Page Four

THE JEWISH NEWS

As the Editor
Views the News ...

A New •.Leaf

Roosevelt and Dreyfus

FDR's Letters Reveal He
Wrote Essay on 'Affair'

Pre !Lidice Is Curable

Bruce Bliven, in his significant expose of
anti-Semitism in a series of articles in the
New Republic, contends that prejudice
against- Jews begins among children during
the ages of 12 and 13. He asserts that the most
important single element in the creation of
anti-Semitism is indoctrination, that: "Chil-
dren come into the world without prejudices
of any sort and are taught by their parents
or by older playmates to assume such atti-
tudes."
Mr. Bliven's study proves the importance
of the movement to emphasize the sanctity
of democratic ideals in our public schools. If
children can acquire prejudices—as they do
—perhaps they can be taught, through indoc-
trination of basic principles of Americanism
and democracy, that the hatreds they acquire
in their homes or on the streets are anti-
American and must be erased from the think-
- ing of the people of this country.
Catholics are quoted as saying that, given
possession of children in their schools at 6 or
7, they are certain to retain them for all time.
Indoctrinated early with true ideals of jus-
tice, our children should be expected to grow
up free from fears and hatreds.
There is a big job to be done—and it can
be accomplished—in our school system. By
making democracy a major subject for our
children, perhaps we shall see better days
ahead in efforts to eliminate bigotry
Mr. Bliven believes—and we agree with
him—that_prejudice is curable. The job is a
tough one and can be achieved only if all
elements in our population work harmon-
iously in the interests of true Americanisum.
If we do not pool our resources in the battle
for decency, it will become increasingly more
difficult, to eradicate prejudice.

• Nazified Heidelberg

Delbert Clark, N. Y. Times Berlin corre-
spondent, corroborates the charges that have
been made in recent months that German
universities again are becoming nests for Nazi
propaganda. He bases his expose of existing
conditions on the opinions of "democratic
minded professors and students and officers
of the American Military Governinent."
Pointing out that attempts to de-Nazify
Heidelberg University have failed, Mr. Clark
warns that "now reaction is in full swing."
He reports: "Officials say that Heidelberg is
only typical of all universities in the Ameri-
can zone .. . The democratic minded profes-
sors who returned after the defeat of the
Nazis say that they are subject to constant
pressure in a majority of ingenious ways .. .
Recently one professor who had been rejected
two years ago as a Nazi was finally re-admit-
ted, and announced it as his main purpose to
get all his old associates back on the faculty
as quickly as possible . . . When the trial - of
Nazi doctors at Nuremberg brought to light
certain evidence of experimentation on hu-
'man beings, one member of the medical fa-
culty was profoundly shocked . . . He was
immediately vigorously attacked by a large
number of the medical faculty as 'un-
patriotic'."
This expose represents a serious challenge
to American officials in Germany. Either we
have fOught the war to end tyranny in all
seriousness, or, by permitting a return to
Nazi-Fascism, we are merely building for
another war. The U. S. will be held pri-
marily responsible if bigotry is not eradicated
---and as long as our troops are in Germany
we will be blamed if we do not act to stamp
out Nazism and to let the Germans know that
a return to Hitlerism will not be tolerated.

THE JEWISH NEWS

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BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Maurice Aronsson
Philip Slomovitz
Fred M. Butzel
Isidore Sobeloff
Judge Theodore Levin Abraham Srere
Maurice H. Schwartz
Henry Wineman

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ. Editor

VOL. XII—No, 16

JANUARY 2, 1947,

Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the twenty-first clay of Tebet,
5708, the following Scriptural selections will be
read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion—Ex. 1:1-6:1.
ProphetiCal portion—Is. 27:6-28:13;29:22,23.

Friday, January 2, 1948

_JEW/ SW
STATE IN
7'A I-E S7'/N E

Speed Essential for Zion Solution

Enmeshed in a net of international politics, the situation
affecting Palestine remains in a complicated state due to the
failure . of our State Department to act firmly in the matter,
because of procrastination in the ranks of United Nations
officials, and thanks to attempts by Bevin's British officials
to sabotage the UN decision and to destroy the Jewish state
even before it is set up.
British machinations are responsible for the spread of
rioting and the destruction of property. Instead of stepping
out of Palestine gracefully and with an effort to cement friend-
ship with Arabs . and Jews, British troops have confiscated
Haganah arms, thus interfering with adequate defense efforts;
they have antagonized Arabs and Jews alike and have dis-
played a spirit of vengeance which aggravates the situation.
The trouble within the UN is due to the failure of the
five nations chosen for the implementation commission to
select their representatives. The delay. occasioned by the
half-hearted reactions of these nations is cause for concern.
It is to be hoped that the appointment of the commission will
be completed by Jan. 7—the date set by UN Secretary Gen-
'eral Trygve -Lie for its organizational meeting. Once the
commission is announced, there is ground for belief that
inauguration of constructive efforts in Palestine will serve to
eliminate- tension and will introduce a period of construction.
Our State Department's attitude certainly aggravates the
situation. We depend in great measure upon the determina-
tion of the U. S. Government to insist upon speedy implemen-
tation of the UN decision. The issue is certain to be handled
by the Security Council, and it is of the utmost importance
that the U. S. and the Soviet Union should continue to work
in harmony in support of the plan for the establishment of a
Jewish state in a partitioned Palestine. Established policy
of our Government demands a firm stand against intrigues.
we would like to retain faith that the policies that were pur-
sued at Lake Success by Herschel V. Johnson and Maj. Gen.
John H. Hilldring will not be betrayed.
The situation is tense but not hopeless. President Tru-
man, the Russian leaders and our other friends in the UN
can effect a speedy solution and immediate peace by acting
to secure both. Those who have access to chancelleries must
do everything in their power to force prompt action for the
implementation of the UN Palestine decisions.

Discrimination in Schools

President Truman's Commission on Higher Education,
in the second volume in the series exposing existing techniques
of discrimination, makes the significant declaration that
"Jewish students do not have equal opportunity with non-
JeWish students in the choice of institutions and in certain
fields of advanced study. This situation has been aggravated.
"The obstacles created by private insitutions of higher
education are manifested in tacit or overt quota systems."
Quoting at length from the study 'that was made of the
issue by the Vocational Service Bureau of Bnai Brith, whose
findings were made in 1,504 out of 1,598 schools of higher
learning, the President's Commission treats the issue frankly,
without mincing words. It points out: "The fact that the
Jewish proportion of the college population is greater than
the Jewish proportion of the total population of the country
is largely explained by the fact that the Jews in the United
States are an urban people, and proportionately more than
twice as many urban whites go to college as rural whites."
Because of the gravity of the situation, the President's
Commission has found it necessary to urge "an immediate
and voluntary abandonment of discriminatory practices" and
passage of state legislation forbidding discriminatiOn in uni-
versity admission practices. In dealing with discrimination
against Negroes and Jews, the Commission declares: "It
should be an explicit requirement in the legislation appro-
priating Federal funds that they only be accorded to those
institutions where discriminatory practices do not exist."
Unless the proposed legislation is adopted, the founda-
tions of our great democracy will not be secure and we shall
be in constant danger from quota systems and poisonous
ideologies transported from Nazi-infected European countries.

A great ex-president's childhood background,
recorded in his letters, reveals the importance of
upbringing and schooling and proofs that geniuses
are born, not made. -
"F.D.R.: His Personal Letters," edited by his
son, Elliott Roosevelt, belongs to the type of col-.
lection which enhances history and certainly
serves to increase knowledge about the person-
ality described. It was published by -Duell, Sloan
& Pearce, 270 Madison Ave., New York 16, N. Y.
This volume is the first in a trilogy. It deals
with FDR's early years and contains the letters
he wrote from his fifth to 22nd ye'ar—from 1887
to 1904. The second volume will deal with the
period sbounded by his marriage and his election
as Governor of New York-1905 to 1928. The
third volume-1928 to 1945—will include Gov-
ernorship through Presidency to death.
Eleanor Roosevelt, in a foreword to "F.D.R.:
His Personal Letters," makes this very interest-
ing and true statement:
"Here in these letters, I think, one can
watch the growth of knowledge, the develop-
ment of a personality, The training of a mind,
and the influence of environment and of con-
tacts with other people on human material."
Three periods are covered in the first phase
of the trilogy: Boyhood, Groton and Harvard.
Of special interest in the first collection of
his letters is one he wrote from Groton, April 18,
1899, stating that "when I get any spare time I
shall work on the 'Dreyfus case' and then try for
the Latin Prize." The editor of the letters ex-
plains that "The retrial of Captain Dreyfus was
nearing its sensational conclusion at this time,
with the French CoUrt of Cassation hearing argu-
ments for revision of the verdict. F.D.R. was work-
ing up an article for the Grotonian on the case."
On April 23, 1899, he wrote his parents:
"I hope you remembered to send me 'the
Dreyfus case,' as I want to write an article On
it as soon as I get any. time." This time the
editor explains: "There were a number of
books about the Dreyfus case being published
in English at this time; the most likely to
have been that requested by F.D.R. was Fred-
erick C. Conybeare's 'The Dreyfus Case'."
It already appears certain that when the en-
tire set of leUers is published i nthree volumes
they will form a most significant collection about
one of the greatest American Presidents. We shall
await with a great deal of interest the appear-
ance of the next two volumes.

Excellent Treatment of
Anti-Semitism i in Novel

STRAW FIRE, a novel by Kathlee: - Crawford. William
Morrow & Co., publishers, 70 Fifth avenue, New York
11. 249 pages. $2.75.

A REVIEW BY LOUIS PANUSH
Anti-Semitism is an awkward subject in liter-
ature as well as in life. The prejudices underly-
ing it are deeply rooted, - and its manifestations are
varied and complex. Yet, in the past year anti-
Semitism and racial prejtfdice have been the
subject of a • few successful novels, one a best
seller, and of two widely acclaimed moving *pic-
tures. This novel will add its small share to the
clarification of the general problem.
"Straw Fire" is a first novel by a promising and
talented young writer and it tells the story of a
young Virginia girl who falls in love for the first
time—with a Jew.' Frances Acheson, daughter
of a leading deacon in Kingston's (Virginia) larg-
est Presbyterian church, whose background is a
family history dating from pre-revolutionary
days, prayers at dinner, church activities, and
respectability as southern society sees it, meets
and falls in love with Paul Revkin,-- the son of
immigrant parents who live in a three-room flat
over .a tailor shop in New York, who observe
kashrith and go to the synagogue on Saturday.
The girl's parents welcome him in their home and
are very favorably impressed with him as a nice
prospect for their daughter until—they learn that
Paul is Jewish . . . To the father, a representative
of southern gentility, a Jew was only a notch
above being a "niggah" and relations with either
were miscegenation. To him Jews are "kikes," "all
alike, they are all a bunch of crooks and shysters,
worming their way into your business or- your
houses, pushing, crowding." And although he is
willing to admit that Paul is perhaps better than
the rest of the .Jews. still the southern gentleman
cannot accept the idea that his daughter may be
willing to sacrifice (what he... calls) "decent liv-
ing and social position and respectability" for the
love of the Jew . .. He shudders at the thought
of having Jewish grandchildren . . .
However, the girl neither had the strength or
the courage to take a Jew into her life. More
exactly, she did not have the strength or the cou-
rage to overthrow social barriers or to overcome
the deep-rooted racial prejudices and to give up
her life for the Jew she loved. Pa01 understood
the deep-rooted forces which pulled her away
from him; he knew that to compromise with real-
ity would lead the future tragedy. Therefore, he
chose to break away cleanly and as painlessly as
possible.
The story is well written. It is absorbing
throughout and it is hard to put the book down.
once one starts reading it. It has humor and pas-
sion and a deep sense of irony. It discusses some
racial problems, especially in relation to the Ne-
gro, fearlessly and with deep understanding. One
cannot help wondering •about Paul's background,
the deep hurts that he had previously suffered, the
sacrifices made for his sake by his parents and
uncle, his education and experiences, all the fac-
tors which could perhaps explain why he fell in
love with a little "ninny" from Virginia and why
he was willing without even the slightest concern
about the reaction of his family, to mbrry outside
of his field. But this is really the story of Frances
and of an incident in her life and in her world
which was beset by people with a very narrow
view of tolerance, brotherhood and decency . .
And as such it is a very interesting story, indeed,
and worth reading.

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