I
Page Two
Purely
Commentary
I By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
!GETTING JEWS OUT OF POLAND
Mark Kaminsky of 17376 Indiana Ave.,
Detroit, is in a justifiedly sad state of
mind as a result of existing conditions in
Poland.
Commenting on the headline in a recent
issue of The Jewish News that "Jews in
Poland Want to Get Out Now!" he makes
the comment that "the Jews want to get
out, but the United States does not issue
visas to anyone in Poland." ,
Mr. Kaminsky's story is . a depressing
one. His brother, a physician,a who has
survived Nazi ordeals, has fought with
partisans against the barbaric "Germans
in the woods of Poland and has lost his
left arm, has received affidavit's to join
his two brothers here. These affidavits,
however, have not been honored,
"The American Consul in Poland does
not issue visas," Mr. Kiminsk.y writes.
'Every visa goes to the displaced persons.
in Germany. In his last letter my brother
cries out against this injustice; Murder
lurks in every corner and he wants to get
out now. Why should not my brother be
able to secure an American visa when we,
his two brothers here, are waiting for him
with open arms?"
Mr. Kaminsky's cry for help deserVes a
positive reply. This land traditionally is
the, haven for the oppressed and perse-
cuted. a
But even the displaced persons in Ger-
many are receiving but a meager number
of visas to come to this country, and Mor-
ello LaGuardia's proposal that 120,000
available visas be pooled to rescue sur-
vivors in Europe by settling them in this
country has fallen on deaf ears.
President Truman's directive for the ad-
mission of homeless Europeans provides
for the rescue of only 39,000 during 1946.
Mr. Kaminsky suggests that interested
Jewish organizations should commence a
campaign in behalf of the Jews of Poland.
Actually, such an effort has been in prog-
ress. It should be conducted with even
greater vigor _and we pass his suggestion
on to the American Jewish Congress, Amer-
ican Jewish . :COmmittee and American
Jewish Conference.
In the main,: however, the situation is
so discouraging that we share Mr. Kamin-
sky's despair over existing conditions and
especially over the fact that America's
traditions are being forgotten.
"ANTI-SEMITISM IN TORONTO"
Under this heading, the Toronto Daily
Star recently published the following edi-
torial comment:
"It is a disgraceful thing that a veteran,
or anyone else for that matter, should
lose his job in a Toronto hardware store
because the customers 'did not like being
waited on by a Jew'.
"The man in question was educated in
the schools of the district in which he
recently found employment after return-
ing from service in France. He was good
enough to serve his country overseas, but
not good enough, it seems, to wait upon
his felloW citizens when they were buying
<Nig hardware.
"Those who complained about him and
cost him his position should be ashamed
of their narrowness and prejudice. They
have the consolation of knowing that their
attitude is exactly that which Hitler ap-
proved and practised."
The Toronto Daily Star has rendered a
good service by calling this matter to
public attention. There are far too many
people who are willing to remain blind
to realities and who fail to see that Hit-
ler's job was accomplished not • merely
through the extermination of 6,000,000
European Jews but also by the spread of
bigotry throughout the world.
We thought the battle
battle for justice was
over Nazi-
partially won by the
fascism. Instead, we have a recrudescence
of hatred, a revival of pogroms and eco-
nomic discrimination.
In a sense, the battle for justice begins
anew—from scratch.
These Also Ran
By Dr. Maeanna Cheserton-Mangle
She was beautifully dressed for the oc-
casion, but her supercilious air kept her
table companions ill at ease: Throughout
the evening she boasted that her back-
ground was such and such. Others of even
greater distinction sat modestly by. The
climax came when one of the men men-
tioned the great thrill he had had on
seeing these shores for the first time. She
hardly waited for him to finish his sen-
tence before she broke in with an im-
pressive tone: "You know, one of MY
ancestors was present at the signing of the
Declaration of Independence."
Dr. Stephen S. Wise, the famous Amer-
ican Rabbi, sitting nearby, chuckled good
naturedly, "Mine were present at the sign-
;ing of the Ten Commandments,'
Fritley, July 26, 1946
THE JEWISH NEWS
An Open Letter—
To All Jews Who Are Not in Europe
By DR. JOSEPH J. SCHWARTZ
Chairman, European Executive Council, Joint Distribution Committee
19, Rue de Teheran
Paris (8E), France
Dear Friends:
I wish there were some way to make you realize what it is like over here. You
would have a 'better understanding if you had been here a little while ago to
witness the reunion of a mother and son who were brought here by J.D.C. workers
from widely separated displaced persons' camps after both mother and child
believed the other was dead. Or perhaps you would have a clearer picture if you
had accompanied me this morning to a J.D.C.-
supported children's home where boys and girls—
nearly all of theme survivors of the Hitler murder
camps—are beginning to adjust to normal life.
These are the satisfactions of this work—the
things that make up for being away from home
and family. But there is a darker side of the
picture—that, too, is a large part of the job.
At present, my desk is piled high with cables
and letters from every section of Europe. Each
pleads for larger appropriations and stepped up
relief supplies. Let me quote from a "few of the
cables selected at random:
From Frankfurt—Urgently need 2,500 lay-
ettes for distribution in Germany and Austria.
From . Warsaw—Situation critical due to
continuing arrival of repatriates from Russia.
From Budapest---Hungary in critical need
of increased shipments of food.
There is a note of urgency in each cable which
points up the continuous struggle for life and hope.
Let me take the cable from Warsaw and translate
it in these terms.
The Central Committee of Polish Jews, major
DR. J. J. SCHWARTZ
agency with which J.D.C. cooperates in carrying
on its relief program, must now extend aid to
the nearly 150,000 repatriates who are coming back from Soviet Russia. These men,
women and children who fled to Russia were helped to survive during the war years
by supply parcels sent by the J.D.C. Now they are returning, destitute, needing
every assistance to begin a new life.
Passing on to the cable from Frankfurt, we are faced with the realization
that Jewish life is resuming amidst the chaos, the rubble and the dislocation.
"Twenty-five hundred layettes are needed for Germany and Austria." Yes, babies
are born even to the displaced Jews in the camps and communities in Central
Europe. Should these new lives be wrapped in cast-off rags?
Then, there is the cable from Budapest, "Hungary in critical need of food."
On my recent visit to that country, I saw emaciated children whose only food was
ersatz coffee,- two pieces of dry, black bread and a bowl of weak soup. I saw lines
of weary men and women forming at the J.D.C. canteens where 90,000 Jews in
Hungary get their only meals.
Every cable tells the same story of Jews who have suffered deprivation and
torture; of people who have no homes, no families, no to turn to in their suffer-
ing except the J.D.C. When we are forced to say "no" in reply to a reasonable
request from the Jews of Europe, we are not merely disappointing them, we are
plunging them into a new disaster.
Europe's Jews have lost faith in people and in governments, but they still
believe in the J.D.C. No matter what the difficulty, they are sure that the "Joint"
will solve it. They look to the "Joint" for all types of aid, and when that help is
not forthcoming, their last hope is gone.
Only the Jews who fortunately are not in Europe can give them the strength
and the material aid to help on the long road back. The Jews of Europe constantly
say, ".The 'Joint' will help us," and by the "Joint" they mean you.
Sincerely yours,
JOSEPH J. SCHWARTZ.
Fickle Friends
Editorial in N. Y. Post
Displaying the most brazen diplomatic
blackmail tactics seen since Hitler's day,
Egypt, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Syria and
Lebanon have notified the U. S. that an
official denunciation by this government
of the Anglo-American Committee's rec-
immendations for Palestne "would . . .
strengthen the ties of friendship and
mutual co-operation" between the U. S.
and the Arab states.
How subtle our Arab would-be friends
are! The corollary to their warning is
that should we fail to repudiate, say,
the 100,000 entry permits for Palestine,
we would weaken the ties which "The
Arab governments . . have always en-
deavored to establish and maintain .. "
And that would mean no eastern Medi-
terranean bases for us in Arab League
states. Our Arab friends offer us stra-
tegic rewards if we would only betray
the- much-betrayed Jews once more.
Even if we had any inclination to make
the bargain, and certainly no official in
Washington can, it wouldn't be worth a
continental. Like all blackmailers the
Arab overlords are not to be trusted.
Back in 1939 the British, seeking the
"traditional friendship" of the Arab
states, yielded to the princelings' insist-
ence that Jewish entry into Palestine be
curbed.
Here is the measure of that "friend-
ship," bought with the appeasement
White Paper of 1939:
Egypt—Her King appointed, one pro-
Axis Premier who gave away British
battle plans to the Italians. When Hitler
looked like a -sure winner, the British
Ambassador had to have a tank batter
down the palace gates in order to gain
an audience with King Farouk, his
country's "friend."
Iraq—After the Nazi victory in Greece,
when Britain's Mediterranean fortunes
were at their lowest point, Iraq had her-
self a "palace revolution" and went pro-
Nazi.
Saudi Arabia—King Ibn Saud showed
his friendship for our side by declaring
war on Nazi Germany on March 1, 1945
—just when the carcass was ripe for the
vultures.
That's the way it went the first time
we betrayed the Jews fol.' Arab "friend-
ship."
So putting it on a purely practical level
we don't think we'd be getting much of an
asset if we bought the Arab states' "tra-
ditional friendship."
Heard in
The Lobbies
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyright, 1946. Independent Jewish
Press Service, Inc.)
LATRUN
To send a person to jail, the police must
proffer charges, eventually resulting in a
trial. Once acquitted by the court, the de-
fendant must be released. But the Pales-
tine government would like to imprison
all Jews in Palestine who speak and work
effectively against the White Paper poli-
cies. This is accomplished, gradually and
quite effectively, under the emergency
regulations. Under these regulations a per-
son may be held in "protective custody" in
one of Palestine's detention camps, Lat-
run, or Rafa, without the submission of
charges and, of 'course, without hope of
trial. From time to tinie, a board reviews
his case, which means nothing, for the in-
ternee never knows what the case against
him is. Several hundred Latrun internees
have been deported to Eritrea following
the "review" of their cases, and not even
deportation requires the filing of charges.
Latrun is the "intelleCtual" detention
camp of Palestine, and a Palestine anec-
dote has it that Latrun could well supply
the whole Middle East with persons fit
for ministerial rank. With the detention of
Moshe Shertok and his colleagues, this no
longer is an anecdote.
Latrun detainees are not subjected to
compulsory labor and are privileged to
organize their enforced leisure as they see
fit. The intellectuals at the camp have
organized courses in history, mathematics
and languages for the young, who were
detained at an age when youths in civil-
ized countries are just about sowing their
wild oats on the campus, and for the mid-
dle-aged who, having devoted a lifetime
to pioneering and state-building, have not
had the leisure for books and studies. Dic-
tionaries and technical maritime and agri-
cultural books are in large deffiand at
Latrun.
* * *
JAILS FOR WOMEN
Thousands of Jews languish in Pales-
tine's detention camps and jails. But the
Jewish women, detained or sentenced un-
der emergency regulations, suffer most.
Thrown in with Arab prostitutes at Beth-
lehem jail, and in constant peril of attack
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
Copyright, 1946, Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate, Inc,
THE FREEDMAN CASE
We had a chat with Benjamin Harrison
Freedman who signed the anti-Zionist
advertisements of "The League for Peace
with Justice in Palestine". as "Representa-
tive of Cooperating Persons of the Jewish
Faith" . Freedman • is a rather loquaci-7
ous businessman . . . He seems well off
and is convinced that he is,helping , the
Jewish cause . . . He told us: "I have 100
Million dollars at 'my disposal to place
refugees in countries outside of Palestine"
. . . When we asked hini which countries
he hesitated and then blurted out that
Oere were several countries willing to take
in Jews . . . Pauline Schoendorf, who signed
the adv,ertisernent as "RepresentatiVe of
Cooperating. Persons of the Christian
Faith," is Freedrnan'S inOther in law . .
B. H. Freedman is firmly convinced that
he is working in the interest of the Jews
by barring atheir way to Palestine . . ..
Honest people under the spell of a halluci-
nation are more dangerous than. scoundrels
. The 100 million dollars Freedman talks
about are nothing but air bubbles and Ben-
jamin should think twice before contin-
uing his stooge game for the British-
Arab-Imperialist-Feudal combine.
* * *
-
-
IT DID HAPPEN HERE .
An Anglo-Jewish paper in the South
published in its July 3 issue a statement
advocating the victory of Eugene Tal-
madge in the primaries . . . The statement
used the Nazi terminology about the su-
periority of the white race • . . And to
make matters even more revolting this
"Israelite" paper did not label the state-
ment political advertisement . . . We know
that the majority of Anglo-Jewish pub-
lishers feel as nauseated as we do.
The American JeWish Congress is con-
testing the granting-of an F. M. radio fran-
chise to the N. Y. Daily News because of
the paper's reactionary policy. So the
News produced a letter from Walter Mack,
treasurer of Temple Emanuel, whithproin-
ises cooperation to the News in its radio
activities . . Can you top i0 . Yes, we
can:
An important case involving the qUes s-
tion of the separation of Church and State.
is about to be tried before the Supreme
Court ... It originated in New Jersey with
the transportation of pupils to private and
parochial schools.
* * *
MISCELLANY
The New York Herald Tribune gave as-
surance to the Anti-Defamation League
that it , will exclude advertising of a dis-
criminatory nature . . . So the other day
the Herald Tribune published an adver-
tisement by the Polish American Congress
falsifying historical facts and charging
the Soviet government with promoting the
pogroms in Poland.
Do you know that a few months ago ap-
peared a memorial volume under the title
of Synagogue Tribute to Franklin Delano
Roosevelt, edited by Rabbi Max Kleinman
containing articles by the outstanding Or-
thodox, Reform and Conservative Rabbis
of America?
Cardinal Hlond, primate of Poland, who
condoned the pogroms of Poland, is known
throughout his land as a notorious anti-
Semite . . . In 1936 he issued one of the
most violent anti-Jewish pronouncements
. . . why the Polish Federation asks him
of all people for a statement will remain
a mystery.
•
* *
"CELEBRATION" (Sic)
Two hundred people from all parts of
Palestine, who arrived in Eretz Israel from
Buchenwald during the past year and who
are now mostly living in Kibbutzim came
together at Afikim in the Jordan Valley
to celebrate their "liberation" . . . What a
strange footnote to events in the Holy
Land.
NEW IDEA
An anonymous contributor in Jackson-
ville, Fla., has the right idea about how to
settle most community issues . . . He's
offered to give the Jewish Community
Council $100,000 toward the erection of a
community center building . . There is
only one condition . .. Two-thirds of the
Jews of Jacksonville first must approve of
the enterprise through the medium of a
community-wide poll . . . If the vote falls
short the offer is off . . . Even if the anon-
ymous donor is just a ghost he will insure
the success of the project, because every
yes voter will be committed to contribute
toward the building.
by their primitive jailers, these women
hold out, none the less, determined, to re-
sume where they had left off as soon as
they leave the prison behind them.