7, 1945
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New
Detroit Jewish Chronicle
and The Legal Chronicle
VOL. 47, NO. 36
Bldg.
B o nds
S
10c Single Copy; $3.00 Per Year
OUR HOPE FOR TOMORROW
By DR. JOSEPH J. SCHWARTZ
lbot
SECTION TWO
DETROIT, MICHIGAN, FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 1945
EDITOR'S NOTE: Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European Director
of the Joint Distribution Committee, accompanied Earl G.
Harrison, American Representative on the Intergovern-
mental Committee on Refugees, on a special mission in
Europe for President Truman to study the conditions of
displaced persons still in Germany, including Jews.
To the Jews of Europe the year 5705 brought the
priceless gift of liberation from the ever-present terror
and death at the hands of the Nazis. This new year must,
however, bring something equally important — liberation
in the fuller sense of the world. The Jews of Europe
must have the opportunity to take up normal lives again
— to build homes in Europe or abroad, to earn their
bread and be assured of a future. Above all, that future
must be assured for the 150,000 or more Jewish children
01. Europe. In them rests the destiny of our people.
J. D. C. CARES FOR JEWISH CHILDREN IN EUROPE
spoke slowly in stilted English—
"My name is Suzanne Gold
berger. My parents were taken to
prison in Piacenza 18 months ago
and I have not heard from them
since. My little sister and I," her
eyes softened as she looked at the
lovely little child who was tug-
ging at her hand -- "My sister
and I need our parents. People
said the 'Joint' could help us."
Finding English difficult, she
broke into French and continued
her story. Suzanne's family had
fled from France to Italy when
the Germans came. Their father
was a skilled watchmaker, so it
was not difficult for him to earn
a living in the small Italian vil-
lage. "One day," Suzanne said in
a low voice, "Mrs. Rossei, our
neighbor, met me and my sister
as we were coming from school
and told us to run to a little farm
on the outskirts of town and stay
until she told us to come home.
She was very upset." Two days
later Suzanne found out the rea-
son.
In a sudden raid in the town,
all the Jews had been shipped off
to Piacenza. Suzanne and her
little sister then tried to reach
southern Italy where they had an
uncle. Walking at night, begging
for food, hiding every time any-
one in uniform approached, they
reached their destination only to
find that the uncle had disappear-
ed. Undaunted, Suzanne found
work as a dishwasher, and was
able to support herself and her
little sister. She was a child with
the poise and responsibilities of
an adult. The J.D.C. fortunately
wag able to retinire Suzanne with
her parents — they had escaped
to Switzerland.
I'll speak of just one more
child — little Bettina, beautiful
and blonde. When I admired her
long golden curls, she whispered
that they were really very dark.
"Mama fixes my curls every
week," she said, and the Nazis
who sometimes came into the lit-
tle Dutch streets where the Van
Netts lived, believed that Bettina
was Frau Van Nett's daughter.
At first Bettina couldn't un-
derstand why she had to call her
mother's dressmaker and friend
"mother." But she is an obedient
child and, since the memory of a
five-year-old is short, she has
nearly forgotten the dark-haired
woman who cried so sadly when
she kissed her and said "Be a
good girl. I will come back for
you some (lay." The J.D.C. has
Jewish children like these who
look so helplessly from their army
transport truck are being brought
out of the Nazi concentration camp;
where they had existed prior to
their liberation to havens of safety
in France, Belgium and other coun.
tries. The Joint Distribution Com.
ntittee gives them emergency relief
—nourishing food, warm clothing,
medical attention—and then cares
for them until their parents can
be located or permanent living arrangements made. Nearly half the J. D. C.
appropriations this year have been used for emergency work for children.
Over 24,000 children who are orphans, or have yet to be reunited with thrir
receiving J.
C. aid in France, Belgium and Holland.
parents, are
On my brief furlough to the
United States to report on the
condition of Europe's Jews and
the work of the Joint Distribu-
tion Committee, I found that the
interest of American Jews is fo-
cused on the problems of Eu-
rope's Jewish children. Over and
over I was asked — what is being
done for them? Let me say in
brief that the J.D.C. considers
the problem of saving the chil-
dren so important that nearly
half its 1945 appropriations are
being used to give direct aid to
0- dldren.
Cites Examples
Before I go into the story of
what is being done, let me tell
you about a few of the children
I saw in Europe—Suzanne Gold-
berger, for example. I saw her in
Rome, a thin, tired-looking 15-
year-old who stood quietly in line
at our Office of Personal Inquiry
and Tracing, although her little
sister was impatient and bored.
When it came her turn, Suzanne
I think that you would also he
, interested in knowing David, one
I of the few boys to escape a Ger-
man concentration camp and tell
the story. David's parents were
Belgian Jews. When the Nazis
took over, the whole family ex-
cept the mother, who was in Swe-
den, was loaded into a sealed car
and taken to the Westerborck
concentration camp. Here the 11-
year-old child was forced to do
the work of an adult.
In Westerborck, David saw his
father beaten for a minor infrac-
tion of the rules. His little bro-
ther died of starvation and the
lung disease he developed in
camp, and his older brother was
executed for trying to get extra
food for the baby brother. When
his father died, David determined
to escape.
He never told us exactly how
he did it, but once out, David
eventually reached the nearest
J.D.C. station. We found that Da-
vid had incipient tuberculosis, and
pending the location of his mo-
ther, placed him in a sanitarium
in Switzerland.
since arranged for Bettina to live
in a Jewish home again.
Lost Parents
Today the problems of these
little ones have a first call on
the attention Of those who seek
to aid them and on the generosity
and sympathy of the American
Jewish community. The children
must be helped to rejoin parents
or relatives or find safe homes.
Those still in the newly liberated
concentration camps must be
helped to leave them, even before
the adults. Those children who
may still be in non-Jewish homes
or institutions need to be restor-
ed to a Jewish environment.
Food, clothing, medical attention
a n d educational opportunities
must be supplied.
(Continued on Page 16)
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