Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
American Jewry: Identity and Integration
The statement of the American Jewish Committee's new
president, Irving M. Engel, is a normal reiteration of established
ideas about American Jewry's position and aspirations,
Mr. Engel has gone on record favoring a policy of link-
ing the integration of American Jews into American life with their
retention of an identity as Jews and their pursuance of religious
and cultural traditions.
There really is nothing unusual about this. A Jew who fails
to propagate such a collective idea would have no chance for
leadership in Jewish life. He would be an assimilationist who
aims to see the speedy disappearance of the Jews as a religious
and cultural entity:
The interesting point in Mr. Engel's statement is his empha-
sis on "we do not subscribe to the well-known 'melting pot' theory
of assimilation," and his comment that the rest of the country
does not believe in the "melting pot theory" either. There may
be many points of disagreements on this score. We have a sus-
picion that many Americans rather desire to see the "melting pot
theory" put into practice. All-too-often we hear an American
liberal criticize Jews for their opposition to intermarriage and
for their failure to merge with their neighbors. There are, of
eourse, two sides to this argument, with the liberals often on the
losing end in view of the reluctance on the part of Christians to
accept Jews socially, after business hours, and even in their
churches. We know of a church, which has been infiltrated by a
small group of Jews, whose minister has become concerned: his
regular (Christian) members are irritated because the infiltrees
occupy front pews, give the largest contributions (putting the
"natives" to shame), and otherwise "hog the shoW."
We are a bit less impressed by Mr. Engel's attempt to prove
the American Jewish Committee's efforts to foster a healthy Jew-
ish integration in American life by examples: the publication of
the pamphlet series, "This Is Your Home," Commentary Magazine
and the American Jewish Year Book. The latter is a Jewish Pub-
lication Society project and while the American Jewish Commit-
tee deserves much credit for its excellence, we would prefer the
Year Book's independence. Commentary Magazine is made pos-
sible by the communal gifts to the Committee (including Detroit
Allied Jewish Campaign's allocation), else the splendid magazine
could not carry a deficit of close to $200,000. Even this deficit
would be excusable if the magazine's editors were to act less cynic-
ally, more fairly and with objectively realistic approaches to Jew-
ish ideas. The "This Is Our Home" pamphlets are commendable.
This is not intended as a criticism, but rather to indicate that
Mr. Engel has not "discovered America and Jewry"; that his
statement of principles is a normal approach to Jewish life—and
we commend him for it. Even his declarations anent Israel follow
a pattern accepted by all American Jews, with the exception only
of a minute minority whose activities are destructive of all com-
monly accepted decencies.
Mr. Engel has, of course, earned the respect and confidence
of American Jewry. By his own admission he became active in
Jewish communal life upon the rise of Hitlerism. Son of Eastern
European immigrants who settled in Alabama, he learned to ab-
hor lynching and decided to leave the South for New York. Even
Klan members pleaded with him to remain in his home town. He
assumed leadership responsibility in Jewish ranks in 1944 when
the American Legion resolved to call for the deportation of refu-
gees. He used membership prerogatives in the Legion to fight
against this resolution and secured its defeat. This brought him
to public notice, with the result that he has risen to his present
position.
While this, too, is not unusual—so many leaders in our time
having come forth out of resentment against anti-Semitism—Mr.
Engel, on the strength of his statements and his background, must
be viewed as a positive Jew. That will certainly make him a positive
leader. Which should redound to the benefit of the group he heads
and of American Jewry.
Reburials of War Criminals: Mercy and Godliness
The "quality of mercy" is being tested by the reburial of Ger-
man war criminals. In London, where the issue was raised, A. L.
Easterman, political director of the World Jewish Congress, made
the statement that people of all nations and all faiths "will share
amazement and horror at the news that German authorities have
decided to rebury in the hallowed ground of a Lower Saxony mu-
nicipal cemetery 91 Nazi war criminals found guilty of crimes
against humanity and executed after fair and full trial by a Brit-
ish court for the most execrable and savagely cold-blooded murder
of innocent civilians." He added:
"It is infamous to give a 'worthy' place of burial to the bodies
of such fiends as Joseph Kramer, the 'Beast of Belsen' who, as
commandant of the notorious Belsen horror camp, was responsible
for the death by killing, burning, starvation and disease, of tens
of thousands of men, women and children, and Irma Grese, the
'Human Tigress', who shot to death, lashed and set dogs on women
and girls until they died."
The British High Commission in Germany stated it had "no
objection" to the Germans' reburial, and Victor Gollancz, the prom-
inent London publisher, uttered this objection to the World Jewish
Congress protest:
"I read that the World Jewish Congress has protested against
the reburying of certain German war criminals in hallowed
ground. As a Jew, and one whose detestation of Nazism can hardly
be questioned, I wish to protest against this protest. To object to
the burying of anyone whomever in hallowed ground is unseemly
and irreligious, for it suggests that God is as unmerciful and un-
forgiving as man."
Of interest also is the statement by' British Foreign Secretary
Anthony Eden, in which he rejected the protests, that "I am not
prepared to pursue hatred beyond the grave." Hasn't history a
duty to remind posterity of unspeakable crimes?
This may be only the beginning of claims to "mercy" and
"godliness" in behalf of the dead. Mr. Gollancz, whose detestation
of Nazism is unquestioned, will be remembered as the distinguished
autobiographer who recently revealed his flirting with the idea
of conversion to Christianity. We spoke of it then as having been
rooted in a total lack of understanding of his own Jewish heritage.
It may well be that his latest plea for forgiveness and mercy also
Is based on a rather extreme viewpoint — especially in an inci-
dent involving the world's most cruel tortures of fellow-humans.
The test of "the quality of mercy" will come from the living
Germans. If honors accorded murderers will be transferred to
tolerance to new Nazis then the tragedy will be complete and
Mr. Gollancz will have been proven wrong.
2 DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
—
Friday, March 26, 1.954
Ike Plans No Action
To Alter McCarron Law
WASHINGTON, (JTA)—Presi-
dent Eisenhower told a White
House press conference that he
has no intention of becoming a
"bull in a china shop" as far as
steps to repeal the McCarran-
Walter Immigration Act are
concerned.
Indicating he had no imme-
diate plans for revision, the
President stated that as we
come closer to the principles of
the founding fathers the nearer
we will be to solving the problem
of racial discrimination.
The statement was in answer
to a question by a reporter who
asked whether he thought the
discrimination contained in the
Act damaged our foreign rela-
tions and whether he planned
any proposal to Congress to lib-
eralize the Act.
Bnai Brith Launches
Program for Israel
Scholarship of Brandeis U. Faculty
Established Through Recent Writings
Berger
Dr. Glatzer Dr, Vigee
WALTHAM, MASS. — Recent
and projected publications by
members of the Brandeis Uni-
versity faculty include five books
ranging from an interpretation
of Proust to a biographical and
critical study of Aaron Copland,
contemporary composer.
A cycle of poems completed by
Dr. Claude A. S. Vigee, Brandeis
associate professor of romance
languages and literature, is ti-
tled "Le Horne due Grand Par-
don" which means "horn of
atonement."
In this work, however, the
title means not only the shofar
of redemption but the "call to
redeem us from the death of
life in our time." The theme of
redemption is expressed in a se-
quence of 24 poems.
Arthur Berger's recent bio-
graphy of Aaron Copland at-
temps to evaluate the composer
in relation to both the contem-
porary and the past musical
scene.
"Copland," according to the
author who is a Brandeis asso-
ciate professor of music, "has
been the center of musical de-
velpoment in America in the
last 30 years. "Immensely read-
able" and "exciting" were the
comments of critic William
Schuman in the New York
Times.
"Understanding the Sick arid
the Healthy," unpublished man-
uscript by the late Franz Ro-
Hindus Dr Gurwitsek
senzweig has been translated,
edited, and annotated by Dr.
Nahum Glatzer, Brandeis asso-
ciate professor of Jewish history.
Subtitled "A View of Man,
World and God," the book deals
with philosophical rather than
physical ills.
The publication of Dr. Glab-
zer's "Franz Rosenzweig. His
Life and Thought" last year
marked the introduction of Ro-
senzweig's ideas to the English-
speaking world. The Brandeis
professor's latest work, "Under-
standing the Sick and the
Healthy" is on the Noonday
Press publication list.
Milton Hindus, Brandeis as-
sociate professor of English, is
author of "The Proustian Vi-
sion," first critical interpretation
of the entire works of Marcel
Proust, including a work not yet
translated into English.
The book aims at correcting
current misconceptions regard-
ing Proust. Publishers of "The
Proustian Vision" are the Co-
lumbia University Press.
"Theorie du Champ de la Con-
science" is the title of a study
of context and contexture by Dr.
Aaron Gurwitsch, Brandeis as-
sociate professor of philosophy.
The work is to be published . by
Bouwer and Co. of Bruges and
Paris.
NEW YORK, (JTA) — A pro-
gram of aid to Israel was adopt-
ed by the administrative com-
mittee of the Bnai Brith, interim
governing and policy - making
body of the organization, at a
meeting attended by 50 repre-
sentatives of Bnai Brith from
all parts of the country.
The program calls for direct
voluntary participation of Bnai
Brith members in:
1. Creation of a Bnai Brith
Forest near Jerusalem: 2. Gift
lunch boxes to be sent to Israeli
school children; 3. Continued
cooperation and participation in
the Israel Bond drive; 4. Spon-
sorship of the Hillel FoundatiOn
at the Hebrew University in
Jerusalem; 5. SpOnsorship by
the Women's Supreme Council
of Bnai Brith Children's Home
in Israel; 6. Sponsorship of the
Bnai Brith Veterans Rehabili-
tation Center in honor of Chaim
Weizmann in Tel Hashomir, Is-
rael; 7. Development of a special
information service to keep
membership informed of the
By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1954, Jewish Telegraphic Agency)
progress of these efforts; 8. Es-
tablishment of a permanent
to Germany
Bnai Brith Israel , committee, Mission
I wonder whether the three officials of the Anti-Defamation
through which all efforts will League of Bnai Brith have done the right thing by going to Ger-
be channeled.
many as the guests of the Bonn government . . . ADL has never
engaged in combatting anti-Semitism in Germany or for this
New York Jewry Fetes
matter in any other European country ... This has been the work
of other Jewish organizations which have—after the fall of the
Italian War Hero
Nazi regime—sent their representatives to Germany on more than
one occasion to study the situation there . . • Never have such
NEW YORK, (JTA) — Mario representatives gone there, however, as guests of the West Ger-
DiMarco, long a police marshal man government . . • This is true with regard to the World Jew-
in Rome and a hero of the Ita- ish Congress, American Jewish Committee, Board of Deputies of
lian underground in World War British Jews and other groups engaged in watching the interna-
II who enabled hundreds of tional scene ... Why the ADL, whose activities are after all limit-
Jews and other anti-Fascists to ed to the American scene, should send its officials to Germany as
escape from Nazi persecution, guests of the German government will be a puzzle to many Jews
was the guest of honor at a in this country, including members of Bnai Brith . . . ADL has
luncheon arranged by a com- sufficient funds to finance an independent trip of its officials to
mittee of individuals prominent Germany, if it wishes to study the extent to which anti-Semitism
in Jewish-American and Italian- is still prevalent there ... But when it sends them as the guests_
American organizations.
of the German government it risks prejudicing in advance Vas
DiMarco was for many years opinion about their findings . . It stands to reason that ADL
in charge of passport issuance should be the last to send its officials as guests of any govern-
and inspection under Mussolini. ment . . . The president of the Synagogue Council of America is
Using his strategic position in the only Jew who so far has visited West Germany as the guest.
war-time, he worked in close of the Bonn government But in his case, he was part of a
co-operation with a Catholic Christian-Jewish religious delegation which was invited by Ger-
priest, Father Benedetto Maria, many to study religious affairs . . . And even his trip did not
hiding Nazi victims and fugitives please many Jews . . . It is one thing when a Jewish group sends
when Hitler's forces occupied a mission to Germany to study some aspect of Jewish life there,
Rome, and providing them with and it is quite a different thing when the members of the mission
false passports and identifica- go as the guests of the German government.
tion cards. The Jewish Corn-
munity of Rome wrote him a The Voice of Israel
letter of thanks after the war.
- American Jewish organizations are being criticized in Israel
Near the end of the war the for the fact that their leaders and delegations rarely patronize
Nazi command accidentally be- El-Al Israel Airlines when flying to Israel . . . On the one hand,
came aware of his activities. He these organizations m. ge strong American Jewish support of Is-
was thrown into the infamous rael's economy, while on the other hand they themselves usq
Via Tasso prison, where he was airlines other than El-Al which is part of Israel's economy
tortured in efforts to make him The inconsistency is especially noticeable with regard to Zionist
disclose names and whereabouts groups which go out of their way to adopt resolutions pledging
of underground leaders. But he themselves to help Israel's economic development ... Personally,
remained steadfastly silent and on my recent trip to Israel, I tried three separate airlines . I flew
survived until the Allied troops from New York to Newfoundland on an El-Al plane . From
liberated the Italian capital.
Newfoundland to London I proceeded on an American plane .
And from London to Israel I made my way via Italy and Ger-
many on a British plane . . I must say that I found the El-Al
Weizmann Award Winners
TEL AVIV, (JTA) — The Tel plane more comfortable than either of the other planes . < The
Aviv municipality awarded the seats were wider, the food better, and the atmosphere very Jewish
Weizmann prize for science to and homelike . . . The crew was composed of Israelis, but the
four Israeli scientists. The recip- pilot was an American of many years flight experience .
ients are Dr. David Ginzburg of seems that despite the fact that Jewish organizations do not
the Weizniann Institute of Sci- make it their duty to send delegations via El-Al planes, the aver-
ence, a chemist; Drs. A. Kom- age American Jew who flies to Israel as a visitor does patronize
aroff and K. Horenstein of the the Israel airline . . . This is borne out by the fact that one can-
Agriculture Ministry, who are not always get a seat on an El-Al plane unless he makes reserva-
working on animal illnesses; tions well in advance . • . Tens of thousands of American Jewish
and Prof. Joel Rokach, a mathe- tourists are expected to fly this summer to Israel, and for many
matician on the staff of the of them reservations have already been made with El-Al by vari-
ous travel agencies.
Hebrew University.
Between You and Me