40—THE JEWISH NEWS
'Uncrowned King of German P ose
Friday, October 1, 1948
Jewish Influences on Life
and Work of Franz Ka'fka
A Mother's Grief
THE DIARIES OF FRANZ -KAFKA. Edited by MaN, Brod. Schocken
Books, New York
THE FROZEN SEA: A.STUD'i OF FRANZ KAFKA, By Charles Neider.
Oxford University Press, New York.
Franz Kafka was only 41 when
he died in 1924, but his stories hadl the Jew, the Rus s ian peasant bro-
caught the imagination of critics . ken by poverty. One thinks of
to such a degree that Hermann Sholem Aleichen, Ivan Olbracht,
Hesse' referred to him as "the Jaroslav Hasek . ."
a.
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uncrowned king of German
prose.
The Kafka diaries, edited by
Today, the Kafka name is as- Brod, throw important light • on
suming great significance and not Kafka's Jewish interests, his de-
only are his ..own works widely votion to Zionism, how he was
circulated but many books have influenced by Judaism and the
been written about the Jewish synagogue. He was deeply inter-
genius of the pre-Hitler era.
ested in the Yiddish theater, went
Brod's and Neider's books, the to numerous performances by vis-
latest on the Kafka subject, iting troupes and commented upon
should be read widely by all who them frequently.
are interested in the literature of
Yiddish theatrical performances
this century.
aroused his interest in Yiddish
In both books, we are given an literature. He made extensive
insight into Kafka's Jewishness. references to A. Goldfaden's
Mr. Neider's splendid analysis of "Sulamith," • read the works of
the eminent story-teller opens Peretz, Sholem Aleichem, Rosen-
with a study of: Kafka and the feld and even took an interest in
Cabalists. The "father complex" a Hebrew poem by Bialik.
leads Mr. Neider to the belief
He refers frequently to the
that while Kafka had relations actress Mrs. Tschissik and com-
with women • he "charged his ments: "I enjoy writing the name
father with having made him in- so much." He disliked the play
capable of marriage." There is
Nidre." • All the well known
even the suggestion of hoinosex- stage plays of that day are men-
uality emerging from this com- tioned, revealing the extent of
plex.
Kafka's interest in the Yiddish
"The Frozen Sea" reviews Kaf- stage. •
ka ' s works of fiction; his "Castle"
Kafka's Heder days, his nu-
and "Trial" and concludes with merous Jewish associations, his
"The Frozen Sea." There is an humor, his love life—the many
interesting comment on Kafka's revelations of his diaries throw
humor: "His laughter is never light on the activities of the great
loud; it is cloudy and inhibited, writer whose works now are ac-
for it is never far removed from cepted among the best of our time.
its object. His is an eastern, a
Max Brod's book adds a great
Slavic strain of humor, the humor deal to an understanding of Kaf-
of the underdog, of the Czech, ka and his works and of the period
in which he lived.
Launch New Campaign
For Jews in Arab Lands
NEW YORK, (JTA) — A $600,-
000 drive to aid Jews living in
. Moslem countries will be launch-
,. ed by a new organization, the
Committee for the Forgotten
Million,' it was announced by'
William Z. Novick, executive di-
rector. Most of the funds will
help to extend religious and
Secular education and provide
food apd clothing to Jewish chil-
dren residing in the Arab states.
Jewish children • in Tripoli-
tania, Syria, Iran and French
Morocco are living under the
"most appalling" circumstances,
Novick stated. In Casablanca, he
noted, 80 per cent of the Jewish
children die from tuberculosis
before they reach their first
birthday.
A staff of 260 teachers is at
present engaged, in an intensi-
fied educational program, Novick
said, adding that the committee
is planning to set up an addition-
al 200 schools which will make
possible the enrollment of 10,000
children. The committee also
plans to provide care for the
aged and the ill.
LUDWIGSBERG, Germany
(JPS)—Hjalmar Schacht, former
Finance Minister of Nazi Ger-
many, was released from art in-
ternment camp here.
Greetings
A heart-broken mother kisses
the name of her son, inscribed on
the marble wall of a memorial
erected in Ujpest, a suburb of
Budapest, Hungary. The city's
Jewish community erected the
menaorlial to the 12,000 Jews of
the area who were killed by the
Nazis.
INSURANCE
Dutch Jewish community at the
coronation ceremony of Queen
Juliana, who succeeded to the
Netherlands throne following the
abdication of her mother, Wil-
helmina.
NEW YORK—Moving swiftly
to implement its: plan of cooper-
ation with the "new USO"—re-
cently reactivated at the behest
of Secretary of Defense Forres-
tal—the National Jewish Welfare
Board has accepted the assign-
ment to participate in the run-
ning of 15 USO clubs. In six,
it will have directing responsibil-
ity and in nine it will participate
as an associate member. This has
been announced by Milton Weill,
chairman of the JWB national
Armed Services Committee, who
indicated that a recruiting pro-
gram calliVig for the re-hiring of
former top-flight USO workers
had begun and that designations
to which JWB had been assigned
would be started in the near
future.
Holiday Greetings
FOSTER BROS.
'MARKET
7710 W. McNichols
Greetings
•
Best Wishes for
The New Year
KATZ
1751 Taylor
ECONOMY
PRINTING
CO.
TY. 7-1014
9123 12th St.
Plumbing and Heat-
ing Service.
Happy New Year
To You and Yours
GOLDFARB
Bonding Agency
1 3 17
HOLIDAY GREETINGS
FROM
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ROBINHOOD S
WHERE ONLY THE FINEST
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Greetings On The New Year
OPEN 24 HOURS
Equipment Specialties, Inc.
.
UN. 1-9802
20176 LIVERNOIS
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Manufacturers of
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1670 W. Fort St.
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Holiday Greetings
ISENBERG, PURDY and DONOVAN
Certified Public Accountants
LE SHONO TOVO TIKOSEVU!
Best wishes to the new State of Israel and to the
3400 Barium Tower
communities of Detroit and Michigan
Detroit 26, Michigan
Wm. B. Isenberg, C.P.A.
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• •••
•• ••
Arthur S. Purdy, C.P.A.
Robert J. Donovan, C.P.A.
BEVERAGE DISTRIBUTION CO.
Max D. Beal, C.P.A.
Wyandotte, Mids.
Distributors of
Manischewitz Wines
Best Wishes
for a
5709
1948
IRVING HERMELIN
AGENCY
JWB to Help Run Clubs Rabbi Tal at Dutch Coronation
AMSTERDAM, (JTA) — Chief
For Reactivated USO
Rabbi Tobias Tal represented the
BEST WISHES
HAPPY NEW YEAR
To The Communities
of
605 FOX BLDG.
CH.. 5757
HAPPY NEW YEAR
-+
Greetings
on the New Year
J. FREED
Baking Co.
7577 W. McNichols
W. 7 Mile Rd. at Meyers
DETROIT and MICHIGAN
1571 Woodward
Also in Chicago
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