Pogo Four
As the Editor
'Views the News...
Bitter Mockery
T H E J.E.W 1SH , N .6 W
Cast It for Humanity, Uncle
An Appeal for Partition
"
the mandatory's position.
Palestine's Hebrew newspaper Haaretz
rightfully poses the question why it was
deemed necessary to call a special session of
the General Assembly, and to incur an ex-
penditure of hundreds of thousands of dol-
lars, if the British intentions are to ignore the
UN's decisions. ,
We are, however, in
0.11INAS011 TIELIGIVIPMK,Aatilwrw.
Reparations for Survivors
The enthusiasm which was expressed at the outset over
the decision of the Foreign Ministers in Moscow, compelling
Austria to restore property confiscated from Jews and other
Nazis for racial and religious reasons, has been dampened
by subsequent interpretations.
A Jewish Telegraphic Agency report from Moscow re-
veals that the Big Four decision is without meaning due to
reservations and modifications which can be made by Allied
powers.
The JTA report points out that those who suffered losses
will be compensated on the same basis as awards of war
damages to Austrian nationals, but that inability of the Aus-
traian government to make payments will make it difficult
for Jews "to receive much, if anything." The JTA corres-
pondent points out that "this principle was advocated by the
American representatives on the basis that it would not be
equitable to place Jews or other groups in a privileged
position."
Thus, also, on the issue of heirless property no decision
has been reached, the Soviet favoring that it be turned over
to Jewish or other persecutee organizations, while the other
powers want such funds to be turned over to Jewish groups
outside Austria for use among former Austrian Jews abroad.
Since the property affected is estimated by American
experts to be valued at approximately $300,000,000, there is
justice in the requests that have been made by Jewish
organizations thAt the funds should be made available for
the settlement of Jews in Palestine and for other repatriation
and reconstruction purposes among Jewish survivors from
Nazism. The inconclusiveness in the decisions of the Foreign
One of the most devilish characters in the Ministers provides cause for skepticism as to the true im-
history of our generation is claiming the lime- portance of the original action for the restoration of property
to the Austrian Jews. Perhaps subsequent decisions will clar-
light again.
Boris Brasol, who as assistant to the Rus- ify the issue and will, in full justice, guarantee equitable
sian Czarist Minister of Justice was in charge reparations not only for the Jews of Austria but also the Jews
of framing the infamous ritual murder trial in of Czechoslavia, Poland, France and the Balkans.
Kiev, from 1911 to 1913, against Mendel
Beilis, has appeared as spokesman for a dis-
sident group in the Russian Orthodox Church
of North America in opposition to the recon-
Congressman John Kee of West Virginia has introduced
ciliation of Metropolitan Theophilus of New a bill (H.R. 1345) which aims to make a law of the proposals
York with the lgpscow Patriarchate.
of the World calendar Association to adopt a 364-day year
It is good to .know that the Russian lead- and thus destroy thg fixity of the traditional Sabbath.
ers in New York have repudiated Brasol,
If it becomes a law, the Sabbath will fall on different
who chiefly was responsible for the circula- days of the week from year to year. Intended to go into effect
tion in 1920, in this country, of the outrageous on Jan. 1, 1950, Saturday would continue as the seventh day
forgeries known as the Protocols of the of the week during- that year. The 365th day would be de-
Elders of Zion.
clared a holiday and would not count, and during 1951 the
Brasol on numerous previous occasions was traditional Saturdays would occur on Fridays, then on Thurs-
prominent in anti-Semitic activities in this days during the first half of 1952 and oir Wednesdays during
country. This time he is involved in an in- the second half of that year because of its being leap year.
ternal Russian squabble. Tomorrow he may
Thus the Sabbath would rotate on different days, and its
appear again as a leader in bigoted anti-Jew- observance would become most difficult, affecting the Jewish
ish movements. He is the sort of character people, the Seventh Day Adventists and other Sabbath
to be watched, so that his activities may be observers.
nipped in the bud before they create too
To prevent enactment of legislation which would thus
much damage.
so seriously interfere with Sabbath observance, the League
for Safeguarding the Fixity of the Sabbath has undertaken a
campaign to enlighten Congress and the American public
generally of the harmfulness of Rep. Kee's measure. It will
Member Jewish Telegraphic Agency. Independent Jewish
Press Service. Seven Arts Feature Syndicate, Religious
be necessary that all who are deeply concerned in the matter
News Service, Paticor Agency.
—and ALL Jews are affected—should let their voices be heard
Member AmeriCan Association of English-Jewish News-
papers and Michigan Press Association.
so that their representatives in Congress should join in the
Published every Friday by The Jewish Newt Publish-
ing Co.. 2114 Penobscot Bldg.. Detroit 26. Mich.. RA. 7958.
fight against the attempt to disrupt the present calendar year.
Brasol in Limelight
Danger of Calendar Reform
THE JEWISH NEWS
Subscription. $3 a year; foreign, 84. Club subscription.
every fourth Friday of the month, to all subscribers to
Allied Jewish Campaign of Jewish Welfare Federation of
Detroit. 40 cents pei year.
Entered as second-class matter Aug. 6, 1942. at Post Of-
fice. Detroit. Mich., under Act of March 3. 1879.
:1947.
Crossman States Case
In Palestine Mission
Assertions made by Bgitish spokesmen at
Lake Success, N. Y., that their government
will not necessarily be bound by decision of
the United Nations on the Palestinian ques-
tion naturally has brought forth indignation
and resentment over the bitter mockery of
agreement with
Haaretz that it will be difficult to ignore the
conclusion of the UN because "the British
reservation, which has been voiced at the out-
set with such bluntness, will not enhance the
mandatory government's position at the in-
ter-national forum, nor confidence in its
statements."
The statement made in Jerusalem by a
Jewish Agency spokesman that the British
position on the forthcoming UN decision is
"cynically irresponsible" is justified by ex-
perience which shows the British constantly
to be inviting delays and stalling.
A bad taste already has been left in the
refusal of the present British government to
fulfill the unanimous decisions of the Anglo-
American Committee of Inquirl. To refuse
to accept the UN's conclusions as binding
would further blacken an already very black
British record with regard to Palestine.
While, therefore, there is justification for
resentment at the statement made in advance
of any actions that Britain will not be bound
by the UN decisions, we retain sufficient
faith in the sense of justice of most of the
spokesmen for the peoples of the world to be-
lieve that this time the British will find it
difficult to get away with an attempt to
translate serious international business into
a mockery.
Meanwhile we lave another battle on our
hands—the challenge to the highest human
instincts inherent in Great Britain's attempt
to enlist the governments of the world in a
movement to halt Jewish immigration to
Palestine.
Prickly, Apeil
Two Major Responsibilities
In his stirring address to the overflow audience at the
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Shaarey Zedek on Monday evening, Bartley C. Crum, mem-
Maurice Aronsson
Philip Slomovitz
Fred M. Butzel
ber of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry on Palestine,
Isidore Sobeloff
Judge Theodore Levin Abraham Srere
placed emphasis on two Jewish responsibilities:
Maurice H. Schwartz
Henry Wineman .
I. Our duty to the United Jewish Appeal's humanitarian
PLUMP SLOMOVITZ. Editor
objectives for relief and rconstruction; and
2. Th need to press for action in defense of the Jewish
VOL. XI—NO. 5
APRIL 18, 1947
position in Palestine before the United Nations.
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
Mr. Crum placed *emphasis on Senator Vandenberg's
This Sabbath, the twenty-ninth day of Nisan,
5707, the following Scriptural selections will be ability to be of service as the man who holds the strongest
read in our synagogues:
position in our government today. We are confident that
Pentateuchal portion—Lev. 9:1-11:47.
Jewry
will live up to the two obligations he outlined and we
Prophetical portion—I Sam. 20:18-42.
On Sunday and Monday, Rosh Hodesh Ixar, look for great encouragement and help from Senator Van-
Num. 28:1-15 will be read during morning services. denberg.
Richard Crossman's "Palestine Mission; A
Personal Record" (Harper & Bros.) and Bartley C.
Crum's "Behind the Silken Curtain" (Simon &
Schuster) may • well be considered Companion
volumes. Both books were written by members
of the Anglo-American Committee of Inquiry,
who favor partition as a solution- to the Palestine
problem. Both recognize the justice of the Jewish
case.
-- Yet, the books are different. Mr.Crum'S, al-
ready reviewed in these columns, is th
e .work of
an American who is outraged by advance stacking
of the cards and who resents attempts. by British
Colonial officials and
State Department spokes-
men to interfere with
derly and routine pro-
cesses of arriving at an
equitable solution.
Mr. Crossman places
emphasis on the logic of
the case at hand. He
reasons with himself. He
starts out as pro-Arab
and ends with an admis-
sion of recognition of the
justice of the Jewish
position.
• • •
"Behind the Silken
Curtain" comes closest to
resembling Emile Zola's
"J'Accuse" than a n y RICHARD CROSSMAN
other volume ever written on the subject of Zion-
ism. Mr. Crum speaks out like a great American
libertarian who is anxious to see justice done.
In "Palestine Mission" Mr. Crossman is more
the calm, reasoning Britisher. But like Mr. Crum
he does not keep silent on major issues. He. too,
indirectly condemns the biased Catholic spokes-
men of Vienna who "would only aid those Jews
who accepted the Catholic faith;" the prejudiced
British officials in the Middle East; those who
interfere with the orderly processes of justice, law
and order.
•
•
•
Mr. Crossman's emphasis on "dual allegi-
ance" is perhaps his single major blunder. He
takes too seriously a matter which is quite simple.
If it is reasonable that Jews everywhere should
have been drawn into the Zionist movement by
recognition of the hopelessness of the Jewish posi-
tion in Europe, why consider it "double loyalty"
rather than humanitarian feeling?
True, Mr. Crossman praises American JeWs by
pointing out that their "fanatical Zionism" has
weakened their position. He says of U. S. Jewry:
"It has never been a self-seeking supporter of
American Jewry First. On the contrary, in advo-
cating the cause of less fortunate Jews it has
endangered its own position." But at no time
does Mr. Crossman indicate that British Jewry is
in a similar position, and unfortunately he does
not go far enough into the subject to recognize
that anti-Semitism may grab at Zionism as an
excuse for bigotry. but that in actuality it has
functioned long befOre the Zionists became
"fanatical." To the justice-loving' Americans—
and, we would like to believe, the British as well
—that which Mr. Crossman at the outset branded
as "fanatical" is elementarily "humane."
•
•
•
Mr. Crossman makes some interesting pre-
dictions. He believes that "the Jewish nation
will become a part of a middle eastern federation,
overwhelmingly Arab both in numbers and
culture. "Within two generations," . he writes,
"the Jews of Britain and America will feel far
more spiritual kinship with their Gentile neigh-
bors than with the Jewish Commonwealth. They
will have something of the mixture of feelings
for Jerusalem which a New Englander has for
London. They will be bound to it by ties of
history and religion, but not by a common
culture."
Sensing that the Jews whom he befriended
placed much faith in the fact that he "had some-
thing to do with deciding" the Palestine issue. Mr.
Crossman suggests a candid warning: "I could not
help remembering how the Vienna Socialists went
down because they put their trust in the West."
But Crossman. like Crum, has explicit faith
in the Jewish settlers, and especially in the ability
of Haganah to hold its own.
•
•
•
Among the shocking revelations in the book
is the statement that was brought back from Ibn
Sadd that Roosevelt had told him that: "I tell you
frankly that-I neither ordered nor approved of
the immigration of Jews to Palestine, nor is it
possible that I should approve it."
This quotation is more shocking thin the
RoaseNtelt letter to Ibn Saud.
Mr. Crossman makes the strongest case for
partition as the one possible solution- of the prob-:
lens, Naturally, it is a solution that would have
to be imposed upon Jews and Arabs. He quotes
Weizinann, Shertok and Ben Gurion as favoring
partition. But, he writes: "Heavens, how the av-
erage Englishman who thinks himself fair-minded
hates -a realistic solution."
"Palestine Mission" is a very great book not
only from the standpoint of ,a brilliant exposition '
of the Zionist problem by a man who is essentially
fair-minded; but also because the author is a very
able student of social problems and has done so
splendid a job in evaluating the Jewish position
throughout the world.
•
•
•
In an interesting article on "The Riddle of
Palestine" in a recent issue of MacLeane's. Maga
zine of Toronto, Mr. Crossman made a strong case
for partition, and his conclusion is:
There is only one way _to end the tragedy. It W
probably too late now to impose any reasonable solution,
and it is certainly out of the qmestion to find any agreed
compromise. The only sane action the British can take
now is to announce that, whatever the UN decides, British
forces will be entirely withdrawn by _a definite date and
the Jews and Arabs left to settle things between them-
selvez- The result of this would almost certainly be the
partition of Palestine, since the Jewish llaganah (under-
ground organisation) is quit* strong enough to seal at
the area of a Jewish state and defend it against this
Arabs. After this there is no reason to behove that the
two sides will not be able to cpme ,te some agreentent.
Of one thing we ean be certain—agreement is only
possible if the Great POwers take their gingers out et
the pie-and keep them out." ...P. S.