Joel Brand's Horror Story of Nazi Mass Murderer's
Bid for Trucks in Exchange for Lives of a Million

(11

JFF;

INDEPENDPicE

DAV

Levirate Law Is Basis for Drama,
W oman at Wall,' by Dr. Newman

`

Dr. Louis I. Newman, one that the contemporaneous
of the country's best known character of the play, "The
Reform rabbis who also has Woman at the Wall," can be
distinguished himself as an seen from an item in the Lon-
author of essays and dramas don Jewish Chronicle, June 28,
on Jewish subjects, and who 1957, about a Halitzah cere-
a number of years ago was a mony before a Moscow Beth
columnist for Jewish periodi- Din specially convened by the
cals, has written a new drama, Chief- Rabbis of Israel and
"The Woman at the Wall," Moscow: "The woman, an Is-
which deserves considerable raeli, had lost her husband, a
attention.
Soviet citizen, some years ago.
Rabbi Newman was inspired After discovering the address
to write this play when its of her late husband's brother,
dramatic possibilities occurred she obtained permission from
to him upon reading Cyrus H. the Soviet authorities to visit
Gordon's "Introduction to Old the Chief Rabbi in Israel and
the Chief Rabbi in Moscow. The
Testament Times."
ceremony took place in the
The dratna is based on
office of the Moscow Chief
Chapter 38 of Genesis. It
Rabbi who made all arrange-
deals with the ancient Levi-
ments for the ceremony. The
rate Law which "permitted
Beth Din. consisted of five
a father-in-law to procreate
rabbis.
In a statement concern-
a child by his daughter-in-
ing the ceremony, the office of
law so that the family line
the Israel Chief Rabbi ex-
might be preserved and
pressed the hope that this suc
continued."
"The Woman at the Wall" cessful cooperation between the
is the story of Judah, son of Israel and Moscow Chief Rab-
Jacob. who had relations with binates might be extended to
a woman whom he thought to the many instances of Agunot
be a harlot—her face was (an Agunah is a woman whose
covered and he could not see husband has been missing with
her—but she turned out to be no proof of his death), now
his daughter-in-law Tamar resident in Israel, whose hus-
whose two husbands, Judah's bands disappeared in Russia
sons, had died before she could during World War II."
Dr. Newman adds in his
conceive a son with either of
comments that "many women
them. She had tricked Judah
have been confronted by an
into the relationship and
authentic dilemma under
Judah, learning the truth,
Jewish
Law, but the story
accepted the consequence.
of Tamar is unique in Jewish
It is a strong play and is
history."
a significant commentary on
Of added interest is the
a Biblical incident.
announcement made by Rabbi
In an explanatory appendix
Newman that Marc Lavry,
to the drama, Dr. Newman
the eminent. Israeli composer,
says that the Levirate Law
is completing a new opera
upon which he based his play
based on "The Woman at the
had its foundation "in ancient
Well," to be known as
code boas of the Middle East,
"Tamar" or "Tamar and
long predating the codification
Judah." to be ready for
of Hebrew legislation."
presentation before the end
The chief names that appear
of 1958.
in Chapter 38 of Genesis are
The Newman drama indi-
used in the Newman drama,
in addition to several fictitional cates that there are many
ones. The play is modern in Biblical episodes that lend
every respect and Dr. Newman themselves to dramatization.
has, indeed shown talent in His "Woman at the Wall" is
dramatizing a Biblical incident a fine prelude to such play-
in this well-written story. writing efforts.
In his explanatory chapter
For the best Classified
at the end of his book, which
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#shing 6:1.-'•11tr-,:::-Newthatit4a3PV ,--qhe JewishNewi;,...Arx. .8,9x64.

On April 25, 1944, the Nazi
mass murderer, Adolf Eich-
mann, made a proposal to Joel
Brand: for 10,000 lorries he
would facilitate the rescue of
a million of the surviving
Jews in Europe. If the deal
could not go through, he was
prepared immediately to begin
a new mass deportation move-
ment of Hungarian and other
Jews to the crematorium in
Oswiecim and other gas cham-
bers.
Brand believed Eichmann
and proceeded to Constan-
tinople to make contact with
the Jewish Agency and with
Zionist leaders. He did not
intend for them to provide the
required trucks and other war
essentials, but wanted an ac-
ceptance of Eichmann's pro-
posal to be used as a basis for
negotiations for the rescue
work.
Complications set in. Brand
was compelled to leave Tur-
key, was held by the British
in sort of a "house arrest,"
finally got to Jerusalem, but
his appeals in support of the
Eichmann plan came to nought.
An embittered man, blaming
the Zionist leaders and the
Jewish Agency officials for a
lack of understanding of the
merits of the case, he wrote
an account of his experiences
in a book, "Desperate Mission:
Joel Brand's Story: as Told by
Alex Weissberg," now available
in an American edition pub-
lished by Criterion Books, Inc.
(257 4th, N.Y. 10). It was
previously published in Eng-
land under the title "Advocate
for the Dead."
•
It is a fantastic and at the
same time a horrifying story.
Brand refers to E i c h m a n
as "the mass-murderer," who
wanted to trade "money for
blood." But Brand was pre-
pared to go along with the
plan, to stall him if necessary,
to bargain, but not to let
loose. His trip to Constan-
tinople was arranged by the
Germans. They permitted him
to take along $2,000. But the
"advocate for the dead" met
with resistance.
Zionist leaders in Turkey
and in Palestine. according to
the story, stalled. He accuses
them of playing politics. He
implies that only Mosche Sher-
tok (now Sharret) gave ear to
his pleadings and went to Lon-
don several times to press for
consideration of the issue. He
says that Dr. Chaim Weiz-
mann met with him but never
again responded to his plead-
ings after the first meeting.
The accusations by Brand
and by his co-author. Alex
Weissberg, are terrifying. But
informed quarters continue to
question the justification of
any one having trusted the
word of Eichmann, the man
who engineered most of the
murders of the six million
Jews under Himmler.
a a a
It is now revealed that Win-
ston Churchill, Anthony Eden
and others were consulted on
the subject by Weizmann.
Shertok and other Jewish
leaders, but that the Allied
statesmen refused to negotiate
with murderers.
The charge is made that
Eichmann, one of the Nazi
murderers who has escaped
punishment by vanishing;
Himmler and other Nazi lead-
ers sought to mislead Jews
into negotiating on plans for
the rescue of their kinsmen
only as a scheme of splitting
the Allied ranks.
It is possible, of course, that
the complete story has not
been told, that much is yet
to be revealed in addition to

the Joel Brand story as it is
incorporated in his book "Des-
perate Mission."
a a a
Dr. R. Kastner, who became
a victim of a tragedy revolving
around the rescue proposals
in Hungary, figures frequently
in the Brand story. Kastner
is exonerated in this book.
Brand maintains that the nego-
tiations he and his group con-
ducted did help to save many
Jews. It is contended by Weiss-
berg in "Desperate Mission"
where reference is made to
Kastner's success in rescuing
only a Bergen-Belsen transport:
"About a quarter of the
Hungarian Jews survived the
war—a percentage greater than
that in any other country
under German control. This
achievement was due in no
small measure to the work of
the Budapest Waada. If Kast-
.

ner, as the leader of the
Waada after Brand's departure,
must be held responsible for
all mistakes and omissions,
then it is only right that he
should also be credited with
the success of this work. And
the charge that he collaborated
with the Germans solely to
insure the departure of the
Bergen-Belsen transport, and
that by saving a few hundred
he sacrificed hundreds of
thousand s, is a shameless
calumny."
Kastner is dead. Brand's
story is being challenged. The
complete details of the great
tragedy are yet to be revealed.

While we are among men
let us cultivate kindness; let us
not be to any man a cause
either of peril or of fear.—
Seneca.

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1 —THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, July 4, 1 951

`Money for Blood' Tragedy

