THE JEWISH NEWS
Page. Two
Purely
Commentary
New High Commissioner: A Portrait
By WILLIAM B. SAPHIRE
Field Marshal Viscount Gort, at present Governor and Commander-in-
Chief of Malta, and appointed to succeed Sir Harold MacMichael as High
Commissioner of Palestine, is, chiefly, a soldier.
Little is known of Field Marshal Viscount Gort on whiCh to base pre-
dictions as to his future conduct as Palestine's High Commissioner. At 58
he has behind him a loig distinguished military career. He has won more
medals on the field than any other officer in the last 30 years, making him
perhaps the complete practical soldier. To Jewish Palestine,. however, he is
still an unknown quantity.
Typical. British Officer-Aristocrat
Field Marshal Gort (John Standish Surtees Prendergast Vereker) suc-
ceeded to the Irish Viscounty of Gort in 1906. He is a son of aristocracy
dating back on his father's side to John Vereker, a royalist leader in Crom-
wellian days. Brought up on the family estates in County Durham,- he might
be termed the typical British officer-aristocrat.
His youth, during the late Victorian period, was spent riding, hunting,
and yachting. He studied at Harrow and in 1904 entered the Royal Military
College at Sandhurst, the British counterpart of West Point.
During the first world war, he found himself in the thick of action in
France, winning the Military Cross, thrice winning the Distinguished Service
Order and receiving the prized Victoria Cross for performing what was
considered "a suicide job." At the close of the war, Gort, then an acting
Lieutenant Colonel, was appointed to the General Staff in London.
Adventures in China and Dunkirk
During the comparatively quiet years of the nineteen-twenties, when
many professional •soldiers were rusting on routine garrison duty, Lord Gort
was sent to China as general staff officer to the Shanghai and North China
Defense Force, where he experienced some fiction-like adventures in cam-
paigns against Chinese bandits. After years in the Orient he returned to
England, only to *be sent back in 1932 with the rank of Brigadier and to
be made director of military training in India. March, 1936 found him com-
mandant of the Staff College in England. In 1937, he became military
secretary to Leslie Hore Belisha, then Secretary of State for War. That
same year he was appointed, over the heads of _32 generals, chief of the
Imperial General Staff.
In 1939, Viscount Gort was made commander-in-chief of the British
Expeditionary Force to France. In spite of the disaster to his forces at
Dunkirk, British confidence in him ran high. That Dunkirk didn't become
the downfall of England is attributed in no small measure to his generalship.
Since Dunkirk, Lord Gort was given the Grand Cross of the Legion of Honor
and the Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath. He was Governor of Malta
while that British Mediterranean base took its epic pounding.
General Is Not A Conservative
General Gort was the first military commander in Europe to pilot his
own • plane, an indication that. he is not of the stiff-necked conservative
variety of general. He is tough, a stocky five-foot-nine, ruddy "in the best
British tradition," bald-headed but for sandy wisps at the sides, has a closely
clipped mustache and pale blue eyes. He is described as a "frank and forth-
right talker" inclined to be stirred in an argument and - to express his views
forcibly.
Jewish Palestine waits for the new High Commissioner with patience
and hopes that its self-sacrifice in the war effort will reap future and
deserving appreciation frOrn a supreme military leader.
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
THE WISE MEN OF CHELM
Chelm, the city in Central Poland
'where the new Polish Committee of
National Liberation has set up its head-
quarters, is famous in Jewish folklore
as the "community of fools."
This title has been given the Chelm
community merely because of the stories
accredited to it.
Actually, there are no Jews left in
Chelm, its people having been massacred
by the Nazis.
An untold number of . stories is told
about the "Chelmer Nardnim," the fools
of Chelm: Here are two examples of
the type of tale accredited to Chelm:
The Chelmer Shammes
The Shammes, who used to go round
the town knocking on the doors to call
the people to prayers, was growing old
and the community called a meeting to
discuss the matter. Someone suggested
that they should pay him his wages as
usual and get someone else to do the
work. "No," it was objected, "Reb Bunim
would not accept charity and it would
break his heart if he could not knock
on the doors as usual." So it was unani-
mously decided that they should all un-
screw their doors and take them to Reb
Bunim's house so that he could knock
on them without going round the town.
The Czar's Tea and Shoes
A Chelmer was relating the wonders
of the Czar.
"Do you think the Czar drinks tea
the way we do, from a glass, holding a
small piece of sugar in the mouth? He
does not. The Czar sips his tea leisurely
through .a round hole in a huge loaf of
sugar.
"And do you know what kind of shoes
the Czar wears? He wears golden shoes,
that's what he wears. Shoes made of
real gold."
"Doesn't he get them muddy?" one of
the listeners asked.
"That was taken care of," answered
the narrator. "The Czar wears a pair of
glass shoes over the gold shoes for pro-
tection."
"But the glass shoes might break," per-
sisted the skeptic.
"He wears on top a pair of leather
shoes with large holes in them so that
the glass . shoes will not break and the
gold may be seen." •
"Doesn't the mud go through the
holes?"
"NO," he replied. "The holes are
stuffed with straw."
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"JUDENREIN" SALONIKA
To the tragedies inflicted upon the
Jewish people has been added the sor-
row of Salonika.
This city of 70,000 Jews is now report-
ed without Jews. The Nazis have —fur.
filled their threat and have either mur-
dered or deported the Jews of that com-
munity who have an interesting histori-
cal background and who have made im-
portant contributions to Jewish history.
• The stevadores of Palestine have come,
in the main, from Salonika, and the
maritime industry established in the
Jewish National Home had its greatest
help and encouragement from them.
•Salonikan Jews have been hard:.work-
ing and industrious. , They were among
the Greek heroes who repulsed the
Nazis. Will this Jewish community ever
be rebuilt? The destruction of its land-
marks marks a sad day for Israel.
Palestine In
Lighter Mood
Between
You and Me
Heard in
The Lobbies
By ARNOLD LEVIN
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1944, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
(Copyright, 1944 Independent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)
AS A DIPLOMAT SEES IT
The following from Sumner Welles'
"The Tinie for Decision" (Harper and
Brosh.) should be inscribed above the
bedposts of that particular species of Jew
who spends sleepless nights tossing on
his bed worrying about the_ "Zionist
Menace": "Many eminent and patriotic
citizens , of the • Jewish faith strongly be-
lieve, as did Edwin Montagu when he
was a member of the British cabinet in
1917, that the establishment of an inde-
pendent Palestine would be highly dan-
gerous to the well-being and security of
the Jewish people in all other parts of
the world. But it seems to me the time is
past when that fear should be allowed to
block the attempt to find - a permanent
solution of this question. For Zionism
has become an impelling and overwhelm-
ing force. It represents the passionate
conviction of many millions of Jews
throughout the world and of several mil-
lions of American citizens. It has become
a spiritual problem which must be
solved. If it is not solved, it may well be-
come a disruptive force which would cer-
tainly impair the ordered stability of the
kind of world we desire to see organized
in the years to come." Remember, this is
not a Zionist speaking. On the other
hand, maybe the former Undersecretary
of State is a Zionist.
CONTROVERSY
The late Dr. Isaac Blaustein told some
excellent stories about young Palestinian
-- children, especially of their use of He-
brew.
Mordecai, aged seven, sunburned and
blue-eyed, was once asked by the worthy
educator: "What's the time?"
"ANI LO YODEA (I do not know),"
he replied.
"Mordecai," remonstrated the doctor,
"you know that it's good grammar to say:
ENENI YODEA, and not: ANI LO. YO-
DEA.".„
"I don't speak grammar," retorted the
child curtly. "I speak Hebrew."
Or the use of the word CACHA-
meaning so, or just so. When Mordecai
was asked how he was, he replied:
"CACHA."
"And what does CACHA mean? I still
don't know if it's good or had you
mean."
"There's no good or bad in Palestine,
only CACHA — just so," said the lad
sturdily.
•
Copyright ,1944, by INDEPENDENT JEWISH PRESS SERVICE, Inc.
r"iPtiroste-4, r
POLITICAL NOTES
Now that the Democratic Party has
matched the - Republicans in espousing
Jewish rights in Palestine, Zionist lead-
ers no longer see any need for -pressing
for early passage of the Palestine Reso-
lution pending in Congress . . . It is ob-
vious that this resolution could now pass
in both houses when Congressional ses-
sions are resumed . .. But to satisfy the
military authorities, the Palestine Reso-
lution will remain pending for the time
being . . . Leaders of the Democratic
Party originally contemplated having
Rabbi Stephen S. Wise address their Chi-
c-ago convention on the Jewish plight in
Europe and on the importance of Pales-
tine as a home for European Jews . . •
This was later changed to• a suggestion
that an intportant non-Jewish personality
address the convention on the tragic fate
of European Jewry, in order to pave the
way for a proper statement on Palestine
.. . In the end, however, it was thought
best that the statement be included in the
general party platfOrm as part of the
party's foreign policy, without any spe-
cial orators.
Dr. Abba Hillel Silver, who took a
hand in the Republican statement on
Palestine, was in Chicago during the
Democratic convention and had some-
thing to do with the declaration of the
Democratic Party.
Friday, 'August 4, 1944
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
(Copyright.. 1944, by Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate)
CANADIAN CLOUDS
Flying to Montreal in perfect weather
. . . As we look down from the plane
window the earth seems well ordered
and systematically arranged . . Well
kept farms . . . neat red and white
houses . . . lazy cattle, and calm peace
over all , • . A soldier transported over-
night from the battlefield might think
these green and brown hills and valleys
between New York and Montreal were
a new planet, the Kingdom of God . . •
But once in Montreal, one is rudely re-
minded that the world has not changed
much—and if at all, for the worse.
* * *
THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW
The Canadian Province of Quebec is
one of the most beautiful and most
backward regions on the globe . . .
Clerical Fascism flourishes there undis-
turbed . . Cardinal Villeneuve, the re-
_cognized spiritual head of the French
Canadians, dreams of a corporate state
and openly approves a French Canadian
boycott of Jewish, merchants . . . The
Quebec provincial elections will be held
on Aug. 8, and the campaign is in full
swing now . . . Three parties are in the
contest for political control of this pro-
vince, the population of which is over-
whelmingly French Canadian . . . The
three parties are the Bloc Populaire, the
Union Nationale and the Liberals, who
are now in power . . . The Bloc Populaire
and the Union Nationale are unquestion-
ably Fascistic in their political orien-
tation.
* * *
GENERAL IMPRESSIONS
The Quebec Hierarchy could, if it
wanted to, change the atmosphere over-
night . . . If the Quebec clergy were to
translate the . Pope's pronouncements
against anti-Semitism into concrete ac-
tion, the Province of Quebec could • be
paradise on earth . . . The propaganda
that is peddling anti-Semitism, anti-war
ideas and anti-British feeling -is mild : in
the press, but strong and Well-organized
as conducted by parish workers by the
mouth-to-mouth method .- . Sinister
whispering campaigns about Jewish con-
spiracies to control the economic life of
Quebec Province are rampant . . The
I attitude of the -Jewish community re-
minds us of the Jewish position in Ger-
many in 1929 and 1930 .. . There is ap-
peasement on every front, and a blatant
lack of unity.
For instance: In this election the Jews
will, for the first time in 20 years, lose
their one representative in the Provincial
Parliament of Quebec . In the St.
Louis district, where the Jews could
elect a- representative, four Jewish can-
didates are .fighting one another . . . The
result Will be that the Bloc Populaire
candidate will be presented with the
election on a silver platter, because of
I a disrupted, confused and split Jewish
vote .. . Jewish leadership failed in this
emergency . . . The Canadian Jewish
Congress looks on with folded arms . . .
In this crisis the Jews need their very
best spokesman in Quebec—but they will
have nobody . . We predict that after
elections the Bloc Populaire and the
Union Nationale will form a coalition
government . . That government will
drive aggressively toward a corporate
Fascist regime . . . And the Jews of the
Province of Quebec are in for a very
tragic chapter in the history of the Jews
in the Western .Hemisphere.
Zioh's 4 Kholkhozes
F
Jewish Palestine's Villages Praised
Speaking of non-Jewish Zionists, we but not really thought. His • is a semi-
by Visiting Red Army Officers
like the introduction by Dr. Reinhold mystital handling of the Jewish question
JERUSALEM (Palcor)—Impressed by
Niebuhr, the Christian theologist, to and typical of an entire literature which
Waldo Frank's "The Jews in Our Day" has abused Jewish classical thinking by Jewish Palestine's co-operative villages,
(Duell, Sloan and. Pearce, $2.50). While sugar-watering it and making the - Jewish small holders' settlements and com-
munes, • Red Army officers and men,
'writing glowingly of Frank's book, he mission tea time conversation.
passing through here on their way home
points out: "Mr. Frank would solve the
*
from Italian prison camps, described the
Jewish problem by recalling the Jewish
Zionist experiments in communal living
people to their prophetic heritage. If PALESTINE PLANK
they are to suffer, he would have them
Zionists will ttll you that Sidney Hill- as "the local version of our own Soviet
`suffer for a cause', believing that to 'suf- man, of the CIO Political Action Com- kholkhoz."
, Touring the Jewish settle-
fer for nothing' is pathetic rather than mittee; Philip Murray, CIO chief; Wil- ments of Northern Palestine, the visitors
creative and tragic . . . He would like to liam Green; AFL head, • and Laborite evinced their interest in everything they
lift the suffering of his people to the Mayor Murphy of Newark had a great saw by asking numerous questions. On
level of redemptive martyrdom, whereas deal tki do with the Democratic Conven- departure they declared that the country
most Jews actually suffer neither be- tion's unequivocal stand on a Jewish "was virtually a paradise." They spent
cause they are much better than we are Commonwealth . . . Rabbi Moris Lazaron, a few days here, with their main quar-
(as Mr. Frank would like) or worse than the anti-Zionist now being outdone by ters being at Haifa.
we (as their detractors claim)- . .
"Elmer Is Everywhere" Berger, was
• All of them are veterans of the Battle
concur in Dr. Niebuhr's dissent, but we scheduled to appear before the Demo- of Stalingrad. It was there that they
fail to share any of his enthusiasm for crats' resolutions committee to argue were captured and removed to Italian
the book. Waldo Frank has never im- ag.ainst a Palestine plank. He did not • prison ' camps, 4. from which they were
pressed us as a particularly profound au- appear. It may be that the deluge of liberated by the Allied armies. They
thor. Just as writing can be rhetorical, telegrams addressed to convention big- arrived here dressed in a motley of uni-
so can thinking. And Mr. Frank has been gies y residents of his Congressional dis- forms, British, American and any other
practicing rhetorical thinking for years. trict, may have discouraged his appear- that were distributed among them by
His thinking is a stylization of thought, - ante.
their liberators.
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