Page 5 DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle Friday, September 15, 1944 On the Threshold of Peace By MICHAEL FREEMAN For Jews throughout the world, the traditional sounding of the ram's horn will usher in the be- ginning of a New Year which will, we hope, bring the end of war and the beginning of peace. No New Year in recent history has marked such a fundamentally important turning point in the life of the Jewish people. Just as it has been difficult for us to comprehend the vastness of the tragedy which struck the very foundation of Jewish life in Europe, so is it difficult today to grasp the tremendous significance of the coming of the day of peace and the deliverance of millions of our fellow-Jews from brutal e xtermination. Large sections of our people have lived with death and des- truction for more than a decade. In days of sorrow and suffering, the Jews of the United States have been the arsenal of hope for the survival of millions caught BUY MORE WAR BONDS New Years Greetings I. S. RAIDER CHAS. HERMAN S. F. BARBAS DEROY JEWELRY CO. in the vise of Nazi oppression. Now as the dawn of victory be- gins to light up the darkness en- gulfing the remnants of the Jew- ish people, we must assume the role of the builders of a new life for those who have survived the tortures and the attacks of Hitlerism. As we look back on five years of total war, American Jews can feel that they have more than adequately faced the challenge of the period of greatest destruc- tion in Jewish life. The fact that they contributed a total of near- ly $100,000,000 to the United Jewish Appeal for Refugees, Overseas Needs and Palestine since 1939 constitutes the most forceful evidence that we stood by the side of stricken European Jewry in the years of gravest crisis. That the channels of relief and rehabilitation for the Jews of Europe, of reconstruction in the Jewish homeland in Pales- tine and of aid to the newcomers in the United States have been kept open in the midst of the widespread disruption of a glob- al conflict represents a truly his- toric achievement. Now that we are in the midst of a great transition and the rap- idly changing scene of the final chapter of the war dictates a new outlook, we find ourselves confronted with the problem of converting from a program of rescue in war to a program of reconstruction in peace. During the past year the rescue efforts carried on by American Jews through three major agencies— the Joint Distribution Committee, the United Palestine Appeal, and the National Refugee Service-- have reflected the beginnings of the new approach to the prob- lems of helping Jews in the pro- cess of liberation. But in the very hour of liber- ation the tragedy of the war years has been revealed in all its starkness. The veil of doubt and uncertainty has been torn from the graveyards of Eastern Eur- ope by the advance of the Rus- sian armies. The ghost cities re- captured from the Nazis, the pitifully small numbers of sur- vivors who have emerged from hiding in the forests—these re- mind us of the grief of irrepar- able loss on the eve of victory and salvation. But where many have perished, others have been saved. A re- view of the achievements of American Jews in the field of rescue and reconstruction would require long lists and figures and so-called "hard facts." Let us leave the figures to the statis- tical-minded and examine the human equation. What does it really mean when thousands or hundreds of human beings are saved? Who are the men and women behind the facade of the "facts"? Not so long ago Marshal Tito's stout-hearted partisans swooped down on the Island of Raab and captured it from the Nazis. When the Partisans took control of the small island in the Ad- riatic they found 1,500 Jewish refugees living there in the most miserable circumstances. T h e Yugoslays immediately released them and gave them their free- dom. But though the Nazis had been expelled, there was no as- surance that the fortunes of war GREETINGS the Adriatic to safety. Shortly thereafter the Nazis invaded the Island and recaptured it. They retook the Island, but the Jews had been rescued. Throughout the war years Pal- estine has been the major haven for the men and women fleeing from Nazi destruction. In the early part of the war several hundred refugees who had failed to gain admission to the Jewish homeland were sent to the Island of Rhodes. When the Axis forces made a concentrated _attack on 302 W. 7 Mile Rd. 445 FORT WAYNE DRUG Happy New Year • Peace and Freedom • H. A. SCHENK Garage ABE HERTZBERG TOWING SERVICE CLINTON Day and Night CA. 0301 • PHIL BRICKER Custom Furrier JACOBY'S Cleaners 11612 DEXTER BLVD. S 5545 RIVARD Greetings . . Greetings .. . • from ALBERT KANE Real Estate 12800 DEXTER BLVD. _11 MR. and MRS. MAX GREENBERG — extend — ROSH HASHONAH GREETINGS • 2901 CASS May we, in the very near future, enjoy For A Happy New Year BEST WISHES FOR A HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR FRIENDS AND RELATIVES • L642 BEAUBIEN ROSH HASHONAH GREETINGS! GREETINGS Prescription Specialist New Year's Greetings • SISLIN Printing Co. See PEACE—Page 14 • Harry A Niemeyer GREETINGS M. C. Roofing Hardware Co. shared their rations and gave up a substantial part of their pay • BOOK-CADILLAC HOTEL 9 • gees at Ferramonti were Jewish soldiers from Palestine who had been in the van of the British attack. The Palestinians some among them were former refugees, • UNITED ARTIST BLDG. UNiversity 2-9781 Hearty Greeting Army liberated them. The first to bring help to the Jewish refu- GREETINGS 7720 W. McNichols Road 7720 W. CHICAGO BLVD. day the light of freedom broke through and the British Eighth To My Many Friends THOMAS H. COTTER AL MILLER DELICATESSEN PETROLEUM SERVICE For almost three years they languished in the primitive bar- racks of Ferramonti until one at an Eastern port. She seemed normal in every respect except for the shadow of fear which clouded her face. Yet that little girl symbolized the suffering and wandering of millions. When the Nazis invaded Belgium her fam- ily fled to France. Shortly there- after, with the fall of France, her father went into hiding to escape deportation to Poland. Joining the underground, he worked to help prepare France for the day of liberation. In the meantime, the little girl and her mother were sheltered by Chris- tians who befriended them. One day the Nazis began a system- atic search for all Jewish refu- gees. Determined to save his family, the father decided to bring them to safety and help them escape over the border to Spain. They could travel only at night to avoid detection. In the daytime they had to remain in hiding in the woods. After a weary journey of many days 7610 W. McNICHOLS UN. 2-2338 • • his toils again. There was a little girl of 10 on a ship which docked recently GREETINGS Best Wishes for a Very Happy New Year Are Extended to All Our Fellow-Men Everywhere 9 and promptly put all of the refu- gees in chains. The Jews were placed on prison ships and sent to Italy where they were thrown into concentration camps. There was great despair among the refugees who had escaped the oppressor only to be caught in to help their fellow Jews taste the meaning of liberation. A short time later the agen- might not bring their return. cies of the United Jewish Appeal It would be a cruel trick of fate stepped in to provide new homes refugees. if the liberated refugees were for the liberated to fall into the hands of the Through the combined action of the Joint Distribution Commit- Nazi oppressor a second time. It was therefore decided that tee and the United Palestine Ap- the refugees must be removed to peal. 570 of them were brought the mainland, out of reach of the to Palestine—the first refugees enemy. Through the interven- to reach the Jewish homeland tion of the President's War Ref- from territory liberated by the ugee Board and with the aid Allies. The Jews who had been of funds provided by the United retaken at Rhodes saw at last Jewish Appeal the systematic the ancient land of their fath- evacuation was accomplished. A minor Dunkirk was enacted on the Island of Raab on that mo mentous day. Rowboats, motor launches, skiffs—everything afloat was pressed into service to ferry To Our Friends all of the 1,500 refugees across 21648 GD. RIVER 22085 MICHIGAN Britain's strongpoints in the ers which had been denied them Mediterranean they seized Rhodes four years earlier. 12300 WOODROW WILSON TO. 7-9422 May it be His will that this year should bring salvation to our people and to all all suffering humanity. We fervently pray that "Our Boys" in the service of our country return to us speedily and rejoice with us over the complete Victory of the United Nations. WYOMING PLUMBING & HEATING SUPPLIES 4 0. WYOMING HOgarth 9470