Page Two • THE JEWISH NEWS Cyprus Deportees Offer 700 Zion Visas to Exodus Jews JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The Jewish internees on Cyprus have offered to give up their rights to Palestine immigration certificates for a period of one month if the certificates are allotted to Exodus refugees, Moshe Kolodny, immi- gration official of the Jewish Agency, told a press conference. The Cyprus internees get 700 visas monthly. Kolodny reported that-the in- ternees had collected $300 in pen- nies and other coins to inscribe the name of the Exodus refugees who died during the boarding operations by the British in the Jewish National Fund Golden Book and to plant trees in their memory. _ The basic problem facing the Agency in relation to the Cyprus DPs is that of transferring babies and their parents to Palestine, regardless of the order in which they arrived on the island, Ko- lodny said. The Agency has asked the government to arrange the transfer and deduct the spe- cial immigrants from the monthly quotas. Palestine Licenses Arab, Jewish Airlines JERUSALEM,'(JTA) — Ap- proval was granted by the Pales- tine government to two corpo- rations, one Jewish and one Arab, to establish and operate airlines between Palestine and other countries. The Jewish-owned company is named Palestine Air- ways, while the Arab is Eastern Airways. Purely Commentary By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ . 'Schwer tzu zein a Goy ... Dutch Honor Unknown Jewish Ghetto Fighter Rescue Efforts Sabotaged By State Dept.---Morgenthau NEW YORK, (JTA) — The Netherlands government has awarded the Resistance Cross to the Unknown Jewish Soldier of the Warsaw ghetto battle. This is the fourth decoration to have been awarded to the Unknown Warsaw ghetto fighter. The others were from France, Czechoslo- vakia and Yugoslavia. NEW YORK, (JTA)—Officials of the State Department, either through stalling or deliberate suppression of information, sabo- taged U. S. efforts to save tens British in Reich Take New Stab At Restitution BERLIN, (JTA)—The British military authority in Germany issued an order which - is expected to facilitate the restitution of Jewish property. The order provides for the registration of all property- seized or transfer- red under duress during the Nazi regime and, at the same time, sets up a procedure for claiming property lost under such condi- tions. A new law providing for the return of Jewish and other prop- erty illegally seized during the Nazi • regime . is ready for imple- mentation anid will be promul- gated as soon as it is signed by Gen. Lucius D. Clay, American commander in Germany. An old Jewish saying—"schwer tzu zein a Id"—was transliter- ated by the Rev. John Stanley Grauel, in his impressive address at the overflow meeting at Central High School on Oct. 19, as "schwer tzu zein a Goy." His speech followed Ben Laikin's Yiddish remarks, thus occasioning the clever remark. Grauel's comment, however, was not sheer cleverness. It carries with it a word of truth. It came in handy as a comment upon a prominent Jew's remark that "it is becoming increasingly more difficult to be a Jew." Is it? We dispute it not only with the Grauel story, but also on the basis of realistic approaches to world events. In truth, it is becoming increasingly more interesting to fight the battle for justice for our people, and when we win it—as we shall— our experiences will help us and our non-Jewish neighbors in the unending battle to eradicate injustice wherever it may be visible. It is true that the multiplicity of fund-raising campaigns is creating confusion and is proving embarrassing. This, however, is Histadrut's Jos. Sprinzak a mere detail compared with the romantic episodes in contemporary history which are directing the way to the creation of a Jewish Arrives in New York State and to the realization of Prophecy. What we do, as Jews, in the present generation, to' revive the identity of Israel as a people Joseph Sprinzak, national sec- will be recorded in history as one of the greatest happenings of retary of the Histadrut, was wel- all time. And our non-Jewish friends who have thrown in their comed. by Joseph Schlossberg, lot with us in this battle for fair play , and justice will be remem- national c h a ir- bered as the "hassidei umoth ho-olom' —as the most .saintly among man of the Na- the peoples of the world. tional Commit- tee for L a bor The Parting of the Ways On the Eve of Solution Palestine in We are at the parting of the ways on the' eve of a solution of New York, upon the problem of Eretz Israel before the United Nations. his arrival in All indications are that some sort of solution will be arrived the U. S. as a at very soon, and as this issue goes to press the die ma3Oalready member of the have been cast. A temporary setback to joint U. S.-Soviet-Swedish efforts to special advisory secure a favorable vote on the majority UNSCOP report again re- committee of - sulted in the placement of the demand for a single Arab Palestinian the Jewish state on the UN agenda. This, however, may be overcome—provided J. Sprinzak Agency in con- we retain our friends and gain a few new ones. junction with the UN debate on If the appeal of Marc Jarblum, president of the French Zionist Federation, that the French UN delegation support the partition Palestine. Schlossberg informed plan, should bear fruit, the Jewish cause will be strengthened. A Sprinzak that the National Com- similar appeal to their government by the Jews of Argentina mittee for Labor Palestine had reflects the problem raised by failure to secure unanimous support raised $3;000,000 during the past year for the Palestine Histadrut for the Zionist cause from Latin American countries. Every cloud has a silver linhig. fihe statement made by the Campaign. Socialist Pierre Latie, French representative on the UN Ad Hoe Palestine Committee, that he is resigning from the committee and Dr. Freehof to Direct will return to France in protest against his government's pro-Arab stand, lends some encouragement that we may regain friends even JWB Chaplain Service among the nations that have declared themselves against us. The promise made to a Jewish delegation by France's President Vincent Dr. Solomon B. Freehof, Pitts- Auriol that his Cabinet would reconsider its previous stand on burgh, former president of the Palestine justified renewed optimism. While Great Britain is abstaining from participation in the Central Confer-4 discussions, her attitude merely indicates an antagonism which ence of Ameri- last week was expressed in an approach to various governments to can Rabbis, suc- choke off visaless Palestine immigration at its sources. When ceeds Dr. David linked with the latest British threat to the Exodus passengers who de Sola Pool as now are housed in the Lubeck (Bergen-Belsen) detention camps chairman of that they would be forcibly expelled from their present camps if they do not agree to a transfer to other designated British occupa- JWB's Division tion installations, we have a repetition of meanness responsible for of Religious Ac- the brutality of the Exodus incident. The refugees have consented tivities, , through to be moved to Emden and Wilhelmshaven, but have reasserted that which the Jew- they were not yielding to threats and that the "burning question ish community still remains our immediate immigration to Palestine." recruits Jewish . Palestine High Commissioner Cunningham's warning to the chaplains. Dr. Freehof Arabs to refrain from rash military actions, the release of five Jewish policemen who were held for several days by Syria, the statement of the U. S. delegation to the UN that Britain, as a co- Sentences Reduced signatory to the Mandate, must maintain order in Palestine and can not withdraw her troops and leave the land in a state of chaos, For 2 DPs in Austria are among the important developments of the past few days. VIENNA, (JTA)—Lt. Gen. It is of interest to record that the president of the American Jewish Committee, Joseph M. Proskauer, not only has reaffirmed Geoffrey Keyes reduced t h e his support of the majority UNSCOP report but also has endorsed terms of two displaced Jews who the U. S. delegation's suggestions at the UN that an international were sentenced by an American voluntary constabulary be established to police Palestine. These military court to 10 years earlier facts are significant in view of Arab threats of war. On the question of sabre-rattling and Arab threats of a holy war, former Secretary of this month for having resisted arresting policemen who charged Interior Harold L. Ickes, writing in the N. Y. Post, said: them with stealing fruit. The "This bluff, which is ludicrous but not funny, should be called two Jews, Kochane Fischer and without any more delay. It should have been called long ago. Had there been enough statesmanship and character in Great Leon Armant, will have to serve Britain and in the United States to solve Palestine's troubles three years. in accordance with pledges given and acted upon, the only ques- tion remaining today would be one of how long it would take the Nazis Resume Activities • industrious and energetic Jews to make their ancient homeland In Argentine, Unmolested into a prosperous and modern state." BUENOS AIRES, (JTA)—In- Unfortunately, there are many other bluffs to be called. The charge made by N. Y. Post and Overseas News Agency correspond- scriptions are appearing on walls ent in Jerusalem, Richard Mowrer, that he and CBS correspondent in Santa Fe city and province Farnesworth Fowle have been denied visa applications to Trans- paying homage to the Nazi jordania while British correspondents' similar requests were honored, "heroes of Nuernberg," according and that these slurs are direct insults to the U. S., can not be taken to a dispatch in La Prensa, Ar- lightly. In a sense, Transjordania's action is inspired by Great gentine newspaper, which adds Britain, Abdullah's territory being Britain's puppet state. There are scores of bluffs which must be exposed to the that the authorities are not in- light of day in order that they may be properly repudiated and terfering with that practice nor firmly rejected. Only by speedy solution of the entire problem and with other anti-Jewish activity the immediate establishment of the Jewish state will we be able which is on the increase in to put an end to tension and restore sanity in the Middle East. Santa Fe. — Friday, October 31, 1947 DR. GERHARD RIEGNER of thousands of Jews from Ger- man - occupied Europe, it is charged by former Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau, Jr., writing in the current issue of Collier's Magazine. Morgenthau says that Wash- ington knew as far back as August, 1942, that the Nazis were planning to exterminate all Jews of Europe, but State Department inaction prevented anything from being done until January, 1944, when President Roosevelt created the War Refugee Board after the situation had been made clear to him by Morgenthau and Dr. Stephen S. Wise. Morgenthau reveals that the first word of Hitler's plan to wipe out European Jewry reached here in August, 1942, in a report sent to Dr. Wise by Gerhard Riegner, Swiss representative of the World Jewish Congress. Dr. Wise brought the report to the atten- tion of then Undersecretary of State Sumner Welles, who checked with the U. S. Ambas- sador in Berne, who secured fur- ther reports from Riegner. The public reaction to the news was so immediate and united that the State Department in an attempt to ease the pressure on it, in- structed our ambassador in Berne not to transmit further reports, Morgenthau charges. State Department Stalls Morgenthau reveals how the State Department stalled for five I months, despite approval by President Roosevelt, on a plan to send funds to Switzerland to be used to bribe Nazi officials to allow 70,000 Jews to leave Ro- mania and France. After the De- partment's objections that the funds would aid Germany, had beeh termed incorrect by Secre- tary of State Hull, the officials finally agreed, but then allowed the British Ministry of Economic Warfare to delay the transmis- sion of funds. The article asserts that the British were also unenthusiastic about the project because it would result in difficulty in find- ing a place for the refugees— obviously thinking of Palestine. Morgenthau concludes with an appeal to the government to ad- mit to the United States large numbers of displaced persons. He also asks that Catholic and Pro- testant DPs be offered haven here. Message Suppressed Riegner, at a press conference, revealed that his first message warning of the German designs was suppressed by the State De- partment, and only reached Dr. Wise through Sidney Silverman, head of the World Jewish Con- gress branch in London, who had received an identical message through the Foreign Office. Riegner disclosed that he had obtained the information from an anti-Nazi German industrialist. The Jewish Congress representa- tive conveyed the information to the British and American con- sulates in Geneva, with the re-. quest that it be transmitted to Silverman and Wise. On Aug. 24 he was informed that the State Department had cabled the Geneva consulate that it was "disinclined to deliver the mes- sage in view of the apparently unsubstantiated character of the information which forms its main theme." Dr. Wise, commenting on the Morgenthau articles, said that the least the governments of the world can do now is extend full justice to the survivors of the catastrope. Dr. Wise paid tribute to the efforts of President Roose- velt, Sumner Welles, Morgenthau and Brig. Gen. William O'Dwyer for their activities on behalf of the Jews of Europe. Between You and Me By BORIS SMOLAR (Copyright, 1947, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) UN Trends 'Members of the U. S. delegation at the United Nations are em- barrassed over reports that they are not wholeheartedly supporting the Palestine partition plan . . . This suspicion prevails not only in Jewish circles, but also among diplomats of smaller nations on the American continent who usually look for direction to the United States on issues which require a vote at the United Nations . . . This probably explains why the delegation of the Philippines, which always follows the U. S. line at the United Nations, is now ignoring the American pro-partition stand and is agitating against partition . . . The failure of the U. S. delegation to give the "green light" to other delegations who are awaiting such a signal may result in the partition plan not getting the necessary two-thirds vote at the Assembly ... Leading members of the American delegation, however, while not revealing their long range strategy, assure me that there is no ground for being jittery over the present policy of the delegation . . . They dismiss the, idea that the American Government is not sincerely behind the partition scheme and urge the Jews to take a "wait-and-see" attitude . . . They are confident that they will emerge without criticism from those interested in seeing Palestine divided into a Jewish and Arab state ... Yet, there is a strong feeling in UN circles that not-all members of the U. S. delegation see eye-to-eye on the partition issue ... Some are said to be cool to partition because they do not want Truman to win Jewish votes during the forth- coming Presidential elections . . • Others are still definitely under pressure of pro-Arab advisers ... Not all of them expected to find Soviet Russia taking a stand on partition similar to the U. S. position. Zionist Strategy While the United Nations is discussing the Palestine problem, leaders of the Jewish Agency are working feverishly in New York on preparations for the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine .. . Some time ago official Washington indicated to American Zionist leadership that the U. S. would be ready to consider granting a huge loan for Jewish development in Palestine ... Talks concerning such a large-scale loan for the projected Jewish state are now being re- sumed • . . Secretary of Treasury John Snyder met with leaders of the American Zionist Emergency Council and it is understood that the question of a loan was among the subjects discussed . . The Zionist "strategic board," composed of leaders from all Zionist parties in this country and in Palestine is determined to press for the shortest transition period possible, instead of the two-year period recommended by the UNSCOP majority ... On the other hand, this body has decided to take an affirmative stand on the UNSCOP recommendation for economic unity between the Arab and the Jewish states. If you want a clue to sentiment in Palestine regarding the parti- tion issue, watch the convention of the Labor Zionist Organization of America which will open on Nov. 6 in Pittsburgh . . . It will be addressed by Moshe Shertok, Joseph Sprinzak, Zalman Rubashov, Berl Locker and Hayim Greenberg.