The Jewish Community's Family Newspaper VOL. 8—NO. 17 THE JEWISH NEWS A Weekly Review 2114 Penobscot Bldg. RA. 7956 of Jewish Events Detroit 26, Michigan, January 11, 1946 A Prayer to The Jews of Detroit On Behalf of the Surviving Jews in the Former Concentration Camps in Germany Sent by Josef Rozenzaft, chairman of the Central Committee representing the 80,000 Displaced Jews in the American, British and French zones of occupation in Germany, in care of Hon. William Friedman, president of the Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit. The Jewish Welfare Federation soon will con- duct the 1946 Allied Jewish Campaign for the United Jewish Appeal, as part of a na- tional $100,000,000 drive for the Joint Dis- . tribution Committee, United Palestine Ap- peal and National Refugee Service, to help save the surviving Jews of Europe. months have passed since we were . "liberated". For the 80,000 of us in unheated, bare barracks in Bergen-Belsen, Buchen- wald, Auschwitz, Landsberg and other former Nazi concentration camps now used for displaced Jews, they were long, heart-breaking months. For six bitter, bloody years we dreamed of the end of the war and those first months of peace and freedom. During our blackest days . .. days in which we saw our wives, our children, our parents, our brothers and sisters, our comrades, brutally murdered by the Nazi beasts, the thought ll .,d vhQ_ end ._, pi the Wes, . sust01.0 :11,5 .T.-eason,to f kght to wi alive. We were the survivors of a once happy and proud people—a'people which contributed so much to the civilization of Europe . . . to the civiliza- tion of the world. We were beaten and robbed, humiliated and tortured; most of us died but a few of us, always dreaming of the future, managed somehow to keep on going. Then came the end of the war! We were no longer beaten or tortured but we still had no food or clothing or medical supplies. Above all, we still had no homes. We were labeled "displaced persons" and kept in the same barracks and the same camps. Our Nazi guards disap- peared but for us there was no freedom . . . the barbed wire fences were torn down but we had no place to go. We were the "displaced" and the unwanted. America's Leading English- Jewish Newspaper 34 cogio. 22 $3.00 Per Year; Single Copy, 10c Inquiry Commission Hears Plan to Settle 1325,000 in Palestine WASHINGTON — America's outstanding authorities, non-Jews as well as Jews, appeared before the Inquiry Commission on Palestine to testify that tens of thousands of Jews in the displaced persons' camps in Germany have no other place to go to but Palestine and that Palestine's doors must be opened at once for their rehabilitation. The most sensational testimony during the first two days' hearings was the statement made by Robert Nathan, who recently completed an economic survey of Palestine, that the country can absorb 100,000 Jews immediately. Mr. Nathan outlined a 10-year plan for the settlement of a maximum of 1,125,000 Jews. Dr. Joseph J. Schwartz, European director of the Joint Dis- tribution Committee, appearing as a witness, described Poland as a "Jewish graveyard" where anti-Semitism is widespread and where Jews are "literally sitting on their valises" in their urge to get to Palestine. Dr. Schwartz emphasized that "tragedy has strengthened the Jewish attachment to Palestine as a homeland." Testifying at the public hearings on Monday, Earl G. Har- rison, American representative on the Intergovernmental. Com- mittee for Refugees, expressed the hope that the inquiry corn- mission will strongly recommend international machinery to carry out its expected proposals on resettlement. Stating that he had kept closely in touch with the displaced persons situation since his return from Europe, Harrison further reiterated the conclusion of his report that "Palestine is definitely and primarily" the choice of most Jewish survivors in Germany and Austria. Many have relatives there, he said, and have experienced such persecution in their homeland that only in Palestine do they feel sure of a welcome' and of opportunity to v,rork and live in peace. "For some of the European Jews there is no decent solution other than Palestine," he said, declaring that "nothing has occurred since my investigation to cause me to change my mind in the slightest." Persuasive Testimony —International Photo Rome's Rabbi: signor David Prato, n e w l y-elected rabbi of the Jewish community of Rome, Italy, successor to Israele Zolli who was convert- ed to Catholicism after cessa- tion of hostilities. Harrison criticized the seem- ing policy of the Intergovern- mental Committee on Refugees "of doing as little as possible to resettle displaced persons on the theory that it would encourage others to consider themselves as notable. He hoped the Inquiry Com- mittee would recommend wider financial support for the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees than it receives now solely from the American and British governments. He concluded by telling the com- mittee he was sure they would find memorandums submitted Agen-y Palestine as "a very per- suasive piece of testimony." Dr. Schwartz pointed out that admission to the U. S. under the existing quota laws, even in view of President Truman's recent order, was not a solution, since about 60,000 Polish Jews are waiting for release from Germany alone. With 6,500 visas avail= able for all Poles, he pointed out, it would take 10 years to bring in the Polish Jews even (Continued on Page 7) In despair we turn to you Jews of Detroit for help. Help us before we vanish completely from the face of the earth . . . Starvation and epi- demics are still taking their toll in our camps . . . A great many of us are suffering from tuberculosis . • . We have waited for years . we lack the strength to wait any longer! We need food, clothing and medical supplies. We want machines and tools so that we can prepare ourselves for a new life. They call us the "displaced". We cannot and will not return to our former homes in Germany, Austria, Poland and elsewhere, where we saw our wives and children and parents killed in cold blood. We cannot and will not go back to the homes in which we were beaten, degraded and tortured. We want to be free ... to know real peace once again. Our children are still young enough to enjoy a full and happy life—but not in Germany or Austria or Poland whose soil is red with the blood of our people. Our only hope is emigration . . . emigration to Palestine where we can start all over again ... where we can mend and rebuild our broken lives • .. where our children can learn to forget the horrors of the past. It is you Jews of Detroit, together with the other Jews in the United States, who will decide our fate . . . who will determine whether we live or die. In recent years we have had countless opportunities to die! We now ask you for an opportunity to live! We want an opportunity to begin life anew. We can achieve that only with your generous help. We come to you with the firm conviction that you will not let us down. We can no longer live in the past. We must have something to look forward to if we are to survive these days. ::S urvivor of 14: Capt. Mor ris Goldberg, returning veteran, holds his niece, Esther Mingrad, 4, on their arrival from Europe aboard a troop transport. Little Esther is the sole survivor of a family of 14, the others all having been killed by the Nazis in Po- land. She is on the way to Cin- cinnati for adoption by Capt. Goldberg. —International Photo.