At the Moscow Exhibit
THE JEWISH NEWS
,
Incorporating the Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951
.
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, 1942 at Post Offices, Detroit, Mich. under act of Congress of March
b, 1871•
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Edit( r and Publisher
SIDNEY SHMARAK
Advertising Manager
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Circulation Manager
FRANK SIMONS
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, Sabbath Nahamu, the eleventh day of Ab, 5719, the following Scriptural
selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Vaethanan, Dent. 3:23-7:11. Prophetical portion, Is. 40:1-26.
Licht Benshen, Friday. Aug. 14, 1:16 p. m.
VOL. XXXV. No. 24
Page Four
August 14, 1959
A Tour to the Forgotten Gas Chambers
Are the crematories being forgotten
by the free peoples of the world who
should keep them in mind in order to
prevent their reconstruction by evil men?
Has the stench of the gas chambers
been suppressed with a false and mislead-
ing propaganda perfume?
The tender coddling of former Nazis
and neo-Nazis seems to give that deplor-
able impression. It is a matter that needs
examining and calls for a moral ac-
counting.
The manner in which the public is
being misled becomes apparent too fre-
quently in the "business dealings" with
Germany and in "diplomacy." There is
a tendency to forget even when there is
no forgiveness. And more often than not
there is even forgiveness.
An article in a recent issue of the
European New York Herald Tribune pro-
voked the following reply from Eric R.
Simha of Geneva:
I am not usually given to writing to mail-
bags, but your article describing the U. K.
travel agent who helps relatives of Nazis is
precisely the kind that makes my blood boil.
Since Mr. Proud is a travel agent, I strong-
ly recommend he organize a travel tour for
himself. He could easily arrange a flight to
Munich and from there take a bus to Dachau
concentration camp. What he will see there
might prove quite interesting. Or, maybe, he
could organize a tour to Krakow, Poland, and
from there take a little side-trip to Oswiecim
(Auschwitz) concentration camp. Only three
kilometers distant, he could visit Brzezinka
(Birkenau) and the 30 subsidiary camps which
are scattered throughout Upper Silesia. The
gas chambers and crematoria he will see there
might, but only might, make him change his
mind about: "There is a lot of exaggerated
talk about the concentration camps and the
gas chambers."
And before Mr. Proud settles down to
prepare another little gift package for Mrs.
Himmler or Mrs. Streicher, I strongly urge he
have a little talk with some of the widows
of those who, 15 years ago, on July 20, 1944,
unleashed a plot to kill Hitler with a bomb.
History may not forget Hitler, but it is
certain to forget Mr. Proud and his likes.
What about the thousands of widows
and orphans whose husbands and fathers
happened to be Jews, who had gone
through the horrors of the concentration
camps and now are trying to forget the
memories that are marked by horror?
Why overlook the terrible blots upon
European history which records the ex-
termination of millions of people?
A tourist who steps upon German soil
doesn't see the evidence of brutality. The
country has been rebuilt, and there are
no symbols left of the Hitler holocaust.
All the more reason why there should be
frequent reminders of them—why the
record of the years of horrors should not
be obliterated.
There is no greater damage to the
security of man than to forget to keep
in view the eras of tragedy and despair
which resulted from the inhumanity of
man to man. It is by keeping alive sad
memories that mankind has been able to
rise above cruelty and to conquer tyranny.
It is by keeping alive the memory of the
dark years of Nazism that we can prevent
its rebirth.
'Burning,' 'Screening' and Banning of Books
It is no wonder, of course, that this
Soviet Russia is not burning books
that are unacceptable under the Corn- was done. The USSR has long ago estab-
munist code. She is merely "screening" lished a policy of anti-Israelism, anti-
them and finally is banning them from Hebraism and anti-Jewishness. The am-
view in the Soviet Union. azing thing is that the screening and ban-
ning should have been applied to an
Even in the American National Ex- American exhibition. No such practice
hibition at Moscow, there was a "screen- could possibly have been restored to by
ing" process and more than 100 books our free Government to the Russian ex-
were removed from the exhibit's book hibition in New York.
show. •
The Russians did not burn our books;
It sounds fantastic, but even the 1959 they merely banned them. In the present
Almanac was among the books removed instance, as it applies to the idea of free
from the show.
dissemination of historical facts, the ac-
Students of world affairs are provided tion of the USSR deprives the Russian
with interesting material for an analysis people of true knowledge and is tant-
of the Soviet viewpoints in the selections amount to book-burning.
made by the USSR for the U. S. book
ban.
It is easily understandable why Rus-
sian censors should have banned books
Ohio has adopted what has been de-
on Israel. Thereby, the Soviet leaders
adhere to a policy of continuously ap- scribed as the "toughest" Fair Employ-
peasing the Arabs and of playing an anti- ment Practices law yet to be passed by
Israel role. The banning of Israel books
also eliminates the possibility of Russians any state.
learning the truth about Israel's marked
Its enforcement, however, appears to
progress.
be handicapped by "a limited budget."
But why did they remove Avram
That being the case, it becomes very
Yarmolinsky's "A Treasury of Great Rus- difficult
to think of the measure as the
sian Short Stories" from Pushkin and truly effective
weapon it was planned to
other books by Americans dealing with be against discrimination
due to religion,
Russian literary subjects?
race or country of origin.
"Israel in Its Glory" by Avraham
FEP laws will be effective not when
Harman and Yigael Yadin; "Great Ages
and Ideas of the Jewish People" by Leo they will require commissions to enforce
Schwarz; "The Politics of Israel" by them, but when the people will be fully
Marvin Bernstein; "The History of the educated to recognize the right of their
Jewish Khazars" by D. M. Dunlop—all fellow human beings to life, liberty and
are among the books with Jewish titles the pursuit of happiness—and therefore
that were removed from the display. also to employment.
'Tough' FEP Law
A Hebrew Poet's Soul-Searching:
Lisitzky's 'Cross-Currents'
The works of Hebrew writers are attracting ever-increasing
attention. Not only in their original, but in English translations
many important works now are available to the general public.
An eminent author's notable work, the impressive auto-
biographical book of Ephraim E. Lisitzky, "In the Grip of Cross-
Currents," is now available as a Bloch Publishing Co. product,
in a fine translation by Moshe Kohn and Jacob Sloan.
An introductory essay by Hillel Bavli, professor of Hebrew
literature at the Jewish Theological Seminary of America, trans-
lated from the Hebrew by Moshe Kohn from an extensive essay
in Hebrew, pays honor to the distinguished writer and thus
evaluates Ephraim Lisitzky:
"He occasionally utters brief, rhythmic sentences in a sad
melody like some old Talmudic chant, and continues to medi-
tate in silence. It is a silence palpable and many-faceted: there
is humility in it, submisSion, and resignation. Yet, how remark-
able: this taciturn, naive man is also a speaker when he so
desires, a popular orator who knows how to move an audience
with flaming, exuberant oratory and rich language. But, having
completed his oration and his fervor having subsided, he is
again reticent, listening and attending, a prince of silence."
These elements are in evidence in Lisitzky's recollections, in
his impressive book "In the Grip of Cross-Currents," in which he
describes most impressively his life's experiences, his activities
in Canada, his work abroad and in this country.
His recollections nass on to the reader his great Jewish
experiences, the life in Slutzk and the Jewish observances there
and the immigrant's struggles in America. Many communities
pass in review and there is a variety of Jewish devotion in the
various climes. The genius- of Lisitzky describes them with
considerable skill.
Lisitzky shares with his readers his experiences in Auburn,
N.Y., whose 15 families he served as part-time shohet and part-
time teacher. Some of the episodes described indicate the drastic
changes between life in the Old World and in this country and
the changing actions of differing generations. He recalls, as an
instance:
"In the old days the butcher used to cotton up to his
kosher customers. The Jewish women of Auburn were chronic
complainers, but he took their complaints—about the quality
of the meat and his high prices—in good spirit, replying mildly`
or with a joke. But now that he was a rich man, he began to
answer the women in kind. He went too far—his fellow Jews,
who still remembered him from the time when he was poor,
became annoyed at his nouveau-riche attitude. They thought
of forming a community council and putting him in his
place. And then an agitator arrived in Auburn and started
the wheels turning."
A feud began. Lisitzky became the target in a petty quarrel.
He lost his job, but he retained good friends.
Then followed other episodes in- his life. He moved to
Boston, later to Canada. His book has many fine descriptions
of life in Ahmic Harbor.
Lisitzky describes his credo. He explains in his closing
chapter:
"In choosing Hebrew teaching as my supreme life goal,
I decided to combine with it the writing of Hebrew poetry on
American soil.
"The first steps in my poetic career were hesitant and
exploratory, but in the end I hit upon its proper course.
"American Hebrew poetry may be compared to a training
branch of a creeping plant which, as it runs along the ground,
puts down its own roots. As a limb it remains attached to the
trunk, the trunk's roots supplying it with its main nourishment.
But at the same time it draws nourishment from its own roots
as well, blending both elements within it . . ."
Then he goes on to indicate that "Like Hebrew teaching,
Hebrew poetry in America, too, partakes of the nature of
pioneering." He reveals that "mine has been a superabundance
of sorrow" and he closes with the sad note: "I am a man that
hath seen pain and affliction, and his heart is broken."