AMMOISIONMI1********* ■*■*..........
Friday, October I I, 1946
THE JEWISH NEWS
Page Two
Purely
Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
THE BIDS TO THE VOTERS
John Dreiske, writing in the Chicago
Times under the title "Bid to Polish Vo-
ters," had this to say:
Regular organization Democrats are
genuinely alarmed over what they fear
will be a serious defection to the Re-
publican banner Nov'. 5 by the hither-
to faithful Polish Democratic voters of
the city. The organization is feverishly
taking steps to do something about it.
The Democratic masterminds estimate
gloomily that at least 10 per cent of
the former Polish Democratic vote al-
ready has seceded. Reasons are said to
be dissatisfaction with the national
Democratic administration's manner of
dealing with the Polish question in Eur-
ope and real or fancied slights on the
local scene.
So there'll be a concerted campaign
In Cook County to attempt to rectify
this state of affairs. One step will be
one of the most intensive advertising
campaigns in the city's Polish language
newspapers ever undertaken. Another
will be an equally intensive radio drive.
The entire issue is being clouded in
conflicting comments, and Jews are heard
to say "if Poles are unafraid to speak up,
why should not we?"
In reality, the question is one that has
been inflated by columnists who desire
to create bugaboos.
Actually, there is no such thing as "a
Jewish vote." Jews who are angered over
"weaknesses" in the U. S. foreign policy
which has failed to secure enforcement
of pledges made to the Jews in Palestine
have grievances not only against Demo-
crats, but also against Republicans —
pledges to Jews having been made in the
party platforms of both parties. There-
f,re the issue must be fought out on
principles and not on party lines.
In the main, we believe that tried and
loyal officials will find that genuine sin-
cerity is appreciated and individuals will
not be penalized for the failures of their
parties to achieve the goals aimed at in
convention pledges.
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POWER OF EDUCATION
The Jewish National Fund calendar for
5707 lists the following Michigan com-
munity contributions for the past year:
Detroit, $9I -,373.44; Flint, $6,137.63;
Grand Rapids, 5877.11; Ishpeming, $1,125;
Pontiac, $1,104.15.
These figures provide material for an
interesting study.
The comparative population figures for
these communities. as given in the Amer-
ican Jewish Year Book for 1941, are:
Detroit, 90.000; Flint, 1,700; Grand
Rapids, 1,720; Ishpeming, 29; Pontiac, 550.
On the basis of these figures, Detroit,
Flint, and Pontiac redeemed themselves
as contributors to the very important
cause of land-redemption in Palestine.
Ishpeming and Grand Rapids, however,
provide the miraculous revelations: the
first for its exceptional liberality, the
latter for its shortcomings.
How can you explain the fact that Ish-
peming, with a total Jewish population of
29. gave $1,125, and Grand Rapids, with
1,720 Jews, contributed only $877.11?
The answer unquestionably is that Ish-
peming's Jews must have been exposed
to the values of the JNF and to the im-
portance of giving for land redemption
in Palestine, whereas Grand Rapids has
been slow in adopting proper educational
(you may even use the term "propagan-
da") methods.
The moral: let us increase our educa-
tional efforts.
Incidentally: the JNF calendar remains
one of the landmarks in Zionist educa-
tional material produced by American
Jews.
•
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A GERMAN'S 1927 VIEW OF ZION
A. C. Lappin, well known Detroit at-
torney, one-time director of the Keren
Hayesod here, makes good use of his
files. Last week he came across a clip-
ping he had retained from the Jan. 28,
1927, issue of the New Palestine, in which
Baron Von Schoenaich, who hailed from
a Prussian Junker family and later be-
came a leader in democratic Germany,
presented his views on "Jewish National-
ism: Zionism and the Ideal of Peace."
The German Baron then wrote, in part:
The most gratifying phenomenon in the new
Palestinian community, however, are the
people themselves. Not only among the recent
arrivals from the Jew-baiting countries, like
Russia, Poland and Romania, but alma among
those who have used long in Palestine, talre
is to be seen this urge toward active work, on
the land if possible. I have been mast pro-
foundly impressed by the passionate enthusiasms
which the young Jewish pioneers, the Clam-int-
uits', give to their unwonted daily work. They
Polish Terrorists Exposed
An Eye-Witness Account of Brutality
By THEODORE SZNEJBERG-HATALGI
(EDITOR'S NOTE: Theodore Sznejberg-Hataigi, Rome correspondent of the Office of
Jewish Information of the World Jewish Congress, spent three years in Poland during the
Nazi occupation. In the following account, he discloses that the brutal horrors experienced
by Polish Jews during the German occupz:tion are being continued in "liberated" Poland.)
My experiences in Poland- from 1941 to 1944 plus interviews with recently-
arrived Polish refugees in Italy leave no doubt that as early as 1943, so-called
Polish resistance groups were in the midst of preparing plans for extermination
of whatever Jews were left in Poland in the postwar period.
Harrowing stories of brutalities meted out to Jews by anti-Semitic, anti-
government Fascist groups were related by members of the first group of Jews
who fled Poland after the Kielce pogrom—the progrom which to this day remains
uncondemned by Poland's Catholic primate, Cardinal Hlond.
Moishe Berlinczyk, small shop-owner of Kielce, told of how a furious mob
of Polish Fascists bashed in the head of a three-year-old child, hurled a pregnant
woman to her death through a window and murdered more than two score men,
women and children.
Showing the strains of her experiences, Rivka Heisler, 19, daughter of a
Jewish laborer, said, "Jews in Poland are afraid of the murders' gangs—they are
in constant fear for their lives. All of us. look to Palestine as the only land of
promise."
While admittedly the Warsaw government has enacted severe penalties' for
anti-Semitic activities, groups opposing the Polish government and supported by
foreign elements have reached such strength the administration seems powerless.
But this is not a new-found strength.
The plan for the extinction of Polish Jews goes back to 1943 while I was in
Poland and when the "Armia Krajowa" (known as A.K.-Home Army) and the
"Narodowe Sily Zrojne" (known as the NSZ), both supoprting the Polish gov-
ernment-in-exile and both containing fascist elements, were formed.
The latter's official propaganda emphasized in its official underground paper,
"Sczerbiec", of December, 1943, that "the Polish people must take advantage of
this historical opportunity to extirpate the Jewish enemy throughout the country.
The Germans are our country's enemy but in this important task of killing Jews
our views coincide."
The "A.K." called for "the extermination of those Jews who remain in our
country after the Germans retreat."
On July 29, 1943, I talked with Dymitr Blindze, Polish engineer and "A.K."
leader in the province of Lublin. He outlined his organization's plan for con-
tinuing the anti-Semitic campaign after the German collapse. (He did not suspect
me of being Jewish.) Blindze said, "On the very day the Germans retreat we
shall start operating against the remnants of Polish Jewry. We must carry out
our work in the first days of general disorder after Germany quits so the world
will believe the Germans responsible."
The armed Polish Fascist gangs have not forgotten—judging by the accounts
given by the newly-arrived refugees. The Kielce pogrom equalled in brutality
the harshest actions of the German Fascists.
Between
You and Me
By BORIS SMOLAR
Heard in
The Lobbies
By ARNOLD LEVIN
(Copyri.ght, 1996, Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
(Copyright. 1946. Independent Jewish
Press Service. Inc.)
THE DOMESTIC SCENE
PUPPY LOVE
Do you know that Soviet Russia is
beaming daily Yiddish radio programs to
the United States, each broadcast lasting
45 minutes?
There was quite a fight behind the
scenes in New York as to the order in
which the names of Jewish organizations
should appear undv an invitation to a
This is puppy love month for American
Jewry. Their eyes fogged with love for
the Jew, their hearts throbbing with com-
passion for his suffering brethren, their
blood roaring in anger at British trans-
gression against Jewish Palestine, politi-
cians are going about the countryside
reception tendered to Dr. Philip Bern-
stein; adviser on Jewish affairs to the
U. S. military command in Europe . . .
The organizations which arranged the re-
ception included the American Jewish
Conference, the American Jewish Com-
mittee, the Joint Distribution Committee.
the Jewish Agency and the World Jewish
Congress . . . It was in this order that the
official news of the reception was sent
out, to the great dissatisfaction of the
World Jewish Congress which objected to
being listed last . . . In a memorandum
submitted jointly by Jewish organiza-
tions to the Peace Conference in Paris,
the World Jewish Congress was listed
first after similar bargaining.
The Union of American Hebrew Con-
gregations now has about 100,000 mem-
bers, as compared to the 2,700 who joined
the ranks of Reform Judaism 73 years
ago when the Union was formed .. An
exhibition of Palestine industrial prod-
ucts, arts and crafts will open in New
York in January, 1947, and will tour the
principal cities of the United States.
.•
frequently are doing physically exacting work,
the fruits of which will appear only at some
later time—road building and marsh drainage.
To many of them the chiefly vegetarian diet
represents a great change from their former
habits. Long and thorny is the road which
these immigrants mast cover before they
reach the goal for which they are yearning—to
gain by their own efforts the land and the
fruit thereof. And yet I have not seen any evi-
dence of discouragement either in the immi-
grant camps or in the transition camps. Work,
good cheer, and hope of the creation of a beam-
flipl future for their children—that is the spirit
dominating the whole Emek Jeareel, the prin-
cipal field of recent activity of the colonists...
Palestine is not yet a bed of roses. But I
have seen nowhere men laboring so cheerfully
in freely chosen community of endeavor and
fate for the creation of a new commonwealth.
To help them in their work seems to me to be
in the interest of justice and peace.
These views could very easily be ex-
pressed - today, with even greater force,
by impartial British observers. English
correspondents frequently speak out in
this vein. Ten years hence, some one will
dig up the views of prominent Britishers,
as we, today, refer to the views of Chur-
chill, Amery, Bevin, Attlee, and scores
of others who spoke so eloquently for
Zionism before they attained political
power, and we shall again be able to say
that when people are unprejudiced they
speak the truth. In 10 years, however,
there may be no need of "digging up"
obvious views, since by that time we
hope that debates will be at an end and
the Jewish Commonwealth will be not
"in the making" but reality.
proclaiming their fidelity to promises.
Zionists have been accused of injecting
the Palestine issue into the campaign.
The Zionists are not injecting_ it— the
politicians of the administration, report-
edly incensed because of possible repri-
sals over the Palestine issue, are guilty
of having taken the initiative in inject-
ing the issue into the campaign. Herbert
H. Lehman's speech was one such exam-
ple. No, the Zionists should not be held
responsible if, appealed to on the Zionist
score, they take the liberty of investigat-
ing the pro-Palestine good faith of the
candidate or party appealing.
•
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DIPLOMATIC ETIQUETTE
British etiquette: The Colonial Office,
eager for the settlement of the Palestine
conference deadlock, arranged hasty plane
transportation for Jewish Agency leaders
to rush from Jerusalem to London, and
then hastily closed down the London
conference until Dec. 16. Note the signif-
icance of the resumption of the London
conference, Dec. 16, in view of the con-
vening of the Zionist Congress Dec. 3. We
wonder whether this wasn't an attempt—
futile, to be sure—to snarl the decisions
of the Congress.
"
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RECOMMENDED
What the critics missed in Morrison
Wood's novel "The Devil Is a Lonely
Man," is its portrait of a native. fascist
senator, of the morbid power ambitions
of his budding-fascist chauffer. The nov-
elist, who would have been thirty-two
now had he survived Jap internment,
has been compared to Thomas Wolfe.
What Thomas Wolfe . lacked, however,
was a sense of real social awareness; he
floundered in his own kind of Germanic
mythical world in which Valhalla was
transplanted on American soil, Morrison
Wood's book deserves reading for this
very quality—its awareness of the forces
at work in America today. (Thomas Y.
Cromwell Co., $3.)
Louis Kronenberger, American JeWish
literary, drama and movie critic, has
birthed one of the rarest, most educa-
tional literary anthologies we have come
across in English.. "The Pleasure of Their
Company," chosen by a man of erudition,
wide reading and superb taste, includes
the best in essay, novel and poetry culled
from many literatures. (Alfred A. Knopf,
$5.00). By all means buy it. It's a lasting
book.
Strictly
Confidential
By PHINEAS J. BIRON
Copyright,
1946. Seven Arts
Feature Syndicate, Inc.
STRIKE THEM OUT
Dan Parker, one of America's top sport
columnists, wants to know why -a small
clique in the Detroit ball park boos Hank
Greenberg whenever his name is an-
nounced over the loudspeaker . . . The
answer, Dan, is that there are bigots and
hate mongers even in grandstands of our
baseball parks.
•
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WHAT'S THE ANSWER?
The "Draft Davis-Byrd Committee"
(Charles Davis for President and Harry
Clifton Byrd for vice-president in 1948)
is circularizing the names in the Jewish
Who's Who . . . We received a circular
which glorifies Davis, "Honorary Grand
Sachem of the Six Nations" and Byrd,
President of the University of M- Rryland,
at a "truly national ticket" . .. But why
is this committee appealing to us with
these words: "We hone that 1.000 Jews in
New York State will become trustees and
thus elect the director to represent the
great State of New York" . . . We are
puzzled . . . Trustees of what? .. . And
who is the "director"? . . . Or can it be
that we are being given the first crack
at donating $10.00 for the privilege of
"Enrolling as a Trustee" . . . What is it
all about? . . . Do .you know the answer?
.
•
WE APPROVE, MR. STOUT
Rex Stout. author of the famous Nero
Wolfe detective yarns and ch a irman of
the Writers' Board has entered the con-
troversy over dialect comedians . . . He
believes—and we agree with him—that
dialect jokes are primarily funny to those
who like to poke fun at Jews and other
minority groups . . . Stout's criticism is
directed against the "Can You Top This"
radio program, in which Harry Hersh-
field and his confreres deliiiht in thickly
accented stories . . . We have appealed
time and again to Harry to use his influ-
ence in cleaning un his material • . .
Stout's criticism might succeed where we
failed.
•
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HITLER TEACHES COLLEGE
Dr. Tage U. H. Ellinger, head of the
department of zoology of Howard Uni-
versity, is under fire .. . He is charged,
by his students, with unqualifiedly ac-
cepting the racist theory of Adolf Hit-
ler . . . In other words the professor be-
lieves that Negroes and Jews do not be-
long to the "superior" race of pure Ar-
yans . . . We hope that Howard students
will insist on Dr. Ellinger's exit.
•
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MISCELLANY
David Lilienthal is slated for appoint-
ment to the Atomic Energy Commission.
Insiders predict that Henry Monsky's
address at a dinner in honor of the Amer-
ican Jewish Conference delegates to the
Peace Conference will make the head-
lines.
Ben Williams, young Jewish painter, is
having his first one-man show at the
Galeries Neuf in New York_ City . . .
Critics hail him as a great discovery.
One of New York City's public schools
will be named the Sidney Hillman High
School in honor of the late labor leader.
Comedian Danny Kaye now pocketing
the unprecedented weekly salary of $40,-
000 at the Chicago Theater will be seen
on the legitimate stage in the role of "The
Inspector General."
Miltoi I3erle, the inimitable master of
ceremonies, will be very active in the
election campaign of Ex. Gov . Lehman
for senator from New York.
Henry Morgenthau's reminiscences of
Roosevelt's dealings with Churchill and
Stalin are scheduled for publication in
1947.
America at Work
By Dr. Maeanna Cheserton Mamie
-
Jack Laii recently reported in a New
York newspaper column that a group of
Jewish real estate men in Brooklyn—who
stood fair to making many thousands on
the deal—had agreed not to bid against
the local lodge of the Knights of Columbus
when its building was put up at auction.
History has again repeated itself. Many
years ago Judah Touro made a similar
gesture of goodwill. He was the famous
Jewish philanthropist and veteran of the
War of 1812. Having learned that the con-
gregation ,of the Universalist Church of
New Orleans could not meet its mortgage,
he purchased the building for 820,000 at
public auction. Then he informed the min-
ister, Mr. Clapp, that was ready to sell
it back to the congregation without profit
as soon • as the purchase price could be
raised. Meanwhile the , Jewish merchant
graciously suggested that the.Universalists
were at liberty to use the edifice—rent free.