Purely
Commentary

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-NEWS

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Daughter of Zion, I Bring You
Tidings Out of the West

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By PHILIP SLO1v1OVITZ

The Eminent American-Jewish Poet, Rufus Learsi, Pays Tribute to

(Friday!• October 13, 1944

Strictly
Confidential

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

(Copyright. 1944, by Seven Arts
STRUNSKY vs. CHURCHILL
Great American Jew, Louis D. Brandeis, on Third Anniversary .
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Feature Syndicate)
Prime Minister - Winston Churchill,
,
of His Death, Which Occurred October 5, 1941
•
LISTEN
HERE!
speaking in the House of Commons, made
Edward A.' Koch's' "The 'Guildsman" is
_this historic declaration:
By- RUFUS LEARSI
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..
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a magazine that should have attracted the
" . . it seems to me indeed appro-
Daughter of Zion; I bring you 'tidings out of the west—sombre tidings .from
attention. of, our FBI long ago .. . Better-
priate that a special Jewish unit of
out--the far and giant west,
still, liberal Catholic leadership should .
that race which has suffered indes-
Sounding a . dirge across' the lands and seas,
brand it as what it is . . "The 'Guilds-
cribable -torment from. the Nazis
The anguished lands and lacerated seas!
man" • :advocates a. "corporative .0 order,"
snould be represented as a distinct
Daughter of Zion, Brandeis is dead!
openly -- defends Nazism and vociferously
formation among the forces gathered
e giant land of the west remembers and bows her head:
attacks "Jewish-CornmUnism" . Union
e was her son; authentic of her mould and marrow,
for their final overthrow. I have no
officials take note: Reports of anti-
Born of the brodding spirit of her prairies, mountains, and forests,
doubt that they will not only take
'Semitic :incidents have come to uS from
Answering to the surge of her teeming, tumultuous. cities, '
part in the struggle but also in the
Throbbing with the pulse and the- jubilant stride of her journey,
certain shipyards near New York ., . . 'It
occupation which will follow."
Bone of the bone of Jefferson, Jackson and 'Lincoln, •
seems, however, that union officials are
But Simeon Strunsky, veteran. news-
Transforming to deeds the words of Emerson, Whitman and Thoreau,
reluctant to demand the dismissal of the
paperman, author of the- Topics of the.
Comrade-in-arms of Wilson, Holmes and Roosevelt,
culprits ... . This because theymistaken-
Times column in the New York Times,
Uplifting the land of the, west to higher: reaches of freedom,.
ly—believe that such action on their part
has fears. Devoting a complete column
Fighting the battle of God for Man that He made in His iinage..•
might jeopardize Production . . s These
Announce it, 'Daughter of Zion, to all your youths and maidens,
to the topic of the Jewish Brigade, he
union officials are wrong.
Your brave and sturdy children subduing, the hills and valleys,
wrote a few days ago:
* *
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Clasping a vision of man in freedom uplifted,
"It can bring aid and comfort to
Bring them the tidings! Brandeis is dead! .
WE'RE TELLING YOU
the evil-minded and the weak-mind-
He, the knight of the cleaving sword that never rusted in scabbard,
When the full story. of the battle of the
ed little hate-breeding minorities
The eager sword that spared no sham or thraldom::-
Warsaw Ghetto is told one 'of the most
who are everywhere to be found. It
With single stroke he broke the bonds of a sickly serfdom,
heroic chapters will be that on Mordecai.
will he' a plea -of guilty to the long-
The shameful shackles of self-denial,
Anielewicz, commandant of the Jewish
. standing ' charge that the Jew is a
The smooth fetters of. the fluttering self-effacelings;
fighting organization . . Anielewicz' was
And he stood 'beside an ancient, homeless people—his people, •
foreign body in the national organ-
the leader of the Hashomer Hatt* of .
A tower of - strength, a beacon of: self-redemption!
ism."
Fearless, he took his stand beside his own, his very own, three times his own!
Warsaw, . . . It's strange but true that
Mr..Strunsky's conclusion are based on
FOr the blood that lashed his veins and spurred his spirit onward,
some of the machine politicians who most
the assumption that there is no room 'for
For an ancient wrong that summoned him to battle,
vehemently decry the suggestion that a
a Jewish emblem in - the United Nations
For the vision he saw of his people redeemed and ennobled!
"Jewish vote" may be cast in the Presi-
since the Jews are fighting as Americans
Spread abroad the sombre tidings, Daughter of Zion,
dential election are the very ones who
and as Englishmen, as French and as
Announce- it to all the lands and seas the homeless move or languish.
are most active in making _a direct' appeal
Belgians.
And fear not to augnaent -their pain or make their sorrow deeper; • -
for such a vote.
They will lift their Reads and hear it with a marvellous exultation,
It is a bit boring to return to a simple,
With assurance, strange and mystic, of the day -of liberation,
In England many Polish Jews are vol-
matter-of-fact issue which non-Jews take
Bring them the tidings: Brandeis is dead!
unteering for the Jewish Brigade . . .
for granted but which frightens some
This' shall be told • in days to come:
Reports from insiders state that before
Jews.
There lived a man whose essential soul was light,
long the Brigade will have developed
But • - since Mr. Strunsky apparently
A - tower•of light set high 'to guide men's darkling feet,
into a full-fledged army . . . The recent
needs to be enlightened, and since there
A steady light that never waned or wavered;
death of former Gov. Alfred E. Smith re-
will surely be other frightened Jews
And it grew to an incandescence vast that lighted the horizons!
minds us of this incident, which occurred
who will have to learn the true facts in
This' too shall be told:
back in 1939 . . . Endless negotiations
He shone in. a time of night when other lights flared and flickered;
the issue which has led to the formation
were going on between the State Depart-
Lights that sent their probing fmgers , into skies of night to touch the furtive
of a Jewish Brigade, this column becomes
ships .of death;
ment and the sponsors of the Palestine
necessary.
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death;
Lights
that
flashed'
from
cannon's
-
mouths,
vomiting
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Pavilion at the New York World's Fair
Cold lights that gleamed from sharpened steel shaped for death.
concerning official permission for the
THE FEAR- OF AN EMBLEM
And men will tell- they came to him from near and far, troubled and groping,
Blue-and-White flag to fly alongside the
A frank and thorough analysis of Mr.
and went away illumined:
other national flags at the Fair . . . When
They went, away 'with set and earnest lips to follow -the path he pointed-
Strunsky's column places him in a rather
Al Smith was, told of these negotiations
no
easy
path
but
rough
and
steep!
ludicrous position. • Nearly the entire
he put up the Blue-ana-White banner on
They went away with shining eyes reflecting the light that held them,
column is devoted to the presentation of
the World's Fair model on display in his
The clear relentless light of his vision,
proof, of the international assembly of
building, the Empire State . . . His com-
The ruthless, and healing light of his soul.
Jews at religious services under the flags
Daughter of Zion,. cry the tidings . across the lands to all whose feet are set
ment was: "That's the least we can - do to'
of their national organisms.
upon the path he pointed;
show our protest against Hitler." '
Mr. Strunsky pointed to the numerous
They will lift' their heads and hearts with a mystic exaltation,
*
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armies in which the Jews are fighting for
They will look with shining eyes though the tears be not arrested.
BOOK
NOTES
Cry the tidings; Daughter of Zion, the sombre tidings out of the west:
the democratic cause as means of indicat-
Novelist Ernest Hemingway has just
Brandeis is dead!
ing that there is no room for the Jewish
sold the Hebrew language rights to "For
Copyright 1944 by INDEPENDENT JEWISH PRESS SERVICE. Inc.
emblem. • On the contrary, he would have
Whom the Bell Tolls," and that a He-
us believe that the Jewish Brigade "can
brew dramatization of that novel will
seriously misrepresent" 'the millions of
be presented in • Palestine in the' near .
Jews throughout the world. •
future . . If you look closely at the
Had he mentioned the very small spot
book President Roosevelt is slit:3mm, hold-
called the 'Jewish National Home—Pales-
ing in that photo from 'the Quebed con-
tine—as the exception to the rule where
ference, you will see that it is Louis
Jews have a right to fight under their
Niter's "What to Do with Germany".
own emblem, there would have been
Adolph S. .0ko, 'editor of The Contem-
. By BORIS SMOLAR
lesser reason for argument with Mr.
By ARNOLD LEVIN
porary Jewish Record, who died recent-
(Copyright, 1944, JTA, Inc.)
Strunsky. But—that he did not do. And
ly, was a -passionate- collector of Spinoza
(Copyright, 1944 Independent Jewish
THAT was • ungracious.
Press Services Inc.) -
POLITICAL ECHOES
items. In his collection was -a number
* • *
British circles are keeping an eye on TOPICS BEHIND THE TIMES i
of letters in the philosopher's own hand-
WHAT ABOUT THE TALLITH?
Despite his own suecess among his writing; for: which the British Museum
Mr. Strunsky DOES need a bit of edu-_ Zionist flirtations with Soviet Russia .
eating. • Since he was so seriously in- A British report reaching certain individ- fellow-citizens of the ChriStian faith; au- offered him a. fortune . . . But Oko
trigued by the large number of Jews in uals in this country frankly admits that thor Simeon Strunsky, of the Topics of would never consider parting with them.
the Russians are extremely interested in the Times column in the. New York
111
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the armed _forces, who had, gathered,. be-•
hind the lines for Yom Kippur services, it Palestine and are beginning to show some Times, is full of profound. fear of them ABOUT PEOPLE .
Dr. Chaim Weizmann will be in Pales-
may interest him to know that the TAL- signs of sympathy for Zionism" . . . Al- as is evidenced by some of his recent
LITH, the Jewish prayershawl which was though emphasizing that the change from writings. His book _"No Mean City," just tine in November . . Meyer W. Weisgal,
Soviet hostility • to Zionism is "very published, contains a chapter on JeWs in his- personal representative in America,
in evidence at these • services, is, in real-
ity, the Jewish Flag. The Blue-White em- slight," the report considers this change America in which he goes to great pains will join him . . '. The title of Dean of
blem with the Magen David in the center to be "of first importance" ... The report to prove that the Jewish Immigrant and American Zionism _now Officially be-
is patterned after, the Tallith, and it has a predicts that the .Zionists - might easily, his Children are amenable and expert cat longs to Dr. :tarry Friedenwald of Balti-
religious as well as a national signifi- turn towards powerful Russian support, fusing themselves with- the scene • and more, who just celebrated his eightieth
cance, since Judaism is a national. re- if they fail elsewhere .. . It reveals that have brought no alien influences to this birthday ; . . 'Forty years ago he was the
there have already been some contacts country . We like to think that Amer- president of the Federation of American
ligion.
We do not claim that the. Tallith there- . between Zionist leaders and Russia, ica is extremely grateful for some of the Zionists . . . Did you know that when_
fore represents a symbol of war, or state- "though only shadowy ones, not of an alien influences that- helped to shape her, Dinah Shore went overseas to entertain
and that Simeon 'Strunsky's apology, if our troops she took along a special
hood. But we do maintain that if one abnormal kind."
does not fear the Tallith on the battle-
It can now be predicted with certainty taken at face value and as gospel truth, three-octave piano that weighed 60
front, one should not fear the Blue-White _that no Jewish delegation from Russia can only label and libel us as parasites pounds? . . . But Dinah didn't bring this
emblem-, with the Magen. David, 'when it will participate in the World Conference . . . Strunsky's latest in this. direction - is portable instrument back with her—she
is used by Jews as Jews in a fighting unit which the World Jewish Congress is con- his attack on the Jewish Brigade, carried left it with, a sergeant who told her what
in the Topics of the Timescolumn.
trouble he had getting pianos transport-
—since Jews fighting, in such a unit • de- voking for next month.
In it he contends that there was- no ed for Army shows.
sire to be distinguished as a national
_
Jewish
refugees
in
this
country
who
Jewish underground and therefore- there
entity.
- anxious is no need for a Jewish .Brigade' . .
Will Mr. Strunsky assume to deny are over the draft, age are now
these people that right of selection of na- to join the Jewish. Brigade formed by Rather strange this, from a studious press
the British Government in order to be reader of Strunsky's calibre
The
tional affiliation?
among those who will police Germany, newspapers have carried mtiltitudinons
S. *
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during the early years of Allied: occu- dispatches on Jewish (specifically Jew-
THE RIGHT TO SELF-DEFENSE
pation.
ish) undergrounds and,: partisan -
One point must never be forgotten!
New City Editor on• PM, New York's
The New York Times, true enough, has
. The men and women upon whom the
Nazis had forced Yellow Badges, 'with more than that. With a flag you can lead carried little of this news . . . -In its streamlined newspaper, is '- 31-year old
Magen Davids, as emblems of shame, people wherever you want, even into the lengthy report on 'the Maidanek death Arnold Beichman, the newsman who ex-
have a right to use these emblems as Promised. Land. For a flag they will live camp, the N. Y. Times forgot to Mention, ploded the' anti-Semitic situation in. Bos-
symbols of self-respect and honor.
and die; it is even the only thing for that the vast majority of the victims were ton. Despite the horror with which some
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•• . viewed this expose and the charge that
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This is a right no one dare deny them— which they are prepared to - die in num- Jewish.
newspaper reports were exaggerated, we
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,
RADIO
even Jews who had become as frightened bers, when they are trained."
Eddie Cantor has returned to • the air doubt whether the ' situation would have
as Mr. Strunsky.
Herzl's- idea of a flag. Was far more im- with as much zip as ever. His continued been ameliorated as speedily as it was,
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portant and more interesting when he success snakes us particularly • happy were it not for Beichman's articles.. He
HERZL'S IDEA OF A FLAG
On June 3, 1895, Dr. Theodor Herzl, proposed the Blue and White colors with when we recall that a few years ago the received one of the three Heywood Broun-
founder of the • political Zionist move- eight silver stars in the center—to signify Christian Front boys deluged his sponsors Memorial Awards given by the News-
ment, mentioned the proposals for a Jew- the Jewish idea of establishing an eight- with protests trying to keep him off the paper. Guild, this year . . . He was at one
ish army and a Jewish flag in his diary. hour working day at a time when people air. It Was, -inadvertently, a poll which time .a cub. on .Spectator, the Columbia
Worked 12 to 15 hours a day.
showed that as between Cantor and the University campus newspaper, which; led
He wrote nearly 50 years ago: -
In any event, these views are. interest- Cantorbaiters, the American radio audi- the fight against the University's invita-
"You would' have asked me mockingly:
A flag? What is that? A pole with a ing at this time, when there is contro- ence sided with the comedian as against' tion to. Nazi Ambassador Luther to speak
there. -
the cornics.
scrap og cloth? No, my dear sir, a flag is versy over the Jewish Brigade.

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Betw eh'
You and Me

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, • TH .• • E JEWISH
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•-• Page Two

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Heard in
The Lobbies

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Arnold Beichman:
Fighting Editor