DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

Re-educating Germans

The problem of the re-education of
Germans is in the study stage, according
Pres.-Gen. Mgr.
JACOB H. SCHAKNE
to recent reports from London.
Editor
JACOB MARGOLIS
That the question will receive the con-
General Offices and Publication Bldg., 525 Woodward Ave. sideration it merits may be assumed from
Telephone: CAdillac 1040 Cable Address: Chronicle
$3.00 Per Year the fact that men like Professor Gilbert
Suuscription in Advance
Murray of Britain and Professor Arthur
To insure publication, all correspondence and news matter
must reach this office by Tuesday evening of each week. Newell of the United States are on the
When mailing notices, kindly use one side of paper only. committee. These men are definitely op-
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on sub-
posed to the theory that the "Germans
jects of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims respon-
sibility for an endorsement of views expressed by its writers will always be bad".
The acceptance of the theory that the
Entered as Second-class matter March 3. 1916, at the Post-
office at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879. "Germans will always be bad" is tanta-
mount to the acceptance of the Nazi
Sabbath Readings of the Law
dogma
that all non-Aryans, and specifi-
Pentateuchal portion—Leviticus 12.1-13.59.
Prophetical Portion—II Kings 4.42--5.19.
cally all Jews are corrupt, inferior and
NISAN 4. 5703 bad because they are Jews. This judg-
APRIL 9. 1943
ment is as unsound for the Germans as
Why This Policy?
it is for the Jews, and consequently the
approach
to the problem of German re-
The conference on refugees will not be
education
must be based upon sound
held in Ottawa, but in Bermuda. The press
scientific fact.
is not invited to attend the conference
Those who are concerned about German
on food to be held in the near future and re-education realize that race glorifica-
to which 39 nations have been invited. tion and militarism must be ended. They
Anthony Eden pays us a rather long visit know, too, that text books must be re-
and we can only guess what was discussed written and a competent teaching staff
must replace the army of badly educated
and what decisions were made.
bogus teachers who have been concerned
All of these things have caused quite a mainly with the indoctrination of German
bit of dissatisfaction among reporters and youth with Nazi theories and dogmas.
Then, too, there is the growing recogni-
editors of American newspapers and
tion
of the unsoundness of the theory of
magazines. The fact that newspaper men
collective responsibility. This, too, is a
grumble and feel that they are not Nazi practice, disinterred from the grave
treated fairly is a very good sign. It sim- of a barbaric past. It took mankind , a
ply means that they have a sense of re- long time to adopt the theory and prac-
sponsibility; and they feel that they should tice of individual responsibility in place
be given the news because they can han- of family, clan, or tribal responsibility for
dle it without being told how by any the criminal or unsocial act of the mem-
censor. The proof that they can be relied ber of the group.
The Nazis apply that barbaric theory
upon to handle the news with discretion
is the record up till now. Was there a in their practice of taking and executing
leak 'when President Roosevelt made his hostages, and while those who are com-
war plant inspection trip? Was there a mitted to the "Germans will always be
leak when he went to Casablanca? If bad" theory do not approve of hostages,
yet they would hold all Germans respon-
there was, nobody ever heard of it.
The newsmen feel that they can dis- sible for the conduct of the psychotic
criminate between that which should be gang that rules the Third Reach.
The re-education of Germans must re-
kept secret for military reasons and that
which may be published, and they do not main primarily the problem of the Ger-
relish the idea of even a modified censor- mans themselves, but this does not mean
ship, or of being excluded from confer- that they will not need the active support
ences that affect the public welfare, health and assistance of men and women of good
will among the United Nations. In fact,
and morale.
We do know that the solution of the they may need even the strongest kind of
refugee problem is one that will require physical and moral support to enable
all the skill, patience and ability of the them to set aside those reactionary, mili-
taristic, Junker elements which will try
men and women who will attend.
The food conference will be faced with to hold on as long as they can.
Those who fear that there may be a
as many and difficult tasks as have ever
faced any assembly. Should not the peo- danger of treating the Germans with soft-
ples of the world hear and read as much ness may rest assured that those who
abotit these conferences as it is possible have suffered from the Nazi terror will
for them to read and hear? May the dele- take the necessary steps to prevent an
gates not do a better job if they know upsurge of sentimentality.
that all their doings and talks were sub-
jecet to the scrutiny and criticism of their
Gewerkshaften Concert
fellow countrymen?
The large number of Jewish refugees
The highly successful campaign of the
scattered over the whole world are Detroit Palestine Histadrut (Gewerkshaf-
hoping that some adequate and satisfac-
will be celebrated with a victory
tory solution will be found, even though ten)
wind-up
concert on Sunday, April
the conferences will be held in Bermuda 11, at the and
Art
Institute.
and not in Ottawa.
Detroit Jewry that is interested in Pal-
estine labor knows that, despite wars
and terror, the business of building a
Thomas Jefferson
sound labor base in Palestine is impera-
The Bicentennial Anniversary of the tive. That this is being done is evidenced
birth of Thomas Jefferson will be cele- by the recent report of the Jewish Labor
brated on the 13th day of April. Federation of Palestine, which shows that
The writer, of the Declaration of Inde- the Jewish working population of Pal-
pendence would be fairly pleased, estine has increased from 30,000 in 1932
believe, with the areas of equality and to 132,000 in 1942.
freedom, that the people of this country
No matter what controversies may rage
have conquered. Thomas Jefferson knew among pro-State and anti-State Jews, they
as well as (lid any man of his time that are all agreed upon the fact that no
the equalitarian and libertarian pro- sound and healthy communal life can be
onuncements in the Declaration were achieved without a large, efficient, intel-
ideals that were yet to be achieved, for ligent group of workers. And it goes
were not Negro slavery, property qualifi- without saying that if the respect of the
cation for voting, indentured servitude, Christian world is to be had and held,
three of the many inequalities of his day? there must be a fair proportion of pro-
Since his day we have gone a long way ductive, creative workers in the popu-
toward the realization of his dream of lation.
human equality and liberty, but we have
Then, too, Jewish labor in Palestine
yet a long way to go.
has not only raised the standard of living
The individualist Jefferson would prob- for the Jewish worker, but has brought
ably be unhappy to note the enormous about better living, working and wage
powers of government, for it was he who conditions for the Arab toilers.
told his countrymen during the raging The work of Histadrut will go on no
controversy over centralization of author- matter what political or international ar-
ity that that government is best which rangements may be made when the peace
governs least.
comes.

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
Published Weekly by Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co, Inc.

April 9, 1941

Plain Talk... by Al Segal

•

A Quiet Man

EFORE the service of the fu-
B
neral awhile ago the rabbi
asked me what I knew about

the dead man. It seems the rab-
bi had in mind some outstand-
ing Jewish merits of which he
might briefly speak. What Jew-
ish institutions had he been a
pillar of? What Jewish activi-
ties had busied his life? For what
Jewish causes had he carried
banners. In what ways had he
been superlatively Jewish?
All that caused me more care-
fully to look at the man than
I had ever done before. Good-
ness gracious, he hadn't been in
any of the turmoil that's called
Jewish life!
I couldn't remember ever see-
ing him at any of the speakers'
tables in the long array of gen-
telmen of prominence that causes
a speakers' table to look like a
row of white-breasted crows
roosting. I had never seen him
in any contest for office in Jew-
ish affairs. I had not heard his
voice raised even once in any
of the controversies that keep
Jewish life so hot.
I remembered him as a quiet
man. Being Jewish was not a
fevered enterprise with him. It
was no business of pushing for
place and honor. He would rath-
er stay home by the fireplace.
He had ideas about being Jew-
ish, though. They were very sim-
ple. For one, he used to say
that his private conduct must
always be such that no act of
his could be counted against the
credit of the Jewish people. I
knew this concept of being Jew-
ish was regarded as something
most elementary, almost primi-
tive, in those circles that make
a tangled complex of the matter
of being Jewish.
He said, very well, since my
private conduct, if it is bad, re-
flects badly on all Jews, I've
got to stand on a higher level
of personal and business behavior
than other people. I've got to be
twice as good. I know that my
being that decent won't cause
anti-Semites to like Jews morn,
but what the hell? I will have

been a decent man and that's
enough. That's the whole thing.

1

1

T HE MAN'S life seemed to have
no projection of prominence
on which to hang a funerary tri-
bute. He was not Jewishly learn-
ed. His Jewish education was
limited to the Ten Command-
ments. He liked especially the
Commandment about coveting. He
said that the Commandments
against stealing and killing
weren't the hard ones. Most peo-
ple don't kill or steal, anyway,
but they do a lot of coveting:
These envies, this begrudging
other man what is conning to
them, this discontent, this want-
ing more and never having
enough. All that made most of
the unhappiness that people suf-
fer, he said.
He himself just went along,
happy with his having enough
to live on and to bring up his
children right. It did his heart
good to see another man hit the
jackpot, he used to say, because
life generally was so sad any-
way and so many people came to
unhappy endings, instead of to
h
jackept ots.
Yet is Jewish education did
include one thing beside the
Ten Commandments. It was some-
thing he heard once in a sermon.
He knew it was from the Bible
but couldn't tell just where in
Scripture it could be found. He
had remembered it all his days.
It said : "0 man, what is good
and what doth the Lord require
of thee: only to do justly and
to love mercy and to walk humb-
ly with thy God."
He thought that was the whole
story of being a good Jew. He
tried to do that way. He asked
what more was there to it than
that. Yes, his idea of being Jew-
ish was that simple and his un-
trained mind, - could never do any-
thing with the complicated maze
of what is called Jewish life.
Since he couldn't make out
the tangled way of Jewish life,
he just walked humbly with his
God, as the words from Scrip-
ture told him to do. He had a
simplified God, too. He said that
whoever was just and kind walk-

See SEGAL—Page 9

1743 JEFFERSON DAY 1943

A Ri-centennial Proclamation

APRIL 13, 1943, marks the 200th anniversary o/ Thomas
1- 1 Jefferson's birth. Author o/ the Declaration o/ Ind•
pendence and spiritual lather of this Bill of Rights,
lefierson was the architect of American liberty. His words
and deeds shine brighter with each passing year.
Today more than ever before, legerson lives in the hearts
of the American people. For he held that all men are created
equal. that they possess certain inalienable rights. and that
governments derive their just powers from the consent of
the governed. These truths and the nation founded upon
them are now challenged by the hosts of tyranny. And to
defend them, our countrymen have taken up the sword of
freedom.
It is fitting then that this 200th Anniversary of Thomas
Ieflerson's birth should be celebrated as a day of rededica•
tion to the truths which he first proclaimed and established.
In this celebration, not only Americans, but the people of
all the -United Nations will participate. For, so long as we
cherish, maintain and strengthen the democratic principles
of Jeflerson, the United States will remain what he con•
ceived it to be—the world's best hope.
True Americans of all races and creeds, regardless of
political affiliation will, therefore, join on April 13, 1943
in commemorating Thomas Jefferson and in pledging our
lives, our fortunes and our sacred honor to the triumph of
those principles of bertha, which he bequeathed to us and
to all mankind.

Bill of Rights Sesqui.Centennial Committee
of the
Council Against Intolerance in America

The 200th Anniversary of Thomas Jefferson's birth, on April 13, wi I

be celebrated throughout the United States as Jefferson Day. Civic,
patriotic and educational organizations will join in this commemora-
tion which is sponsored by the 11411 of Rights Sesqui-Centennial
Committee of the Council Against Intolerance iu America. This
Precious:glen has been issued us part of the celebration.