Page Two
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
WE PLEDGE ALLEGIANCE
The important national election is over
and the tension which was created by the
heated campaign is now at an end.
Now, it is the duty of every American
to declare that he renews his pledge of
allegiance to the head of our government
and that the unity of our people will not
be impaired by the defeat 'suffered by
the opposition party.
President Roose-
velt has a difficult
task ahead of him.
There is a war to
be won. The eco-
nomic position of
the entire people,
and especially _the
returning veterans,
must be made se-
cure.
Therefore We owe
him all the devo-
tion a n d coopera-
tion that he has
earned in his first
12 years as Presi-
dent.
THE CHAMP
Our President has already written his
name in golden letters in American his-
tory. His coming term will mark the
most important era in the world's his-
tory. It will be the duty of our govern-
ment to guarantee peace, to collaborate
with the nations of the world in averting
another calamity like the past two world
wars and to assure enforcement of meas-
ures which woUld lead to the establish-
, ment of the Four Freedoms as basic rules
for all nations.
To make this possible, we must all
pledge allegiance to our Chief Executive.
That these human needs may be realized,
we pray that our President be granted
strength to carry on in time of great
stress.
The acclamation of President Roose-
velt on his re-election is worldwide, and
the reason is obvious. He is the key fig-
. ure in the fight for decency in the world.
He is the spokesman for the democratic
way of life. And the world recognizes it.
His victory on Nov. 7 surely brings us
closer to victory over the Nazi-Fascist
forces.
PICARD ON ROOSEVELT
Judge Frank A. Picard of the U. S. Dis-
trict Court, chairman of the Michigan
Chapter of the American Palestine Corn-
. mittee, is a great wit and is quick on the
trigger. He demonstrated it several times
- at pro-Palestine meetings he addressed
in Detroit.
At the Balfour Anniversary gathering
''here at the Shaarey Zedek, an interesting
incident occurred. During the question
period, a devotee of the late Elihu Root
wanted to know the part the late Ameri-
can statesman played in efforts for Pales-.
tine's redemption. Of course, Mr. Root
lived in the days when there was not an
extensive movement for Eretz Israel
among Christians.
But Judge Picard took advantage of an
excellent opportunity to make reference
to President Roosevelt. He had in his pos-
session a copy of "America and Palestine"
which was presented to him that night.
He quickly referred to the Index of the
book, took the floor and called the atten-
tion of the audience to the fact that after
the name of Rep. John J. Rooney there
are very many references to PRESIDENT
FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT—but none
to Mr. Elihu Root. And he made it a
point to state that the President has a
great share in Palestine's upbuilding.
It went over big. The audience knew
that a wise judge took occasion to get
Roosevelt's name into a non - political
meeting.
*
*
A RADIO STORY
Just before the election, a Yiddish radio
announcer made this statement:
"Vote. for D. ... Dos is bezahlt. Ober
ich zog eich, Vote for R."
It was without doubt the most classic
occurrence in the entire political cam-
paign.
Was it good business? Undoubtedly
not. But the sentimental woman an-
nouncer just had to have her say in the
election—and she did.
* *
*
FOR A COMPLETE VICTORY
The worst that was said during the
entire campaign, exclusive of "clear
with Sidney" and "down with the Reds"
propaganda, was the attack on Secretary
of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau.
It was most ungracious to say that the
Morgenthau plan to deal with Germany
was responsible for Germany's new war
ardor.
This is no time to split our ranks. This
is a time for unity—to win the war and
to put an end to German aggression for
ALL TIME—even if it IS Morgenthau's
proposal.
THE JEWISH NEWS
Slow Poison Flooding the Mail
By HENRY HOKE
Author of the phenomenal new best-seller "Black Mail"
For ten long years, the minds of the people of America have been
softened by printed and spoken propaganda. In 1934, the German Govern-
ment started its flood of mailed poison from Germany to prepare the way
for keeping us unprepared. , Gradually the flood increased •in quantity and
scope. There were attacks against each segment or phase of American life.
Soon German-controlled agencies in this country were working the printing
presses overtime grinding out the new type of pre-military poison. German
money then supported native FaScists—individuals as well as organizations—
who helped by rephrasing and reprinting the disruptive ideas from abroad.
German agents even succeeded in having their mental poison inserted into
the Congressional Record and mailed under free Congressional frank.
Did December 7, 1941, mark the end of this campaign of words? Far
from it! The German agencies were closed, of course. The franking racket
was smashed 'by exposure and convictions. The mail from abroad was cut
off. But the seeds carefully planted in the minds of the native Fascists have
borne fruit for their Nazi planters. The native Hitler-helpers have grown
stronger and more numerous. And bolder! Lack of action on the part of
our Department of Justice (conscientiously trying to protect freedom of
speech) has encouraged the hate-spreaders to use even more violent words
in the mail. Hate the Government! . Hate minorities! Hate our Allies!
The mails are still being flooded with confusion—a confusion which
originated in Berlin back in 1934. In the weeks just ahead, this black mail
will be a stronger. and a more terrifying enemy. Much of it will travel under
the guise of normal political dispute. We must all learn to identify and dis-
tinguish between (1) truth, (2) normal dispute, (3.) intolerant prejudice and
(4) 'planned disruption. If we do not, our boys will not win what they are
fighting for. We will lose the peace.
Heard in
The Lobbies
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyright, 1944 independent Jewish
Press Service. Inc.)
INTERNATIONAL GRAPEVINE
By the time this reaches you, the real
facts may be out. The Soviet Govern-
ment's ostensible failure to compel the
Romanian Government to give effect in
life to the abrogation of the anti-Jewish
laws has quite a story behind it, accord-
ing to people who claim to be in the
know. The Soviets are none too happy
about the Romanian Government a n d
want to see it booted out. Should they
do the booting they would be accused of
Sovietizing the country. But they
wouldn't mind if the Romanian Govern-
ment would bring about its own downfall
by its actions. The Soviets want the
other United Nations to concur in the
ousting of the cabinet. The less Romania
does to atone for the crimes committed
against the Jews, the weaker her position
becomes . . Those who contend this
say the reports of the plight of Roman-
ian Jewry could not have emerged into
the light of day if the Soviet authorities
were interested in keeping the facts from
becoming public. -
* * *
CHALUTZIM
There is talk now of expanding Amer-
ica's Chalutzim movement for the train-
ing of pioneers for Palestine . . The
Zionist Organization of America speaks
of "industrial pioneers." Earlier the La-
bor Zionists called for the establishment
of a large Fund for the training of these
pioneers. It appears that the Chalutzim
movement which, in the past, couldn't
make ends meet and subsisted on the
earnings of its members contributed to
a co-operative treasury, is in for better
days and greater support . . . In this
connection it is worth while noting that
the Chalutzim movement, contrary to the
general impression, was not started in
Europe, but right here—in the U.S.A.
The late Abraham Solomon Waidstein,
one of the early Labor Zionists in this
country, founded the Hechalutz move-
ment in the United States back in 1906,
at least a decade before it was founded
in Europe, settling with others on a farm
to train for soil pioneering in Palestine
. . . The founder of Nahalel, first small
holders' settlement in Palestine (estab-
lished on Jewish National 'Fund land in
1906), was Eliezer Jaffee, an American
Jew . • . The present American Hecha-
lutz membership of one thousand in-
cludes chemists and soil conversationists.
*
*
*
ONE THING TO REMEMBER
In appraising Norman Thomas, the
perennial presidential candidate of the
so-called Socialist Party, advocating
peace-at-any-price, remember that he
and Lindbergh were extremely chummy
in the America First days.
*
*
*
MORE THINGS TO REMEMBER
Sacha Guitry, French actor, director,
writer, of Jewish descent, is under arrest
charged with collaborationism. Did the
Radio Theater know this when it broad-
cast his play last week? .. . Pola Negri,
the actress seeking a comeback and get-
ting loads of publicity, was once a guest
of Adolf Hitler? Remember? You should!
Between
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright. 1944, JTA, Inc.)
EYES ON PALESTINE:
We were very much startled to learn
that Rear Admiral Charles S. Stevenson,
USN (Retired) who was sent by the
Hadassah to Palestine to study Hadassah
work there, returned to New York with
a rather uncomplimentary report . . . We
hope that Dr: Yaski, head, of the Ha-
dassah medical institutions in Palestine,
who is now en route to the United States,
will bring a more cheerful report.
* * *
DO YOU KNOW:
The number of Jews serving in the
U. S. armed forces would make more
than 25 divisions . . At least one third
of the Jewish physicians of the nation
are serving with the armed forces . . .
Thirty-four percent of the Jewish male
refugee population of the United States
is bearing arms for their adopted
country . . Fifty percent of all the
rabbis in America have volunteered for
military duty as chaplains . . . A house-
to-house canvass in a number of repre-
sentative cities show that the percentage
of Jewish men in the service is in
excess of the ratio of Jews to the gen-
eral population . . . Twenty-five percent
of the Jewish inductees from a typical
industrial city are serving in what is
commonly regarded as one of the most
dangerous branches of the services—
the Army Air Force . . . 512 Jewish fam-
ilies in America have given a total of
1,791 sons to the armed forces, and 15 of
these families have 98 sons in the service
. . . Thousands of other Jewish families
have given two or more sons to the
service . . . More than 3,000 Jewish
men in uniform have received citations
for valor and merit, often posthumously,
and 37 of them hold an aggregate of 403
Such awards . . . Among Jewish service-
men from New York City, alone, over
1,100 casualties have already been re-
corded and many more remain to be
checked . . . All these facts are culled
from studies made by the Bureau of
War Records of the National Jewish Wel-
fare Board.
* * *
EDUCATIONAL FRONT
There are 10,000 pupils attending New
York's Jewish parochial or day schools
commonly called Yeshivos . . . The school
term this year opened with a gain of close
to 20 per cent over the previous year.
*
*
*
INTELLIGENCE NOTES
A survey of physicians of •two
boroughs of New York City established
the fact that 32 per cent of all the Jewish
doctors were in the armed forces . . .
These two boroughs represent approxi-
mately one-foUrth of all American
physicians of the Jewish faith.
Jewish war record committees are
functioning in over 90 per cent of the
cities in the United States having a JeW-
ish population of 1,000 or over . . . They
are all working under the direction of
the National Bureau of War Records es-
tablished by the Jewish Welfare Board.
Lillian Hellman's "The Searching
The Jewish Welfare Board is flirting
Wind" would have won the Pulitzer with the idea of sending a highly trained
prize, but for one vote. The "vote" was Jewish journalist to various battle fronts
fast asleep. It belonged to Walter Win- in Europe to report from there individual
chell who would have voted pro, had he heroic acts of Jewish men and women in
been present.
the armed services.
Friday, November 10, 1944
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
(Copyrighi, t941, by Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate)
QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS
How come that Carl Mote, president
and general manager of the Northern In-
diana Telephone Company and of the
Commonwealth Telephone Corporation of
Indianapolis, is carrying on his anti-
Semitic activities so unabashedly? . . . By
way of hobby he edits a sheet he calls
"American Preferred," in which he spon-
sors intolerant anti-democracy . . . Re-
member how busily the two Geralds-
Gerald L. K. Smith and Gerald K. Win-
rod—were scurrying about during the
election campaign? . . . But their score
was zero . . . Joel Slonim, the Yiddish
poet and journalist who died last week,
was a very close friend of the late Wen-
dell L. Willkie . . . Joel once confided to
us that Willkie was in favor of a Federal
statute outlawing anti-Semitism.
*
*
*
ECHOES
Kiplinger's confidential Washington
newsletter has launched a ferocious attack
on Secretary of the Treasury Henry Mor-
genthau, Jr., for his advocacy of harsh
peace terms for Germany .. . The news-
letter declares that Morgenthau is re-
sponsible for the desperate fighting the
Nazis are doing these days.
Now it can be told that the Democratic
National Committee- rejected a slogan
suggested= by one of the country's biggest
advertising copy writers.
The slogan read: "Better a Fourth
Term than a Third World War" ... Out
of Germany via the grapevine comes the
news that Gabby Joe Goebbels has issued
an important new order, to wit: "True
Germans do not look at the sky—it is
Allied territory."
Spokesmen for the Council of Judaism
will renew their opposition to the Pales-
tine Commonwealth Resolution when it is
reintroduced in Congress after the elec-
tions.
*
*
*
HEROES
The heroine of the Greek partisans is
Madi Moscowitz, an 18-year-old Jewish
girl who -was tortured to death by the
Nazi Gestapo for refusing to divulge in-
formation they wanted about her com-
rades . . A monument to Madi will be
erected in Athens.
Jochanan Tartakower, recently killed
on the Western front, had been in the
United States less' than two years when
he enlisted in the Army . . . When his
father, Dr. Arielh Tartakower, the noted
American Jewish Congress leader, re-
ceived the tragic news, he did not inter-
rupt his work for even one hour, but
asked that he be given additional respon-
sibilities.
*
*
*
ABOUT PEOPLE
When Yehudi Menuhin reached France
on his recent overseas tour he found, to
his amazement, that the Nazi ban on
music by Jewish performers had not been
applied to his recordings or to those of
Jascha Heifetz during the German occu-
pation—with the result that recorded per-
formances by both these violin virtuosos
were constantly broadcast by French ra-
dio stations during all the years of the
occupation.
When pianist Artur Rubinstein was
touring Brazil not long ago he found that
some government officials were inclined
to make suggestions as 'to what composers
should be included in his programs—but
he refused to accept any such interfer-
ence ... This reminds us to tell you that
Mrs. Rubinstein, who lives in California,
expects an addition to the family.
David Warfield, famed actor of another
day, will celebrate his 78th birthday this .
month • . . He no longer takes an active
interest in the theater—but he still pays
daily visits to the Lambs Club, the
theatre's most exclusive society.
From Nicaragua
With U. S. Jewish leadership appre-
hensive over the plight of their breth-
ren in Latin America, it is good to re-
flect on the Jews of Nicaragua who
boast of prosperity and declare that anti-
Semitism is unknown in those parts.
They . do complain that there are not
enough JewiSh girls of marriageable age
for the eligible Jewish bachelors and
therefore intermarriage is frequent. Some
of the non-Jewish wives try to adapt
themselves to the ways of their men by
preparing Kosher meals . . . They have
no Shochet and no Mohel, and circum-
cision is performed by a Catholic sur-
geon who learned the art from a Mohel
in the course of a European tour. He
dons a skull-cap during the operation,
and refuses to accept payment for his
work.