Page Two
THE JEWISH NEWS
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
SCRAMBLE FOR AUTHORITY
The San Francisco sessions are in full
force—and so is the scramble for recog-
nition by various nationality . groups,
racial and • educational spokesmen, in-
eluding -our own.- - 5
There was some • hope that the errors
of previous years, when as many as :.30
Jewish delegations saw fit to . present
separate petitiOnS to . intergovernmental
commissions, would be avoided.
. But—NO! _Again we have MANY
commissions. The American Jewish
Conference, the American Jewish Corn-
' mittee and the Jewish Labor Committee
have been , recognized as authorities
speaking for the Jewish people at San
Francisco. In addition, many, many more
groups have sent representatives to be
"on the ground floor" while the machin-
ery is being forged for the coming peace.
True—many emissaries call themselves
OBSERVERS. But they are there, and
we hope that they will not be media fOr
confusion when the tragic position of our
people- is considered.
* *
CENTER EXTENSION BUILDINGS
All community-minded Detroiters un-
doubtedly nodded approVal when they
read the proposals made by H. C. Broder,
president of the Jewish Community .
Center of Detroit, that three new ex-
tension buildings be erected to provide
for the needs of the various Center pro-
grams in three major Jewish neigh-
borhoods.
There is no doubt about the practic-
ability and feasibility of such proposals.
Already, the Center sponsors extension
programs on 12th St., in various public.
and Hebrew school buildings and in co-
operation with youth groups that are
affiliated with national movements.
One problein remains: the constant
movement of .- the Jewish population.
Should our population movement con-
tinue, then buildings of the magnitude
of the present imposing Center on Wood-
ward Avenue become investments that
are entirely too expensive. .
Is there a solution?
If the population wanders,, why---nOt
plan wandering buildings? Why not
erect Center structures on the cottage
plan with the intention of moving them
whenever it becomes necessary. • to
change Center locations?
There is no earthly reason why the
Jewish Centers—we SHOULD have more
than one—should not have large play-
grounds, breathing space for many
activities, extensive facilities for a great
fob. How else are we to prepare our
youth - for leadership and for responsible
jobs in the future?
"EQUAL JUSTICE UNDER LAW"
The Committee for Equal Justice for
Mrs. Recy Taylor, Room 204, 112 E. 19th
St., New York 3, N. Y., sends us a copy
of a powerful pamphlet, "Equal Justice
Under the Law."
It is the description of the terrifying
experience of a Negro woman who, as
the victim of several white boys in Ala-
bama, failed to secure justice under the
law.
This pamphlet should be scrutinized
by every American who is concerned
that injustice should be uprooted even
within the boundaries of the United
States, while we are fighting for justice
on other fronts. If conditions such as
those of which Recy Taylor was a
victim should prevail, then our de-
niocracy is a mockery.
VOICE THAT GATHERS STRENGTH
A short time ago, Robert St. John quot-
ed a young woman from West Virginia
as writing to him: .
"You wrote a book about the Silent
People of Europe. Well . . . there are.
silent people here, too. They're not silent
because the enemy lurks behind every
door ... or .. . because their homes are
heaps of ruins .. or their children starv-
ing . . They're silent because they had
no words with which to speak . . . be-
cause. they don't know what to do.
They're the people who live in small.
towns and cry silently, or in big cities,
and are alone!"
This. gave the eminent radio broad-
caster an opportunity to comment on the
horrible crimes that resulted from
Nazism—on the massacre of Jews, the de-
struction of Europe, the degradations
that were visited upon human beings,
and Mr. St. John concluded:
"But there is an answer. History has
it written, in every chapter! The answer
is that when the yeast of such idealism
as this young woman displays, permeates
the world, then things happen! The peo-
ple are always heard! One small voice
may seem to be a voice in a wilderness,
but soon . . other voices come from
behind trees . . . and soon it isn't a
wilderness any more. Soon the world
Jews in America's Armed Forces
A Statistical Report Syndicated by Independent Jewish Press Service
by Special Arrangement With the National Jewish Welfare Board,
Taken From Forthcoming JWB Volume "Fighting for America"
A survey of 5,867 Jewish families in 15 sections of the five boroughs of
New York City disclosed- that the percentage of Jews in service was slightly
above the percentage of Jews in the total populations. These findings were
confirmed by additional studies during 1944 in Wilmington, Del.; Allentown,
Pa.; Toledo, 0.; Hammond, Ind.; Youngstown, 0.; Denver, Colo.; Madison, Wis.;
Seattle, Wash.; and toward the end of the year, New York City and Los
Angeles.- Studies in other cities indicated - that Jews are in the Armed Forces
fully in proportion to their numbers- in the . population. . •
The Detroit record is very impressive, the list now showing nearly. 9,000
Jews to be in khaki and blue—this number being far. above the percentage
of Jews. in the population. .
In New York, as well as in Los Angeles, it is impossible. to make. an actual:
. count of all the Jewish servicemen. Consequently reliance has to be placed on
standard sampling methods, such as are used in the public opinion polls. The
New York study covered 5,867 families. numbering nearly 18,000 individuals,
taken from 15 separate areas over the five boroughs of the city.
The.. files of the Bureau of War Records indicate that many thousands of
Jewish families have given two or more sons to the service. The records avail-
able indicate that 1,059 of these families in America have given a total of 3,595
sons to the Armed Forces. The total number of deaths of American Jews in the
Armed Forces, whose records are • on file at the Bureau of War Records, is
2,470, with thousands more in process of being checked. According to the same
authority, 1,988 soldiers of the Jewish faith have been wounded in the service
of their country; 811 have been taken prisoners and 575 are missing.
Thousands of Jewish soldiers have been given awards by the government
in recognition of their valor. Among them are '70 men who have received a
total of 787 awards, none fewer than 10, some as high as 18. Thirty-one Ameri-
can Jews have received the second highest award given for courageous action,
the Distinguished Service Cross.
The spiritual leadership of America's rabbis equals the heroism of the
American JeWish soldier. More than 50 per cent of America's rabbis volunteer-
ed to serve in the chaplaincy. As of October, 1944, there were 262 Jewish
chaplains in service; 109 of them were serving with troops overseas, 40_ of
Ahem* serve in the Navy and Marine Corps, and 21 in the Maritime Service.
Six Jewish chaplains have died in service. One, Alexander Goode, was
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross posthumously.
Copyright 1945 by INDEPENDENT JEWISH PRESS SERVICE, Inc.
Heard in
The Lobbies
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyright, 1945, Independent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)
CANADIAN ZIONIST
An article in a - recent issue of Mac-
Lean's Magazine of Canada recalls the
legendary Canadian, Henry Monk, who
almost a century back advocated a Jew-
MI state in Palestine. A friend of Holman
Hunt, British:'.religicius painter, and John
Ruskin, immortal critic, Monk preached
that ..Great.Britain. and the U.S.A. were
:to take:the lead in repatriating the Jews.
He stressed that world security and jus-
tice to- the Jew are interdependent. He
had - even planned to launch a fund to
purchase Palestine from the Turks• and
transfer "it to the Jews. In 1878, Ruskin
had signed a manifesto for the fund, but
withdrew . his endorsement before the
document :..could be published.
TROUBLE-IN BERGSON'S HEAVEN
We are 'fold that the (Peter H.) Berg-
sonite heaVen is plagued by mundane
worries these days. Wholesale resigna-
tions by sponsors several months ago,
resulted in the falling off of receipts,
leading to financial retrenchment, re-
duction of staffs, etc. --
The Emergency Committee to Rescue
the Jewish . People of Europe may fold
up, and the teasbn given will be the
same as when the Committee for a Jew-
ish Army folded up—namely, "our work
has been accomplished." The Assirei
Zion Committee, seeking to raise funds
for terror-suspects deported from Pales-
tine to . Eritrea and Sudan, may now
bloom forth as •the fiscal agency or the
Bergson boys, who, incidentally, are get-,
ting some stiff competition in their poli-
tical advertising from the New Zionist
Organization of America.
You will recall that at a convention
of the New Zionist (Revisionist) Organ-
ization last summer, the Bergsonites
broke away and re-organized as the
Zionist-Revisionist O r g a n i z a ti o n of
America.
ARBITRATOR
General Marshall was placed in some
sort of labor-arbitrator role recently. He
sat between David Dubinsky and Sidney
Hillman, the two labor leaders who are
at loggerheads, at President Roosevelt's
funeral.
hears a faint chorus which sounds at
first like soft, distant music, which some
may ignore. But then, gradually, it grows
and grows . • . until it has the roar • of
thunder! And then things begin to hap-
pen!"
There is great significance in this
statement. Persons of courage must never
be silent when they witness wrong-doing.
They must let themselves be heard and
their voices—no matter how small—will
gather strength. Then . justice. can be
assured.
Mr. St. John's comment carries an
important . admonition to Jews. Too
often, our voices are stifled. Too often,
we lower them ourselves out of fright.
Fortunately, the voice- never dies. But
whenever tragedy lurks in our midst—
especially in the present dark hour in
our history—it must be raised and must
be made to gather strength.
Between
You
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
.
(Copyright, 1945, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
SAN FRANCISCO SIDELIGHTS
44 11.,44.4tr.r , • •
Vi`•
Alefir44.1; g '
'
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
•
Copyright, 1945, Seven .Arts •
Features Syndicate, Inc.
ECHOES
- A few minutes after Mrs. Franklin D.
Roosevelt received the tragic news of the
passing of FDR she telephoned the hos-
pital. where Mrs. Henry Morgenthau Jr.,
lay gravely ill ....Mrs. Roosevelt asked
Mrs. MorgenthaWs private nurse to re-
move the bedside 'radio from .her patient's
room, to spare her the sudden shoCk of
the broadcast . announcement of the
President's death... . Typical of Roose-
Veit is this incident, of which Jacob
Billikopf reminds us: When FDR. was
governor of New York he pushed through
the million-dollar building of the N. Y.
State Forestry School in memory of Louis
Marshall
.
JEWISH PROBLEM
Dr. Nahum Goldmann, who knows
more about official Zionist political
policy than any one else,. wrote an ar-
ticle minimizing the possible effect of
the San Francisco Conference on the
pOlitical fate of a Jewish Palestine.
THIS AND THAT
We saw a preview of Ed Chodorov's
"Common Ground," the new play by
the author of "Decision" . . . It is a
fearless denunciation of Fascism and anti-
Semitism, but we doubt that it will be a
box-office hit . . . It is 'too realistic a pill
for our tired businessmen in search_ of
entertainment . . . Too bad . . The
same forces that tried to get labor leader
Harry Bridges deported are now girding
their loins for an attempt to get rid of
Charlie Chaplin as an undesirable alien.
. . . Hats off to Jack .Kofoed, former
sportswriter, - now columnist for • the
Miami Herald . . . The day after Roose-
velt died he wrote a column, captioned
"Tolerance and Understanding Rare,"
which is indeed a rare tribute to JeWish
courage. •
The delegation that gets the most at-
tention here is that from Saudi Arabia
. . It is always accompanied by a State
Department, representative on one side
and by a representative of American oil
companies on the-other . . . Just try and
ask any of the delegation a question on
Palestine and up jumps a State Depart-
ment official telling you that that is a
political question which the delegation
does not feel like answering. Rep. Sol
Bloom is frequently seen in the com-
pany of the Saudi Arabian delegation
and thinks that they are behaving well
by keeping their opinions on Palestine
to themselves.
Recuperating at an Army . hospital .here
after- two years of overseas service .is our
"Flying Chaplain," Capt. Emanuel. M.
Honig, who after participating in the in-
vasion of southern France . helped. the
Jews there rebuild their congregation
life . . . Overseas'. as a uniformed war
correspondent is novelist Edna Ferber
. . . Ira Hirshmarin, who did such a swell
job as emissary to Turkey for the War
Refugee . Board, has been offered - the post
of chief of the Psychological Warfare
Activities in Germany.
SECURITY ECHOES
ABOUT - PEOPLE
MILITARY INTELLIGENCE
DaVid E. Lilienthal, chairman of the
Tennessee Valley Authority, whose term
expires onn -May 18, Will be- renominated
for another 9-year term-- by President
Truman, tremendous Senatorial opposi-
tion notwithstanding . Secretary of
the Treasury Morgenthau was very de-
termined to resign, but may stay. in. of-
fice for a w_hile . because the . President
insisted that he do so . . . Dr. Isador
Lubin, selected by FDR to represent the
USA on the Reparations Commission in
Moscow, will be reconfirmed. by • Presi-
dent Truman , The names of Mrs.
Gertrude Berg (of "The Rise of the Gold-
bergs") • and -Mrs. Tamar De Sola-Pool
are running neck to 'neck in the gueSses
as to who has second place as the most
beloved Jewish -woman • of America . .
Mrs. Stephen S. Wise holds first place,
you - remember . . Hollywood once more
PALESTINE AND BIRO-BIDJAN
- The Palestine situation is dealt with promises us a biographical film on
in the very interesting volume "Asia's Samuel Gompers, founder of the Arrier-
Lands and Peoples" by George B. Cressy, ican Federation of Labor.
just published by Whittlesey House.
Pointing out that Palestine's problems
are many and deep, the author emph-
asizes the conflict between Arab and . Few of the recorded compilations of
Jewish interests. He finds that the rival the occurrences in Poland reflect t h e
Arab, Zionist and British claims have tragedy of the Jewish people as im-
proved impossible of solution. He be- pressively as does the Yiddish book,
lieves that the Arabs might agree to "Through Fire and Blood" ("Durch Feier
permit the establishment of a national Und Blut"), published by the World
home for Jews in Palestine, but declares Jewish Congress—Representation of Po-
that the Jews aim at a national state lish Jewry, 1834 Broadway, New York.
there. Schemes of partition, he says,
Prepared by the Jewish national com-
have satisfied no one.
mittee and self-defense organization of
The author comes to the conclusion Warsaw, this book, whose sub-title . is
that it is doubtful whether the Arabs "Ghetto-Bletter," relates the pain, the
will surrender political control over. heroism, the sacrifices and the courage
Palestine except under force, This, he of the ghetto fighters. -
points out, would involve explosions
Moshe Polakevitch wrote the foreword
throughout the Moslem world. The and the text was addressed to Isaac
author admits that "spectacular develop- Schwartzbart, Ansel Rice and Dr. Aryeh
ments" have occured around the Jewish Tartakower.
settlements in Palestine at great expense
The complete story of the battle of the
for drainage of swamps and irrigation. Warsaw ghetto is told in this work which
He emphasizes that the Arabs, on the is certain to occupy a position of his-
other hand, have not developed agricul- toric importance when judgment is pass-
tural cultivation "to its maximum".
ed' upon the Nazis for their destruction
For undisclosed reasons he says noth- of Polish Jewry.
ing about the other Jewish achievements
in the development of Palestine, and ally interesting". He points out that
makes no mention in the entire book of Jews receive full rights throughout the
the Jewish contribution to Palestine's USSR, but says that the Jewish autono-
industry, health, etc. In his chapter on mous district of Biro-Bidjan is not only
the Far East, the author lauds Jewish what he calls "a Soviet Palestine," but
achievements in Biro-Bidjan and finds is also strengthening the economy of the
the Jewish settlement there to be "especi- entire_ Khabarovsk region.
There is not much love lost between
the various Jewish consultants to the
U. S. delegation. And anyone who be-
lieved that all Jewish leaders who" came .
here from New York would form a
United Front will be greatly disappoint-
ed. There is no United Front even be-
tween the leaders of the American Jew-
ish Conference, World Jewish Congress
and Zionist Emergency Council. They
work hand-in-hand, but• the unity is su-
perficial as far as the persons involved
are concerned. However, the Jews are
not the only group which is split into
competing sections. The Spanish speak-
ing groups here are even more divided
among themselves. There are pro-
Franco and anti-Franco elements, pro-
Argentine and anti-Argentine. The same
is true of the Yugoslav groups here.
Ghetto Tragedies
•
, • .
Friday, May 4, 1945