Page Two
Between
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1943, •Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
BERMUDA ECHOES
Now that the Bermuda Conference is
over, it can be stated that Jews have lost
rather than gained from this parley .. .
The loss consists in the fact that the con-
ference indirectly approved. the British
White Paper policy under which the
total future immigration to Palestine is
restricted to 30,000 Jews, mostly children.
One wonders why the American Fed-,
eration of Labor and the CIO were not
given representation at the Bermuda
Conference . . . Is it because they are
known to favor a maximum immigration
of refugees into the United States under.
the existing immigration quota, which
has not been filled during the last few
years? . . . While more than 150,000 im-
migrants can enter America under the
quota each year, there were only 23,737
Jewish- refugees admitted in 1940-41 and
about 37,000 in 1939-40 .. . The number
of non-Jewish immigrants admitted dur-
ing the same two years was 28,039 and
33,811, respectively . . . Figure out how
many more refugees could have been
admitted from Europe during these two
years under the quota.
We understand that •a detailed study
of the number of Jewish and non-Jewish
refugees that have been admitted to the
United States since Hitler_ came to power
is now being prepared by interested or-
ganizations .. . When this study will be
made public—which: may happen within
the next 10 days—it will show that the
United States admitted no more than
170,000 Jewish refugees from' Europe
during the 1933-41 period, as compared
with the 110,000 admitted into Palestine
during the same period . . .
*
*
ACTION AND COUNTERACTION
The secret orders of Gen. Giraud that
Jewish officers and soldiers be assigned
to non-combatant duty in order that
French JeWs after the war shall not be in
a position to claim privileges due war
veterans is causing plenty of commotion
in American-Jewish circles . . . Non-
Jewish liberal circles too are beginning
to take a hand in the situation . . . We
learn that the Council for Democracy
may soon start a real fight against Gen.
Giraud's abrogation of the Cremieux De-
cree and other anti-Jewish orders issued
under Giraud's command.
The FBI is now conducting a wide-
spread investigation with a view to dis-
covering the unknown but centralized
source from where millions . of copies of
anti-Semitic poems and leaflets are be-
ing distributed in war plants throughout
the country . . Many of these throw-
aways have been found recently in po-
lice, fire and postoffice buildings in many
large cities . • . New York authorities be-
lieve that those distributed in the East
are printed on presses located in a large
New York hotel . . . The Curtiss-Wright
airplane plant in Clifton, N. J., is one
of the plants where anti-Jewish litera-
ture is being disseminated in large quan-
tities among the workers.
The Essence
of Judaism.
By LEO BAECK
Editor's Note: Dr. &leek is the Chief Rabbi
of Berlin who was recently reported to have
bee!. deported to an Eastern European camp
b:: the Nazis. He is an eminent scholar and his
"Essence of Judaism" was published recently
in thbi country in an English translation.
"God-fearing," in the emphasized
meaning of the word, is applied to every
person who believes in the one God and.
does right. Words of 'quality, such as
"Chassid," saintly, or "zaddik," righteous,
which were intended to describe the best
among the Jews, begin to be alSo applied
to the heathen, till at. last . the moral
equality of the rights of all men finds
its clear and determined expression in
the sentence, which has become classical:
"The pious of all nations will have a
share in the life to come."
* * • *
Judaism speaks about the 'good man;
the words "a good Jew" are both for-
eign to the Bible and to the Oral Law.
It is man who is set before God. Earlier
than the covenant which God made ,•
through and with their descendants
through them, stands the - covenant which
God made through Noah with all man-.
kind. If they who accepted the service
of the one God in order to be His witness
before the whole World are. the• Children
of Israel, those heathen who refrain from
inhuman and "immoral acts are the Chile
dren of Noah; 'they . too"-ate the chosen
children_ of God.
THE JEWISH NEWS
Quotation. of the Week
"If an attempt were made to justify the abrogation of the Cremieux
law merely as a measure of appeasing the anti-Semitic feelings de-
veloped by German propaganda and by the servility of t h e Vichy
regime toward Nazi Germany, such an argument would deserve only
to be branded as unworthy of the cause for which the free peoples are
fighting. A precedent of this kind would involve the greatest dangers
for the future reconstruction of Europe and cannot be accepted by the
human conscience. Anti-Semitism is the vehicle of all Nazi poisons, and
in no event must any concession be made to it."
—Jacques Maritain, Noted French Catholic
Philosopher, President of Executive
Committee, Ecoles Libre des Hautes
Etudes, New York
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
(Copyright, 1943, Seven Arts Feature
Syndicate)
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
(Copyright, 1943, Independent
Jewish Press Service)
A JEW AND HIS BLOOD
HERZL'S FUNERAL
Many •)f us, throughout the land, con-
The late Stefan Zweig's autobiography
"The World of Yesterday," is a stirring tinue to• be disturbed over the indiffer-
book . . . His description of Theodor ence' of non-Jews to Jewish sufferings
Herzl's funeral 39 years ago is gripping and the frequently repeated cry that this
. . . We can't resist quoting this passage: is a "Jewish war." One of the means
"A tumult ensued at the cemetery; too used to counteract this stupid charge is
many had. suddenly stormed to his coffin, the gathering of data of our men and
crying, sobbing, screaming in a wild ex- women in the service, through the Bu-
plosion of despair . . . It was almost a reaus of War Records of the Jewish Wel-
riot, a fury . . . All regulation was upset fare Board.
through a sort of elementary and ecstatic
A Detroit newspaperman was rather
mourning such as I had never seen be- skeptical about anything we may do to
fore nor since at a funeral . . . And it offset damaging propaganda against us.
was this gigantic outpouring of grief
"There are more than 5,000 Jews in De-
from the depths of millions of souls that troit alone in the service," we showed
made me realize for the first time how him. "This is better than one in every 15
Muth passion and hope thiS lone and in our population." .
lonesome man had borne into the world
"If you showed the anti-Semites that
through the power of a single thought"
5,000 Detroit Jews are dead, they would
.. . Zweig was not a Zionist.
tell you that not enough Jews are dead,"
LISTEN HERE
was his pessimistic reply.
Even bad news often has a consola-
Is this the fate of the Jew and the
tory silver lining . . . To wit . . . A new blood he sheds for his country?
concentration camp for Dutch Jews has
been established by the Nazis in Vught; A BRITISH JEW'S COMMENT
In his exceedingly interesting book
in the Southern part of the Netherlands
.
. It has a capacity of 25,000, and is "Conflicts: Studies in Contemporary His-
reported to be filling rapidly .
. This tory," just published by Macmillan, Prof.
because German railroads are so busy L. B. Namier of Manchester 'University
carrying casualties and material that the relates the following incident:
."Overheard anywhere on the European
deportation • of Jews to Eastern -Europe
is being slowed up . . . Dutch Gentiles, Continent between 1919 and.1929:
'."Look at this Jew! What did he do in
by the way, have done heroic work in
the war"?' Some racketeering?' .
hiding Jews from the Gestapo.
" 'He was in the Army.'
•
Here's hoping that Ida Landau, cor-
" 'Ye-e-e-s! Somewhere behind the
respondent for the Overseas News
Agency, will give us a full inside report lines.'
" 'He served four years in the
on the failure of the Bermuda Confer-
ence. . . Which reminds us that ONA tren ches.' -
"'Well—even there he knew how to
scored a terrific scoop with its revelation
of the anti-Semitic statements by Gen. take care of himself. Why wasn't he
Gii and which the North African hander- wounded?'
" 'He was wounded several times.'
outers had suppressed.
" 'But so many of our best men were
ZIONIST NEWS
• killed. Why is he alive?'
That anti-Zionist resolution passed by
"Indeed, why not cut the cackle by
the Moslem Congress at New Delhi is starting with the last question?"
just another indication of the world-
We were rather disappointed . with the
wide scope of Arab propaganda . . . The attitude of the Detroit newsman. But
tragic aspect of this artificial injection of here comes an eminent British professor
PaleStine into the Indian issue is that it and agrees with him.
Is some English officials who helped to
project it . . . Emanuel Neumann, who THE BRIGHTER SIDE
recently resigned from the directorship of
But there is a brighter side to the pic-
the Zionist Emergency Committee, advo- ture. Prof. Namier's book also relates
cated—but unsuccessfully—Zionist coop- this incident:
eration with the pro-Ghandi Hindus in
"In the last war, a Jewish artist, with
this country.
pe. rmission from the War Office, was
Dr. Chaiin Weizmann has gone to the making sketches at the front. He looked
country, to shake off a persistent . physi- foreign. One day a Colonel found him
cal. weakness that plagues him since his at work.
•illness last winter.
" 'What are you doing here?' the
Judge Levinthal . is the recipient of Colonel asked sharply.
congratulations for the New York Times
" 'Drawing your battery.'
full-page reproduction of . the New • Pal-
" 'Have, you a permit?'
estine editorial quoting Churchill, M. P.,
"The artist fumbled in his pockets—no,
against Churchill, P. M. (Prime - MiniSter). he had left the permit at home.
"'What is your name?' thundered the
THIS AND THAT •
A young man— a non-Jew—recently Colonel.
" 'Goldberg.'
. came to • us to' report that anti-Semitic
" 'Carry on, .carry on,' replied the
literature in the •defense plants of the
East is multiplying without anybody do- Colonel, fully satisfied. 'Had you said
•Smith, I. should have put you under ar-
ing anything to stop it.
CIO ' leaders have appealed to Presi- rest.' This Colonel . had sense."
Now—don't say this happened in the
dent Roosevelt to do something about the
anti-labor headings in that same book of last war. It can and does happen in this
"New Testament Readings" which con- war also. All decency • is not dead and
tains an anti-Semitic footnote . . .A the world is safe as long as even a hand-
Pocket edition of that book is still being ful of the -"right kind" remain.
Therefore—the signal to us, too, is:
circulated, among the Catholic personnel
• CARRY ON! Even though occasional
.of the Army .of the United. States.
Sweden is ordering the best anti-Nazi gangs assault us, the cause of justice
books and filmS . produced in this country must and will survive.
. Political. observers call this a..syznp- • Gather the records (for our own sake
tom of the collapse of German influence if not that of our neighbors) ! Assert our
rights! The day of judgment cometh!
in that country.
Charlie Chaplain's "The Great Dicta- And for Israel, too, it will be a better
tor" will be shown in some hundreds of day!
cinemas in •Algiers, Tunis and Morocco,
to counteract Vichy's glorifi.cation of is the Army"—and Pvt. Harold Rome
Hitler.
has just repeated an old experience by
Irving Berlin has -just had a new ex- writing a new hit, - a number called, if
perience—acting before a camera for his we remember correctly, "Hup, Htip-
role in the Hollywood version . of "This Fiup, Tup, Thrup, Four." •
teiclay, May 7, 1943
Heard in
The Lobbies
By DAVID DEUTSCH •
(Copyright, 1943, Independent
Jewish Press Service)
GIRAUD DOUBLE-TALK
There isn't enough beef in six counties
to bring ,down the swelling on the black
eye which most of the American press
got as a result 'of General Giraud's fa-
mous speech in. which he freed the Jews
of Algeria from their citizenship. In the
morning-after hosannahs to the French
ruler of North Africa, the corps of .for-
eign correspondents was doing hand-
springs to prove that a new day had
dawned.
Syrupy words and honeyed phrases
sweetened things up until the Jews were
made to feel that Giraud's middle name
was Messiah.
The poor New York Times, which is
sometimes read by its publisher, Arthur
Hays Sulzberger, gave a sad performance.
Its on-the-spot reporters used the white-
washing brush with a grand splash. But
it took its managing editor, Edwin L.
James, to tear into the Giraud speech and
unmask its deceptive . phrases and dan-
gerous discriminations. Did that stop his
own correspondents? Oh, no.
The next morning they bounced right
back and chirped that the Jews them-
selves were happy to give up their citi-
zenship pour la guerre and another fel-
low was kind enough to say that after
all, the Jews were very educated people,
they could read and write, and they cer-
tainly shouldn't. have any trouble in pass-
ing a citizenship test. •
I'll say this for the general who slipped
out of the Nazis' hands. Giraud was slip-
pery enough to make the whole world
think the Cremieux law was only a shade
better than the • Nuremberg laws. He
gambled - on the fact that few people
know that Adolphe Cremieux was a solid
Jewish citizen of France, a courageous
leader in the battle of Jewish rights. In
fact, it was none other than this same
Cremieux, who organized the famous Al-
liance Israelite Universelle and whom all
French Jews revere as their great eman-
cipator.
ENCOMIA
To Martin Agronsky, that ace among
radio war reporters: welcome back to the
air waves. Your many fans are tuning in
regularly 'on your early morning reports
over the .Blue Network .. . . To Norman
Corwin, radio's premier ambassador to
England and back: we hope your present
, illness is nothing serious and that your
brilliant plays will reappear soon on the
air which you have electrified with many
a spark of genius . . . To Eddie Cantor:
10 years ago you were Number One on
the radio. You're still that to me and to
millions of others.
Alfred , Knopf doesn't have an editor
any more, now that Harold Straus. has
gone into the army.
tinily on the
Fighting Front
By .MILTON WEILL
The army is forging a practical instru-
ment for Brotherhood. Wherever the
army goes forces come into play affecting
the lives and aspirations not only of the
soldiers of the Jewish faith, but of all
soldiers. In a thousand and one Ways a
contribution is being made to under-
standing and fellowship, the far-reaching
effects of which we cannot at this mo-
ment completely foresee..
There is the incident of the young
Jewish corporal, from Fort Adams, R. I.,
who volunteered to sing in Protestant
Chaplain Earl Sidler's choir every Sun-
day morning at church services. Chap-
lain Sidler in a letter to Lavy Becker,
field - supervisor of the Jewish Welfare
Board in the New England section (Mr.
Becker : was formerly associated with the
Jewish Community Center in Detroit).,
repOrted "A gesture like this is far better
than all the books and lectures written
on :religious . tolerance in the results it
obtains. The spirit of that Jewish - young
man has left a deep impression, not only
with . myself but with all who heard him."
There is the Protestant: private at
Camp Croft, South Carolina, who Came
to the JWB worker with the request that
he be . permitted to observe . Ya.rzeit- for
his closest friend, a Jewish boy who had
c'ed two yeari before..
Here is' inter - faith undei'standing as a
practical reality—not " as an: idealistic
theory. Here we see ProteStant, Catholic
and : jew, both lay and CleriCal, working
side by side in a harmonioui inter-related
way:' Here we -see inter-faith actually
praCticed.
;i:Cfqp.yrigllt, 1913; Jewish Telegraphic
•
AOncy, Inc.)
" •
•