Page Two

Strictly
Confidential

By PHINEAS J. BIRON

Copyright, 1945, Seven Arts
Features Syndicate, Inc.

THE JEWISH NEWS

As Poets See U. S. Jewish Life

By J. L. TELLER

This writer hopes that Moshe Starkman's "Hemsech Anthology," embracing
the last 25 years of Yiddish poetic writing in this country, will be acquired by
all who read Yiddish and may soon be available • in an English translation. For
American poetry—the body of poetry created on American soil in the past
quarter of the century—may gain in stature by the inclusion of what has been
written by Americans writing in the Yiddish language. Their poetry.. is not that
of immigrants and shopworkers, their poetry is reflective of an integrated
America---expresses the problems and tastes of the American Jew,, born or
raised here. The average age of the poets in this anthology is 40, and few of
them . were older than 15 on. coming to the United States; some were younger, a
few were born- on American soil.
•
(Benjamin M. Laikin of • Detroit is referred- to in the preface to "Hemsech
Anthology" as the man who •n-idde poSsible the -publishing of the book 'by'
providing the necessary funds).
In previous anthologies of Yiddish poetry -, moSt poets gaye manual trades
as their vocations.' The new generation Of poets (and 'this is 'ntii intended as
- snobbery) are professionals or semi- professionals; many of themL--and some
of • the finest—are' newspapermen. Previously Yiddish poetry in this country
was mostly "social-conscious; "• i.e. centering around the sweatshop and the
affairs, and urging - the masses 'to revolt against the frightful state of affairs.
• Another motif, less popular, was the too obvious Zionist motif expressing nost-
algia for Palestine in crude terms. A subsequent generation of poets, some of
Whom are still writing and have made great - reputations for themselves, wrote
esthetic, self-centered verse, influenced jointly by .the Russians and Germans.
Many of the newest generation, represented in Mr. Starkman's anthology,
follow the French and English tradition, and are contemporaries in every sense
of T. S. Eliot, E. E. Cummings and' James Joyce. But their leit motif
Jewish. Here you have a keen awareness of America=its problems, its moods; -
its cultural fashions. But you have 'an equally clear awareness - of JeWish tradi
tions.--literary, cultural, religious.
The Yiddish 'poets, represented in Mr. Starknian'S anthology, have lived
' so near to Jewish sources, that writing in Yiddish they haVe created an Aria-
erican Jewish poetry of-a higher order than any in the English language.
It would be wise, in. translating this work into English, to 'omit some poets.
But this does not detract from the intrinsic value of the Work—a work re-
flective not alone of Yiddish poetry in this country in the past quarter of this
century,' but of American Jewish 'life as felt • and 'registered by a group , 'of
highly sensitive and profoundly reflective persons.

Friday,•Aprg t3, 1945

Heard in
The Lobbies

By ARNOLD , LEVIN

(Copyright, 1945, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)

THINGS TO WATCH
CONGRESSIONAL NOTE
Women's Voice, official organ of We,
Harlem. Congressman Adam. Clayton
the Mothers;.--- with a circulation of ap-
Powell, Negro champion, will demand a
proximately 20,000, is still carrying on an •
CongreSsional investigation' into . racial
intensive anti-Semitic propaganda cam-
discrimination in the armed forces.. Pow,
paign. against Secretary of the Treasury
ell is the man Rankin,hates more than he
Henry •Morgenthau. -
hates Congressman Emanuel Celler .of
Ridgewood, N. J:, Board of Realtors has
Brooklyn.
an agreement which can be checked by
, * . *,.*
its 443 minutes — an agreenient which
NOTE ABOUT PEACEATEURS
would make Mr. Hitler very happy . . .
Walter Winchell reports that Dr. G. W. •
The agreement states.that any real estate
Hartmann, alleged Socialist, pacifist and
agent accused of a sale to. a Jew ,will be
What-not, and chief of the . defunct Peace
tried by a jury of the board member- .
Now Movement, recently.. declared • that
ship and, if convicted, will be asked to
F.D.R. should be tried as a war criminal
resign from the board and or pay a fine
along with Hitler, etc. Bravo Walter, for
amounting to twice the commission in-
asking the Attorney General: "how long,
volved . . . In the agreement - the word
oh, how long?'
"undesirable" is substituted, for the word
"Jew" . . . Recently, through some fluke,
HAGGADAH. NOTE
a Jew *purchased home in Ridgewood,
Some. Gentile friends of your columnist
and the agent who sold it to him, pleaded
were as shocked as though it were a
for mercy on the grounds that he had not
desecration of their own faith, when they
known that the buyer was Jewish . .
read Jewish columnist George Sokolsky's .
And now listen to this! . . . The Jewish
column. defending the "poor Germans"
"gentlenian" who had bought this home
against slavery, by using the Haggadah as -
in Ridgewood made the following state-
his text. This alien-baiter _fascist, Law-
ment: "In a real sense the Board of
rence . Dennis' favored Jew, is the son of-•
Realtors is, right . . . A town can be killed
a rabbi . . . Incidentally, whom did Win-;•
by the wrong kind of people, regardless
Copyright 1945 by INDEPENDENT JEWISH PRESS SERVICE, Inc.
chell mean when he mocked a "columnist
of their creed or color" . . Then this
. . . trying to earn the Iron Cross . . .
Jew• pleaded exonerating circumstances
weeps over the poor Germans who Will
—because he -had not been in a synagogue
be forced to work for the Russians after'
all his life except for weddings and fu-
the. war?"
nerals . .. This happened in 1945 in the
* * * -
United States of America, WhOse sons are
HONORS
.
dying to free the world from Fascism.
• Anna Rosenberg, New Deal "all around
*
*
*
man," may soon go overseas on an im-
By PHILIP
PALESTINE NOTES
By BORIS SMOLAR
portant mission. Will it be in' connection
There are hundreds of Arabs in the
(Copyright, 1945; Jewish TelegraPhic
with UNRRA? . . . J. Edgar Hoover is
SUNRISE IN MICHIGAN
war prisoner camp at Opelika, Ala.. . .
Agency, 'Inc.)
reportedly. scheduled to go - abroad to
Michigan's interesting Jewish farm-
These Arabs were captured as members
organize a sleuthing System to get the
ing• experiment near Saginaw, on the THE .HOME..FRONT
of Ahe late Marshal Rommel's famous
site of the - Prairie Farm at: the villages • Dissolution of the United Jewish' Ap- men who dispatched the spies ; whom his
Afrika Korps.
sleuths 'nabbed in the U.S. We can see
Of Alicia, Pitcairn and Clawdale, which peal rriaY, after all, leave the
In Los Angeles last week William Ziff,
4/a
re-named
•
-"Sunrige
Cooperative
!
the U.P.A. where they Were• 13efOre they the headlines: F.B.I: NABS! "PRETTY
the publisher and author, .delivered - an
MOUSTACHE" HITLER, :"MOUTH-7 ,
address on Zionist policy, and is said to Farm Community" by the _Jewish settlers, broke up Partnership . .. The 10 largest
is in, the news again •
and - most . influential Jewish federations 'PIECE": GOEBBELS, '"TRIGGER-FINE
have succeeded in. swaying the Zionist
Dr. Henrik F. Infield, student of co and welfare Rinds are determined to have ER"' HIMMLER. No kidding, it is re-
rank and file away- from- the leadership
operative
farming - projects whose re- :a say in' the 'matter, eVen though the portedly a mission for the Intergovern,i
_
of either Rabbi Goldstein or Rabbi Silver..
cent
book
"Cooperative Living in Pal- Council of 'Jewish Federations - .and' Wel- Mental War Crimes commission.
*
*
*
*
•
estine" attracted considerable interest, fare Funds was : not successful , in its
MAGAZINE DIGEST
includes The Sunrise CoMmunity among attempt to' secure continuation Of the CONFUSION
The Priest, a monthly published in the studies he has made for his latest
: - Dorothy Thompson's tears for. Germany
Huntington, Ind., defends the conversion 'boOk, "Cooperative 'COinniUnities - at United , Jewish Appeal • . . 'What the
are confusing to her best friends. Walter,
leaders
of
these
federations
intend
to
do
of former Chief Rabbi Zolli of Rome to
Work," which was published by the
Winchell claims that she told a farewell
Catholicism by citing the ease of Franz Dryden Press, 386 :Fourth Ave., New is very simple .. . They will, themselves, party: "I'm so disgusted at the
intellect
negotiate-with J.D.C. and U.P.A. and will
Werfel . . . The Priest laments that Wer-
York.
determine 'the proportion Which each of ual thinking in • the U. S. toward postwar
fel, whom it regards as- a believer in
* * *
these two former partners in the U.J.A. Germany, that I will return-to live in
Jesus as the Messiah and in Catholic A GREAT EXPERIMENT
is to receive from welfare binds now that . Germany after this assignment."
Christianity, has "not the fortitude or the
* * • *
Sunrise was a very great experiment. U.J.A has been dissolved . . . The. result
grace to brace the slings and arrows of
In more' than one sense, it may have is: likely to bring 'about a situation which REVISION
Jewry, as did Rabbi Zolli, by taking the
been the "most interesting Jewish farin- - vill clearly show that the J.D,C. and
To some gullible Washington repre-
logical step to .the baptismal font."
ing undertaking in the history of the U.P.A. will each receive from the -welfare .sentatives: the fact that Jews, in high
*.
back-to-the-land movement that 'had de
fuhds no more than they ,would have re- Governmental quarters or in- diplomatic
ABOUT PEOPLE
-
veloped among JeWs in this country.
ceived through the U.J.A. had the latter -posts, confide that the . Palestine cause is•
Joe Rosenthal, the' photOgrapher whose
Dr. Infield's description of the 'project not been dissolved . . . This, in turn, may dear to them, does not necessarily mean
shot of the marines raising the flag on is worth serious study, especially in con-
that it is so . . Skepticism won't hurt
Mt. Suribachi is being hailed as the trast to the other farming movements result in the U.J.A. being reconstituted you.
greatest picture of the war, was classified that had arisen among Jews everywhere, - next year, since the group responsible for
* * *
4-F in the draft because of defective and in comparison with the highly suc- the break-up of the partnership will real :, FORESIGHT
ize that it did not - benefit frorn the split .
vision . . . Sure, Joe wears glasses-*--but
cessful cooperative agricultural undertak-
Miller in his fine volume - "Eisie4-.
. The power of these 10 federations and
did that stop him from accompanying
ings in Palestine.
welfare funds - should not be underesti, hoover" reveals that the General was
the marines on their invasion of Iwp
Sunrise, the Michigan colony, began in
as: !!Alarmist. .1ke". for preaching
Jima, and seeing al fl :thee heroic scenes June, 19.33, by a group.,,of Jews, under mated, since they. are • among the most known
'substantial contributors, and especially preparedness against the Axis, and against
he photographed while dodging Jap
the leadership of the anarchist leader since the smaller welfare funds will defi- its _friends in , the U.S. long before Pearl
shrapnel?
Joseph Cohen and the very shrewd or- nitely be influenced by Theft' dedisions. • Harbor. An': absorbing study of a fine
Prof. Albert Einstein, who ,.has.:been..• tganizer of farming projects; Eli Green-
`j.D.C. has $400,000 worth of Supplies on American,. it contains this Interesting
ailing for some time, feels much better
blatt. There were settlers from Detroit,
paragraph:. "Gen :
was arouS•--
now . . But that widely read columnist New York, Boston, Chicago and Phil- order, and additional supplies . are,,Cur-,:: ed'to
outbursts of indigliation at tli.e,,Sub z::.,
who recently wrote ,,that ;< Einstein.' had adelphia, and in the' :Main they ‘Xtere- in rently being sought . .. Included in these
"turned down an offer to head the new experienced tradesmen, tailors, shoe- . purChases are sewing -machines and tools versive groups that were giving 'aid and
destined for the Jews in liberated Roland: ,comfort to ther enem.y,,at,,la time of our
educational system in Germany under makers and a few mechanics,..
nation's peril. Ike's scathing remarks
Big Four supervision" is all wet . . :The • ' 'But ' they' Were tar from •being , fail'ure. -
Would scorch thiS Raper. He had notoleii - .,.‘
offer was never made.
4 -•
Oh the contrary, Dr. Infield points out in MEN AND NEEDS '
arice,,
idawied
. dumb
his_ study that "of the major crops the
The most popular , Jewish chaplain,. in , blind fools': who •could not see what Was'.
faktri produced n 5er ri6ent more th.L.n the U. S. armed forces.:today Ltc-Com, isure to happen if• we failed to• heed•the
the state average and that grain pro- J. L. Goldberg, : Assistant District, Chap-, warnings..'4Nazism•-atd Fascism must ' be'
duction. . .was ,,Just , ' above average.",
lain in the Navy who has visited all crushed if human freedoin Was to lie
N'Ot
bad 'record for taikirs, is it?
fronts in Europe and in the • Pacific . . . saved."
Dr.. Infield adds: "We are justified in The Passover services and the Seder in
* * *
"Getting Acquainted With J. ewish -- concluding; that, the , colony seems, ; on the- the : Third Naval District at' which he of-. ARGENTINE CARROUSEL
Neighbors", by Mildred Moody Eakin, whole, to have been as efficient as the ficiated were the most impressive in the
Don't get too excited over the arrest in
original farm taken over by Sunrise."
published by the Macmillan Co.,- is a
entire U. S. Navy.
Argentina of apostate Jew arid Nazi-link
•
..? •41, • #
splendid contribUtion ''to the' k cause.' of
= ••
The highest paid Jewish ;editor is Elliot Fritz' Mandl. His arrest is in order, 'Of
good will and better understanding.
Cohen, the new editor of the Jewish course, as would be Colonel Peron's and
SUPERIORITY OF KVUTZA
The author draws upOn the rich sym-
Why did the colony fail? To many Contemporary Record,. published ;lay the ,the, arrest of the entire Mgentine fascist
bolism and high idealism of Jewish lore
shades of Opinion inteHered 'With in- American Jewish. tornmittee . . The set,up, But, his arrest alone implies just
in the preparation of a guide-book of ternal peace - within the Sunrise Colony. publication- . will become a monthly likely another. attempt by the,. Peronites to ail,.
church leaders and 'church - Schools::
Dt: Infield . states that "ideological dif- to attract not only Jewish readers, but ply democratic camouflage to their reg-:.
Her approach , is excellent; the -first ferences, personal -temperaments and 'po- 'also non-JeWish.
ime. Incidentally, Mandl is reported to
chapter dealing with reasons why Chris- litical and religious creeds proved to be
Is it true that a certain American have been in, together with some Ger-
, tian neighbors: should seek to become ac-
stronger influences than ethnic uniform- monthly magazine, which has a tremend- man agents, on the meeting at: which' the''
ity."
quainted with. their Jewish friends.
ous circulation, engaged a writer to 'pro- Argentine Government Ostensibly de-
Miss Eakin outlines the symbols of
Compare this study—and the other in- ceed to Palestine and to send from there clared war on Gerniany, and to have
Jewish practices, explains • Jewish re-
teresting studies made in Dr. Infield's anti-Jewish articles? . . And is it true approved the. move.
ligious teachings, discusses group plan-
* * *
"Cooperative Communities at Work," that this writer was commltled to an in-
ning, introduces her readers to Jewish with his ..description of the: Kvutza at sane asylum, juste when he was about to EXPERT OPINION
.
festivals and ceremonies.
work—both in this book • .and. in his sign .the contract with the publication?
Dirnitri ShOshakovich, Russia's great-
The Sabbath and the Bar Mitzvah form earlier "CoopeitatiVe Living in Palestine"
est living composer, • discussing his trio, .
a special interesting chapter.
--.-and you realize why the Kvutza proved equal. • His fWQ books are magnificent written in memory of a dead friend, told
Jewish leaders and movements— superior.
vontributions to the. study of cooperative Moscow correspondent' Robert Magidoff
Brandeis, Henrietta Szold, Irving Berlin;
What makes. the Kvutza Superior? The 'projects. The comparative values of co
that the trio contains some Jewish folk-
Zionism and the 'refugee-aid efforts
fact that a JeW, coming from a clime, operatives in. this country, in. Argentine, songs. "I like Jewish folksongs, I don't
•
are well treated.
to: Palestine, takes to' farming of -his in Palestine, - outlined• in his books; form know exactly why. Possibly its that' I
"Getting Acquainted With Jewish own free will, as part of his desire to :a fascinating subject in' the study of 'the heard a great : deal. of JeWish folk music
Neighbors" is a - splendid volume..which
create. a .new life, is the major 'reason. Jew's assimilability and our people's fit- . . . from a man, named Bereiovsky, who._
will interest Jews as well as the Chris-
The lengthy t evaluation of the subject ness for a return to one "of our earliest collected three VolUrnes of such music
tians for whom it is intended..
makes Dr. Infield an authority . without pursuits--as an •agricultural- nation. -
and- showed them to me.":: . _

.

Between
You and Me

Purely
C ommentary

sLomovra

.

••...

Good Will‘With
Our Neighbors

•