Page Two Strictly Confidential By PHINEAS J. BIRON (Copyright. • 1944, by Seven Arts Feature Syndicate) WE'RE TELLING YOU Gerald L. K... Smith, America's would- be fuehrer, has this to say, in his "The Cross and the Flag," about the recent disclosures of anti-Semitism in Boston: "What has been taking place in Boston is just a pimple on the skin of our body politic" . . . In Chicago anti-Semites are busily or- ganizing for the coming elections, pre-_ cinct by precinct . . . Their aim is to show the politicians that "it pays to be an anti-Semite" . . . It's up to us anti- Fascists, Jewish and non-Jewish alike, to demonstrate that they're wrong. * * * COMMENT Down on the East Side Winchell has discovered a monument-maker who be- lieves in preparedness , . . This fore- sighted individual displays in his place of business a sample gravestone en- graved: "Adolf Hitler—died 1944" . . Berlin papers please copy , . . From the grapevine comes the story that in Naziland the word whispered from mouth to mouth is: "Enjoy the war while you can—for the peace will be terrible". In the Bronx they're saying that if Hitler phoned Hirohito 'it would be a poison-to-poison call. * * * LITERARY WORLD . . . Paul Hagn, author of "Germany Af- ter Hitler," was born with the name Karl Frank, but has used his non-de- plume for many years . . . It was sug- gested to him by the late Yiddish news- paperman B. Charney Vladeck, he re- veals. With Purim looming on the horizon, we want to call the attention of Sunday Schools, Centers and clubs to something novel in the line of Purim plays ... It's a sprightly piece in charming verse, and should make a great hit with audiences, especially since it's written in a spirit of fun particularly appropriate to Pur- im . . . The title is "It Happened in Elam," the author is Dorothy Ellin Flax, and information and authorization can be obtained from the Union of American Hebrew Congregation, Cincinnati. * * * WAR NEWS Dave Lipton, publicity director of Columbia Pictures, is in the Army now . . . Dave is a brother of Laurence Lip- ton, the writer. In case you've ever wondered who first thought up those attractive corsages made of War Stamps, we'll tell you that the inventor was one Harry A. Perlman, who at the time was a dollar-a-year man in the Army. Movie actor John Garfield's next film will probably have him portraying a war hero. In the Windy City there's talk of send- ing Marine Sergeant Barney Ross to Congress. * * * ABOUT PEOPLE Hats off to the Rev. Richard E. ,Evans, who, to keep faith with an audience awaiting him in Bangor, Me., chartered a private plane at Portland . . Flying Dick's Bangor speech was on the theme "Open the Gates of Palestine." Best wishes for a speedy recovery to Isaac Carmel, veteran Zionist worker, who recently broke his leg . . It hap- pened at New Haven, Conn.—and a few hours after he was put in a cast Carmel addressed a Zionist meeting. Now that septuagenarian Charles Mi- chelson has retired from his Democratic National Committee publicity duties, he's settled down to writing his memoirs . . We hope he includes some intimate details concerning his late brother, the physicist and • Nobel Prize winner Al- bert A. Michelson. Plan Wedgwood Memorial Canteen NEW YORK (JPS)—A. .,WedgWood Memorial Committee, recently formed here, will push the sale . of • "Testament to Democracy," the last creative" effort of the late Colonel Josiah - C.:WedgwOod, the proceeds from which will go toward the establishment of the • Wedgwood Canteen and Rest Center for Allied troops in Britain. The Canteen will be in the charge of the Religious Emerg- ency Council of the Chief Rabbi of the United Kingdom. Among the sponsors of the book are Lord Halifax, British Ambassador to the United States; Sec- retary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes; Sir Norman Angell, and Dorothy Thompson. Moses Schonfeld is honorary secretary of the committee. THE JEWISH NEWS North African Vignette By HAROLD U. RIBALOW The night slanted in on stealthy feet through the city of Casablanca. It was my first view of the French Moroccan city and the blend of Occident and Orient has remained always with me. It was the Sabbath. With two friends, I entered the Chapel where Jewish services were about to take place. Sailors and soldiers filled up the seats. For the first time in my life-I was attending services in a foreign land. In the street the noisy chatter of evening was making itself heard in the chapel. In the building sat hundreds of Jews, soldiers and sailors, officers and enlisted men—and one Moroccan' woman '— seeking comfort in an alien city in a foreign land during a Sabbath service. Some of the others were strange to their surroundings. They held the prayerbook gingerly in their hands. The Hebrew script was strange to :them, it was obvious. A Lt. Colonel sat importantly in a front pew, nodding quietly as the men prayed. The Army chaplain, with an accent best described as "Brooklynese," presided over us. The prayers said were heartfelt. A Navy chaplain, natty and resplendent in his blue dress, delivered the sermon. He spoke of a Jewish community in Surinam, which he had visited during his travels as a Navy chaplain. He spoke feelingly, Warmly and in an un-sermonic manner. He won his audience quickly, and as he spoke I noted the rapt expressions on the faces of the men, and I thought to myself: These men are not soldiers now; they are Jews at prayer; listening to their rabbi. The sermon ended. The crowd moved, aimlessly for a moment, as crowds do immediately upon dispersal. We found the streets of Casablanca again. Urchins begged for a cigarette. Street vendors offered trinkets at exorbitant prices. Soldiers walked in threes, saluting officers regularly. Military police walked their beats as American cops do at home, in the States. Suddenly, the Sabbath seemed at an end. The cheap commercialism of the streets put a period to the nostalgic dreams of holiness and home. Then two old men walked past. us. Unmistakably they were Jews in the ancient orthodox tradition. We looked at them wonderingly. I stopped them and asked: "Are you Jews?" I spoke in Hebrew. They answered, in French, that they were. Then one muttered angrily, as they walked on: "These Americans speak the Holy Tongue as an everyday language." No wonder in their hearts that Hebrew was spoken by an American., only contempt and anger that Hebrew was, according to them, misused. But two young men overheard us. They were Moroccan Jews. They spoke Hebrew. Both were dark-skinned and looked like Arabs. They gesticulated like Arabs. They smelled like natives. They were Jews. Their Hebrew was poor. Noticing that we spoke fluently they looked uncomfortable and moved along. Night enveloped the city. A crescent moon was the only guide we had. We found the road to camp and found our way back. Sabbath in Casablanca. Smells and sounds . . . Jews and Arabs and French and English and Americans—all blended to make a city. Religion was with us as we reached our tent. How odd it was to find Sabbath away from home. • —Front Congress Weekly Purely Commentary Heard in The Lobbies By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ By ARNOLD LEVIN HORE-BELISHA AS JEWISH LEADER Leslie Hore-Belisha, one-time stormy petrel in British politics, is assuming a role of leadership in Jewish ranks. His recent acceptance of membership on the executive of the British Board of Jewish Deputies aroused wide interest, and his presence at several events at which the Zionist cause was encouraged, were sig- nals for rejoicing among Jews. - Mrs. Archibald Silverman of Provi- dence, R. I., upon her return from an eventful tour of England in behalf of Palestine's redemption, brought word that Mr. Hore-Belisha is evincing deep interest in Jewish movements, and re- cent events appear to corroborate it. (Copyright, 1944, Independent Jewish Press Service, Inc.) We Would Rather Not Report This Every so often a reporter hits upon a bit of news so painful that he would rather not report it, but then he feels that is for the common good for him to do so . . . As, for instance, the fol- lowing: At a confab of leaders, it was charged that a certain revered person gave priority to other engagements over an invitation to the White House to dis- cuss vital Jewish matters. This fact was later reported in a confidential bulletin of a responsible Jewish organization . . . There is talk in Zionist lobbies that the presentation of the case for the Jewish * * * Commonwealth resolution at recent hearings of the House Foreign Affairs NATION'S "SPIRITUAL TREASURY" Committee consisted of too much impro- Here ' is a specific example of this visation and too little preparation. The British statesman's case stood up well because of its own new concern over moral and legal merits and because Jewish matters. A re- Zionism in America has a number of cent meeting of the personalities who can present an effect- Council of the United ive case any time of day or night, at a Synagogues, conven- moment's notice. . ed in London for the * * * purpose of discussing ANTI-ZIONIST PICNIC the future of religious Rabbi William Fineshriber of the Jewish education in American Council for Judaism, one of England, received the the gentlemen who sought to convert following message the House hearings on the Jewish Com- from Mr. Hore-Beli- monwealth ,resolution into an anti-Zion- sha: Mr. Hore-Belisha ist picnic, is reported to have approved, "It is good that you should have in at a recent meeting of a Jewish wom- mind strengthening the contribution en's organization in Philadelphia, t h e which Jews can make to the spirit- action of the Beth Israel Congregation ual treasury of the nation. They have of Houston, Texas, in barring Kashruth given to the world the priceless asset observers and Zionists. He is reported to of their religious message, which has have said that this action was a defense moulded Western civilization, but the against Orthodox Jews "infiltrating" in- Nazis have endeavored to counter- to Reform temples. It has long been attack it with their heathenism. I charged that the American Council for wish people realized more the good Judaism is behind the Texas congre- which they owe to the Jews and gation's action . . . * how more good their good would be if its precepts were followed: How- TIDBIT ever, the main service Jews can Many Jews try to camouflage 'their render to the world and to them- Jewish identification. But Lauritz Mel- selves is to be perfect Jews." chior, the Danish opera star, proudly It is clear that this , able 48-year-old tells that his late wife was Jewish, and British leader is taking a positive stand "our two children have Jewish blood which will be welcomed widely. in their veins. God knows what has be- * * * come of my daughter in territory occu- pied by the foe. My son is serving with HIS PREVIOUS ATTITUDES In justice to Mr. Hore-Belisha it the United States Army." should be stated that he never had been indifferent to Jewish causes, even though self from the discussions in the House he was remote from active participation of Commons. It was reported that he had in important causes. He serves as War- deliberately disregarded a three-line whip den of the Spanish-Portugese Synagogue of government spokesmen in order to in London and as a member of the Board show his disapproval of the dastardly at- of Deputies. But like his "sympathetic tempts to stop Jewish progress in Pales- attitude" on Zionism, he had been in- tine and to put an end to Jewish im- active in the sense that his help was migration. needed for effective results. Will he speak up now? It will be in- For instance, when the British White teresting to watch • his future' activities. Paper was issued in 1939, although a His message on Jewish education seems member of the Cabinet he absented him- to indicate a firmer stand. Friday, February 25, IVO Between You and Me By BORIS SMOLAR _ (Copyright, 1944, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Ine.)1 WASHINGTON ECHOES An important meeting between Presi- dent Roosevelt and Jewish leaders was scheduled to have taken place this week but was suddenly postponed by the Pres- ident . • . Those who were to be re- ceived by the President included leaders of the American Zionist movement and of the American Jewish Committee . . . It seems that President Roosevelt want- ed to have a clear picture on the attitude of American Jews towards the Palestine problem and wanted to have the picture presented to him from every angle . . . No new date for the meeting was set by the President, but there is no doubt tha it will take place in the near future . . • In the meantime Washington may he the voice of Christian America on th Palestine question . . . On March 9—o the day of Purim—leaders of Americ non-Jewish organizations, including la bor unions and political and soci groups, will hold a conference in Wash- ington to voice their .support of Jewish demands for Palestine . . . It can be pre- dicted now that prominent figures in American national life will address the conference on such ticklish questions the Jewish Commonwealth, the illegalit of the White Paper, Arab-Jewish rela- tions, and the absorptive capacity o Palestine . . . It is possible that the Con- gressional resolution on Palestine may be passed in both houses by the time the leaders of the non-Jewish organiza- tions hold their conference . . In that case, it is expected that Presiden Roosevelt will see the Jewish leaders early in March, the month during which the White Paper ban on immigratio goes into effect . . . The legal right of the U. S. Government to intervene with the British Government for the abroga- tion of the White Paper has long since been established by Washington experts, and British officials are aware of it. A Hint to America Lord Wedgwood's "Testament to Democracy" Contains Vital Message on Palestine Can you visualize the United States becoming the holder of the Palestine Mandate? ... The late Lord Wedgwood, whom Churchill called "an example of unselfish courage," has visualized it . . . In fact, he pleads for it in his book "Testament to Democracy" just pub- lished, simultaneously, in England and in this country, by American Chapter, Religious Emergency Council of Great Britain, 55 Leonard St., New York 13,' N. Y. - This is what the great English parlia- mentarian says: "Should Palestine and Transjordan and Sinai not be merged into a federated stated policed by Jews and open to Jewish immigration, then America better take the place of Brit- ain as Mandatory for Palestine" . . .1 Because, he goes on to explain, England has failed utterly as Mandatory . . . He 1 emphasizes that he knows that this is not what the Palestine. administration wants. . . What they want, he says, is an Arab Federation which will be pro- British and "which can be outlined red on the map and provide employment for British advisers" . .. In such a Fed- eration, he points out, Jews will be "tolerated" in the way they have been up to now . . He hopes, however, that this will not take place . . . America would not like it, he predicts . . . The Atlantic Charter hardly envisages such "pleasant imperialism" . . Prime Min- ister Churchill, too, has a way of fright- ening men of little minds. Lord Wedgwood is very bitter about the policy of the Palestine Administra- tion . . . This Administration "and their abettors in London" are wrecking Jew- ish life in Palestine, he charges . . • They claim that this is done "in the interests of the natives" . . . Let the natives of Kenya and Rhodesia explain how the' British Colonial Office looks after their interests, he suggests . . . "God forbid that we, or the Jews, should ever look after the interests of Palestine natives as the British Colonial Office looks after the interests of African natives," he ex- claims . . . He then goes on to picture what the Jews have achieved in Pales- tine despite the fact that the British administrtion denies them justice . . • "Had the Jewish settlers in Palestine been British, how proud Britain should have been of them," he says . . . The Administration, he writes, would have helped them with loans, advice and arms and would see to it that they were safe' from Arab murderers.