A merica 9ewislr Periodical Carter

Friday, June 21, 1946

r

CLIFTON AVENUE - CINCINNATI 20, 01110

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICL E and The Legal Chronicle

REPORT FROM
GERMANY

'The Voice of the
Man in the Street

Page Five

MAN CIF 11 -1E %TEE

The first Jews who came to Detroit were all from Bavaria," said
Clarence H. Enggass whom the Chronicle salutes as the Man of the
The Jewish Chronicle. will pay Week. "My mother's family came here in 1845 when Morris Hirshman
$1.00 to the person whose question started a retail clothing business on Jefferson Avenue. He was a
is used in this column. Mail your charter member and one of the original founders of Temple Beth El
By IRVING IIATETT
questious to the Jewish Chronicle, in Detroit. My family on both sides have been lifelong members of
Jewish Chronicle Foreign Correspondent
the Temple.
525 Woodward Ave., Detroit 26.
(Copyright 1916, All Rights Reserved)
The early Jews here were all orthodox," he went on affably when
Photos by ERIC BENNETT
questioned further on the subject. "There wasn't any such thing his
This series of articles tells of the %Var Crimes
Staff Photographer
reform Judaism when they came here. They all spoke German and
Trials in Frankfurt, Germany.
Hebrew, no Yiddish and, at least at first, no English. That continued
TIME: Sunday aiternoon.
for quite some time although it
DISPATCH: In today's session the Prosecution recalled Walter PLACE: Dexter at Glynn Court. might not seem so if you go to
Francee, former SS Radioman to the stand. He testified that he had QUESTION: If you had to leave Temple services today. I can re-
the United Slates, what country member an old prayer book of
arrived in Engelsdorf, Belgium, about four in the morning of Decem-
in the world would you choose Temple Beth El which was writ-
ber 17, 1944. Francee stated that Master Sgt. Paul Ochmann ap-
ten in Hebrew and German.
proached 1st Lt. Herring in charge of his vehicle and asked for
to go to?
"The old Temple Beth El was
man to execute eight American prisoners of war. According to the
---
witness Ochmann wa-t told to get one from another vehicle. He LOUIS STERN, Rochester, N. Y. at the corner of \Vashington
Boulevard and Clifford," lie con•
approached the tank behind and secured a man. When he next saw
I think I'd g,o
tinned. "They bought an old Bap-
Ochmann he was accompanied by eight men in American uniforms. to Mexico. I
tist church and converted it into
They walked a short distance toward Malmedy and then returned to •an't think of
a synagogue. My mother was a
report that the Americans had been shot.
any place in
day school pupil there. In addi-
DISPATCH: Anna \Villeins of Ligneuville, Belgium, a Belgian Europe \ vher•
tion to her regular school studies,
civilian was called by the Prosecution. She stated that about 2:30 or a Jew would he
she learned German and Jewish
3:00 p.m. she saw several German tanks enter the town. They were welcome. I
history.
accompanied by about 20 American prisoners of war. She admitted. don't feel that.
"Social status is largely a mat-
under cross examination, that she had not actually seen any of the I'd want to live
ter of economics and priority in
Americans shot but that the next morning she saw eight Americans in Russia and
this country," lie philosophized.
lying on the ground. The witness also testified that she saw a SS the standard of
"Since the first Jews in the city
man kick the body of an American soldier. She stated that sho living in the
were Germans, they looked at
heard one German say, as he kicked the soldier, You pig, why didn't other European
Eastern Jews, from Russia and
countries is
you stay in America!"
Poland, with some disfavor. The
going
to
be
so
low
that
I
don't
DISPATCH: Antonia Leon Colinet, Belgian civilian, was called Lo
first few who. came were accepted
the witness stand and testified that on the morning of the 18th of think I could be happy anywhere without question simply because
December 1941 he took refuge in his cellar along with his father, wife, else in Europe.
so few.
I have no particular reason for they were
Mr. and Mrs. Tombeux and his 18 month-old child. The house was set
Period of Pogroms
afire. They started to walk to a near by hospital for shelter. An SS preferring Mexico. I just think
"Then came the period of the
CLARENCE II. ENGGASS
pogroms in Russia and Poland
man standing in the turret of a tank, as they walked by, smiled and that's where I'd like to go.
----
and Jews fled to this country by the thousands. They came here
waved at them. When they were a short distance in front of the
DOROTIIY FIRESTONE, 16131 wretchedly poor and the Jews who were already settled here were
tank, Colinet stated that he heard a burst of gunfire and turning
quick to come to their rescue by organizing charities in their behalf.
Northlawn
saw the German standing with a machine pistol in his hand. The
In a case like that, I think I'd They never accepted these Eastern Jews socially however, at least
witness went on to state that his wife and Mr. Tombeux were killed
go to Europe. I have a real curi- not at first. I have seen this social prejudice break down almost com-
by the gun fire. A bullet lodged in the blanket that was wrapped
osity to see the devastated lands pletely. Now the feeling is that a man is a man and is to he judged
around the child and that the infant was not hurt.
there and find on his own individual worth and not on the basis of how long ago his
DISPATCH: Theo Rauh's statement was read to the Court. In it,
out what the
came here."
he said the following about Obersturmfuehrer Preuss, his command-
the
war has really family
Mr. Enggass went to the Temple Beth El Sunday School at
ing officer. "This Preuss is known in the whole regiment by his famous
done to the age of seven. By that time, Beth El was almost completely reformed.
'Masche, Masche (Goody-Goody) --again one more woman for me"
people and the They still, however, kept some of the old customs from orthodox
everytime one of our men was killed." . . . I was near my SPW as
countries there. days. He remembers, for instance, that up to twenty years ago, It
Rottenfuehrer Dutschke came to me and drew my attention to the
There is no was still the custom, after burials, to hold services at the home with
fact that seven or eight American prisoners of war had just been
particular place a "minyan" present. A "minyan" consists of ten male Jews without
brought in. At the same time Dutsehke said, 'They have to be humped
I'd want to go whom services cannot be held in a gr
oup.
of and further added, 'Masche, Masche is all for it, that they he
continued, "my mother tells me
there but it
"To show the gradual change," he
humped off.'"
would have to that my grandmother kept a rigidly kosher kitchen all her life. When
So it goes on and on. Statement after statement has been put in
be in a country my mother was married, it was necessary for her to keep such a
by the Prosecution --so far --112 in all. Each of the statements is, by
where a person kosher kitchen also or else her mother would never have eaten in the
itself, a complete confession to murder or being an accomplice to
could earn a
murder of American boys, surrendered, unarmed Prisoners. Very
living and could house.
•
"It shows the gradual transition. My mother was brought up in
soon now the Prosecution will have completed its case and the De-
the Reform Temple. Yet she always fasted on Yon) Kippur. As a
fense will have the difficult task of presenting to the Court the miti- live in peace.
Of course I'd want my whole child, I even did a little fasting myself on Yom Kippur. However, it
gating circumstances or the innocence of their clients. I. for one,
family to go along with me. In was only for a half a day.
would not relish the task before them. I for one, being a Jew, could
my opinion, the time will come
"Then there was a matter of being initiated into Judaism. At
not honestly and fairly represent anyone of them. To me they are and soon enough, when there
i
s m.
the
Temple
there was confirmation. My mother, however, J uda
SS Men, the Elite troops of Hitler and as such are symbols of all will be great migrations of peo- my becoming
Bar Mitzvah). Accordingly, I went for a year to the home
that is cruel, hated and murderous in warfare and in a decent society ple from one country to another.
of Rabbi Grossman, the predecessor of Rabbi Leo M. Franklin, to
of world relations.
I'd like to see that time come and study Hebrew. I memorized a passage in Deuteronomy which I had
be one of those to go.
to read from the Torah."
Student at Central
• PAI'LINE MASK, Beacon, N. Y.
Enggass was horn in Detroit and went to the old Central High
I think I'd like to go to South
School. There he was interested in debating and in chemical engineer-
By LEON SAUNDERS
America. I have some relatives
ing. He used to go to the laboratories of the high school in the after-
down in Rio de Janeiro and they
noon to work on experiments. In fact, he had already been promised
In the history of Jews, Poland played an important part. Driven seem to be very
a job with a chemistry research laboratory.
from the West they migrated cast and the majority settled in Poland happy there.
However, fate had decreed otherwise. The Enggass Jewelry Com-
where their fate dependeti upon the kind of king or ruler Poland had They were refu-
pany had been opened by his father in 1865. It was the ambition of
gees but they
at a given time.
his father to have the two boys, Clarence and Maurice take over the
In spite of persecution Poland's Jews evolved a culture of their came there be-
store after him. When Clarence was graduating from high school
own traditions and customs to which they held fast. The idealogy fore
the
all
and was considering going to Ann Arbor, his father persuaded him
which had the greatest influence on Polish Jews was Chasidism, trouble started
has remained there
to try the store for one year. He did so aid
although Bal Shem, the founder of the movement was not Polish but in Europe.
ever since.
came from Volyin. Perhaps it was tile democratic idea on which the
The climate is
He first became interested in doing community work about 27
based, as an antithesis to the exclusiveness and aristo- good there and
schism was
years ago, when he became active on the Community Chest Drive.
cratic trend of Misnagdism, which attracted them. This remarkable I'd fit right in
After he had worked on the campaigns for a while, he was put in
movement was marred by the institution of a cult of holy men or because I have
charge of Division A which was one of the five divisions into
Tsadiks who in the belief of their adherents, were endowed with a studied Spanish
which the whole city had been sectioned. Then he became a member
power of divination and attributes akin to holiness.
and I'd be fa- —
of the board of the Community Chest and was put on the executive
At the same time I came across a book of I. I. Trunk, entitled miliar with the language.
"Poilen Zichroinos un Bilder," an autobiography in which the personal
Eventually I want to be a committee.
element is almost absent, and the book reads rather like a history and journalist and I have photogra-
Works for Federation
ethnographical essay describing a generation of these tzadiks, the phy as my hobby which ought
Next, he was drafted into campaign work on the Detroit Jewish
like and activities. Reading it, one is confused and amazed at the phe- to work out very nicely.
Welfare Federation. He became the third president of the Federation
I expect to go to South Amer- where he stayed for five years and the second chairman of the board
nomenon of an intelligent, spiritual, independent people like Jew•
becoming engrossed in superstition and enthusiastically submitting ica this summer. However, that's which office he held for three years.
themselves to the complete and absolute dominaticn of the tsadiks. only for a little vacation. My
During the time he presided, the Federation broadened its base
The mileu pictured by Trunk is an extraordinary melange of country is the good old USA and of membership and took in all the Yiddish speaking groups and the
spiritual greatness, Spinozian depth and gross ignorance mixed with here's where I want to stay. But Landsmanshaften.
grotesque Rabelesian bizarrerie. In defense of the cult of tsadiks one if I really had to leave here, South
"All credit for any reforms, however," he said, "will have to go
may say that people steeped in ritual, completely isolated from the America is the place I'd go.
to Kurt Peiser, then executive director."
outside world, needed somebody who would advise and help. It made
Enggass is now active in the Committee for Russian Relief, cur-
the poor, wretched human feel safer to know there was one on whose HARRY GOODMAN, 2705 Coiling- rently engaged in raising $200,000 for the Filatov Children's Hospital
wood.
of Moscow. He is a board member of the Welfare Federation and on
power he could rely.
If I had to leave, I think It the executive committee. He has been treasurer of the cemetery hoard
The old Poland of Trunk of Peretz and Shalom Asch is no more.
The Poland of "glory and honor," swashbuckling heroes of Senkie- want to go to Palestine. My main of Temple Beth El for fifteen years and was formerly the chairman.
reason for this He belongs to the Zionist Organization and was formerly a member
vitch, of Prince Pontiate•sky, of the most beautiful women in the
is religious be- of the board of the Detroit organization. He is a member of the
world, Kshesinskaya,. the dancer, Kavetzkaya and the noblewoman,
cause I think United Hebrew Schools and of the Jewish Community Center of which
Valcvska who saved Poland by becoming Napoleon's unwedded
that is the he is an honorary hoard member. He is a member of the Detroit
who shared with him the exile at St. Helena, is no more.
place for Jews.
While Poland had her Pilsudskys and Hailers, she also possessed
Comn - eunity Council and a former member of the executive
Where else Jewish
a Mitzkevich, the great poet, Copernicus and Choppin. It had Eliza
hoard. Recently he was the chairman of the Nominating Committee
can
a
Jew
go?
Orheshko, whose novels were full of sympathy and understanding of
in the Council election.
I feel there is
the Jews as well as those of Maria Konopnitzkaya, the great symbolis-
In Many Organizations
no
place
for
a
tic \):riter, Przibizewsky, Tetmayer ;Intl the great Polish critic, Feld-
Jew in any
He belongs to the Round Table of Catholics, Jews and Protestant .;
man. Poland gave to the world, Madame Curie-Skladovska of radium
country in Eur- and belongs to the Detroit Board of Commerce. He is a member of
fame. In the Jewish life, Poland gave its Peretz, Opatashu an i
ope now nor the Boys Chub of Detroit. the Detroit Museum of Art Founders Sn.
Sholom Ascii and the philosopher Solomon Maimon. Zangwill's father
will there be defy. the Detroit Historical Society, Franklin Hills Country Club.
was born in Poland.
any place for Great Lakes Club and Grill Club. He is also a member of the Detroit
The new Poland has a labor government which distributed to the
Chapter of American Jewish Committee, the National Board of th.'
poor peasants the land which had heretofore belonged to the landed a generation to come.
Perhaps Mexico might he a good Joint Distribution Committee, and the East Central Division of the
aristocracy upon whose bounty the Polish peons depended.
The fascistic government of the prewar time did everything which place because it is so near to the National Council of Jewish Welfare Funds and Federations.
In 1931, he took a trip to Germany where he detected t growing
was harmful to the country. It allied itself with Hitler against Russia. United States.
I hope I never have to leave. I tendency in the direction of Hitlerism. He spoke to all hi friend . ;
It cut off its revenues by taking away the industry and commerce
from the only element capable of conducting it, the Jews, all for the am a real American and my boy about the dangers in Germany but he was poo-poohed as an alarmist.
sake of satisfying its sadistic tendencies for prosecution under the is still in the armed service. This Events, however, proved his predictions all too true.
Mr. Enggass is married to the former Helen Strasburger and has
fallacious name of patriotism. Perhaps, all that Poland went through is my home and this is the place
was worth while, for, there was no hope of a decent democratic I want to stay. one son. Robert.
I am an ardent Zionist and I
"I like the work I am doing now," he said. smiling. "I hope to
governaient under the old regime. Let us hope that the new, coura-
geous members of the new government will fight it through as we believe in Palestine as a home- continue in it as long as possible. That is about the only ambition
with Thomas Payne, say to them, "Any place where men lift their land. So if I really were forced to / have.
"Incidentally," he concluded, "I have been a constant reader of
leave the United States. there
heads towards light is my country. All mankind is my country."
would be only one place for me -- The Jewish Chronicle. I have noted quite an improvement in it since
available at the Zion Book Store, Palestine.
. the new personnel took it over."•
Hebrew, English and Jewish books
9008 12th Street, near Clairmount.

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