Page Six
THE JEWISH NEWS
Zionist Council Reaffirms
Position; Elects Dr. Wise
But. Infernal Conflict Flares as Resignation of Dr. Silver
Is Accepted; Demand for Emergency ZOA
Convention Made by N. Y. Group
Jacob Lestchinsky
Culture Program
Speaker, Jail, 14
Jacob Lestchinsky, one of the
leading authorities on economic
and sociological problems of
NEW YORK (JPS)—The long-standing differences with- Jews, will lecture under the aus-
in the American Zionist Emergency Council which had led
to the resignations of Drs. Stephen S. Wise and Abba Hillel
Silver as co-chairmen, culminated in the election of Dr. Wise
as sole head of the Council and in the acceptance of Dr. Sil-
ver's resignation at a meeting Dec. 28. A statement issued
,
by the Council following the4
meeting said
vote , myself more fully to Zionist
"The American Zionist Emer- education among our people and
gency Council desires to make it the exposition of the Zionist pro-
clear that the controversy refer- gram among the general public.
red to in the public press does As a private in the ranks I shall
not involve any difference with continue to_. advocate the classic
respect to fundamental Zionist Zionist program which aims at
policy or maximal or minimal the re-establishment of Pales-
Zionist program, but is rather tine as a free • and democratic
one of procedure, methods of Jewish Commoip.wealth, and a
implementation and the author- policy in which timidity, appease-
ity of its officers.
ment and backstairs 'diplomacy'
Continued Vigor
will have no place.
"The American Zionist Emer-
"It is a source of great satisfac-
gency Council will go forward tion that the past 16 months of
with continued vigor and deter- my administration have been
mination for the realization of marked by substantial progress
its objective—unrestricted Jew- for the Zionist cause in our
ish immigration. into Palestine, country. .I trust that whatever
full opportunity for Jewish col- differences of opinion exist in our
onization, and the reconstitution Movement—and no great move-
of Palestine as a free and demo- ment is quite free of them—will
cratic Jewish Commonwealth. in no way interfere .with the
For this it will seek the active further progress of our historic
support of the executive and leg- cause in the days to come."
islative branches of the United
Statement by Goldstein
States Government and the good-
In an issue that went to press
will of the American people."
before the Dec, 28 meeting, the
The resolutions were carried New Palestine, official organ of
by a 12-8 majority. Louis Lipsky, the Zionist Organization of Am-
merriber of the Executive Com- erica, carried a statement by Dr.
mittee of the World Zionist Or- Israel Goldstein, ZOA President,
ganization, presided. Mrs. Rose which read in part:
Halprin of Hadassah was elected,
"On Nov. 21, at a meeting of
in place of Robert Szold, as the American Zionist Emergency
treasurer of the Council.
Council attended by the -repre-
Held Serious Blow
sentatives of all the Zionist
Mizrachi, orthodox Zionist or- parties and by both ca-chairmen,
ganization, issued a statement there was a discussion as to the
describing the withdrawal of Dr. advisability of pressing immedi-
Silver as a "serious blow to a ately our Palestine resolutions
vigorous policy" and placing the now pending before Congress.
blame for it on "the unyielding
"All agreed that before press-
attitude of the majority within ing for passage of the resolutions
the Council." The statement an- it was absolutely necessary to
-nounced the "intention of the secure the assurance that the
Mizrachi to align with all forces State Department would not in-
in Zionism that are seeking the terpose objections against the
opportunity of creating a front passage of the resolutions at this
for -aggressive Zionism, though it time. As a result of the unfortu-
does not as yet choose to offici- nate experience last March, it
ally withdraw from the Ameri- was felt that it would be unwise
can Zionist Emergency Council." to risk another deferment which
No statement was forthcoming the State Department objections
from the Labor Zionists who, might cause. There was no dis-
with Mizrachi, voted against ac- sent from this- opinion on the
cepting Dr. Si'lver's resignation.
part of any of the party repre-
sentatives or either of the co-
Dr. Silver's Statement -
Dr. Silver issued the follow- chairmen.
ing statement on the eve of the
Leave Matter Pending
Dec. 28 meeting:
"Repeated efforts were made
`At the time that I announced to secure the assent of the State
my resignation as co-chairman Department but the response was
of the American .Zionist Emer-
to leave the matter pending a
gency Council and as the chair- little while longer.'
man of its Executive Committee
"On Nov. 27 the chairman of
on December 20, I stated that it the executive committee of the
was irrevocable. I regret that so American Zionist Emergency
much controversy has developed Council, without authorization
over it, but I must insist upon from the' body, wrote the official
the position I have taken, despite communication to Rep. Sol
the urging of many friends that Bloom, chairman of the House'
I reconsider my decision. My Foreign Affairs Committee, urg-
policies do not appear to have ing him to take prompt action in
the support of a sufficient maj- having his Committee report the
ority of the membership of the Palestine resolution out favor-
Council as now constituted to ably. (Mr. Bloom has permitted
warrant my continuing in office. this fact public). The resolution,
Polities_ Approved
which was reported out Nov. 30,
"My action has been promoted removed the word 'Jewish' be-
particularly by the- position taken fore 'Commonwealth' and retain-
by the representatives of one of ed the word 'ultimately'.
the groups, the Zionist Organ-
"The appearance of Secretary
ization of America. Despite the of State Stettinus before the
fact that the National Conven- Senate Committee and the state-
tion of the Zionist Organization ment which he issued brought
October 16 approved my policies about the deferment of the
by a unanimous vote, the present Palestine resolution. Simultane-
representatives of the Z.O.A. on ously the House Rules Committee
the Council are committed to an failed to give the ruling which
attitude and a course of action would have brought the Palestine
which make it impossible for me resolution to a vote by that body
to- carry out those policies ef- at this session.
fectively.
- "These are the salient facts of
"I am deeply grateful for the the situation which has caused
consistent and • loyal support considerable agitation, specula-
which I have had from the Poale tion and criticism."
Seek ZOA Convention
Zion and Mizrachi parties, from
the Jewish press, from the rank
A resolution expressing -"abid-
•and file - of • American- Zionism ing and unshakeable confidence
and the local Zionist Emergency in the leadership of Dr. Silver
and his- policy" and urging that
Councils everywhere.
Will Continue to Help
an ektraordinary session of the
"I remain, of course, a mem- national convention, of the ZOA
ber of the AmeriCan Zionist Em- be convened "to deal with the
ergency Council and will eagerly internal situation which has been
give the movement whatever created," was adopted Dec. 26 at
help and counsel I can. My resig- a meeting attended by more
nation will•leave.. me - free to -rie- than 100 active Zionist members
JACOB LESTCHINSKY
pices of the Joint Yiddish Cul-
ture Committee of the Jewish
Community Center and Commun-
ity Council on Sunday evening,
Jan. 14, in the auditorium of the
Jewish Center, Woodward at
Holbrook.
His subject will be: "The Re-
construction of Jewish Life in
Europe".
Before settling in the U. S., Mr.
Lestchinsky had lived in Russia,
Poland, Germany, Czechoslovak-
ia, and France.
A regular contributor to Yid-
dither Kemfer and the Forward,
he has published numerous arti-
cles in English in Congress Week-
ly and Contemporary Jewish Rec-
ord. His latest book, "Jews in
the USSR", is considered one of
the most authoritative studies of
its kind.
from New York, Long Island,
New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylv-
ania and COnnecticutheld at the
Riverside Plaza Hotel here.
The resolution also urged: 1.)
that Dr. Silver's resignation from
leadership of the American
Zionist Emergency Council be
withdrawn and "that complete
unity be restored in the leader-
ship of the American Zionist
Emergency Council; " 2.) that
the Executive Committee_ of the
ZOA "retire its present repre-
sentatives on the American
Zionist Emergency Council and
designate, in conciliation with
Dr. Silver, new representatives
on the Council in order of ensure
effective co-operation between
him and them in the future."
* - * *
Dr. Wise's Statement
Explaining Resignation
NEW YORK, (JTA)—Dr. Ste-
phen S. Wise last week issued the
following statement explaining
the reasons for his resignation,
prior to his re-election.
"One week ago I resigned the
office of Chairman of the Am-
erican Zionist Emergency Coun-
cil. I did so because, as I stated
in my letter of resignation, 'I
felt that it was impossible for
me to remain Chairman of a
body one of the leaders of which
—the Chairman of the Executive
Committee—had deliberately and
persistently contravened t h e
decisions of the Council in a
matter of supreme importance to
the lasting hurt of our sacred
cause.' At Wednesday's nearly
all-night session of the Emerg-
ency Council, the resignation was
not acted upon, but a motion was
passed inviting all the officers
of the Executive Committee to
resign, in order that it might be
free to act upon all resignations
at the same time. r believe a
meeting is to be held in the near
future. I could not return to,the
service of the Zionist Emergency
Council unless the reconstituting
of the Council gave assurance
that no officer would again be
permitted to contravene its con-
sidered and, final decisions."
The Jewish Lawyers Associa-
tion of Palestine must begin
thinking about the form and con-
tents of a constitution for a Jew-
ish State, Mordecai Eliash, lead-
ing attorney, declared at the
opening of the annual confer-
ence of Jewish attorneys in Tel
Aviv.
Friday, January 5, 1'945
Music Study Club con c ert
Features Czech Violinist
Eugenie Fichtenova to Be Guest Artist on Annual Program
at Art Institute, Jan. 8; Proceeds to Go to Scholarship
Fund, Percy Jones Musk Room and Others
Music Study Club's guest ar-
tist at the annual concert to be
held next Wednesday'''. evening,
Jan. 10, at the Detroit Art/In-
stitute, will feature Eugenie
Fichtenova, noted Czechoslovak
violinist.
Despite her youth, Miss Fich-
tenova is rated as one of the
outstanding violinists to come to
this country in recent years
from Czecholslovakia.
• Russian-born, she studied in
Prague and was graduated from
the Academy of Music of that
city at an early age.
Prof. Sevcik, world renowned
Czecholslovak violinist and
teacher, recognized her excep-
tional talent and accepted her as
a student in his master class. At
the conclusion of her studies, the
great pedagogue presented her
with a 130-year-old Dalaglio
violin after her . magnificent
performance of the Paganini
Concerto, with the testimonial
that her playing was "a gift of
God".
Miss Fichtenova wilt be heard
in compositions by Vitali, Bach,
Bloch, Suk, Saint-Saens • and
Sasorioff.
Proceeds from the concert will
be used for the Sylvia Simonl
Memorial Scholarship Fund, the
Percy Jones Hospital Music 'Ap-
preciation Room and toward
equipping Hospital ships with
radios and musical instruments.
A large number of patrons is
supporting this musical event.
Men' and women in the armed
forces are invited and will be
welcome as guests.
Simons to Direct Dr. Joshua Block
Ad Campaign in To Speak Monday
State Polio Drive Will Open Six-Week Institute
Abner E. Lamed, state chair-
man of the National Foundation
for Infantile Paralysis, announces
the appointment of Leonard N.
Simons as chairman of the Ad-
vertising Committee for the an-
nual appeal, Jan. • 14-31:
'Members of the Adcraft Club
serve- on the committee. Other
members of the committee in-
- dude Gertrude B. Sarasohn.
Heading the radio committee
is Richard Oudersluys. Members
of the committee include Stanley
Altschuler.
Hannah G. FerMan is public-
ity director for the campaign for
the Wayne County Chapter of
the National Foundation for In-
fantile Paralysis.
Center Seeks Talent
for Dance Orchestra
The music department of the
Jewish Center announces that a
dance orchestra is being organ-
ized under the leadership of
Alexander Wolton. •
Young people who are inter-
ested in joining the group should
apply to the music department of
the Center, 8904 Woodward.
for Study of Problems to
Eliminate Anti-Semitism
Dr. Joshua Block, chief of the
Jewish division of the New York
Public Library, will deliver the
opening address in the Institute
on the Jewish People sponsored
by the Civil Rights Federation,
Monday evening, at the First
Congregational Church, Wood-
ward and Forest. His topic will
be "The Background of the
American Jew."
'Rev. Ellsworth M. Smith, di-
rector of the war emergency
commission of the Detroit •Coun-
cll of Churches, is directing the
Institute which will continue for
six weeks, on Monday nights.
This course of study calls for
"a united program to eliminate
anti-Semitism for the preserva-
tion of democracy."
MICHIGiAN'S LARGEST
FLORSHEIM DEALER
ed
zesi-as Woodward Next to Fox Theatre
Open Evenings
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
Victory Banquet
Tue'sday, January 16th, '1945
7 p. m.
Book Cadillac
otel
Guest Speakers
on. Robert F. Wagner
U. S. Senator, New York
Hon. Prentiss M. Brown, Former U. S. Senator
Hon. Patrick H. O'Brien, Probate Judge
Under auspices of
Wayne County Democratic Committee
Tickets available at:
Harry Grossman, 927 David Stott Bldg. CA. 5542
Benjamin Levinson, 584 Penobscot Bldg. CA. 9181