Pa g-e Two
Friday, December 4, 1942
THE JEWISH NEWS
Hanukah, 5703, Finds Jews Repeatin
Maccabean ` `er ism on ll ronts
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M.)
Jews Fight Back
By ILYA EHRENBURG
(Copywright, 1942, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
Hanukah this year finds counterparts of Judah
Maccabee and his Jewish "guerrillas" fighting in all
the armies of the United Nations. Especially valiant
has been the struggle of the Russian people and the
many JewS in the Red Army.—Editor.
MOSCOW (by wireless)—Hitler troops
have been torturing and violating Jewish wom-
en and girls and•burying old Jewish men alive.
In fact, Hitler planned to make the Jews of
Russia a special target, but the JeWs have
showed him that targets can shoot.
Jews have been scholars, workers, musicians, long-
shoremen, doctors and farmers. Today they have be-
come soldiers and they do not waive the right to
vengeance.
Kills 8 Nazis Singlehanded
For example: Eli Falkovich is a man in his late
forties who spent all his time at his desk in connection
with his work as a philologist. Precisely such men as
Falkovich are meat to the Germans; they try to get hold
of them and hang them on their gallows. But things
happened otherwise. Falkovich joined the Red Army.
One day his unit was cut off by the enemy. Falkovich
gathered about him his 18 men and when they came
face to face with a German unit he ordered them to
attack. Thirty-five prisoners were taken and Falkovich,
himself, killed eight Nazis.
A year ago the Germans attacked Moscow. Chaim
Diskin, son of a Crimean farmer and a student in the
Institute of Literature, was 17 when the war broke
out. He enlisted as a volunteer. At Moshaisk he en-
countered German tanks. Directing the fire of his anti-
aircraft gun downward, he smashed the leading tank.
Wounded severely, he stayed at his gun and destroyed
five German tanks. When the battle was over he had
fourteen wounds but the Nazis had been routed. He
was decorated with the gold medal of a Hero of the
Soviet Union.
Dodges 329 Bombs, Saves Sub
Capt. Israel Fisanovich, Hero of the Soviet Union,
•
and a commander of the submarine "Baby," showed the
Nazis how Jews sink "Aryan" bandits. Some 329 bombs
were hurled at his submarine but he reached his base
safely after having sunk four German transports.
Everyone in Leningrad 'knows of the heroic exploit
of radioman Reuben Sprintsov. Cut off from the Rus-
sian lines, Sprintsov and three other radiomen. one
Jewish and two Russian, held out against ' the Nazis.
Sent out to reconnoiter, he encountered a company of
Nazis and mowed them down with his tommy gun.
Lone Fighter Repels 2 Tanks
On the Stalingrad front, German tanks attacked
Soviet dugouts. David Katz flung a bottle of inflam-
mable liquid at the first tank which burst into flames.
The second tank started to turn back. Katz hurled a
grenade under its treads, stopping it, but its machine
guns still chattered away. With his bayonet Katz closed
the muzzle of one machine gun and continued to fight
until stretcher bearers removed him from the field.
The ancient Jews dreamed of "a promised land."
Today the Jews have a "promised land:" the front-lines
where they avenge the tortured women, old men and
children. The Jews are fighting side by side with Rus-
sians, Ukrainians, Byelorussians and others. Jews love
Russia with their heart and soul.
`Tell Him I'm a Jew'
By LEV NIKULIN
(Copyright, 1942, by JTA)
The reaction of the average Jewish soldier in
Russia to the anti-Semitic barbarities and arrogance
of the Nazis is illustrated in this repOrt of an inter
view in which a captured Nazi .prisoner was taken
down a peg when he found that his captors were
Jewish.
MOSCOW (by wireless)—The cross-ex-
amination was coming to an end. The lanky,
red-haired "ober-corporal" with pale, sleepy
eyes, stood leaning against the door-jamb look-
ing expectantly at the commander who was in-
terrogating him.
"It was all very unexpected," said the prisoner.
"There were twice as many of us in the dugout."
"Only twice as Many?" quieried the commander.
"There were sixteen of you and only three of our
scouts."
Killed 30 Nazis—Score Not Closed Yet
"Well, we managed to wound one of them, and if
it hadn't been for that Caucasian . . . " The prisoner
glanced over to where a tall lieutenant with a black
mouslAche was sitting. The latter turned to the inter-
preter and said:
"Tell him I'm a Jew, not -a Caucasian." The inter-
preter comploined.
"A Jew," exclaimed the German in such a tone
that the lieutenant sprung to his feet.
"Listen," he said, "tell him that three of us sent
fifteen of his pals to a place where they'll never be
able to kill or torture anymore. I killed six of them
myself." He paused for a moment. "Oh, never mind,"
he continued, hell with him. You just tell him that
I'm a Jew. 'That my name is Aaron Meisel and that
those six men in the dugout bring my total of dead
Nazis to 30 and the score is by no means closed."
The lieutenant buttoned up his overcoat and
walked out of the room. I followed him. He was stand-
ing- on the threshold breathing heavily. The scene in-
side had evidently upset him.
Father, Mother, Sisters Murdered
got my goat," he said as
"That red-headed b
I joined him. "He isn't used to the thought of hiS -
fellow cut-throats being bumped off by Jews. I've my
own score to settle with the Fascists. The bodies of my
mother and father and my sisters Rosie and Eva, just
children, were found lying in a ditch near Feodosia.
You think it was easy for me to let that red-headed
swine go? I had my knife at his throat with a vision
of my folks and thousands of other Jews murdered by
the Hitlerites before me. But my commander had
ordered us to take prisoners for questioning and I
figured that an obercorporal would be the best for the
purpose, so I spared him.
"Now I'm glad. If I had killed him it would, just add
another dead Nazi to my list, but I would never have
had the pleasure of telling him straight to his dumb
face that it was I, Aaron Maisel, a Jew, who wiped out
six soldiers and knocked the revolver from his hand
and dragged him here more dead than alive."
The door swung open an a pocket flashlight
showed the German prisoner stepping carefully over
the threshold accompanied by a guard. Aaron Meisel
turned towards him. The German met a look that was
full of hatred and wrath. He lowered his eyes and
quickly stepped into the darkness.
`Fear Not .
By JULIAN L MELTZER
(Copyright, 1942, by Independent Jewish Press
Service, Inc.)
The Hanukah. holiday celebrates not only the
feat of the ancient Maccabeans, but the spirit of faith;
courage and resistance of Jews in all adversity. In
this short story of Palestine Jews in the Western
Desert campaign, Mr. Meltzer, one of the foremost
corrspondents of the Middle East, recreates that new,
1942 type of Maccabean who is helping to regain the
Jewish National Home some 2100 years after Judas
Maccabeus made history with his valor.—Editor.
Edging himself forward by inches, the
young lieutenant reached the lip of the stony
ridge, his head just below the actual edge of it.
Cautiously he felt for his binoculars and
brought them forward ; then as cautiously he
eased himself up and, peering over the ridge,
surveyed through the glasses the barren ex-.
panse in front of him. The wilderness rolled on for miles
seemingly flat when viewed from ground level. • But
he, and scores of thousands of others of the British
Army who had become hardened in this strange des-
ert warfare, knew better. It was by no means flat. Like
a Yorkshire moor, the desert dipped and rolled. A
was almost imperceptible from his present position,
but he knew that the shadow about three hundred
yards ahead meant another fold in the terrain; and
so it went on, endlessly. -
Beginning of Libyan Campaign
Behind him, their truck concealed as well as pos-
sible in the lee of a high scrub bush, were 10 men.
The officer and men were Jewish. They belonged to
a transport company which had its headquarters 'some-
where in the Western Desert." It was the beginning
of the second Libyan campaign.
Carrying vital supplies, his platoon had been going
forward to a certain unit when the rumble of artillery
—it sounded like anti-tank gunfire—coming closer, had
warned that they were approaching the battle zone.
Having surveyed the apparently empty desert,
Lieut. Amram Bernstein pursed his lip and emitted a
soft whistle. His sergeant, a young Galilee-born farm-
er, Shimshon Harari—a name which, appropriately
enough for a Galilean, meant "Man of the Hills"—
crawled forward. Bernstein handed the sergeant his
glasses.
The sergeant eased himself up carefully and stared
intently at the horizon, then to the middle distance and
the foreground.
Bush May Hide Danger
"About 600 yards at 4 o'clock I can see oa dark
shadow," he announced. "The sun is behind us, but
their shadow is thrown forward. Looks as if there are
two things there—a bush, and something else lying in
front of it."
"That's what I saw, too," replied the lieutenant. "It
looks like an enemy scouting party. Either they're on
their own, and have lost their way, or they've been
sent ahead from the main body.'
He looked at the map again and - studied the co-
ordinates, consulting a slip of paper in his hand con-
taining the directions which he had been given at
headquarters.
"We're on the right route," he said at last. "The
men in front must be a reconnaissance party. Perhaps
(Continued on. Page 13)
Hundreds of Jews in Brazil
Volunteer to Fight Nazis
Rabbi Fram to Speak
At Zionist Hanukah
Festival Thursday
National Budget of $100,000
Adopted by Junior Hadassah
Algerians, Deprived of Rights by Vichy, Rush to Enlist;
Rabbis Join Soviet Guerrillas; Eyewitness Tells How
Germans Wiped Out Smolensk Jews
The Zionist Organization of
Detroit will sponsor a Hanukah
festival next Thursday evening
at Congregation Shaarey Zedek.
The following
program will be
featured:
Rabbi Le on
Fram will re-
view "Why a
Jewish S tat e,"
Cantor J. H.
Sonenklar, a c -
companied by
Miss Florence
K u t z-e n, will
Rabbi Fram render the fol-
lowing selections: "The 31st
Psalm" and "Kleine Lichtelach."
Community singing• will follow.
A social, with refreshments, will
follow the program. All are in-
vited. There will be no admis-
sion fee and no solicitation of
funds.
Nearly Half of Sum Will Go to Meier Shfeyah Children's
Village and Pardess Anna Citrus Farm; Rejects
Magnes' Ichud Proposal for Palestine
NEW YORK—Hundreds_ of Jewish refugees in Bra-
zil have expressed their desire to join the fight against
Axis oppression by enlisting in a special volunteer corps
of the Brazilian Army, it was disclosed this week by the
Joint Distribution Committee, major American relief
agency for aid to Jews overseas.
A communication received by
the J. D. C. office from Dr. Paulo
Zander, president of the "Uniao"
Associacao Beneficente Israelita,
leading Jewish welfare society
in Rio de Janeiro, discloses that
thousands of Jews applied for
admission to the corps when Bra-
zil became a belligerent. On the
first day of enlistment 300 were
accepted. Additional groups of
100 and 600, including veterans
of World War 1, were sworn in
within a few days.
The Brazilian government,
favorably impressed by these
acts, reinterpreted the laws re-
garding enemy aliens so as to
, permit participation in the war
'effort by German Jews who were
technically "enemy aliens."
Helped Refugees in Brazil
One of the most effective forms
of J. D. C. help to refugees in
Brazil took place last year when
it supplied $22,500 to enable 5,000
refugees to regulate their legal
status. When a decree was issued
whereby refugees could apply
for resident status and permis-
sion to seek employment by pay-
ing governmental fees and taxes
equivalent to $60 per capita, it
was found that funds available
locally were $22,500 short. By
supplying the balance, the J. D.
C. made it possible for these
refugees to become self-sustain-
ing.
North Africa Jews Get Chance
To Fight Hitler
NEW YORK (JPS)—Algerian
Jews who had been deprived of
citizenship under the Vichy re-
gime are being called for mili-
tary service, the classes of those
reaching 20 from 1938 to 1942 Mrs. Totenberg Heads
being first to respond to the
colors, William H. Stoneman Jr. J.D.C. Division
cabled to the Chicago Daily News
from Allied Headquarters in
Mrs. Roman Totenberg of New
North Africa.
York, prominent young philan-
The Berlin radio, obliquely re- thropic worker, has become the
porting on the Jewish response national chairman of the Junior
to the chance to fight Hitler's Division of the Joint Distribution
legions, asserted that Elliot Committee, major American
Roosevelt, son of the President, agency for aid to Jews overseas,
was leading an international bri- it was announced today by Mrs.
gade in North Africa composed Pauline Baerwald Falk, honorary
"mainly of Communists whom
chairman of the Junior Division,
the Americans freed in North
Mrs. Totenberg succeeds Lloyd G.
Africa and numerous Jews."
White.brook of New York, who
(Continued on Page 15)
enlisted in the Army Air Corps.
NEW YORK (WNS)—Miss Na-
omi Chertoff of this city, daughter
of Dr. Paul Chertoff, Associate
Professor of Rabbinics at the
J e w i s h Theological Seminary,
was elected national president of
Junior Hadassah, the young
women's Zionist Organization of
America, at the conclusion of its
19th annual convention.
The convention accepted bud-
gets totalling $100,000 for educa-
tion, vocational training and land
settlement projects for youth in
Palestine. Nearly half the sum
will go to the Children's Village
of Meier Shfeyah for underpriv-
ileged boys and girls and the
Pardess Anna citrus training
farm, both maintained solely by
Junior Hadassah. The rest of the
fund will aid the Henrietta Szold
School of Nursing, the Jewish
National Fund for land purchase,
and Youth Aliyah, which settles
refugee youth in farm and trade
centers.
Dr. Nahum Goldmann, who
represented the Jewish Agency
for Palestine in the League of
Nations, told the 1,000 delegates
that the only practical way to
solve the problem of the Jews of
Europe who will escape exter-
mination by the Nazis is "to
establish a firm foundation for
a new Jewish future in Pales-
tine."
Mr. Goldmann stressed the im-
portance of granting "autonomy"
to the free Jewry of the world to
effect a swift transfer of large
numbers of Jews from Europe to
Palestine after the war. He stated
that experience of the last
twenty-five years has shown that
"under a mandatory regime or
under the supervision of peoples
other than those directly affected,
he undertaking of mass transfers
meets with obstacles."
JR. HADASSAH REJECTS
THE MAGNES PROGRAM
NEW YORK (JPS)—Following
the lead of the adult organiza-
tions, the Z.O.A. and Hadassah,
Junior Hadassah rejected the
Ichud proposal for a bi-national
state in Palestine, fostered by
Dr. Judah L. Magnes, as one of
the resolutions adopted at its
19th annual convention held
here.
A warning against confusing
allied victory with solution of
the Jewish problem was sounded
by Dr. Chaim Weizmann, Jewish
Agency President, in a message
addressed to the young women's
organization. "Among the many
voices you - hear, none is more
designed to lull you into com-
placency than the voice which
says that a victory of the United
Nations will automatically solve
the Jewish problem," the Zionist
leader declared.
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