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DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle

Detroit Jewish Chronicle

and THE LEGAL CHRONICLE
•'ublished Weekly by Jewish Chronicle Publishing Co., Inc., 525 Woodward Ave., Detroit 26, Mich., Tel.

Friday, April 6, 1945

Strictly Confidential

CAdillac 1040

ly PHINEAS J. BIRON

S UBSCRIPTION: $3.00 PER YEAR, SINGLE COPIES, 10c: FOREIGN, $5.00 PER YEAR

WE'RE TELLING YOU:
'entered as Second-class matter March 3. 1916, at the Postoffice at Detroit, Mich., under the Act of March 3, 1879
We agree with Victor Riesel,
labor editor of the New York
JACOB H. SCHAKNE, Pres.-Gen. Mgr.
PAUL' MASSERMAN, Managing Editor Post, that the advent of V-E Day
JACOB MARGOLIS, Editorial Director
CHARLES TAUB, Advertising Mgr.
will not diminish the political
and religious pro-fascist propa-
Detroit 26, Michigan
FRIDAY, APRIL 6, 1945 (NISSAN 23, 5705)
Vol. 47, No. 14 ganda network in this country,
already operating openly from
New York to Los Angeles . . .
Hebrew University is
Years Old examined in light of the tragic facts of It is true that the "American
the last quarter century. The United Association of Labor," headed
The Hebrew University of Jerusalem is Nations Conference is the place where by Kenneth Weber, is carrying
now marking its 20th anniversary. To such re-examination and re-valuation on an anti-democratic, anti-Semi-
tism campaign among big unions,
many it will seem only yesterday when, should take place.
farmers and churches . . . Web-
with little more than good intentions—
er's outfit is working in clos•
In any case we still believe that there cooperation with the Christian
while the cannons of the First World
War had not ceased to thunder—a few must be greater unity for the future. Youth Movement . . . A good por-
of the foreign-language
Jews gathered on Mt. Scopus to lay the There will be more conferences from tion
press in the USA is cooperating
which
we
shall
be
excluded,
unless
we
foundation for the Hebrew University.
in this anti-Semitic campaign,
make it clear to the sponsors that we this being particularly true
At the beginning the university natur- feel that we "belong."
among Hungaran, Slovak and
ally stressed Jewish culture. But with the
Croatian newspapers . . • Mr.
Riesel cited all this the other
destruction of the great Jewish communi-
A Rare Literary Discovery
day as additional evidence that
ties of Europe this field of studies, as has
organized anti-Semitism is pre-
recently been pointed out by Dr. Chaim
The discovery of another manuscript pared to intensify its program
Weizmann, is facing great handicaps, for in Maimonides' own handwriting, with after Hitler's defeat . . . Yet this
most of the great scholars in Judaica re- his own corrections, among the thus-fa• same astute Mr. Riesel only a
sided in Europe.
uncatalogued manuscripts of the Cairo few weeks ago wroe an article—
Genizah at the Library of the Jewish reprinted in a number of Angli-
In the field of the sciences, however, Theological Seminary of America, is an Jewish publications — declaring
"organized anti - Semitism
there is nothing to handicap the growth event which in more normal times would that
had reached a new low level"
of the university. Efforts are now being have aroused the Jewish world, probably . . . Even columnists are per-
directed at establishing an undergraduate the whole literary world. For almost eight mitted to be logical, Mr. Riesel.

20

Medical School for training doctors, and
a School of Economic and Social Sciences
for training civil servants for Palestine
and social workers to aid in the rehabili-
tation of European Jewry. It is expected
that these schools will be attended by
many American students. Thus the end
of the war will initiate a period in which
the Hebrew University, which so far has
been a "giver" mostly to Palestine, will
become also a "giver" as far as American
Jewry concerned.

Whatever may have been the progress
of the University thus far, it may be
taken for granted that, during the next
20 years, the progress that will be made,
will far exceed its past achievement, for
the beginning years are always the hard-
est, and once an institution overcomes its
difficult beginnings, a faster pace of
growth is almost automatic.

With so many of our great Jewish in-
stitutions of learning, our great Yeshivahs
destroyed, the Hebrew University will
assume a special place of affection in
Jewish hearts. Everything points to a
future of great splendor for the Hebrew
University.

Unity is Urgent

Although the invitation of Judge Jos-
eph M. Proskauer, president of the Amer-
ican Jewish Committee, was expected by
the American Jewish Conference, this
does not mean that further efforts to
unify all American Jewish organizations
should be abandoned. In fact, greater
efforts to achieve unity should be made
at this time, because there is a specific
reason ; namely, representation at the
United Nations Conference at San Fran-
cisco, which till now has been denied us
because we are not considered to be a
"nation" by the sponsors.
American Jewry must present a united
front before it can call upon British, Pal-
estinian and other Jewries to join with
them in demanding representation.
The San Francisco Conference is sched-
uled to open April 25. There is not much
time, but there is sufficient time if pride
and prejudice can be subordinated to the
common good.
This is really an urgent matter. In
fact, so urgent that it would be unpardon-
able folly to lose an opportunity to pre-
sent the case of the Jewish people against
its enemies because we could not agree
among ourselves.
In a matter of this kind we cannot
take the easy way of defeatism. We
cannot afford to say we are not invited,
therefore let us forget about it and wait
for a more opportune time to present our
case.
We think that in times of dissent such
as this, when old notions of legalism are
being re-examined and re-valued, that the
legalistic theory that a nation is some-
thing distinct from a people should be re-

centuries, this original writing of the
greatest Jewish scholar, perhaps the
greatest Jew in the last thousand years,
has been preserved, and for almost all
that time it was buried and forgotten.
It lay, with thousands of other pieces of
sacred writing, in a room in the syna-
gogue of Cairo.

The value of this particular manu-
script for scholars is said to be enormous.
It contains decisions rendered by Maimon-
ides which until now were known only
through quotation by later authorities.
But the sentimental value attaching to
the fact that we have now this intimate
contact with one of the major minds of
our past, that we are able to look at
the paper on which he wrote and follow
his hand as he set down his views, is
even more important.

Fifty years ago, Solomon Schechter,
destined later to become the second pres-
ident of the Jewish Theological Seminary,
travelled to Cairo, suspecting that the
ancient synagogue contained such treas-
ures as these. He discovered them and
brought them to Europe and America
where they have become one of the
great contributions to modern scholar-
ship. Schechter himself could not have
known what a treasure trove he had un-
earthed. He could hardly have hoped
that, among the many papers which lay
about him in the suffocating dust of an
abandoned room, there might be the let-
ters written in the hand of such an un-
forgettable personality as Maimonides.

In a generation when the future of
Judaism and the Jews seems to hang in
the balance, when we mourn the loss of
no less than one-fourth of our people.
it is heartening to think of this paper
as a symbol. The day must come when
the light of Israel will again be recog-
nized for what it has been, a blessing
to all mankind.

The Jewish Brigade in Action

The Jewish Brigade has already seen
action on the Italian front, where it is
fighting under the over-all command of
Lt. Gen. Mark Clark, who has expressed
satisfaction that the Jewish people which
has suffered so severely at the hands of
the Axis, will now have direct represen-
tation at the front.
The Jewish Brigade is only a token
concession to the Jewish Army for which
many Jews appealed in earlier stages of
the war. The real fighting force of the
Jews has been contributed by the various
members of the United Nations—in the
half million Jews serving in the American
Army, in the hundreds of thousands serv-
ing with the Russian, Polish, British and
other Allied forces.
The Jewish Army was urged for its
possible effects in bolstering the position
of Palestinian Jewry after the war. The
existence of a separate army presupposes
the existence of an independent state.

The driver s!lould hn%
been
dealt with a little less leniently
. . . Vanderbilt also in i',, rms us
that Fred Maytag, president of
he LolGorce Island, Inc., of
Miami Beach, insists on stIling
residential real estate only too -
"Gentiles beyond any doubt", ,

ore

THIS AND THAT:
More than 12,000 JeN‘ ish war
orphans have already been dis-
covered in Belgium and France
alone — indeed, reliable .ources
put the number at inor.• than
double this figure . . • By the
time you will read this, eight
of America's foremost nll. •om-
mentators will be on their way
to Europe, hoping to broadcast
from Berlin by mid-April .
The Jewish Black Book being
issued by the World Jewish Con.
gress, the Jewish Anti-Fascist
Committee of Moscow, the Vaad
Leumi of Palestine and the
American Committee of Jewish
Writers, Artists and Scientists
will have an introduction by
Professor Albert Einstein
The Black Book will be ready
for distribution in August, 1945.

PALESTINE NEWS:
Dr. Weizmann's trip to the
United States has been delayed
because of a throat infection
that keeps him confined indoors
. . . Brigadier General Ernest F.
Benjamin, commander of the
Jewish Brigade now in Italy,
speaks Hebrew fluently . . . Rob-
ert Nathan's report on economic
conditions and possibilities in
Palestine will make the head-
lines . . . Nathan, former chief
of the Planning Board of Amer-
ica's War Production Board,
spent several months in Palestine
as head of the American Eco-
nomic Commission. It is an open
secret that the Ilaganah, Pal-
estine's Jewish defense organiza-
tion, is on the alert and ready
for defensive action in case of
trouble provoked by the anti-
Jewish statements of Arab lon-
ers of Saudi Arabia, Iraq and
Transjordan.

REPORT FROM FLORIDA:
The Rev. Aaron S. Gilmartin
writes to report that Fascism is
advancing unto our shores . . .
A whole Negro community is
being terrorized by a sheriff who
is trying to bring back slavery
to Fort Lauderdale, Fla. . . . In
September, 1943, Sheriff Walter
Clark ordered that any persons
found idle on the streets were
subject to arrest . , . Since this
decree was issued over 49 resi-
dents, all Negroes, have been
arrested and fined from $25 to
$35 each, without trial . . . Now
do you understand why a col-
ored youngster living in the
South, asked to suggest a fit-
ting punishment for Hitler, said :
"Paint him black and send him
to America"? . . . Cornelius LADIES' CORNER:
Vanderbilt reports that a bus
Dorothy Bitter, the only wom-
driver in Miami has been fined an on the board of governors of
$10 for shouting to Jewish pas-
sengers: "What this country See STRICTLY CONFIDENTIAL
needs is another Hitler" . . .
—Page 9

•,,

■•■

Plain Talk

By AL SEGAL

Mr. X's Speech

"THE CHURCHMAN" of New
A York (Episcopal), after com-
menting on suggestions that the
Pope be represented at the
peace-table, says: "We are con-
vinced that it would be far more
realistic and far more just to
have a distinguished Jewish lay-
man at the peace-table. The Jews
were used by Hitler as his spear-
head for an attack on the whole
world. They have suffered out
of proportion to any other race
through totalitarian attack on
innocent victims .. . Such repre-
sentation as we suggest would
help mightily in balancing the
scale of justice."
Well, let us consider whom to
choose to speak for the Jews at
the peace-table. The United Na-
tions will be meeting at the
peace-table in San Francisco at
the end of April. Let us say that
they come to a moment when
some one arises to remark that
they've forgotten the Jews in
all this. It's a plenary session
open to the public in a great
hall.
The speaker says: "After all,
gentlemen, the Jews were the
first of all the victims and they
are also the ones who are suffer-
ing to the last. Hitler has been
defeated, Hitler has been ejected
from the countries he occupied.
Hitler is about to die. He leaves
behind the legacy of hate he
gave to the peoples of all the
nations and men cherish it as a
precious possession of • their
hearts. Out of their mouths drip
the falsehoods they took from
Hitler's tongue and their hands
stand raised against Jews.

Let Jews Speak

"Yes, gentlemen, we should
let the Jews speak here, since
among all the people they are
the ones who suffered most. Men
speak of peace but where is peace
when a si gment of the human

race remains set aside by an
unspeakable hate? Where is
peace when in another genera-
tion another Hitler may rally
men around this hate toward an-
other destruction of all that is
decent and lovely and of good

"Mr. Chairman, I move you
that in this hour the Jews be
summoned to speak to us here."
"Yes, the Jews! The Jews!
Let the Jews speak !" . . • It's
a tumult of the voices of all the
nations assembled in the confer-
ence hall demanding that the
Jews be heard. The chairman
raps sharply. It is evident, he
says, that it is the desire of all
the nations that the Jews be
heard . . . "Who will speak for
the Jews?" he asks. "Who is
here present to speak for the
Jews?"
At the far rim of the balcony
a figure arises. He raises his
hand . . . "I wish to speak for
the Jews" . . . His voice is of a
tired man's who has been through
a long travail, like a man's w ho
has sat at the death-bed of a
child through the nights or w ho
the beenhun
hunted like a beast in
he forest.
As he weaves through the
crowds, as he descends toward
the rostrum it is seen that he is
a ragged man remote from the
striped, sharp-pressed trousers of
the delegates and their black
he
His coat is out at
the sleeves.
He stands on the platform--a
scarecrow in a formal garden.
"Gentlemen,' he begins, ") 09
may require my credentials. lir
what right do I presume to speak
for the Jews? Well, gentlemen ,
I have come from the camps of
Poland and Germany where I

See SEGAL—Page 10