-.7,• ■■■••■■ ••• 1, Friday, July 25, 1,47 Strictly Confidential Flash: Welles Slated to Succeed Marshall Impending Appointment as.Secretary Silences Him at the ZOA Conclave By PHINEAS J. BIRON 1 T cancellation of his speech before the 50th annual Zionist Con- IS SAID THAT the real reason for Sumner Welles' last-minute vention in New York was this: He is slated to succeed General Marshall as Secretary of State in the near future, and was advised not to compromise himself by participation in a purely Zionist affair. You see, he may have to deal easily guess whom they purge officially with the UN Commis- as Communist agitators these sion's report on Palestine . . . days .. . • • • Of interest to our Jewish DISGRACE MOTHERHOOD leaders who ACCORDING ACCORDING to well-informed have expressed anti-Semitic Fascism such enthusi- is being spread throughout asm over the America more effectively by Truman doc- women's organizations than by trine of aid to men's groups. Those in the know Greece and realize that the KKK and the Turkey: 'Estia' Columbian are on the decline. is Grece's big They are too obviously unre- industrialist spectable in many sections of P. J. liken daily newspa- our country. per. It is on the list for a sub- The real danger lies in the sidy—or so it hopes—from the ,rapidly increasing "Mother" or- $250,000,000 fund which the U.S. ganizations. The most important has voted to Greece. of these is the National Blue A few weeks ago "Estia" re- Star Mothers, headed by Agnes ferred to the liquidation of Waters, a rabidly anti-Semitic UNRRA with great joy, com- Washington society matron. She menting as follows: ''It is a good is the lady who, you may re- thing that the Jewish-Commu- member, once ran for President nist organization UNRRA is con- on the platform that "all dirty ducting its activities in Greece". Jews and Prident Roosevelt It UNRRA is called Communist would be hanged." Another efficient "Mother"- and Jewish by the elements now (Continued on page 15) in power in Greece, you can Capital Letter Marshall Plan Vital to Palestine's Trade Strong European Economy Viewed as Stimulus to Sale of Zion Goods By CHARLOTTE WEBER Page Thr,.. DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE Barney Balaban's Success Story ' By DAVID D. SPIGLER CONSIDERED the world's big- " gest motion picture exhibitor and most important film critic, Barney Balaban, president of Paramount Pictures, sees about 250 pictures per year, including British, French, Russian, Italian and Mexican films, and almost every American film made. This is only part of his job as head of the oldest, and again the biggest motion picture com- pany in the USA. (Back in the early 30's Paramount went bank- rupt to the tune of $100 million. but in little more than a decade the company was out in fron' again.) Barney Balaban was born it Chicago in the rear of the fam- ily's grocery store on June 8, 1887 to Israel and Goldie Bala- ban, who had emigrated from the Ukraine six years earlier. By the time Barney was 12 years old he was working as a Western Union messenger boy. • • • Personal Problems Mother's Red Hair Was Crown of Glory IT WAS MAMA'S IDEA IN 1907, HIS BROTHER and sister, Abraham and Ida, got jobs in one of those new- fangled entertainment houses — the nickelodeon. Abraham played the piano and Ida sang. Mama Balaban didn't think it was quite right for her children to work in such a place so she got Barney to take her over to check up on them. It was a ty- pical nickelodeon in an old store with the counters out, 100 loose chairs, a projection ma- chine and a bedsheet for a screen, and no ventilation. As it turned out, it can be said that the Balaban boys, Barney and A. J. (as Abraham is known) were started on the road to success by their moth- er's vision. When Goldie Bala- ban got home that night she told the boys that Was the busi- ness to get into, and a portion of the family savings was risked in renting the nickelodeon thea- ter. By 1908 the Balabans were building the first movie theater with pipeorgan and balcony and by 1917 they owned five thoa- ters. Seven years later 40 thea- ters in Chicago were operating under the Balaban banner. Iler Ways Were Simple and Modest But No Once Got the Beskof Her - By DR. W. A. GOLDBERG FAMILIES SHOW interesting studies of personality differences. was conservative, quiet, hard-working, self-effacing, self-denying. Dad too was hard-working, somewhat extroverted, but inclined to throw his weight around a bit. Mother preferred anonymous charity; Dad wanted public recognition . . . Mother was a redhead, but nobody's fool and she seldom lost her temper. Dad was elected president of which meant that he always was • s s• Shul. Perhaps it the last one to come home on would- be better to call it a Saturday and holidays, mother "Shulchel." a put her foot down. "Enough for little shut. for one man," she said. "Besides, the i t a member- hungry and we all ship was very children get * want to eat." small. To Dad, As president, it was his priv- that was more than being ilege to bid first for Torah call. The highest honor he could get, president of the United as a commoner in Israel, was the third portion or the Maftir. States. The Shul was Dad used these public occasions modest, of to make congregational contrib- his dues. wood, its pil- utions beyond Dr. Goldberg • • • lars wooden, its benches of SHAMOS HAD SYSTEM stained pine, the Torah covers ORTHODOX congregations. and ornaments modest—as fits IN money was never carried on ordinary people. It could never compare with the Winder Shul. Saturday or the holidays. Thus the Beth Jacob Shul or the old the Shamos, who had to be lit- Shaarey Zedek—of brick with erate,/ devised a bookkeeping stone coping, marble pillars, system. He had a series -of en- stone lions and, it was rumored, velopes for the Torrh positions the ornaments and coverings of and slips to show .ne amounts donated for the congregation, the the Torah were actually gold. Rabbi, the Cantor and the Sha- • • • mos. The last was very im- HIGHEST HONOR portant. He held his breath in DAD NEVER had any other expectancy, waiting to see if and public recognition ... Even, how much the member contrib- (Continued on page 16) so, after three terms in office— Plain Talk Friendliness Absent In Big Synagogues Reform Congregations' Indorsement of Smaller Temples Is Applauded • • • WASHINGTON—The development of the Marshall plan for the T WAS A BIG Temple in the big city of Metropolis. In Metropo- OSCARS IN ROW 2 over all economic reconstruction of Europe is being watched lis everything was done on a big scale. They had counted every with great interest from all corners of the globe. For upon the WHEN PARAMOUNT came brick in the new Metropolis skyscraper and the press had proudly success or failure of the plan will largely depend the future well out of bankruptcy in 1935, the announced 3,467,982 bricks and was there another city that could being of the world economy. Balaban and Katz 130-theater The plan envisages the cooperation of all European countries chain in Chicago, headed by claim more than 3,467,982 in any structure. It was said that Anshe Giborim Temple had well done its part in planning a program of mu a standard work in the Holy Barney Balaban was financially toward the bigness of Metro- Ile came in through a door tual assistance in rebuilding declared in January that the soundest part of the parent polis. Its purpose was to have behind the Ark of the Law, their individual economies. It Land, company's entire setup. The the Arab boycott had forced the bigtcst congregation, the big- calls for an estimate of overall slipped out the same way after stockholders were looking for a gest Temple financial aid which will be re- Jewish manufacturers to seek new manager to run the „whole the service and that was all but and the big- markets in western countries for a few of the members of the quired from the United States. show and their eyes lighted on ! gest Rabbi if Upon the successful evolution their products. biggest congregation could know the the ex-nickelodeon manager it could ever The success they had had in of the Marshall plan may de- of Chicago. make up its of him. You might say that the Rabbi pend Palestine's future as an finding outlets for their goods Balaban took over the job of mind who was in Norway, Sweden. Switzer- was like the managing director industrial country with a strong putting Paramount back on its the biggest. land and Holland. for example, feet in July 1936, together with big corporation, and what export trade. (So far it was of a • • he said, had negated those lost Stanton and Griffis, a leading managing director knows any claiming that through the Arab boycott. but the big stockholders? And, INDUSTRY BOOMS stockholder. By 1940 they made its present in fact, in the affairs of Anshe He went on to point out that it, only to find all their foreign has ALESTINIAN industry P 3 - Rabbi was the the real future for Palestinian business lost when the Nazis be- Giborim an average member .1 biggest, but it made great strides in the last export trade lay in finding in- gan to overrun Europe. But had about as much to say as an . Al Segal couldn't be too decade. Jewish manufactures in- creased markets in the western they were saved by the fact sure.) On the wall of the Tem- average stockholder in the enor- creased many times over during countries. Corp. that people at home began go- ple's spacious foyer—it looked mous U. S. Doorknob the war years, due in large part • • • Should the Marshall plan be ing to the movies during the almost as big as a hotel lobby— to the filling of military con- A REAL MIXUP tracts. From 1939 to 1946 her ex- really effective in putting Euro- war as never before and the a bulletin board each week an- A CONGREGATION so big pean countries on their feet Paramount studio was now turn- nounced the number of mem- IN port trade increased in value as Anshe Giborim how many economically the nature of Pal- ing out good pictures that led bers . . . 1500... 1599 . . . 1650 from 5,100,000 pounds to 14,781,- members could the Rabbi know 000. Quoting from the magazine estinian products seems to indi- to two Oscars in a row—"Going and so on until the climactic in person, though he was wil- "Palesti I , and the Middle East" cate that they would be in heavy My Way" in 1944 and "Lost week when Anshe Giborim demand in the continuing pro- Weekend" in -1945. could announce it had attained ling enough to know everybody. iblished in Tel Aviv: • • • 2500 members . . . "And now When he walked in the street, W"It is clear that during the cess of reconstruction. European diets, for instance, TOO BUSY TO WED 3000 is Anshe Giborim's goal," he was always being embarras- year 1946 the terms of trade are woefully deficient in the cit- ALTHOUGH TODAY he is the bulletin said. "Let's go and sed by faces vaguely familiar... were definitely in Palestine's fa- "Yes, I've seen that face some- vor. That is to say that Pales- rus fruits and citrus fruit prod- acknowledged the most success- get it." where. lie may be a member." • • • tine's export prices were higher ucts which are Palestine's chief ful, Barney Balaban is said to Lest this might be a dues-pay- be the most modest of the big above the pre-war level than e x p or t commodity. LIKE BIG BUSINESS er's face, he nodded. were her import prices. The Potash and other minerals movie tycoons. So, as it turned out, Anshe He has one passion outside, of IF YOU SAT hi the last pew export trades thus contributed from the Dead Sea are much in Anshe Giborim Temple the Giborim was just too big. In its more to the national good in needed in soap making and in movies, and that is for Amer- Rabbi in his pulpit looked al- Min- % nsity the members couldn't 1946 than any other trade since making fertilizer. a vital item ican historical documents. Except for occasional swim- most as far off as Heaven. He get to know each other, even every day's labor spent in the in the restoration of European ming or horseback riding, Para- was so remote that a lot of the though as it was said, they were export trades brought in more agriculture. all God's children together in than the equivalent in foreign The growing Palestinian drug mount's prexy has no other hob- members of the congregation God's house. There was that em- never could be sure what he bies. He was so busy building goods and services." industry could well furnish Eu- barrassing occasion when th. • rope with desperately needed up a movie empire that he looked like, except by his pic- Rabbi married the wrong peo- couldn't even find time to get FIND NEW MARKETS medical supplies and her textile ture that from time to time ap- ple to each other. CONOMIST Robert Nathan, and wearing apparel trades could married until 1929. Then at 42, Among 25Q0 members he peared in the Metropolis Trib- of he married Mrs. Tillie Urkov " whose book, "Palestine:Prob- help to supplement bleak' Euro- (Continued oa page L5) Chicago. km and Promise," has become .pean clothes rations. By ALFRED SEGAL 1 7 E