Purely Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Our Generation's Most Interesting Traveler: Israel Cohen

2—DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, July 31, 1953

Mrs. Schaver Back
From Israel; to Be
Symphony Soloist

Few stories of our time, aside from actual historical records,
can be said to have earned the right to be called "undying" and
"immortal." Yet there are on record creative works—like Maimon-
ides and Yehudah Halevy's and Solomon Ibn Gabirol's and a num-
Emma Schaver, Detroit's in-
ber of others—which must be classed in this category. Similarly,
the reports that were handed down to us by the famous 12th cen- ternationally known soprano,
tury traveler, Benjamin of Tudela, whose 13 years of travels has returned from Israel to make
through Europe and Asia have acquainted us with the life of un-
known Jewish communities, also belong in such a characterization.
This Commentator had the thrilling experience of reading the
diaries of the modern Benjamin of Tudela: the eminent Zionist
leader, Israel Cohen, whose "Travels in Jewry" comprise, in our
view, the most important collection of records of Jewish life in a
dozen countries. The publishers of this perfectly charming book,
E. P. Dutton & Co. (300 4th Ave., NY10), have earned the grati-
tude not only of Jewry but of all students of human events for
their vision in selecting this volume as one of this summer's
products.
This eminent English-Jewish author dates back his official
Zionist duties to his secretarial task in Cologne in 1910. Thus,
the experiences he chronicles in this splendid volume include his
travels during and before the First World War, through World
War II and the years that followed—plus the intervening years.
In a sense, therefore, he has covered vaster areas than his pre-
decessor, Benjamin of Tudela. He has traveled farther, for a longer
period of time—more than three times the duration of Benjamin's
experiences—and during more trying eras in world history.

Pathos and Humor, Tragedy and Achievement

There is a great deal of • tragedy in Cohen's record of our
generation's trials and tribulations. And his book is not devoid
EMMA SCHAVER
of humor. It is replete with facts and anecdotes, with behind-
the-scenes revelations of the manner in which oppressed Jewries
a
guest
appearance with the De-
have been treated and nearly-forgotten episodes of one of the
troit Symphony Orchestra on
saddest chapters in world history.
Saturday, Aug. 8. The orchestra
Israel Cohen makes Many contributions to Jewish lore in his
is under the direction of Valter
"Travels in Jewry." Major among them is his reminder to all
of us that all is not rosy in Jewish life, that our people's status Poole.
This will mark Mrs. Schaver's
was not secure a few short years ago, and that the insecurity,
which is beginning to be forgotten, has resulted in wholesale fourth appearance with the De-
murder of Jewish communities. The great nations—chief among troit Symphony, twice with Mr.
Poole as conductor.
them, our own United States—which are hesitant in approving
the United Nations Genocide Convention, would do well to study
Mrs. Schaver has concluded a
this record. The reminder of the horrors that pursued millions successful three-month concert
becomes a necessity among people who have become too corn-
tour of Israel, where, in addition
placent.
to concerts in Jerusalem, Haifa,
All one needs do is compare figures of pre-Hitler days and Tel Aviv and many settlements,
the present, as they are revealed by Israel Cohen: the hard-hearted she appeared twice with the
would then be faced with shame for their lack of concern over Haifa Symphony Orchestra con-
forgotten events. Here are a few of the figures:
ducted by Jacques Singer, and
Cologne's Jewish population declined from 15,000 to 600;
over radio with the Kol Zion
Berlin's,‘ from 160,000 to 7,000; Vienna's, from 180,000 to 10,000;
L'Gola and Kol Yisroel Sym-
Warsaw's, from 300,000 to 4,000; "the Jews, not only of Kovno phony Orchestra.

but of all Lithuania, were wiped out"; Hungarian Jewry has

declined from 450,000 to 135,000; half of Romania's 850,000 Jews
"met their doom either in death-camps or in some equally bar-
barious manner"; of Salonika's 56,000 Jews in the pre-Hitler
years only 1,500 remain; no more than 40 of Vilna's 65,000
Jews came out alive from the fox-holes and in this "Jerusalem
of Lithuania," which now belongs to the Sbviet Union, "the
traditional Jewish life and culture of which it has so long been
a citadel are no more."

Israel Cohen did not concern himself primarily with the
tragedies imposed upon Jewry by the Nazis. As stated, he toured
Europe before World War II. He was the emissary of the
World Zionist Organization to Poland. and Romania in the early
'20s, and his reports of the pogroms in these two countries leave
the reader thoroughly heartbroken. They are like an accusing
finger at those of us who dare not to remember the occurrences
out of which Poles and Romanians emerged as brutal as the
Hitlerites. Perhaps many of the Polish Jews would have been
rescued from the Nazi extermination camps if their Christian
neighbors had been more human!

Redeeming Features: Hope in Italy and in France

Fortunately, the picture is not all dark. There are redeeming
features in the humane attitudes of the Italian and French peo-
ples. There was a better chance for Jewish refugees even in Spain.
Lisbon was an avenue of escape.
Mr. Cohen describes the Halutzim camps in the more liberal
countries, the urge for Zion, the common aim to escape to Israel,
the desire of the survivors to go anywhere, as long as they would
not need to remain in the countries of despair, persecution and
torment.

Rebukes to Ultra Assimilated Jews

-

Israel Cohen has several mild rebukes for assimilated Jews. In
the chapter in which he relates his meeting with M. Aimee Palli-
ere, the Frenchman who abandoned Catholicism to embrace Juda-
ism, he tells of the noted Ger Tzedek's travels in various lands
where he addressed synagogues and told Jewish groups of their
spiritual heritage. "He (Palliere) had recently been on a tour
through the Jewish communities of Algeria and Tunis, and his
advocacy of the Zionist cause among them had made such an
impression that the leaders of the Alliance Israelite Universelle,
forgetting the original idea underlying their own foundation, had
been moved to express their displeasure. The Jews of Algeria and
Tunis might become too Jewish!"
Then there is the story of the wayfarer's visit in Provence.
He asked if he could have one of the faded, stained and tattered
prayerbooks. To continue the story as Mr. Cohen tells it about his
guide:

"No, I cannot let anything go," he said firmly. "There is a
complete inventory, and I am responsible. Once I lent a couple
of books to an American Rabbi who was here and promised to
return them, but so far he has not sent them back."
"Does not the Grand Rabbi interest himself in this syna-
gogue?" I inquired.
"No," was the reply, with a disparaging shake of the head.
"He is interested only in celebrating rich marriages. I closed
the synagogue some time ago in Cavaillon and brought the
scrolls of the Torah here. Now I am wondering what may hap-
pen when I am no longer here to look after this synagogue.
Perhaps it may become a museum."

But Jewish life goes on. There are varying mores, the customs
are different, but the Paris synagogues were packed. Wherever
Israel Cohen went he found Jews who carried the banner of their
people, some high, some lower—but it was not so low that Jewry's
position seems altogether lost. After all there is Israel.
Israel Cohen tells a fascinating story. This Commentator is
ready to read his book once again: he may have much more to

say about it.

JNF Gets $1,500
Netzorg Bequest

Finaly Children Arrive in Israel;
Will Live in Gedera Settlement

TEL AVIV, (JTA) — Robert
and Gerald Final y, the two
brothers whose abduction by
Catholic priests in France
brought them into the limelight
of the international scene dur-
ing the past half year, arrived
at their new home in Israel and
were welcomed by relatives and
neighbors who turned out , to
give the two orphans a warm
reception.
The boys and their aunt. Mrs.
Hedwig Rosner, who was de-
clared their legal guardian by
the French courts, arrived at
Lydda airport at 10 a.m. and
were quickly whisked into a taxi
and taken to their home in
Gedera, one of the oldest settle-
ments in Israel. The children
and Mrs. Rosner Were accom-
panied by Miss G. Wolf, a social
worker who will help supervise
the boys' education, and Mr.
Rosner, their uncle.
When they entered their new
h ome, Robert 12, and Gerald, 10.
met their cousins, Michael Ros-
ner, 15, and Miriam Rosner,. 19.
A number of other relatives and
friends of the Rosner family
were also on hand to greet the
orphans a n d their guardians
who had spent a number of
weeks in France waiting for the
children's return • from Spain.
Later, a uniformed unit of the
Maccabi, a sports organization,
came to greet the boys and pre-
sent them with flowers.
Afterwards, the children spent
a while becoming familiar with
their new home and ate some
fruits from their own garden.
Then, they rode their new bi-
cycles through the streets of the
town. Newsmen who saw the
children said that they looked
fit and did not appear to suffer
from Israel's hot weather.

Robert and Gerald will not
be starting school in Israel for

another two months. They
will use the summer months
to learn Hebrew. They will
also receive a French educa-
tion and will be informed
about the Jewish religion.

Under the terms of the agree-
ment with the French Catholic
authorities, which led to the re-
turn of the children, Mrs. Ros-
ner will not apply pressure on
them to abandon the Catholic
religion into which they were
baptized five years ago. when
they were seven and five: When
they are older they will choose
their own religion. •
The children were left at a
French municipal orphange. by
their German refugee parents in
1944, shortly before they were
seized and murdered by t h e
Nazis. They were in the care
of Mlle. Antoinette B r u n, a
Catholic social worker at the
orphange, who had them bap-
tized without consideration of
the possible wishes of their dead
parents. When the courts finally
awarded the Finaly children to
their aunt, Mlle. Brun, aided by
a number of nuns and priests,
spirited the children across the
Pyrenees to Spain.

Rabbi Lymon Resigns
From U.M. Hillel Post

Rabbi Herschel Lymon has re-
'''signed as direc-
tor of the Hillel
Foundation
at
t h e University
of Michigan, it
became known
this week.
After six years
as Hillel direc-
tor at Ann Ar-
bor, Rabbi Ly-

"*‘".

Rabbi Lymon mon plans to
accept a pulpit in California.

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1953, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)

The will of the late Bendetson
Netzorg, nationally famed pian-
ist and music teacher, includes
$1,500 bequest for the Jewish
National Fund.
One of Mr. Netzorg's prized
pianos was willed to his secre-
tary, Mrs. Gladys Hall. Another
piano was left to his nephew,
Paul Kerr.
He left his estate to his sis-
ters, Mesdames Muria.l N. Robi-
nove, Krana E. Goldsmith and
Rose Kerr.

Circle Branches Plan
Rumor Clinic on Aug. 7

A vivid demonstration of the
rumor in action has been prom-
ised members of Workmen's
Circle Branches 460 and 470
when they meet for a joint so-
cial and educational evening on
Aug. 7.
Program chairman Evelyn
Bruss and her husband, Kal-
man, will conduct a rumor clin-
ic in which slides of emotion-
charged situaitons are shown to
an audience and the scene is
then described in turn to six
people who have not seen the
slide.
The evening's program will
be held on the lawn of the home
of Mr. and Mrs. Saul Goodman,
19301 Shaftsbury. Bella Granat,
social chairman, has planned re
freshments.

53 Jewish 'Hard-Cores'
Welcomed by Norway

OSLO—Norway last week wel-
comed as permanent settlers a4
group of 53 "hard core" cases
from the DP camps of Germany
and Austria.
The refugees, all of them con-
centration camp survivors and
members of their families, are
tuberculosis and post-TB cases.
They arrived here after a two-
day trip from Munich under a
special emigration scheme spon-
sored by the Norwegian govern-
ment and the Joint Distribution
Committee.

Washington Notes:

The resumption by Moscow of diplomatic relations with Israel
is considered in Washington a great victory for Israel's Foreign
Minister Moshe Sharett It is no secret in Washington that
some elements in Israel were "sniping" at Mr. Sharett recently
and had utilized Moscow's rupture of relations with the Jewish
State as propaganda against him . . . The efforts to undermine
Mr. Sharett's policies—not only with regard to Russia—have been
conducted by others beside the pro-Soviet elements . . . In a whis-
pering campaign, they sought to create the impression that Israel
was slipping backwards in its dealing with foreign nations . . .
The re-establishment of diplomatic relations between Moscow and
Jerusalem takes the wind out of their sails . . . Also the fact that
Mr. Sharett has been chosen Acting Premier of Israel, to replace
Premier Ben-Gurion during his lengthy vacation, did not pass
unnoticed in Washing-ton . The State Department refrained, of
course, from commenting on the resumption of Soviet-Israel re-
lations since this is a matter concerning primarily the two coun-
tries involved . . . However, the opinion in Washington is that
Israel may now, after all, succeed in inducing the countries be-
hind the Iron Curtain to permit emigration of Jews to the Jewish
State . . . This may be the case with Romania, Hungary and
Poland where there are still many Jews who wish to go to Israel
. . . Whether Jewish emigration from the Soviet Union itself will
be permitted remains to be seen , . However, it is the ambition of
the Israel Government to secure such emigration, and no secret
is being made about it by Mr. Sharett or any other member of
the Israel Cabinet.

Community Reflections:

The American Jewish community is now receiving a great
deal of attention in South Africa as a result of the visit paid to
this country by Gus Saron, general secretary of the South African
Jewish Board of Deputies . . Mr. Saron spent more than two
months in the United States visiting the larger Jewish commun-
ities and studying the organization of Jewish communal life
there . . . He made a thorough study of the American Jewish
system of fund-raising, of various aspects of Jewish welfare and
social work, of Jewish education and Jewish center work . „ He
also visited many major Jewish institutions in New York and
other cities . . . He left the United States with a clear picture of
American Jewish thinking and having' gained inspiration from
what he had seen of organized American Jewish life . . . Now he
is urging the Jewish community of South Africa to emulate some
of the methods which are used by organized Jewry in this coun-
try . . . Especially in the field of education, coordination of corn-
munal activities, development of Hillel Foundations for Jewish
students and training Jewish youth for leadership . . . The pic-
ture which Mr. Saron presents to South Africa on the varied as-
pects of American Jewish life is provoking a good deal of interest
among all elements of South African Jewry . . . In fact, Jewish
groups in the United States owe Mr. Saron as much thanks as
Jewish groups in South Africa, which will definitely benefit from
his visit to our shores . What Mr. Saron is doing amounts to
acquainting the Jews of South Africa with the Jews of the United
States and to bringing these two Jewries closer together despite
the huge distance which separates them geographically . . It was
a fortunate idea on the part of the South African Jewish Board
of Deputies to send Mr. Saron to the United States . He ably
conveyed the spirit of South African Jewry during his stay in
this country, and he is now just as ably conveying the spirit of
American. Jewry to the people of his own country.