4

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The La_gal Chronicle

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

June

16, 1944

r--
the State Department for their stand.
In the light of the known facts, we
and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
are not convinced that President Roose-
?ublished Weekly by Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. velt and the State Department have not
JACOB H. SCHAKNE
Pres.-Gen. Mgr.
by Al Segal
taken the correct stand.
JACOB MARGOLIS
Editor
It
must
not
be
forgotten
for
a
momen
CHARLES TAUB
t
Advertising Mgr.
that there is no definite proof that th e
.7.nordo %ilk.: and Publication Bldg.,
525 Woodward Ave. people of France want the French Corn
Telephone: CAdillac 1040
Cable Address: Chronicle
mittee of Liberation and De Gaulle t o
Subscription in Advance
$3.00 Per Year
Rabbi Gives a Sermon
---
act even as an interim civil government
To insure publication, all correspondence and news matter We should further remember that De
must reach this office by Tuesday evening of each week. Gaulle and his committee have a unique
When mailing notices, kindly use one side of paper only.
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on sub- status, wholly unlike any group that seeks
have just come across a grea t be a good soldier were in one
jects of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims respon- to act as a government. It is not a recog-
sermon given by a rabbi. I
•dzu a.
sibility for en endorsement of views expressed by its writers. nized government-in-exile as are the Po- was nothing that this rabbi said t lin R
e ab
ob f i Zava da became a sharp-
lish, Dutch, Czechoslovak governments. It was what he did and the way shooter. He was promoted to
Cntered as Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post-
he died. A sermon without any sergeant. He was made command
office at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879. It is not in the same position as was the words! There may have been er of II mortar platoon. He said
Badoglio government before its resigna- communication between him and that, after all, a rabbi should
Sabbath Readings of the Law
tion. The Badoglio government may have God at the time ; he may have make a good sergeant, consider-
Pentateuchal Portion—Num. 13:1-15:41.
sanctified the Name with a reci- ing the practice he had as the
appeared to be a bad choice, but it was tation
of yisgadal, but to men leader of his congregation.
Prophetical portion—Joshua 2.
nevertheless the only group that had any only the
majesty of his death
So, after the period of train-
authority to act in Italy.
spoke for him.
JUNE 16. 1944
ing, Rabbi Zavada and Mendel
SIVAN 25. 5904
Yes,
he
knew
how
to
die
and
There are very few who question the
Kohn came to battle. Mendel
his death said for him : "My Kohn fell in the fi
b o unsr lya oifilnlit.
patriotism, good faith and sincerity of brotheren,
dying can be a sacra- There
was no time rt s o t
No Revolt Expected
the French Committee of Liberation and ment if a man knows for what a t he
battle
swift. Rabbi
of General De Gaulle. However, these he dies and lays down his life Zavada left him was
there with God
Now that the invasion of France is a qualities do not entitle them to the au- gladly."
who would accept the holy deed
reality, more and more people who have thority they demand.
The Moscow newspapers told of his dying that way in place
all
about
his
death
recently.
He
faith in the German masses will expect a
of the sacred words that are
It should never be forgotten that the
the rabbi Isaac Zavada who spoken for the dead.
revolt on their part. In this, they will in United States does not seek any terri- was
in the better times served in the
Moscow press reports the
all probability be disappointed, and for torial aggrandizement and we certainly town of Sandomierz, Poland. last The
hours of Rabbi Zavada's life:
reasons that become readily apparent do not want any part of France. We are Those were not good times either, "With his long beard and his
when the matter is examined. It is prob committed, and we think sincerely and but they were much better than locks flying, Rabbi
b Zavada, (lur-
which fell upon Poland in ing the battle, rushed from one
ably true, as many have recently ob honestly, to the proposition that every those
1939 when Hitler started out mortar to another, giving orders
served, that the German people wan t nation shall have the right to choose its toward the goal which presently and helping the crews. The Po-
only the end of the war without caring own_ form of government, provided it is appears to be but his grave.
lish division had already gained
very much who are the victors. They not the Nazi form. If and when the Rabbi Zavada fled into Soviet the initiative and went over to
Russia where rabbis were not offensive action. Rabbi Zavada,
have reached that point of exhaustion French people have an opportunity of held in honor then, but the life
attacking together with the in-
that overtakes a people that has expended expressing their preference, we are cer- of a Jew was respected, anyway. fantry,
was one of the first to
the last ounce of physical and emotional tain they will be permitted to express With him was his brother-in-law, leap from his trench to lead his
Mendel Kohn, who had been a men against the enemy lines."
energy and has suffered disappointment that preference just as we have granted textile
manufacturer in Lodz.
and frustration so repeatedly that it no that privilege to the Italian people who Some of us would have re- The rabbi-soldier was killed.
He was buried in the Russian
longer reacts to the stimuli that energize now have a brand new anti-Fascist gov- garded Rabbi Zavada as an out- village
of Lenino on the road
landish-looking
person.
He
wore
and activate normal human beings.
betvteen Mohilev and Orsha. A
ernment.
a long beard and the Biblically wooden plaque on his grave tells
If lethargy and exhaustion were the
The United Nations army now on the prescribed earlocks. It is: to be about him to all who pass by on
only obstacles to revolt, the German soil of France is a liberation army. It is guessed he looked a great deal the road from Mohilev Orsha,
those long-bearded men who It is told III three languages—
masses may still have reserves of energy there to liberate the country from the like
are seen on our American streets Yiddish,
a nd Russian:
to enable them to react against their brutal and onerous Nazi yoke. It is not occasionally as they go about col- Yid "Here Polish
lies the body of 53-
overlords, but there are other factors of there to impose a government that the lecting money for yeshivahs in year-old fighter Isaac Zavada.
a more concrete sort that stand in the French people may not want. We would Palestine. Some of our irritated He died the death of brave in
fellow-citizens ask why do they the first battle of the Polish
way.
be amazed and shocked if the United have
.
to look that
a cusz Kosciusko D i v i i s i o i n
It must be remembered that the Ges- States and Britain refused to give De This was Rabbi Zavada when against the German invaders.
he enlisted in the Polish Kosciu- Three nationalities render him
tapo, 600,000 strong, has been so care- Gaulle and his committee governmental sko
Division of the Russian army. honor in simple words. His mem-
status
if
the
French
people
indicated
that
fully and systematically organized that
His brother-in-law joined at the ory will remain forever in the
they
wanted
him
and
his
committee.
same time. Since they were vol- hearts of his people and his
it could probably crush any open organ-
The Italian situation has been cleared unteers they could choose their country."
ized revolt. But beyond and above the
way of serving in the Russian
1 1 1
strength of the Gestapo is the loyalty of up despite much confusion and many army. They elected to fight with
ES, THIS was Rabbi Zava-
frustrations.
The
French
situation
will
the army. Some may insist, that in former
a mortar battery.
da's wordless sermon in his
They kept their beards and last hour. It should bring under-
times, the long suffering masses in France, also be cleared up in due time.
their earlocks. To battle for the standing to all hearts in the
Germany and Italy revolted despite the
right was a consecration not at tragic months to come. It may
loyalty of the armies. Even granting that
all separate from the sacred make the pain less and provide
Free
Ports
at
Last
things of the Jewish faith as some light in the bleak darkness
there were popular uprisings against their
they practiced it. They refused that suddenly will encompass
governments, with the armies remaining
At last some of the refugees from the
eat the non-kosher food of hope and promise.
loyal, yet the conditions were so different hell of Europe will find asylum. Camp to
the army and prepared their own.
As I understand it, Rabbi 'La-
that these cases cannot serve as a guide Ontario near Oswego, New York, will
I
f
vada's sermon says: So I am
HEY
were
in the present case.
among the best dead but please do not mourn
house 1,000 men, women and children. T
THEY
To be a soldier in a for me. I joyously fulfilled my-
This,
we
hope,
is
just
a
beginning.
It must be remembered that the armies
sacred cause a man must be as self and think of me in that way.
The refugee situation should be eased thorough as he was in the knowl- I know for what I died and such
were small in number; their weapons
edge of Torah. Could a man be
were not very powerful. The people could in Europe. Now that we have at long less
than perfect in Torah, since knowledge makes death under-
and did build barricades in the street; last squared our protestations with deeds, to know Torah well was a duty standable.
armed themselves with stones, pistols, cut- we can with much more grace urge Tur- to God? To know Torah and to
See SEGAL—Page 13
lasses and muskets, and were not very key, Spain, Portugal and Sweden to ac
cept
refugees
for
the
duration.
inferior to the armies that opposed them.
It has seemed to us that the refugees
The picture is entirely different today.
SYMBOL FOR VICTORY
What could a revolting populace oppose should have been considered as prisoners
of
war.
Not
our
prisoners,
it
is
true,
but
to the bomber planes, flame throwers, ma-
chine guns, grenades, artillery of an or- prisoners nevertheless, because they had
ganized army today? It would be the no greater rights and immunities in the
worst sort of a massacre. The people counties conquered by the Nazis than had
know this and, until they are ready to actual prisoners of war. Their status was
commit suicide en masse, we cannot and in many respects worse than that of war
should not expect any widespread revolts. prisoners, for they were not protected
by the Geneva convention and the con-
All of this does not mean that the Ger- querors
were not obliged to feed and
man people will not do anything. In fact, house them.
we should not be surprised if widespread
If the American authorities can be
sabotage became the order of the day. persuaded
that the refugees should be
The Gestapo and the army cannot compel accorded the
same consideration as is
the workers in the factories, mines and on given war prisoners, then the 1,000 to be
the railroads to work .to full capacity.
sent to Fort Ontario should be but a
The frustrated, exhausted, hopeless fraction of the number to be brought
German people may yet help to end the here. It can hardly be urged any longer
war sooner, by their refusal to furnish that shipping space from Europe is not
the supplies which the Hitler gang needs available in view of the fact that many
to carry on.
ships are probably returning with little
or no cargo or passengers.
The problem of returning the refugees
A Little Patience Needed
to the lands of their origin after the
war should be a rather simple one. We
General Charles De Gaulle and his shall certainly have enough ships to re-
French Committee of Liberation are not turn the hundreds of thousands if such
at all satisfied with the proclamations numbers should be brought here.
sent by General Dwight Eisenhower to
We are confident that the refugees
the people of France. De Gaulle fears will be treated humanely and that every
that he and his committee have not been effort will be made to revive their will to
given the consideration they deserve. live. After the cruel misfortunes that
Many agree with De Gaulle and have have been visited upon them, they will
sharply criticized President Roosevelt and need kindliness, work and freedom.

I

P ain Tall<

•

I

Y

•

Al Duckett—Detroit Times

