Friday, June 9, 1944 THE JEWISH NEWS Page Sbcfeen Honor Memory of Jewish Heroes Of Battle of the Warsaw Ghetto Detroiter Kills Two Japs Excerpts From Speeches Given by Archb ishop Mooney and Rabbi Eisendrath at Mass Meeting Wednesday Arranged by Jewish Community Council Pfc. David Dickman, son of Mr. and Mrs. Morris Dickman of 2350 Elmhurst Ave., who has been awarded the Purple Heart for wounds received at Bougain- By RABBI MAURICE EISENDRATH Director, Union of American Hebrew Congregations The commemoration of such acts of martyrdom as the heroic Jewish defense of the Warsaw ghetto becomes a vain and vapid thing unless it leads to similar acts of sacrifice and conse- cration. The "Kiddush Ha Shem"; the "sanctifi- cation of the Divine Name" to be forever en- shrined in the annals of courageous men by our Jewish brethren of Poland is transmuted into a "Hillul Ha Shem" unless our words of praise, our tears of sorrow, our sighs and our laments are translated into equally valerous deeds. This solemn and awesome hour must become an hour of profound spiritual dedication worthy of the dauntless martyrs to whom we would pay our altogether inadequate word of tribute. Dedication to the exalted ends for which they died: dedication, first of all, to victory for the United Nations. Those heroes of the Warsaw ghetto were not fighting merely for their lives. They, too, were battling for freedom so precious to the soul of the Jew; so indispensable to the spirit of Israel. Is It Quite Enough? Are we Jews in America worthy of our kin- ship with these sacrificial sons of our people? Whatever we have thus far done—is it quite enough? Must we not—in the shadow of their corpses, in the red-hued reflection of their blood, confess that still more lives will be lost, still more bodies will be pulverized into dust—be- cause our sacrifice has not yet been equal to theirs? May this great hour goad us into new and unstinting sacrifice that our long-prayed for victory may more swiftly be attained. This hour must gird us likewise into advancing more unequivocally and uncompromisingly those concrete programs of immediate rescue by which alone those comparatively few of our brethren yet left from the slaughter might be snatched from their impenthng doom. The motes of Palestine must be opened. Rectify Flagrant Wrong Let there be no doubt nor halting in our in- sistence upon the rectification of this flagrant wrong which slams the gates of that long prom- ised land in the very faces of those to whom the, nations of the earth solemnly vowed that there the weary sons of Israel might find a refuge; that there these uprooted, homeless multitudes might strike root and establish a secure home. Whatever our varying ideologies on the sub- ject of political Zionism—and how God in His heaven must despise our . protestations of His unity when we ourselves are so blasphemously driven by rancour—whatever may be our diver- gent philosophy of Judaism, upon one thing we must concur—that the lives of our brethren must be saved and that the sacred bond established between the democratic states and ourselves must be fulfilled; that there can be, no victory for the United Nations as long as the re is any injustice to the least among the peoples of the earth. America Must Open Gates America, too, must open her gates, which traditionally has welcomed the oppressed of all peoples. Give me your tried, your poor, Year huddled masses yearning to be free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door. These words of the Jewish poetess, Emma Laz- arus, inscribed upon the gateway to this promised land, upon the Statue of Liberty, become mean- ingless, become a desecration of the very spirit of our nation unless we will find some place within our own far-spread land for these har- ried, hounded folk. America Challenged Were there ever before such "huddled masses yearning to be free," such "wretched refuse," such "homeless, tempest-torn"? If ever America v ■ ras being challenged, it is now: challenged not merely to sound words of warning to the savage dictators of punishment to be meted out in days to come—when many more thousands or hun- dreds of thousands will be butchered=but to offer a haven NOW for those who might be saved. Our President has shown commendable initia- tive in establishing the War Refugee Board. But now its work must be implemented. Especially , must its suggestion for "free ports" be imme- diately achieved. Refuge for Prisoners Shall we provide such "free ports" for mer- chandise, but not for men? Shall we provide temporary refuge for our bestial enemies; the brutal, barbaric, bloodthirsty Nazis in our prison camps, but close tight our doors, barricade our gates against these, our fighting allies? Let us demand some such decent and dignified con- sistency between our words and deeds, our pre- tension and our practice. Above all, let each one among us be inspired Major Croll, Chaplain Levi Guests in Detroit Maj. David Croll of the Cana- dian Army and Capt. Eliezer A. Levi, Chaplain with the U. S. Army, were guests in Detroit on Sunday. Pfc. Harry Dickman Relates Exciting Story of Encounter By THE MOST REV. EDWARD MOONEY, D. D. Archibshop of Detroit This meeting affords us occasion publicly to express our admiration of the heroic courage of those who in the last days of the Warsaw Ghetto led a forlorn hope in resistance to their murderous oppressors. This they did not with any idea that they could ultimately prevail, but with the determination that they would die, if die they must, like men fighting to defend their rights rather than as abject slaves, and with the thought that their resistance might arouse. the conscience of the world. It is pleasing to note that their desperate cry was taken up by the Government of Poland and relayed to the world. In a recent meeting of the International Labor Office, a member of that Government said: "Hitler is using Poland as a slaughterhouse for the mass murder of millions of Polish Jews and Jews of other European countries—a murder unprecedented in the an- nals of history. "Hitler is determined to achieve the complete annihilation of the Jewish people. In some areas fighters of the Jewish Underground, aided by their Polish brothers-in-arms, rose against the German conqueror. The heroic armed resistance of the Warsaw Ghetto will live forever in the story of mankind." The Flail of Man's Inhumanity to Man Not only a sense of brotherly compassion, but even an elementary concern for the moral health of our Western civilization prompts our cry of horror at the deliberate and brutal extermination of a race which, more than any other of equally high and ancient culture, has through the cen- turies felt the flail of man's inhumanity to man. It . implies no closing of our eyes to other con- temporary instances of unconscionable cruelty in handling problems of racial and religious antag- onism to give full play to the salutary sense of horror at the utterly inhuman solution of a prob- lem in human relations which the story of the Warsaw Ghetto so repulsively climaxes. A gen- eration Which has grown accustomed to read of the systematic suppression of inalienable hu- man rights, of mass deportations of millions of men, women and children at the nod of a dic- tator, of the deliberately murderous extinction of whole sectors of populous nations on account of racial, religious or political antagonism—a generation which, like our own, has had to read of these horrible things in the contemporary his- tory of the establishment of either Communist or Nazi domination, is in danger of losing its capa- city of being shocked at the sight of brute force standing over the trampled form of human rights. Application to All Situations Without the unremitting cultivation of a keen sense of right and wrong, and its objective ap- plication to all situations regardless of whether they concern us, our allies or our enemies, there is the further danger that we may almost un- consciously admit into our souls a kind of fatal admiration for the efficiency of brute force in- stead of persistently retaining our natural ab- horrence of its callousness. To give full play, therefore, to our instinctive revulsion of horror against this latest instance of mass cruelty in the story of the Warsaw Ghetto, is to serve a salutary purpose in pre- paring ourselves for the impending task of put- ting together the shattered pieces of a war torn world. I have no thought of extenuating the lapse from ideals of Christian conduct so often evident in the part which Christians have played in the age-long tragedy of Israel's wanderings through the nations. But we should not fail to note the fact that the Nazi perpetrators of the colossal crime of the Warsaw Ghetto are professedly and rabidly anti-Christian as well as anti-Jewish. Christians Persecuted In Germany itself, throughout occupied Europe and particularly in Poland they have persecuted Christians with a ferocity that is exceeded only by their unparalleled cruelty to the Jews. May we not hope that in the fires of a common trib- ulation new bonds of human solidarity and mu- tual goodwill are being forged between Christian and Jew. In the heroism of Christians who have so often risked and not infrequently given their lives to rescue their even more unfortunate Jew- ish brothers, may we not find an augury that when the agony is over Jews and Christians will work together to write a brighter page of his- tory in liberated Europe, and particularly in Po- land which has, at least, the historic glory of having offered the Jews a haven of refuge when they wcr' driven out of other countries? by this magnificent page written by the heroic action of our martyred brethren to consecrate ourselves to live—to die if need be—with cour- age, with honor, with dignity—al Kiddush Ha Shem—for the sake of God's name and for the liberation of all mankind. brothers, Abbe and David, and his sister, Mrs. Leo Weisenfeld, before leaving for his new post in Brooklyn, N. Y. Liberty Ship Honors Late Rep. Edelstein NEW YORK (JPS)—The S. S. Michael Edelstein, a Liberty MEYER ZOLKOWER, sta- ship, was launched at Panama tioned at Signal Training Cen- City, Fla. The vessel bears the ter, Fresno, Calif., eras promoted name of the late Rep. Michael Major Croll was here for a to captain on his wedding anni- Edelstein of New York who died few hours to attend the conse- versary. His wife is the former suddenly in Congress three years cration of his daughter, Con- stance, from Congregation Laura Wertsheimer. They reside ago after delivering an impas- in Fresno. Capt. Zolkower is the sioned defense of the Jews in Shaarey Zedek. Rabbi Levi -yilsited with his son of Mr. and Mrs. H. Zolkower. reply to Rep. Rankin. Pfc. D. Dickman Sgt. H. Dickman ville Island, tells a moving story of face-to-face encounters with Japs and his safe return to his group of American soldiers. In his letter dated April 10, 1944, he tells just one of the stories of experiences during which he met face to face with Japs for the first time. Regula- tions permitted his telling the story. He was lead scout on a re- connaissance patrol. When the lieutenant called a halt to locate the group's position on the map, Pfc. Dickman and two others remained standing and discover- ed they were near a steep cliff with a 200-foot drop. They heard the brush move and before they knew it three Japs stepped forth about 15 feet from them. Out in the Open He writes: "We were out in the open with no protection or concealment. We did, however, have our faces blackened. The first and third Japs' had their helmets camou- flaged. The second one had grass tied-- all around him. A fourth stepped out and looked at us. He hissed to the others to look at us and stepped behind a large tree. "I was too surprised to shoot. When the Jap was eight feet from us, I aimed my rifle at him and snapped off the safety. The other fellow fired five shots into the Jap. I don't know what happened to the first three, but when the first shot was fired two more stepped out from the bush. I aimed my rifle quickly at them. Feet Over Cliff "The Japs never knew what hit them. The second fellow and I hit the ground behind a Our feet were small tree. dangling over the edge of the cliff. I saw one Jap start to crawl. I fired two times and my rifle was empty. I reloaded and took my bearings." In the few minutes that inter- vened, they started to rejoin the patrol, since the rest of the men did not know where they were. Then the Detroiter saw a tree move, and spotting another Jap aimed at him- and saw him fall backward. "Nothing happened after that for about three min- utes. Then the lieutenant called out to crawl back, to leave the area. The third fellow would have crawled over the cliff if I hadn't told him to look around." The experience was not with- out anxiety. The soldier he re- fers to as "the second fellow" was scared, and Pfc. Dickman had to push him along with his shoulder. Two Japs fired at them. Soon, they rejoined the patrol. He's Disappointed The next day, another patrol went back to the spot of this encounter, and found only three graves. Pfc. Dickman had re- ported that he killed four Japs, but discovered that he had only two to his credit, the other man having killed the third enemy. But hewrites: "Was I disappoint- ed. I only killed two Japs and not four. I made up for it by helping to kill at least six more. That will be another story. I can prove what I wrote." "A few days later," he adds, "I fired at a sniper and my rifle failed to fire. Some fun. I sure had a good laugh after it was all over." A 1939 graduate of Northern High School, Pfc. Dickman, who is 23, was inducted in service Dec. 28, 1942. He trained at Camp Walters, Texas. He has been in active overseas service. for 13 months. Since recovering from his wounds, he has return- ed to combat duty and is still somewhere in the Pacific. His brother, Sgt. Harry Dick- man, 25, has been overseas for 26 months. He is in the Infantry. He was the first American to capture a Nazi flier in Iceland. Dr. Leon Rottenberg Robbins Promoted Promoted to Captain To Staff Sergeant Mr. and Mrs. Hyman Rotten-; In South Pacific berg of 2466 Highland Ave. re- ceived word of the_ promotion of their son, Dr. Leon Rotten- berg, from First Lieutenant to the rank of cap- tain. Capt. Rotten- berg is serving with the U. S. Arm y Medical Corps and is sta-. tioned at Sta- tion Hospital,. Portland, 0 r e. He has been in active service Rottenberg for 18 months. A graduate of Detroit College of Medicinne, class of 1938, he interned at Receiving Hospital in Detroit and in Port Huron. He was married seven years ago to the former Adelaine Sacks. They have a two-year- old son, David. Hi.. brother, Pvt. Coleman Rot- tenberg, who will be 20 on June 16, has been in service nearly a year and is now stationed at Camp Gruber, Oklahoma. He is a graduate of Central High School and attended Wayne Uni- versity for one year. Their mother is president of Ladies of Yeshivath Beth Yehu- dal.. Their father is a former president and vice-president of Congregation Bnai David, on whose board he now serves. Dr. Rottenberg received his Jewish education at Yeshivath Beth Yehudah. * * Word has been received by Mrs. Leo Grandon that her hus- band has been promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. Lt. (j.g.) Grandon is on active duty somewhere in the Pacific. Albert Robbins, son of Mrs. Ida Rabinowitz of 2900 Hazel- wood Ave., who is stationed on an island in the South Pacific, has been advanced to the rank of Staff Sergeant. He is assigned to the Base Censor Detachment. S/Sgt. Robbins, a former teacher in t h e Detroit public schools, was t ransferred• about six months ago to his present post from the Fiji Islands. For his over- seas duty of two S/Sgt. Robbins years' duration, S/Sgt. Robbins was awarded the "Asiatic-Pacific" and "Good Con- duct" Ribbons. He writes that the Chaplain assigned to his post is Rabbi Norbert L. Rosenthal of Chicago, and his last letter tells the fol- lowing about the Seder arranged for his group: "We had a very fine Seder for Passover. It was well at- tended by officers and enlisted men. The Quartermaster Corps and the J. W. B. cooperated iaz, providing us with Australian1 Matzohs, California wine a n d _good meal. "Chaplain Rosenthal conducts Friday evening services at one of the hospitals and I attend as often as possible. For the past several Fridays we have had as guest Lou Lawrence, of N e w York, a USO entertainer. He has a splendid voice and he not only chanted the .rvices for us but also sang several selec- tions."