Page Two
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
THE JEWISH NEWS
The Returning Deportees
By DR. JOSEPH J. SCHWARTZ
European Director, Joint Distribution Committee
One of the most tragic situations confronting relief workers in Europe
today is that which faces returning deportees, the people who are begin-
ning to trickle back from Mauthausen and Buchenwald and Dachau and
Bergen-Belsen and all the other horror camps in Poland, in Austria and in
Germany. When I left France, there were some
1,500 Jewish deportees who had returned to
France; there were some 800 who had returned
to Belgium. They were returning to France at
the rate of about 100 a day, and returning to
Belgium at the rate of about 50 a day.
A very small percentage of those who were
deported will return. But those who do, represent
so much misery and so much need that all the
money 'that we can raise in the :United Jewish
Appeal will not be enough to restore those people
to decent health and to decent standards and con-
cepts of living. They come in from those boats—
boats that start their journey in Odessa, come
through Naples and then into Marseille—and then
they find their way into our Paris office. They DR. J. J. SCHWARTZ
are literally without anything. They are without clothing, they are without
shoes, they have no place to spend the night. They haven't a sou in their
pockets. They have nothing .to look forward to. The families of practically
all of them have disappearea. They have nowhere to go, no place to turn to.
They come to the Jewish organization and they ask for help.
I must tell you that many of them are swollen with hunger. Many of
them cannot walk a step. Many of them need immediate medical attention
and medical care. They cannot be put on their own, They cannot be told to
shift for themselves.
The great majority of those people who are coming back to France and
Belgium and who are coming to our office are not French citizens or Belgian
citizens; they are people who at one time lived in France or lived in Belgium.
They therefore cannot come to the local government and ask for assistance.
The government does this much for them: it gives each one of them a
thousand francs and says, "now, look after yourself." I don't know whether
you realize what - one thousand francs means in France today. It means one
meal, perhaps two meals—but no more. And then these people are left to
shift for themselves.
THE PEACE
At last, we have peace in the world.
There is an end to bloodshed, and' the
nations of the. world will now be able
to get down to business and to plan for
the security of their citizens.
August 14 was a great day for hu-
rn.anity, and the hilarity to which tens
of milliOns of people gave vent was a
natural outburst, as an expression of the
joy that it will no longer be necessary to
worry over the fate of a dear one or the
future of one's country.
Jews have greater reason to rejoice
than their neighbors. World War II
records the blackest page in our history.
We have lost more than 6,000,000 of our
people, and the survivors from Nazism
in Europe are broken in body and spirit.
Does the peace mean a bitter future
for ',Israel and for all mankind? Do the
statesmen of the world recognize the
tragedy of our people, or have they har-
dened their hearts to the needs of the
tragically-afflicted • Jews?
• * *
CHALLENGE TO. REALITY
We would be utterly foolish if we
were to remain under the spell of hilar-
ity in these hours of celebration over the
peace. Jewry's role today is one of a
prayerful people who must hope and
plead that good should come out of the
evil which was created for us every-
where, And the blessed United States
are not excluded from the poisonous
spheres created by bigots.
While the world was waiting . for news
from Toyko, a very interesting program
was being broadcast nationally, with
By ARNOLD LEVIN
By PHINEAS J, B1RON
Lowell Thomas as commentator. It was
a tribute- to a little Jewish lad from De-
Copyright, 1945, Seven Arts
(Copyright, 1945, Independent Jewish
Features Syndicate, Inc,
troit—I-A. Raymond Zussman—who was
Press Service, Inc.)
awarded the Congressional Medal. of CHAPLAIN'S REPORT
FROM ABROAD
Honor posthumously for great valor in
The war may be over, but strange
Ask Captain (Chaplain) Klein, of the
action, for capturing a German town
single-handedly and for other displays 9th Air Division; just returned from scenes may yet be seen in the Jewish
of heroism.
overseas, to tell you about the surviving quarter of Paris . . . Jewish refugees,
One would imagine that such a tri- Jews of France and Belgium. A Yiddish former residents of France, can be seen
bute would serve to clear up such minds newspaper is at a premium, a Yiddish or picketing their own business establish-
as have been beclouded with doubts and Hebrew book are priceless, and with the ments, sold in their absence to French
with hatreds. But tolerance and good Hebrew presses destroyed by the Ger- collaborationists by the Nazis . . . Now
will do not operate that way. Simultane- mans it was necessary to photostat He- these new French owners refuse to vacate
ously. a tragic fire broke out. It re- brew textbooks to fulfill demands . . . In their illegally acquired stores or factories
sulted from negligence and it cost the Holland Captain Klein ran into a surviv- • . And so march up and down the side-
lives of 14 workers in a factory. Milling ing Jew who had that day seen the light walks, telling their sad stories on posters
around the burnt building, small groups of day for the firSt time in three years. • . Another strange public reaction re-
of people were heard to propagate hat- He had been hiding, emerging only after ported from Paris: Whenever Leon Blum
appears on a newsreel screen he gets
red against the Jews. "The Jews want dark; if at all.
booed, while Petain has been greeted
to save their money," "the Jews are res-
* * *
with cheers . . . Perhaps Petain's convic-
ponsible •. . ." and similar cries were re-.
tion of treason will change this.
ported to us. The mob pinned blame on PSYCHO-ANALYSIS
Did you know that the Russians have
the eternal scapegoat!
The great Sigmund Freud, father of
And it was not the mob alone that pSycho-analysis, died in Britain, an exile issued special identification cards to the
mixed hatred with joy. Dartmouth Col-
at 80 plus, ransomed from the Nazis of Jews and half-Jews of Berlin? . . : Each
lege—an institution that should stand for Vienna for a goodly sum raised by his card carries the bearer's photograph, de-
great honor and dignity—has chosen to friends. His nephew, Sgt. Harry Freud, clares that he is a victim of Nazi Fascism
adopt the niunerus clausus, the quota had a pleasure befitting a descendant of and asks that he be given special consid-
plan that has its roots in the dark lands the great soul-searcher when he ques- eration . . -In other words, the Jews
of bigotry and persecution. A handful tioned Julius Streicher in behalf of the have been segregated for special and bet-
of Christians have condemned it. But Army. He was sad that Freud himself ter treatment.
* * *
most colleges and universities, even did not live to do the questioning.
THE
BRITISH
SCENE
though they may deny it, are adhering
* * *
to a similar policy. Most of them do -it
Leslie Hore-Belisha, once Britain's Min-
silently and off the record—but they do FROM LEONARD LYONS
ister of War, but since the last election no
it nevertheless. -
Burnett Hershey, • the war correspon- longer an M. P., will' become one of Eng-
These are the things that are happen- denti, reports that the Colombophile Fed- land's largest newspaper publishers.
ing while we observe the peace. These eration. of Belgium, an organization of
The prediction that Harold J. Laski
things and more: the things that are pigeon fanciers, is helping the prosecu- will be the successor of Lord Halifax as
tion
of
collaborationists
by
identifying
happening to the survivors from Na-
Britain's ambassador to Washington has
zism whose despair is unabated and for the owners of pigeons which were used rio foundation • . Laski, however, may
as carriers for the Nazis.
whom there is little relief in sight..
come to America for a short series of
* * *
* * *
public lectures . . . Don't forget to read
"HITLER'S PRIZE, PUPIL"
Laski's article on the British elections in
NOTE TO ADOLF:
One of our overseas readers. Cpl.
Publishers owe Adolf Hitler $22,000 in the current issue of This Month . . . Ada
Mollie Weinstein of Detroit, who is now
royalties. We suggest the money be con- Siegel, editor of this magazine, used to
stationed in France, sends us a copy of
tributed
by these publishers to offset the be one of Laski's students.
* * *
Stars and Stripes which carries - the gist
harm
they
did by circularizing Hitler':
of a number of letters from service men words.
JEWISH NEWS
and women in response to a soldier, T/4
The fund for pro-Arab and anti-Zionist
* * *
Edward Foreman, who, in an earlier is- CREDIT
propaganda in the United States is much
sue of that paper, expressed the views
larger than has been announced in the
Samuel Neusner, publisher of The Jew- public prints . . . We're told that some of
of bigots who have been blaming the
ish
Ledger
of
Hartford,
Conn.,
deserves
Jews for everything that has happened
the big American oil companies have
in the -world and who have called this a distinction of some kind or other for his kicked
in many millions.
a Jewish war. The editors properly re- one-man battle against local hateist Daw-
that talk about large Jewish immi- -
son which rapidly developed into a cru- gration into Australia in the postwar
fer to Foreman as "Hitler's Prize Pupil."
One of the statements in his letter reads: sade, with The Catholic Transcript fol- period is a lot of bunk . . . The total year-
lowing through. But Neusner will tell ly immigration quota to AuStralia will be
"Does the U. S. and especially the Jew-
ish race desire a return performance by you that credit for fighting the hateists 2,500 for the next decade.
another Hitler at a later date, if not in in Connecticut should go to Francis S.
The American Jewish Committee has
- Germany, in some other country or Murphy, publisher of The Hartford some high-powered public relation ex-
continent?"
Times. Last year The Times smoked out perts on its staff now .. . Its latest "press
George Wall, who was becoming a men- book," on an "International Bill of
. Stars and Stripes editori state that
ace in the state, and this time The Times Rights," is very impressive, and should
more than 200 letters were received from
its readers in reply to this anti-Semitic splash on a letter by Dawson to Senator make the other Jewish organizations sit
outburst. It was to have been expected Bilbo smoked, out the hateist. The Hart- up and take notice.
that a number of Jewish men and wo-
ford Times, Mr. Neusner tells us, was
It is now generally acknowledged that
men in service would challenge him and the first newspaper in America to reject the plan on Germany adopted by the Big
their resentment ran high. It was good "restricted" advertising.
Three in Potsdam is the one projected by
to know that some non-Jews had also
Henry Morgenthau, Jr., and pooh-poohed
written to express their resentment.
the nations of the world can put an end by practically everybody—except, appar-
But the evidences of the existence of to such bigotry. Will the nations of the ently, the Big Three.
anti-Semitism must disturb all of us—if world act? Will they strive to put an
In reply to the letters from young
we are realistic, if we are not blind to end to Jewish homelessness and to the
ladies about Robert E. Nathan, the wizard
reality, if we recognize that the seeds of misery of hundreds of thousands of our
hatred are deep-rooted, if we are pre- people? If they do, there will be peace on economics, who is back in the Govern-
pared to admit that you can not educate for our people and a greater guaranty of ment, working, on reconversion problems:.
people out of their prejudices over night. peace for all peoples. If they do not, Nathan is 38 years old and still a bachelor
. . He smokes a pipe and prefers the
Only legislation and firm action by
then the peace may prove a colossal farce. taste of milk to that of whisky.
Heard in
The Lobbies
Strictly
Confidential
Friday, August 24, 1945
Between
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1945, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
POST-WAR ACTIVITIES
Now that the war is over and demobil-
ization of the Armed Forces is in process
phoney, crackpot and anti-Semitic organ-
izations -are resorting to many devices to
exercise influence on veteran groups,
springing up all over the country .
Anti-Jewish propaganda and fear of' un-
employment are among the baits used by
the pro-Fascists for returning soldiers .
The Ku Klux Klan is contacting ex-serv-
icemen
, Protestant War Veterans, a
creation of anti-Semitic Edward James
Smythe, is being revived . . . American
Order of Patriots with its slogan "Gen-
tiles Only" is becoming active .. . Other
anti-Semitic groups, dorMant during the
war because of their pro-Fascist records,
are beginning to come into the open ..
"Gentile News" is reprinting the notori-
ous "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" and
lauds the efforts of "over 300 nationalist
groups" . . One of the tricks now used
by anti-Semitics is the dissemination of a
letter allegedly sent out by the Synagogue
Council of America asking Jews to sign a
pledge that they "will be honest in all
business and private transactions" . .
The letter pretends to be written in the
interest of Jewish welfare, but at the
same time it promotes the idea that all
Jews should leave the United States and
go to Palestine within three years . . . It
slyly suggests that Jews themselves admit
that their co-religionists are crooked and
intolerant of their non-Jewish fellow
citizens . . Needless to say, the Syna-
gogue Council of America, whose cor-
rect address is given in the letter, has
nothing to do with it . . . . Believe it or
not—there are anti-Semites in the United
States who are now spreading the theory
that Hitler was nothing but a secret Jew-
ish agent . One of them is. Carl Mote
who makes this assertion in a booklet
just published, which also asserts that
Roosevelt was part Jewish and that
Churchill is part Jewish.
* * *
ZIONIST TRENDS
When the American delegation to the
World Zionist Conference returns to the
United States, there will be important
changes in the Zionist political activities.
in Washington. . . • U. S. Department of
Commerce believes that "the stage is set
for continued economic progress in Pal-
estine". . . . The Department is of the
opinion that there exist possibilities
which "may make Palestine a modern
community with a diversified agricul-
tural, industrial and commercial life." . .
British propagandists in the United States
are disseminating information stating that
Moscow is • now displaying "a persistent
tendency" to show sympathy towards the
Arabs. . . . A British "memorandum of
information" cabled from London for
private circulation says that the "flirta-
tion between the Soviets and some prom-
inent Zionists" turned out to be "not a
very successfUl experiment" . . The
memorandum devotes a lot of space to
the argument that in Britain there is
suspicion that Moscow, after flirting with.
Zionists for a few months, "is now mov-
ing toward an anti-Zionist policy" and is
at present "experimenting" in 'flirtation
with the Arabs. . . . Speaking of Russia's
attitude toward Zionist claims on Pales-
tine, it is worth knowing that Zionist
leadership was made aware of the fact
that the reconstituted Greek-Orthodox
Church in Russia will play an important
role in Moscow's decision with regard to
the future of Palestine , . . The Church
will now regain possession of vast prop-
erties in Palestine . . . Many Palestine
government institutions, including the
courts in Jerusalem, are located in prop-
erties of the RuSsian Church.
Yiddish Theater
The Yiddish Theater, whatever its
fate during the winter, has a minor
renaissance in the Catskills each summer,
Jacob Kischenbaum reveals in the Jewish
Morning Journal. Out in Woodbridge, N.
Y. (a township with a Jewish Mayor and
Police Chief) the star-names of the Yid-
dish stage are to the found: Menashe
Skulnick, old-timer Jennie Goldstein, etc.
Hotel-keepers who would not have
thought of engaging a Yiddish entertainer
in the past, scurry about to obtain Yid-
dish stars for their Saturday evening pro-
grams, with Yiddish songs now joining
the herring and gefilte fish in "musts."
;_.