Page Sir
THE JEWISH NEWS
Canteen
O
NE EVENING LAST FALL,
I was sitting on a bench in Central Park, taking a
breath of fresh air and admiring the fantastic
panorama of lighted buildings that face north. It
was almost time for me to wander across the street
to do my bit as one of the hosts at the 65th Street
Canteen, run by the Jewish Welfare Board for the
USO—a Canteen, let me add, at which men in
uniform, of any faith, are made welcome. A husky
buck private, a typical midwestern giant of six
feet three, was sitting on the bench adjoining mine.
He offered me a cigarette, and in a few moments
we were engaged in conversation. He had the most
remarkable- vocabulary of profane and filthy words
I have ever heard, and I've been around and heard
some in my time. For the want of something better
to say, I asked whether he had been to the Stage
Door Canteen, that haven for soldiers and sailors.
"What d'ya mean—that stink hole in Times
Square?"
I gulped and shook my head.
"Yeah, I bin there, an' so help my guts, I ain't
never goin' ag'in."
"Why?" I asked.
"'Cause, like every blank blank thing, it's run
by a lot o' blank Jews."
"I thought it was run by actors," I said.
"Actors, my blank! They're nothin' but a lot o'
blank Jews. This blank war is being financed by
Jewish millionaires. Hell, they started it so's the
Jews could profiteer."
"I believe I did hear it was the Jews who attacked
Pearl Harbor," I said.
"Well, now, that ain't exactly a fact, but I
wouldn't be surprised if in a round-about-way—"
"Do you know any Jews?" I interrupted.
"Sure thing. We got two in our company—
couple o' beauts."
"Have you ever been in that Canteen over there?"
I asked, pointing to the place I was about to go.
"You mean than blank sheeny joint? Jeez, I
wouldn't be found dead there."
"It is a sheeny joint, but do you know that 90 per
cent of the boys who go there are Gentile—and
they seem to come out alive?"
"That's a lot o' hooey, pal; no self-respectin'
fellah'd eat with those Christ killers."
That did it. I hadn't heard that vile expression
since I was a boy, and it riled me just as it did
then, when I felt I was responsible for a crime
I hadn't committed.
"Now listen to me, you. You're talking to a
full-blooded Jew, so—"
"Aw, but you're a real guy an' a pal. I don't
have any feelin'—"
"Just the same, I was among those who started
this war, according to you."
"Hold on thar, buddie. I—er—"
"I ought to do one of two things—but I won't
do either."
"What's that?"
"I ought to give you a good sock in the nose—
which wouldn't be very sensible."
"What d'ya mean?"
"You'd beat me up. You're bigger and stronger
than I am, and that wouldn't be fun—for me."
"No kiddin'."
"The other thing I ought to do is stop this
gabbing with you and leave you flat. But I'm not
going to do that either; because I want to take you
over to that 'sheeny joint', as you call it, and
introduce you to a couple of Jews."
"I wouldn't use one of 'em for a door mat!"
"What with things being rationed, you might
have to use something a darn sight less comfortable
than a Jew as a door mat before this war is over,"
I ventured.
At that, I got up. The boy was obviously em-
barrassed and at a loss to know exactly what to do.
"Wish ya didn't have to go," he said somewhat
hesitantly. "I sorta enjoyed talkin' to a real fell ah."
"Even if he's a real Jew?"
"Don't be sore. I jes git my mouth full of a lot
o' words an' spit 'em out as they come."
"How about taking me over there? No harm
looking at the outside. We could do a bit more
gabbing."
"But I ain't goin' in!"
So we strolled slowly toward the gay USO flag,
with its hospitable sign of welcome. At the en-
trance I stopped and said, "You say I'm your pal.
If I asked you—as a favor—to have a look at the
`joint', would you do it?"
He hesitated some time. "Beim' as you put it
thataway, I reckon I ain't in no position to refuse."
It is a rule of the Canteen to register every man
in uniform, both for the sake of the record and
to be able to write to the boy's parents that he has
visited there and seemed well, etc. There ensued
a long argument with my soldier before he finally
consented to conform to the rule.
I could. not help .noticing his surprise when he
.
.
Friday, April 9, 1943
The author of this human interest story is a pianist, lecturer
and playwright, whose first play, "Encore," starred Ethel
Barrymore. The Jewish News is indebted to Common Ground
for the rights to reprinting this story.
by VICTOR WITTGENSTEIN
entered the hall with its inviting dining room,
bounded on one side by a luxurious lounge with
beautifully appointed writing desks, with tables
creaking under the, weight of every up-to-date
magazine, with overstuffed chairs and sofas galore.
On the other side are game tables for ping-pong,
billiards, Chinese checkers, and cards. In the center
is a large dance floor and a spacious stage, where
artists great and small .delight in entertaining the
boys.
A particularly lovely hostess met us with a
smile and the usual, "May I give you a nice
dinner?"
My aggressive companion looked at me helplessly
and stuttered, "Is—is it free?"
"As the air you breathe," I answered.
He had a man-sized meal. An attractive junior
hostess joined him, and out of the corner of
my eye I saw him deep in conversation with her.
Later he gave a good account of himself on the
dance floor, jitterbugging wildly. I chuckled to
myself but went on about my duties of the evening,
playing checkers with a gob, all the while keeping
tabs on my belligerent soldier.
As I was about to leave, two hours later, he
tugged at my sleeve. "Say, pardner, I jes got to
speak to you. I don't know how to say it—I—well,
I—sorta shot off my trap out yonder, more'n I had
ought. But don't be sore, 'Cause I meant it when
I said you're my pal."
"Think no more about it. I won't. Did you enjoy
your dinner?"
"I'll say. It was jes mighty fine. Look here. I'd
like to ask you a question. Are all these here
folks sheen—, I mean Jew people?"
"Every last one. Even the food you ate was
Jewish."
"What d'ya mean? I heerd tell o' lots o' queer
things, but I never heerd o' Jew food."
"It's called kosher food."
"Kosher?"
"Food prepared according to the law of Mores."
"Holy Jesus!"
"Holy Moses," I corrected.
"Kin I come back sometime?"
"Any time you like. And bring as many of your
buddies as you can."
"Hell, I'll bring the whole damn company!"
"Look here, soldier. I'm going to ask you to do
me a favor."
"Any damn thing you say. Shoot."
"From now on, when you speak of us, I mean
us Jews, call us Jews, for that's what we are Not
sheenies."
"I sure will, an' no kiddin'!"
"Good night, soldier." I extended my hand.
He grasped it warmly. "Call me Al. And no
hard feelin's, I hope, Mr.—Mr.—by the way,
what's your name?"
"Victor."
"Good night, Uncle Vic—an' I'll be seem` ya
—soon!"
After this, almost every time I was at the
Canteen, there was my swaggering soldier, cavort-
ing around as if the place were his own. He brought
droves of boys to share in what he regards as his
discovery.
"I ain't said sheeny once since that night, an'
I'd slug any guy in the kisser who did," he assured
me.
A few nights ago he appeared—rather sheep-
ishly—with two black eyes and other signs of
battle.
"For crying out loud," I exclaimed. "What's
happened to you?"
"Aw, nothin'," ,he said evasively.
"Come clean, Al. Tell me about it."
"Well, if you have to know, I was with a bunch
o' fellahs, an' I jest tole 'em I was keeping com-
pany with a Jew girl from up hyar—that I'd been
to her house for dinner to meet her ole man an'
her mom—and' that they were mighty nice folks-
jes folks like anybody else. Well—an' they started
razzid.' me an' ended by saying rotten things about
the Jews."
"For instance?" I interrupted.
"They said the Jews started this hyar war, an'
a lot o' things else that got my goat. Things I
know ain't true. So I landed into two of 'em, an'
firs' thing ya know, it was a free for all. Nobody
knowin' who was fightin' or for what. 'Cept me an'
my buddie. An' if you think I got beat up, you
ain't seen nothin'! You oughta see the other guys!"
Profile of Saul K. Padover
Detroiter Is Jefferson's Biographer
The Assistant to the Secretary
of the Interior of the United States
is one of the most remarkable men
in government. A' schOlar and his-
torian, Saul K. Padover is a living
proof of the reality of the Am-
erican way of life. This brief
sketch is an introduction to his
career, climaxed recently by his
publication of a • biography of
Thomas Jefferson, father of relig-
ious liberty in the United States.
—The Editor.
By Joel Wolffsohn
Robert Moses is here. New
York's Park Commissioner
doesn't believe America can di-
gest many more immigrants.
William Kiplinger, Washing-
ton correspondent for business
men, suggested in his recent book
that the Jews, constituting four
per cent of the population, should
avoid an "excessive loading of
the government with . Jewish
citizens."
If Moses and Kiplinger had
been immigration commissioners
at New York harbor, Saul K.
Padover probably would not
have been a citizen of the United
States today. And Dr. Padover
would certainly not have been
assistant to Secretary of the In-
terior Harold Ickes.
Had No Patience
Thomas Jefferson, the two
hundredth anniversary of whose
birth will be celebrated on April
13, had no patience with the
Moses or the Kiplinger point of
view.
Dr. Padover is one of the bio-
graphers of Jefferson, having
written what is regarded as one
of the most thorough, if not act-
ually the best study of the one
president who did more than any
other to strengthen the founda-
tions of religious freedom in the
United States.
Born In Austria
Dr. Padover was born in Aus-
tria in 1905, and lived there un-
til 1918. When he came to the
United States in 1921, his mind
was, under -the.. impression of..a.
brutal pogrom during which he
had seen his relatives slaught-
ered.
His first task was to acquire
English. This he did thoroughly
in the public schools of Detroit.
By 1928 he had received his
Bachelor of Arts degree from
Wayne University. He went on
to the University of Chicago, to
specialize in history, which fas-
cinated him. While at Wayne he
wrote a column signed 'S. K. P.'
After a time at Yale, he went
back to Chicago, obtaining his
Master of Arts in 1930. His ex-
ceptional abilities earned him a
traveling fellowship and the fol-
lowing year was spent in Europe.
By the time he returned to the
University of Chicago in 1932,
he was amply ready for his Doc-
torate in Philosophy.
Called To Teach
He was called to West Virginia
Teachers College as professor of
history but remained there for
only a short time. The following
year, 1933, when the New Deal
was ushered in, Padover went to
the University of California, as a
research associate in history.
in 1936 the Guggenheim Foun-
dation included him among
scholars who deserved a travel-
ing fellowship.
The tragic memories of Pad-
over are incorporated in his
novel, "Let the Day Perish," a
re-creation of a Polish pogrom.
It might well stand as an accus-
ing finger pointing at those anti-
Semitic Poles in London who are
trying to divert the Polish gov-
ernment-in-exile from its pres-
ent liberal course.
Before he had gone to Europe,
Dr. Padover had also written a
biography of Joseph II of Aus-
tria called "The Revolutionary
Emperor." It was the account of
a man who had tried to be lib-
eral in a reactionary milieu. It
is indeed notable that Padover's
biographies tend to subjects who
try to rise above their times
His books show him to be
dominated by the idea that re-
ligious freedom is the foundation
of democracy and of liberty. He
must have enjoyed the parallels
between the writings of Joseph
and of Jefferson on that subject.
Personal Obligation
In writing his biography of
Jefferson, Padover must have
been inspired by a sense of per-
sonal. obligation. After all, it
was Jefferson who wrote the Bill
for Establishing Religious Free-
dom and severing the Church
from the State which was passed
by the General Assembly of Vir-
ginia.
It is fitting that Padover, Jew-
ish immigrant, who has served
history well by his dedication to
it, should be a living symbol of
the tenet which Thomas Jeffer-
son tried to make an everlasting
part of the fabric of Atherica.
As Assistant to the Secretary of
the Interior of the United States,
he is not only a scholar in gov-
ernment but a token of the Am-
erican way in action.
(Copyright, 1943, Independent
Jewish Press Service)
Next Week's
Features
Next week's issue of The
Jewish News will carry a
number of special features
dealing with the Passover
festival.
..The leading article in
next week's issue will be
KATIE STI EG LITZ
by the outstanding Jewish
novelist in the world,
SHOLEM ASCH