the boy whom
Stout got to write the current
"The Case Against the Jew."
Denying Communist influence,
Mayer,
assistant
to
Robert
Hutchins, Chicago U. p•exy,
points out he was once called
a Nazi agent . . . While the
Zionist Organization slashes its
deficit by turning its New Pal-
estine from a weekly into a
monthly, the story goes that the
Contemporary Jewish Record
costs the American Jewish Com-
mittee $50,000 a year
Walter Winchell may go off the

now, since the
Jergens' advertising agency has
been told by the columnist to
prepare with a substitute in the
event he goes into active naval
duty . . . The campaign to sling
foreign-language broadcasts o fr
the air has the Yiddish program-
sponsors plenty worried, but
FCC Chairman James Fly says
it's all silly, pointing out that
when the names of Hitler and
Mussolini are mentioned by these
foreign broadcasters it's always
to curse them and to pray fur
their early defeat.

FELICITATIONS
To Bill Stern, who's gradu-
ated from the shorts to the fea-
tures, being in Hollywood as a
sports announcer in the Lou
Gehrig picture . . . To Paul
Muni, for a grand comeback
performance in Emlyn Williams'
"Yesterday's Magic." . . . To
Bill Robinson, who halted a
dancing program in a Minneap.
olis theater to reply to a cus-
tomer who made a loud crack
about the Negro performer.
"Save that sort of stuff for the
Japs and Nazis. America is no
place for it," was the dancing
tailing's retort to the race-
hater . . . To Jack Benny, who
continues his fine service, by
going to another camp every
other week to put on his na-
tional Sunday night broadcast
. . . To Walter Winchell, Fannie
Brice, Jack Benny and Eddie
Cantor, who are among the first
top-ten of radio for March, ac-
cording to the famous Hooper

MISCELLANY

That new fund-raiser of the
American Jewish Congress is Isi-
dor Kadis, veteran in the field,
who started his career in Cin-
cinnati and has a whole string
of campaign achievements un-
de• his belt. This'll be his
toughest assignment yet, against
other organizations well-lubricat-
ed for the competition . . His
work won't be made any easier
by the trend, started by his
home city, to hold back all funds
until the competitors learn to
talk to each other and get a
common treasury . . . Hope, by
the way, that one or another of
the four in the field will stop
their quarreling for a few min-
utes to warn Benny Rubin as
he starts his theatrical come-
back via the night-club route in
Detroit, Cincinnati, Boston, etc.
Rubin was responsible, in stage
and screen work, for sonic of
the most offensive cracks against
his own people. This is no time
for a Jewish comedian to make
a living at the expense of his
folks . . . The reason that
ioungstown hospital didn't
know it had so famous a client
was because he was listed as
Benjamin Ancell on the regis-
ter. A few blocks away he was
giving a grand stage perform-
ance under the name of Ben
Bernie.

0 The National Jewish Monthly, Intai B'ritli.

CA N

A KE _ I.T

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