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DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
Butkovina as Russian territory, and in
their war communiques always insisted
and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
•
that the Nazi armies were on Russian
Published Weekly by Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc. soil until they had actually driven them
into what they considered Polish or Ro-
JACOB H. SCHAKNE
Pres.-Gen. Mgr.
manian territory.
JACOB MARGOLIS
Editor
Our own State Department does noth-
CHARLES fAUB
Advertising Mgr.
ing to help clarify or adjust the matter.
The question is not do we favor a settle-
General Offices and Publication Bldg., 525 Woodward Ave. ment of the boundary dispute between
Telephone: CAdillac 1040
Cable Address: Chronicle
Russia and Poland, but rather, do we ap-
Subscription in Advance
$3.00 Per Year
prove of the Russian claim to Eastern
Poland
to the Curzon Line?
To in,ure publication, all correspondence and news matter
Britain seeks to ease the Polish hurt
must reach this office by Tuesday evening of each week.
When mailing notices, kindly use one side of paper only. by promising that part of East Prussia,
The Detroit Jewish Chronicle invites correspondence on sub- Pomerania and Silesia will be taken from
lects of interest to the Jewish people, but disclaims respon-
the Nazis and given to Poland. Then, too,
sibility for an endorsement of views expressed by its writers.
they are promised the city of Danzig
and 200 miles along the Baltic. In the
Entered as Second-class matter March 3, 1916, at the Post-
office at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879. most casual manner we are told that Ger-
many has lost six to seven million men,
Sabbath Readings of the Law
therefore there will be room in the post-
Pentateuchal portion—Gen. 44:18-47:27.
War Germany for the millions who will
Prophetical portion—Ezek 47:15-28.
be moved from East Prussia, Pomerania
and Silesia to make room for the Poles
DECEMBER 22, 1944
TEBET 6. 5705
from Eastern Poland.
It should be borne in mind at all times
1,300 Jews Rescued
that the prime loyalty and interest of
that British citizen Winston Churchill is
The Swiss government has agreed to the British Empire; and that the prime
admit 14,200 Jews from Hungary. They loyalty and interest of that Soviet citizen
have already admitted 1300, but is is Josef Stalin is the Soviet Union. Neither
highly doubtful whether advantage can One is a European in the sense that he is
be taken of the generous Swiss offer be- primarily concerned about the fate of
cause the Germans refuse to permit trains Europe. As we see the problem, it is a
carrying Jews to cross the Reich.
European problem, and only a formula or
This matter of rescuing Jews in Europe plan that envisages all of Europe can
is always a matter of the greatest urg- come to grips with it.
ency. Any delay may later mean com-
During all the excitement of the Italian,
plete abandonment of the project, not Greek and Russian episodes, it has been
because the parties have changed their charged that Britain and Russia violated
minds but because conditions have so the tentative plan for the settlement of
changed that it becomes impossible to European disputes and for the attainment
carry out the projected plan.
of a just and enduring peace. It would
When we read that 1100 Hungarian have been much better had Britain left
Jews have been rescued from Hungary, her hands off the Italian and Greek dis-
we marvel at the patience, ingenuity, re- putes and had she not approved Russia's
sourcefulness and ceaseless labors of claim to Polish territory. Both Britain
those who undertake these jobs of rescue. and Russia will no doubt insist that mili-
The whole story, like many another won- tary necessity dictates their present ac-
der tale, will be told when the war is tion and the layman is in no position to
at an end. The tales of intrigue and cor- dispute the claim. However, be that as it
ruption may well strain our credulity. may, would the problems be less real and
We got some inkling of the widespread urgent if they had lived up to the letter
corruption among the Nazis during the of the Atlantic Charter and had marked
period when they delivered rich Jews for time till the end of the war to settle the
a king's ransom. The itching palm of the boundary disputes?
We do not think so. We do not believe,
grafter does not itch any the less today,
but he probably will settle for less when and stated so at the time the Atlantic
he realizes that the exorbitant ransoms Charter was promulgated, that it is the
cannot be paid. The satellite grafters are formula or plan for the settlement of
no doubt as avaricious as the Nazis. The European problems. The Atlantic Charter
Hungarian Nazi can probably be per- does not touch the core of the matter—
suaded to part with his precious human the question of unlimited sovereignty of
cargo if there is enough in it for him. European nations. It leaves the matter of
Our only hope today is that the others unlimited sovereignty just where it was
who have not yet reached Switzerland when World War II broke out. Certainly
may do so in the shortest possible time. it gives the citizens the right to choose
their own form of government, but it
does not prevent them from forming alli-
ances,
ententes and creating buffer states,
Whither Europe?
spheres of influence, balances of power,
Winston Churchill, the Prime Minister most favored nation agreements, and all
of Britain, told the world bluntly that the fol de rol that has characterized
he did not become the King's first minis- European diplomacy for centuries.
te• to preside at the liquidation of the
It is understandable that the Soviet
British Empire. He did become the King's Union wants a strong, independent and
first minister because he is profoundly free Poland as a buffer between it and
and movingly interested in perpetuating Germany. It is understandable that Brit-
and preserving the British Empire. We ain wants to enlarge her spheres of in-
should expect him to do all within his fluence. It is also understandable that
power to safeguard the interests of the France wants to make alliances, and if
Empire, and if he interferes in the affairs possible to create a buffer state in the
of Italy by opposing the inclusion of Rhineland and Ruhr, to protect her
Count Sforza in the Bonomi cabinet, that against any future menace from Ger-
is understandable. If he objects to the many.
Men speak glibly of transplanting 10,-
Elas in Greece, that is equally under-
standable. No one believes that he favors 000,000 people and perhaps if the French
the shooting down of Greek patriots. He buffer state should be agreed upon the
would have preferred a peaceful solution transfer of 13,000,000 more human be-
the Greek affair. One rapadjg,aarate ings. The whole world is aghast at tho
spectacle of deportation of :r.:1 1.:1,s dur-
Mediterranean - fro-in— the British
g war time. "'Litt ...al be the reaction
e, and consequently we should expect
Prime Minister to take a definite o deter' Jn and women if an attempt
sition on any matters that arise in the is lade to transfer, we shall not say de-
editerranean area. His approval of the port, 10,000,000 Poles and more than
Russian claims on Poland for the eastern 20,000,000;000 Germans? Is there not
part of Poland to the Curzon line is just enough intelligence in Europe and Amer-
another instance of his concern about the ica to find a solution less savage than
Empire. We may not, at this time, see this? We still see no good reason why
the immediate connection, but we shall the peoples of Europe cannot become
eventually learn why he approved the Europeans and thereby end their fears
of each other because they are Germans,
Russian claims.
Russians, Frenchmen, British or whatever
The Russians made it abundantly clear they may be.
to those who would see, that the question
What is our responsibility in this mat-
of the Polish boundary was not a de- ter? Do we not have some moral author-
batable matter. They claimed Eastern
(Continued on Page 5)
Poland, the Baltic States, Bessarabia and
Detroit Jewish Chronicle
Friday, December 22, 1944
Plain Talk..
• by Al Segal
•
Converts
a letter from
I HAVE
Powell River Biblical Institute
the an exemplar of being a Christian
of Powell River, British Colum-
bia, concerning. a piece I wrote
about Gentiles who should try
to be Christians. (They are far
from Christians if they are anti-
Semites, if, as SO Many of them
do, they go about spewing the
malice they took from the mouth
of the pagan Hitler.)
The Powell River Biblical In-
stitute's letter is friendly and
eproachful, too. Yes, it con-
fesses contritely, "false Chris-
tian Gentiles" have hideously
sinned, but it asks, are Jews al-
together without sin against
brethren? It means the hostility
of some Jews toward other Jews
who have been converted to
Christianity.
I had written: "I, the Jew,
never had persecuted anybody,
never gone about to foment hate
in the world. I had hated some
individuals as ferociously as any
one could hate, but I had never
been guilty of the sin that en-
velopes an entire group in the
foul wrapping's of hate and con-
tempt."
The Institute replies: "We
ask you in all sincerity what do
you think of the treatment meted
out by the members of your race
upon their own brethren whom
come to recognize in Jesus their
own Messiah. Is not this what
you would call persecution? Is
t pis permitting perfect liberty of
thought and freedom of religion?
"Is it not true that those of
your race who have accepted
Jesus as their Messiah have been
driven from home and loved ones
to roam through the world as
exiles and outcasts ... Is it not
true that you, as Jews, have per-
ocuted and still are persecuting
:lose of your own brethren who
dare to accept your brother Je-
sus? . . . It would appear that
neither the Jew nor the Gentile
can point a finger at the other.
Both stand guilty before the bar
of God."
,
N
I I I'
O MORE than the Institute
defends guilty Gentiles can
I defend Jews who would perse-
cute other Jews for taking an-
other religion. Authentic Chris-
tians are not so numerous in
the world that I Can begrudge
the Christian church even one
Jew who, being a sincere con-
vert, goes forth really to practice
Christianity. Having been a Jew,
having inherited the Command-
ments and the Prophets, having
walked with the spirit of the
Psalmist, he may he even a bet-
ter Christian on that account.
It's quite all right with me if
a Jew, convinced that Christian-
ity is the better religion for him,
becomes a true Christian to set
for the eyes of the Gentiles. I
continue to believe in the ration-
ality of Judaism and keep it as
a religion satisfactory to me;
but I don't quarrel with a Jew
who takes Christianity any more
than I would quarrel with a
Methodist who became a Catholk,
or 0 Baptist who took up Budd-
hism. Religion is a matter of a
man's private conscience, like
marriage. Would I say to a man.
No, you shouldn't marry that
gill. I don't like the way her nose
turns up. That's his business.
Strangely, though I have had
a long and varied experience, I
have known only three converts
in all my life. (The Powell River
Biblical Institute seems to be-
lieve that the displeasure of Jews
against converts covers a large
area.)
One of these three converts
was the Rev. Mr. Ragovsky who
conducted a Baptist missio n for
Jews in a store room in the
Jewish neighborhood of our town
long ago. He had among his
neighbors Mr. Oscherwitz, the
kosher butcher; Mr. Finklestein,
the grocer; Mr. Gershuny, who
had a cigar store.
The Rev. Mr. Ragovsky, whose
tongue carried the Yiddish ac-
cent of his Lithuanian origin, got
along all right in his Jewish
neighborhood. He came and went
and was never reviled; his gos-
pel mission stood respected even
though it wasn't a popular place
among. his • Jewish neighbors.
There is no record that he
converted any of them during
the years he had his stand there,
but he kept faithfully at the
tasks of his mission to the last.
If, as Billy Sunday used to say,
Jesus Himself embraces the faith-
ful Christians in paradise,
Ragovsky probably received the
warmest welcome.
T
I
I
I
there was the young
Jewish woman who was con-
verted to Catholicism. That fact
made no difference at all in the
affection of her relatives and
Jewish friends. After all, she
was the same fine girl she al-
ways had been and in her new
religious identity her excellent
merits were no less. She con-
tinued to abide in her parents'
house.
Finally, there was the con-
verted refugee I came to know
one day in my own house. He
was visiting and quite casually
remarked that he was a convert.
I didn't drive him from my house
at this revelation. Nor did I
attempt to show him the error
of his way. My tolerance would
have credited him the more if
he were sincerely a Christian,
tIEN
See
SEGAL—Page 9
4
44s,
OfiNce
HOW TO DESTROY LABOR;
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