Purely Commentary

By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Tragic Leo Frank Case Recalled by Slaton's Death

The death, last month, of 88-year-old John Marshall Slaton,
former Governor of Georgia who commuted the death sentence of
Leo Frank to life imprisonment, served to call attention to a very
tragic case and to the courage of a man who acted against public
opinion in his own state, thereby sacrificing a political career
on the altar of truth.
It was in 1913 that Georgia was rocked by prejudice and
anti-Semitism in the case that involved a young Jew who was
generally believed to have been innocent of murder of Mary
Phagan, a young girl who worked in his factory.
The man who tried the case, Judge Augustus Roan, recom-
mended clemency and doubted Frank's guilt. The only lawyer
among the three members of the Georgia Prison Commission,
Judge Patterson, said he was certain Frank was innocent.
Governor Slaton commuted Frank's sentence. He thereby risked
his own life and sealed his political fate. Frank was kidnaped from
his jail cell and lynched by a mob near the Mary Phagan home.
Describing the late Mr. Slaton's career, Adolph Rosenberg,
editor of the Southern Israelite of Atlanta, writes:
saw
"The challenge imposed on the community by the
a counter move by Atlanta Jewish and Christian leaders to create
an atmosphere of good will which took years to accomplish.
"If the political career was denied or eschewed, Slaton did
not disappear into anonymity. The ex-governor livec: in distinc-
tion and honor for the remainder of his life. He had won the
admiration of intelligent people everywhere as a man of honesty
and forthrightness, to whom integrity was everything.
"Leaving public office, he returned to the private practice of
law. He practiced alone and one of his driving motives seems
to have been the desire to spare his clients the humiliation of
the courtroom. He may have had in the back of his mind the
injustice which came to a man of another faith as a result of
the machinations of the court.
"Slaton was honored widely by the bar associations of Atlanta,
Georgia and the nation. He was active in many spheres of civic
and philanthropic life, a tower of strength in any movement which
claimed his devotion,
"Yet to his death, people remembered him best as the man
who tossed aside a political career for the mantle of truth."
Turning back the pages of history, we have come across the
following news story, released on Nov. 22, 1943, by the now defunct
Jewish Press Service:

"Leo M. Frank, Jewish boy who Was lynched in Georgia in
1913 and whose case was used in the smear campaign against
the late Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis at the time of
his nomination for the highest court by President Wilson, has
been declared innocent in a book just published. The book, pub-
lished by the University of North Carolina Press, is by Arthur
G. Powell, former judge of the George Court of Appeals.
"Mr. Powell states in the book: 'I am one of the few people
who know that Leo Frank was innocent of the crime for which
he was convicted and lynched.' In an interview released by the
Associated Press, Mr. Powell said that he could not legally be
•compelled to reveal the information because it was given to him
in his professional capacity as an attorney.
" 'I know who killed Mary Phagan, but I know it in such a
way that I can never honorably make the information public
as long as certain persons still are living .. .1 expect to write
down what I know and why I know it, seal it up and put it away,
with instructions that it is not to be opened until certain persons
are dead.'
"Leo Frank was convicted of the murder of a girl in Atlanta
in 1913 although the trial judge declared his innocence 'proved
to a mathematical certainty.' Governor Slaton of Georgia com-
muted his sentence to life in June, 1913 and in August, 1913
Frank was kidnapped from the prison farm by a band of masked
men, taken away and lynched."
Thus, the limelight is again on a very famous and a very

tragic case—one that has left a blot on the record of the state of
Georgia. Fortunately, it serves to call attention to a very dis-
tinguished name—that of former Governor John Marshall Slaton
—to whom we pay tribute on his death, as we honored him in his
lifetime. It is thanks to men like Slaton that Georgia is receiving
forgiveness for her guilt.

*
*
.*
The Engtsh- Turbot Controversy: Scales and Kashrut •

The turbot, the large European, flounder-like flatfish that Ts

so esteemed as food by the people. of Europe, has stirred a con-

troversy among the Jews of England who are unable to determine
whether it is kosher or non-kosher.
As an echo of the turbot controversy, we have read in the
Chronicler's column in the London Jewish Chronicle:

"I have learned of a meeting at which a number of religious
dignitaries discussed the question of whether turbot was really
a kosher fish or not. One well-known minister, the report runs,
dryly interposed with the comment: "I don't know about turbot
not being kosher because it has no scales—I remember during
the war there were said to be some of our butchers who had no
scales, but their meat was still kosher."

A week later, under the heading "Foul Choice," Chronicler re-
lated the following:
Still more about turbot. A friend tells me of a Jewish friend

who went with his wife to a non-Jewish restaurant for lunch.
The waiter offered a choice of dish: chicken or turbot. "Oh, dear,"
said the friend's wife, "we can't have _turbot--it's • not kosher!"
"Very well, then," said the husband. "We'll have the chicken!"

Another week passed, and Chronicler wrote this under "Fish,
Flesh ... ?"

A Christian friend who has followed the great turbot con-
troversy with interest tells me that he cannot resist relaying to
me a story about a Roman Catholic ruling. It appears that a
delighted audience, at the recent staff dinner of a Roman Catho-
lic publishing firm, heard one of their Archbishops, in an after-
dinner speech, state that he had managed to secure a Vatican
ruling on the hippopotamus. For ecclesiastical purposes, he said,
the hippopotamus could be regarded as a fish, since it spends
most of its time in the water and both conceives and begets its
young in the water. The practical advantages of this decision
for natives of Central Africa who might have the good fortune
to catch a hippo on Thursday afternoon are obvious: they are
no longer compelled (continues my friend), in obedience to ec-
clesiastical discipline, to refrain from indulging in "a good dish
of hippopotamus steak" on a Friday My friend—naive man that
he is—artlessly concludes with some observations on parallels
between a Vatican wnd a Beth Din ...
But we continue to be in a quandary: should turbot ever make
its entrance on this continent, how shall we judge it: is it or is it
not kosher? Our sympathy for our English kinsmen is a bit mixed
with fear: they have left the question unanswered and, woe 'unto

us should turbot reach our shores ... and our refrigerators!

2

—

DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Friday, April 8. 1955

Dentists' Study 'Campaign Plans

Needy Supplied for
Passover by the JDC

Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News

NEW YORK — The Joint Dis-
tribution Committee has pur-
chased and shipped more than
350,000 pounds of matzos and
other Passover supplies to needy
Jews in Europe, it was an-
nounced Tuesday by Edward
M. M. Warburg, JDC chairman.
In addition to supplies pur-
chased to help European Jews
to celebrate Passover in tradi-
tional fashion, Mr. Warburg
said that JDC hospitals, sani-
taria, old age homes and other
institutions in Israel were pro-
vided with Passover supplies in
the Holy Land. In North Africa
and other Moslem countries,
communities purchased their
own type of matzos as well as
other Passover necessities as
part of regular JDC-financed re-
lief and feeding programs.
The Passover supplies, most of
which were purchased by JDC
in Holland, Mr. Warburg indi-
cated, include not only matzos,
matzoh meal ant' kosher wine
but also special items to meet
specific community needs. These
items include some 13,200
pounds of sugar for the Jewish
community of Greece as well as
3,500 pounds of kosher fat and
400 pounds of shemura flour
(specially prepared flour) for
Austrian. Jews.

All Israel Greets
New Chief Rabbi

JERUSALEM, (JTA) — Rabbi
Yitzhak Nissim, newly-elected
Chief Rabbi of the Sephardic
community in Israel, was in-
ducted in a festive ceremony at
Yeshurun Synagogue, largest
Jewish house of worship in Jer-
usalem.
Huge crowds lined the streets
leading to the synagogue, while
Israel's leaders in government,
religion and culture participated
in the ceremony within.
Premier Moshe Sharett, speak--
ing for the government, greeted
the new Chief Rabbi and spoke
of the 'importance of his task
in the cultural life .of Israel. In
a brief address after assuming
his post, Rabbi Nissim expressed
the hope that the Holy Places
would soon be liberated and
Jews from all over the world
would be able to make pilgrim-
mages to them. He appealed to
Israel and all Jewry to adhere to
traditional Judaism.
Among the guests at the cer-
emony were representatives of
the Christian and Moslem
churches in Israel, members of
the Cabinet, Supreme Court
Justices, many Parliamentary
deputies and members of the
diplomatic corps.

Western Communities
Plan London Parley

The progress made in rebuild-
ing Jewish life in Western Eu-
rope during the decade follow-
ing World War II and • Hitler's
attempt to annihilate Jewry will
be marked by a special consul-
tative conference of Jewish or-
ganizations in London, June 12-
16, announces Irving M. Engel,
president of the American Jew-
ish Committee.
Sponsors of• the conference,
which will give the Jewish com-
munities of Europe and North
Africa an opportunity to ex-
amine their present problems
and to plan for the future are
the American Jewish Commit-
tee, the Alliance Israelite Uni-
verselle of France and the An-
glo-Jewish Association of Great
Britain.
The three groups comprise the
Consultative Council of Jewish
Organizations (CCJO) , a non-
governmental body accredited to
the United Nations Economic
and Social Council.
Invitations to the conference
have been sent to Jewish organ-
izations in 27 communities of
Western Europe and North Afri-
ca, Engel said.

Grouped around an Allied Jewish Campaign exhibit are these
members of the professional division who met at the dentists' and
dental technicians' brunch. At the left is Dr. ALVIN B. - LEZELL,
section chairman. On the right (left to right) are Dr. SAMUEL
KROHN, section counsellor; Dr. LEO ORECKLIN, chairman,
professional division, and Dr. FRANK A. REISMAN, division vice-
chairman.

Rabbi Prinz Wins $30,000 Libel
Action Against Conde McGittly

NEWARK, N.J. (JTA)—A $30,-
000 award against Conde Mc-
Ginly, publisher of the anti-Se-
mitic sheet "Common- Sense," for
libelling Rabbi Joachim Prinz, of
this city, was handed down by a
jury in a local court. McGinly,
had referred to Dr. Prinz as "red
rabbi Dr. Joachim Prinz, who, not
unlike Albert Einstein, was ex-
pelled from Germany for revolu-
tionary, Communist activities."
Dr. Prinz brought suit because
of a 1952 issue of McGinly's hate
sheet which carried this state-
ment. The jury's award to the
former Berlin Jewish religious
leader consisted of $5,000 com-
pensatory damages and $25,000
in punitive damages. The jury,
which deliberated for three
hours, was told by Judge Howard
Ewart that McGinly -had failed
to produce any evidence in sup-
pore, his charge that Prinz left
Germany because of "Communist
activities."
The judge's charge also drew
the line between compensatory
and punitive damages and said
that the panel must determine
the presence of malice before

awarding the latter. In connec-
tion with this, Judge Ewart said,
the jury could take into account
McGinly's refusal to print a re-

traction.

Final witness at the 8-day
trial was Benjamin H. 'Freed-
man, retired toilet goods man-
facurer of New York, who ad-
mitted that he had given Mc-
Ginly financial support .- of
"more than $10,000 but less
than $100,000." Freedman ap-
peared as an "expert" witness
for the defense, as did Eliza-
beth Dilling, but both were
prevented from testifying as
experts on the ground that
much of the material they
wished to introduce was not
relevant, and that where it was
relevant they were not suffici-
ently expert to be so classified.

McGinly, in his testimony, in-
troduced the defense that he did
not hate all Jews and that some
Jews agreed with him on certain
points he made. He cited the
American Council for Judaism
as an example, asserting - it
agreed with his view that Zion-
ism necessarily implied "dual
loyalty."

Between You and Me

By BORIS SMOLAR

(Copyright, 1955, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, inc.)

Communal Trends

About two-thirds of the present Jewish population of the
United States . is American-born . In 2C years from now the
foreign-born Jews will be a very small fraction of the adult Jewish
population . . . The foreign-born group under the age of 45 consists
mainly of immigrants who have been educated in American public
schools and' whoresemble native-born Jews in their general out-
look . . . Of the estimated 5,000,000 Jews in the United States, close
to 50 percent live in New York City and within a radius of 25 miles
from Manhattan . . . Another 30 percent live in 10 other large cities
. . . There are about 200 cities in the U.S. with 100 to 1,000 Jewish
inhabitants . . . About 1,300,000 Jews are regular contributors to
various Jewish funds . . One-third or more of the adult Jewish
population is not formally affiliated with religious or secular Jewish
organizations . . . The proportion may be greater in New York and
in several other of the largest cities . . . However, some of them are
among the intermittent contributors to Jewish philanthropic causes
or otherwise indicate their feelings of belonging to the Jewish
group • . There are now approximately 4,000 Jewish congregations
in the United States . .. The Conservative congregations claim a
membership of 150,000 families . . The Reform temples indicate
a membership of 100,000 families The Union of Orthodox Jewish
Congregations has a membership of 100,000 families . . . However,
there are also many small Orthodox congregations that are not
affiliated with the Union and have a membership of 100,000 fam-
ilies . . . And there are also about 250,000 Jews and their families
who buy seats in synagogues for the High Holy Days alone •
Thus, it is estimated that approximately 40 -percent of the entire
Jewish population of the U.S. has some affiliation with a synagogue
... The remaining 60 percent would appear to be completely outside
the synagogue . . . All these facts are culled from Harry Laurie's
very interesting study of Jewish communal life in the U.S. published
in the fourth volume of "The Jewish People: Past and Present" just
issued by Jewish Encyclopedic Handbooks in New York ... The 440-
page volume also carries a very interesting study of the history . of
the Jews in this country by Anita Libman Lebeson ... There is also
a basic study on the Yiddish literature, press and theatre by the
noted Jewish critic Samuel Niger . . . Also an essay on Hebrew
literature and the press by J. K. Mikliszanski . . . Main currents in
Jewish scholarship in America are analyzed in the volume by
Joshua Trachtenberg . . . Current movements in the religious life
of American Jewry are dealt with by Jacob Agus . . And the
impact of American Jewry on Jewish life in Europe is ably evalu-
ated by Mark Wischnitzer ... The volume also contains valuable
studies on trends in Jewish education, on the Jewish labor move-
ment and other subjects ... The book is a "must" for those who
want to have a basic knowledge of various aspects of contemporaty,
,Jewish life.

.

