THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
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Member American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers. Michigan Press Association. National Editorial
Association.
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 35, Mich.,
VE. 8-9364. Subscription $5 a year. Foreign $6.
Entered as second class matter Aug. 6, 1952 at Post Office, Detroit. Mich., under Act of March 3, 1879.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Circulation Manager
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the twenty-eigth day of Tammuz, 5717, the following Scriptural sel-
ections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Mase, Mum. 33:1-36:13. Prophetical portion, Jeremiah 2:4-28;
3:4.
Rosh Hodesh Ab reading of the Torah, Monday, Num. 28:1-15.
Licht Benshen, Friday, July 26, 7.39 p.m.
VOL. XXXI. No. 21
Page Four
July 26, 1957
An Alarming Note About Israel and Germany
In its "Random Notes from Washing-
ton," the New York Times recently carried
this disturbing item about Israel, Ger-
many, Secretary of State Dulles and
Ambassador Eban:
John Foster Dulles has been caught
embarrassingly in the middle over the issue
of West German recognition of Israel.
The Israelis have an economic mission in
Germany to handle reparations, but they
would now like full diplomatic relations. So
Ambassador Abba Eban asked the Secretary
of State to take it up with Konrad Adenauer
during the chancellor's recent visit here. Mr.
Dulles said he would.
After Dr. Adenauer's departure, the Is-
raelis learned, somewhat to their annoyance,
that Mr. Dulles had merely mentioned the
question in passing toward the end of the
visit—and not to the chancellor but to For-
eign Minister Heinrich von Brentano.
But the mere mention annoyed the West
Germans, who resented the implied sugges-
tion that they needed intermediaries in deal-
ing with the recognition of Israel.
Moreover, they were embarrassed be-
cause the Arabs, through the new Arab
League Information Office in Bonn, had been
threatening to recognize East Germany if
West Germany recognized Israel.
This alarms the West German Govern-
ment, which is pledged to break. relations
with any cotmtry except the Soviet Union
that recognizes the East German puppet
regime. Bonn does not want to throw that
monkey wrench into West Germany's boom-
ing trade in the Middle East.
This note is especially alarming in
view of reports from Germany that the
latest Khrushchev coup in Russia may
affect the candidacy for re-election of
Chancellor Konrad Adenauer of West Ger-
many. Some observers maintain that the
emphasis on a possible East-West en-
tanglement in Germany by the Khrush-
chev forces may lead to the defeat of Dr.
Adenauer. In such an eventuality, the
democratic forces in the world and Israel
would suffer immeasurably.
While German leaders have denied
that there is danger, even in the event of
Dr. Adenauer's defeat, of an abandonment
or curtailment of the German program of
reparations to Israel, it stands to reason
that Dr. Adenauer remains the strongest
force behind the agreement that had been
reached between the German government
and the Jewish communities of the world.
The reparations and indemnifications
agreements could have been strengthened
by some sort of diplomatic arrangements
between Israel and Germany. The
Adenauer government has consistently
rejected attempts by Arabs to stymie the
existing reparations program. Our Gov-
ernment could have been helpful in
encouraging better relations between
Israel and the Adenauer regime. But the
State Department appears to have been
frightened again into indifference, border-
ing on obstruction, by Arab threats.
We view such a development with
alarm because any hindrance to good
relations among democracies is damag-
ing to the entire effort to democratize the
world in the face of Communist and Arab
authoritarian threats.
In viewing the possibility of Israeli-
German diplomatic relations, account must
be taken of the fact that the Nazi policies
of the '30s and early '40s can never be
forgotten. Yet, Israel's Prime Minister
David Ben-Gurion and his associates
believe that the Germany of today is not
the same land that was ruled by the Nazis.
But into the picture has been injected
the Arab threat. Thus, Gaston Coblentz,
New York Herald Tribune correspondent,
in a cable to his newspaper from Bonn,
stated a few days ago: "Chancellor
Konrad Adenauer's government is taking
the position that it favors, in principle, the
establishment of full diplomatic relations
with Israel, but that 'it is a question of
timing.' By this, the Bonn government
means that it would prefer to see the
entire Middle Eastern situation calm down
further before it risks Arab displeasure
and possible political and economic retali-
ation by sending an envoy to Israel."
This is a clear indication of pressure
against Jewry and Israel by the Arabs.
Such influence may harm the entire
democratic program undertaken by. our
Government and our allies, and the issue
is not one merely of Israel-German
negotiations but of the free world's strug-
gle for peace and amity.
Avoid Trouble by Eliminating Its Deadly Roots
A few days ago, it was reported that
a United Nations Emergency Force unit
at Gaza was fired upon by both Israelis
and Arabs. The cabled report explained
that Israeli soldiers challenged Arab
workers at Dier El-Ballah, while a four-
man Finnish patrol was in the vicinity.
All the details in this occurrence have
not been made known. But an obvious fact
exists to point to the basic difficulties in
the situation: there still are roots of con-
flict that must be destroyed. When an
end is put to fedayeen activities, when
suspicions are eradicated, with the indica-
tion of a desire for peace and for amicable
relations, there can be an end to shooting.
Troubles on the Israeli-Syrian border
prove our contention that unless the roots
of trouble are destroyed, conflicts will
arise anew from time to time.
All manner of charges have been
leveled at Israel from Syrian sources, and
uninformed persons could easily be misled
into believing that the Israelis are covet-
ing new land, that they are irrigating at
the expense. of their neighbors. Nothing
could be farther from the truth. Israel's
progressive steps of land and water de-
velopment should prove an example for
similar action by her neighbors and a
boon to the entire area, rather than as
a fomenter of unjustified jealousies
that are in evidence in Syria and other
Arab countries. The Detroit News, in an
editorial about the troubles in Galilee,
pointed out some of the defections when
it stated:
In the upper Jordan valley where Syria
is now trying to promote a new war with
Israel, the Syrian batteries may fire away
with relative impunity.
This border region around Lake Hula
makes the contest a one-sided affair. The
valley belongs to Israel and is spotted with
a new settlement eager to farm the land
when the drainage of the Hula marshes is
completed.
On the Syrian side, the barren land rises
steeply from the Jordan River trench and= the
Sea of Galilee toward the snow-clad slopes
of Mount Herman. There are no Syrian
villages adjacent to the valley because there
are no means for sustaining life. But these
same rocky, irregular slopes are excellent
for concealing artillery and mortar batteries.
The Syrians may therefore fire away at
innocent targets with little risk that Israeli
forces may take effective counteraction un-
less they choose to invade Syria to silence
the batteries.
That would be a "provocation." Why
Syria's deliberate barraging of the Israeli
villages is called anything less escapes the
eye .
Such is the gravity of the situation that
it calls for a prompt and decisive UN judg-
ment at the highest level.
Israel is in constant danger from am-
bushed enemies; yet the small Jewish
State is constantly accused of fomenting
trouble. When UN judgment becomes
sound in the matter, we may see the
desired solution.
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Great Tribute to USNA
'300,000 New Americans'
Dr. Lyman Cromwell White, who formerly was on the United
Nations Secretariat, has written a remarkable tribute to the.
United Service for New Americans and to the people who have
helped in its functions, in his new book, "300,000 New Ameri=
cans," published by Harper. -
Published in tribute to the memory of Prof. Joseph P.
Chamberlain, (1873-1951), this volume is, in fact, a history of
the heroic efforts to rescue sufferers from Nazism. It is the
story of immigration of our time viewed from the quarters of
the major rescue organization that has helped many people settle
in this country.
Prof. Chamberlain, the man honored by this book, was the
chairman of the Nations Coordinating Committee for Aid to
Refugees and Emigrants Coming from Germany, 1934-39; chair-
man of the board of the National Refugee Service, 1939-46,
and honorary chairman of the board of United Service for
New Americans, 1946-51.
A foreward to the volume was written by Mrs. Franklin
D. Roosevelt. William Rosenwald, general chairman of the United
Jewish Appeal, former honorary president of USNA, wrote the
dedication.
In its totality, "300,000 New Americans" is an historical
analysis of the European holocaust and the tragedies imposed
upon mankind by Hitler, and of the tragic plight of those who
sought havens of refuge. The Nazi tortures forced tens of thous-
ands to seek new homes, and many of them found assistance
from the USNA. But the USNA's activities were not limited to
the German refugees. It also aided those who sought escape
from Communism in Russia, Czechoslovakia, Hungary and Ro-
mania.
Thus, "the USNA Accordion", as the author alludes to the
great immigrant settlement organization, faced "all of these
vicissitudes of war and peace" which "greatly added to the
difficulties of those in America who sought to fulfill their basic
responsibilities to their fellow men:"
Treated in historical fashion, "300,000 New Americans" con-
tains many explanatory charts. It begins with an analysis of the
work of the National Coordinating Committee, describes the
efforts of the National Council of JekviSh Women and HIAS, and
explains how the Joint Clearing Bureau began to function in
1933. It was supplanted the following year by the National
Coordinating Committee.
The efforts of all the large Jewish organizations, of the Joint
Distribution Committee, American Jewish Committee, Jewish
Congress, Zionist Organization and others, are reviewed here,
with reference to the distinguished leaders who played important
roles in the refugee integration activities.
_
An important place in the discussion is given to the
National Refugee Service.
The able author describeS the modern techniques that were
used to provide assistance to immigrants. Specific cases are
quoted to show the pre-migration efforts, overseas orientation,
receptions on arrival, the various reception centers, etc.
Dr. White reviews the work of vocational services that
were , established by the National Refugee Service. He explains
how the newcomers were offered business counselling, were
given loans to assist them in gaining a start in life and were
wholesomely integrated into the American community.
Post-war relief created heavy burdens, this historical
analysis indicates. But the duties were met well, and, at the
same time, "both the national and local programs in the field
of naturalization have been greatly strengthened."
An especially fascinating story is contained in Dr. White's
review of the work that was done among children. Here, too,
specific cases are narrated to show the happy adjustments.
An important chapter also is devoted to a description of the
USNA relations with American Jewish communities and overseas
cooperating agencies. The findings and conclusions incorpor-
ated in this volume will, for a long time, serve as a valuable
guide in efforts to integrate immigrants in this country.
Dr. White's "300,000 New Americans" is a valuable addition
to the available histories on the subject of immigrant reception
and settlement in this country and is a great tribute to the
United Service for New Americans.
.