Page Two

Friday, May 24, 1946

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and This Legal Chronic'.

Army Life of Dr. John Wax Is A
Memorial Day Sermon In Itself

REPORT FROM
GERMANY

By REV. J. M. GILLOEGLY

By IRVING HAYETT

(Editor's Note: Dr. John Wa s
is one of the heroes from Detroit
listed among those missing in
action.)

Jewish Chronicle Foreign Correspondent

(Copyright 1946, All Rights Reserved)

This series of articles tells of the War Crimes

Trials ha> Frankfurt, Germany.

ARTICLE 19

Borkum Island Case (Concluded )

"Whoever directly commits any • dinner. The accused had been
act constituting an offense defined called by name, each had stood
In any law or aids, abets, counsels, and each had been "dvised of
commands, induces or procures its his guilt or non-guilt by the
commission, is a principal.
Court. There was one ecquittal
The day was March 21, and the Meyer Gerhardts.
I now quote from the record:
Throne Room of the Schloss was
"Kurt Goebel). the Court, in
crowded. The word had gotten
around the small town of Lud- closed session. at least two-thirds
wlgsburg that the Borkum Island of the members present at the
Case was drawing to a close. That time the vote was taken concur-
final argument was to be presented ring, sentences you to death by
and that American justice was to hanging at such time and place
be meted out. Every one of the as higher authority may direct.
"Walter Krolikovski. the Court
residents of the town that could
. sentences you to life imprison-
get away was in Court.
Major Bryan, the Trial Judge ment.
Advocate presented the law for
"Erich Wentzel. the Court . . .
the Prosecution. Captain Lyons sentences you to death by hanging.
summarized the testimony for the
"Karl Weber, the Court . . .
Court. Captain May made the- plea sentences you to be imprisoned
for just sentences and asked that for a term of twenty-five years.
the guilty be punished. He said in
"Jakob Valentin Seller, the
part:
"Every effort has been made to Court .. . sentences you to death
by hanging.
arrive at the honest and true facts
"Johann Josef Schmitz, tie.
of this case. Every right has been
accorded the accused. They have Court . . . sentences you to
had their own counsel at the ex- death by hanging.
pense of the United States Govern-
"Johann Polntner. the Court . .
ment. Every witness they have de- sentences you to be imprisoned
sired has been allowed to testify, for a term of five years.
either in person or by statements
"Gunther Albrecht, the Court
or letters. Complete protection has . . . sentences you to be im-
been given them as to the rights prisoned for a term of six years.
and privileges that they did not
"Karl Geyer, the Court . .
enjoy under the laws of their own
sentences you to be imprisoned
government." . . . "Many names
for a term of four Years.
have been spoken from the wit-
"Heinz Witzke. the Court . . .
ness stand but there are some
sentences you to be imprisoned
names we have only heard called
for a term of eleven years.
once, or perhaps twice. Those
"Jan J. Akkermann, the Court
names were William Lambertus
. sentences you to death by
William J. Myers, James W.
hanging.
Danno, William P. Dold, Harvey
"Heinrich Rommel. the Court . .
M. Walthall, Kenneth Faber, and
-entences you to be imprisoned
Howard S. Graham. The seven
for a term of two years.
boys that had their voices stilled
"Gustav Mammenga, the Court
forever."
. . . sentences you to be Im-
Following Captain May's argu-
prisoned for a term of 20 years.
ment, the Germany civilian de-
"Heinrich Heinemmann, the
fense counsel, one by one argued
Court, in closed session . . . sen-
for their clients. Their arguments
tences you to be imprisoned for
were lengthy and in true German
a term of 18 years."
style, shifted the blame for the
Kurt Goebell heard himself sen-
whole thing right on to the shoul-
ders of the Commanding Officer tenced to death. sat down and
wept. The big strong command-
Goebel'.
On the following day, March 22, ing officer of the Island went
the Military Defense counsel pre- when he was sentenced to death.
sented their arguments. Captain Did he weep when he sentenced
the seven men to death?
Phelps rebutting some of the
Schmitz
stood
at attention
statements made by Major Bryan.
1st Lt. Davis rebutting the law while he was sentenced to death,
turned completely white, his eyes
cited and Captain Hall made the
sent: into his face and we all
plea for justice and Captain Hall
thought for a' minute that ne
concluded with:
would faint.
"I therefore say to Sou that a
The two officers, Wentzel and
member of the Prosecution made
Seiler stood at attention, took
a very correct statement in ac-
their death sentences like offi-
cordance with this quotation when
cers and gentlemen, sat down
he said in substance: 'It is im-
and did not blink an eye. ,
portant to determine the guilt of
Mayor Akkermann stood at at-
each accused in the light of tin
tention. heard himself sentenced
action of each accused.' . . . Now
'0 death sat down. picked up a
that this long argument has been
newspaper and blithely ignored
completed, we might say, as in
the Court.
America, "This is it." When you
Perhaps Akkermann's actions
leave this beautiful room for the
were most indicative of what the
last time this evening, you will be
other Germans were thinking. "I
taking with you a decision . . . a
expected to be sentenced to
decision which will be yours for
death. Had it been the other
all time to come. May that deci-
way around -all 15 would had
sion be the result of thoughtful,
died. These Americans are fair--
careful deliberation and not in-
too fair--a victor must be strong
fluenced by the understandable
or the vanquished will eventually
prejudices of our time."
become the victor."
The time is 12:20 p.m., the
Court has been in session since
nine o'clock in the morning with
just two recesses for lunch and

We were sitting o" ' he shady
side of one of the re- tments at
an airfield in Yuan province in
China one day watching the end-
less flow of planes landing and
taking off. It was all routine stuff
that was coming in over the
Hump, bullets, tractors, plane
parts, everything. Some of the
stuff was used in operating tlEi
Fourteenth Air Force, some of it
went to the ground forces along
the Salween River, some of it
went to the Engineers fixing the
Burma Road.
. From the top of the revetment,
a voice suddenly shouted down at
us. "Hey, Doc! The ambulance
from the Chinese hospital is up
there at the ATC shack. A couple
of Chinese are looking for you."
Captain John Wax, a cigar it
his mouth, got up on his feet.
"Come on, Padre," he said to me.
"Let's go and see what thy
want."
I knew what they wanted. al-
right. So did Doctor Wax. They
wanted him to look at someone
who wa sick, someone whose case
was stimying their own knowl..
edge. It was Doctor Wax W.13
was always pulling them through.
He had an insatiable zeal for Hy: ,
sick. a curiosity inherent in him
about things medical so that other
doctors always felt at ease asking
him to help them. I never saw
him refuse.
We went up to the little mud-
brick hospital that the peasantry
in that section depended upon for

JERUSALEM (JTA) -- Dr. Ju-
dah L. Magnes. president of fhc
Hebrew University, who is enroute
to the United States, paused at
Cairo for a two-hour discussion
with Abdul Rahman 'Azzam Bev,
secretary general of the Arab
League, it was reported here. Dr.
Magnes is understood to have
sounded out Azzam Bey on the
Arab stand on th" pi-nnos , I for
establishment of a bi - national
state in Palestine.

Meanwhile, the Arab Higher
Committee in Palestine issued an-
other statement saying that en-
forcement of the recommenda-
tions of the Anglo-American com•
mittee "will be the signal for an
Arab uprising" throughout the
Middle East.
Meir Yaari, head of the Hasho-
mer Hazair in Palestine, addresx-
ing a conference of that organiza-
tion in Tel Aviv, stressed the ne-
cessity to fight for Arab-Jewish
rapprochement in Palestine which
he said, "would break up the na-
tional complex" in this country.
He emphasized that the Hasho-
mer Hazair will never agree tn
dissolution of the Hagana, but
added that it would combat ter-
rorism.

PARIS (JTA) -- French Minis-
ter of Interior Andre Le Trocier
has promised a delegation of the
Federation of Polish Jews that
France will offer asylum and tran-
sit facilities for Jewish refugees
in Europe. The delegation includ-
ed Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum, presi-
dent of the American Federation
of Polish Jews, and Pierre Skor-
nick i and S. Rosenblum, of the
French organization of Polish
Jews.
At a press conference, Dr. Ten-
enbaum said that during his five-
week stay In Poland, President
Boleslaw Bierut told him that Po-
land would raise the question of
facilitating the emigration of Po-
lish Jews before the United Na-
tions.

prepare for him, helped to bring
a baby boy into the world. That
youngster is still over in that vil-
lage and will probably wondei
about the name that was pinned
on him John Wax Wong.

Somewhere between Kuniniti.;
and Chiingking an airplane is bat-
tered against one of the mountain-
sides that rise up thousand of
feet above sea level. Doctor Wax,
in line of duty, boarded Ow
plane and flew off with it. A cry)).
tic telegram from the War De.
partment that went to his family
may or may not be a fitting epl.
taph for a tine American doctor.
whole

I acted as interpreter for Doctor
Wax. It took him about an hour
to get things arranged and in
operation. We fixed the infant in
a position that vnedication from
a make-shift steaming kettle was Hislifn
He may
euxas naw
ev er sit
le a
wa
rsO
around
with
inhaled into the little lungs. Once us again but it will be a long
Doctor Wax left me holding the time before the group of us In
child and took the ambulance bitel; China, and many of the Chines
to the airfield base dispensary and themselves who got to know him,
brought back some other medi- will forget him. People don't for-
cine. Technically. I don't know get those who could be as gen-
how he did it but within three erous and noble as Captain Wax.
days the young Cantonese mother He was too often getting to his
was around our barracks tryin; ' feet, saying, "Come on. Let's go
to get me to tell Doctor Wax that and see what they 1p:di• "
she was tremendously grateful to
him.

The Chinese have a word for
"doctor." She didn't use that word
in referring to Captain Wax,
though. She used the word for
"healer." With the Chinese, that
has an extra significance. It was
a compliment that many of the
natives around that field were to
use as time went on in their
many relationships with Doctor
Wax.

Another time, along the road,
he stopped when he found a
young woman in labor pains and
with nothing but hot water that
he got an old toothless lady to

liagnes Confers Ben Sidlow Gets
With Arabs on
Insurance Agency
S. Sidlow, 2500 Glynn Ct.,
Bi-National State has Ben been
appointed General Agent

in Detroit for Bankers National
Life Insurance Company, of Mont-
clair, New Jersey. Mr. Sidlow,
whose agency is located in the
Transportation Building, has been
in the insurance business for 19
years.

Prominent in the Jewish com-
munity, Mr. Sidlow was secretary
of the Men's Club of Congregation
Shaarey Zedek for the past ten
years. He has recently been elect-
ed to the office of secretary of the
Synagogue proper.

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