Purely Commentary • • "Shai," "'Sunset' Cox," By Philip Noteworthy Books About Slomovitz Israel and Zionism Report Anti-Semitic Articles in Several Soviet Newspapers 'Direct JTA Teletype Wire Shai. Most of them were discovered on time and their To The Jewish News double-dealings were exposed. JERUSALEM—The Soviet Hundreds of thousands of people still are excited over the Palmach played an important role in the defense activities, press, particularly that of the revelation of the fighting spirit of the modern Jew who has defied persecutions and has won national independence in a and the timely heroism of its members rescued newcomers and Ukraine, continues to publish anti-Semitic articles and car- reborn -State of Israel—as depicted in the best seller "Exodus" protected the settlements. 's work among among the Arabs, its activities in establishing toons, according to reports re- . Sh by Leon Uris. the Tel Aviv Port at a time when Arabs were making it impos- ceived here. A single issue of Dnyesters-. There is an even more powerful story of Jewish heroism sible for Jews to land new settlers or to bring in shipments and the determination of. the. liberated Jew to win freedom, as of materials at the Jaffa port, and a score of other historic kaya Pravda recently contained three anti-Semitic articles. One, told in "SHAI — The Exploits of Hagana Intelligence"; a factual achievements are part of the Shai record. purportedly written "volun- account by Efraim Dekel, published by ThoMas Yoseloff (11 E. Delek's hook is a tribute not only to Shai and its ingenious tarily" by three persons iden- 36th, N. Y. 36). and courageous forces, but to the entire Jewish settlement tifying themselves as "Old Even those of us . who have watched the developments in whose cooperation made it possible for the liberation move- Jew" offered readers "dis- a redeemed Israel, who believed that we knew the details of ment to triumph. closures" on "the lies • and Hagana heroism and the manner in which a handful of brave Documentary evidence reproduced from originals in "Shai" falsehoods of the Jewish reli- men and women defied British obstructions and ,Arab intransi- prove the merits of the Shai case. gion" and on "dirty transac- gence, will sit in amazement over the courage that was shown Those who seek proof of heroism by Jews in establishing tions" allegedly conducted in by the Yishuv in Palestine as its leaders battled against injus- their national independence will find it, factually, in Delek's synagogues. tice and sought the paths to freedom not only for themselves The second article, headlined "Shai." It is a great and most revealing book. but for newcomers to Israel as well. "What Is Judaism," describes * the Jewish religion as a "re- That's the story as told by • the commander from 1929 to actionary movement linked with 1946 of Shai—the Hagana Information Service—the author of 'Sunset' Cox, Irrepressible Democrat, American imperialism and rul- Christian Precursor of Herzlian Zionism this great book. ing United States circles." The From time to time, we learn that there were great Christian Efraim Dekel, whose factual account of Shai — a name third item is a "feulleton" about humanitarians who, long before Theodor Herzl, in the darkest formed from the Hebrew words "Sherut Yediot", information a "Jewish mother's attempts to days of Jewish homelessness, propagated the idea of re-establish- or intelligence service—holds us spellbound, was compelled to cheat Soviet school authorities escape from the British, whci threatened his arrest, in 1946. He ing a national home for the Jewish people. Jean Henri Dunant, to gain advantages for her the founder of the Red Cross, was such a personality who believed named chief of the Jewish underground headquarters then was and as director of Bricha, the organization that was set up to I that Jews should be re-established as a national entity. George daughter." The same issue carries car- assist Jews who were fleeing from Eastern Europe. He returned Eliot was another who believed in such redemption, and she to Israel in 1948 and joined the arms _purchasing section of advdcated it in her "George Eliot" where she expressed, in- toons of Jewish figures appar- ently engaged in illegal trading. his country's Ministry of Defense during the War of Indepen- directly, her wish to see the Jews again as a nation. A recent issue of Kiyeskaya Such a personality was a Democratic member of Congress, dence. Since 1952 he has been Director-General of the Port of Pravda carries an article pur- • Samuel Sullivan Cox, who was known as "Sunset" Cox. His portedly signed by two Jews Haifa. He is the author of four books published in ,Hebrew: exciting story is told in a splendidly written biography, " 'Sunset' describing black market activi- In "Shai," which for the first time reveals the details of ' Cox: Irrepressible Democrat," written by Prof. David Lindsey, ties allegedly conducted in the Hagana intelligence, Dekel tells how his forces prOtected the Jewish population by learning in advance the plans of the now of Los Angeles State College, and published by Wayne State synagogues. University Press, Detroit. An issue of the Znamya Com- British to search Jewish settlements - for arms, how his organi- "Sunset" Cox was born in Zanesville, 0., in 1824, and at the munists contains an article giv- mtion - detected Arab schemes to destroy the -Jewish community age of 33 was elected to Congress in 1857, serving as a Represen- ing contents of letters allegedly in Palestine, the manner in which the Jewish arms caches were guarded against discovery by the British who were bent upon tative from Columbus, 0., until 1865, when he was forced out of received from Israel complain- keeping the Jews in Palestine without defense in the struggle his office by a hostile Republican state legislature. He moved to ing of "horrible conditions" in New York, was again elected to Congress in 1868_ and served, Israel. f or* freedom and in defense against the Arabs. . every Jewish settlement," Dekel relates, "small or . large, there with two brief interruptions, until 1889. He was a dynamic, colorful and conscientious member of Jewish Scientist Was . a `silk' (Hagana slang for a hidden arms cache, from the Hebrew word 'to dispose of something'). That such caches existed the U. S. House of Representatives, and in the the course of his was generally known, but their location was kept a close secret. The long career as a legislator propagated many measures of social Shares Nobel Prize • Mandatory government's detective and intelligence service (the C.-1. D. or Criminal Investigation Department) • tried its hardest to reform. in Medicine for '59 loeate these caches, using: every means, fair and foul, in the effort. advance inforthation of these activ- His interest in Jews and the Jewish question was unique. SAN FRANCISCO, (JTA) — Part of .Shai's job was to - Obtain being- carried out. Both sides engaged in ities- add • to- prevent - their - He led in the protests against Jewish persecutions in Russia, Dr. Arthur Kornberg, 41-year- a deadly game of. hide-and-seek, which to the onlooker was like an and advocated relief for the sufferers in pogroms, and in the old Brooklyn-born scientist, and absorbing DIaY.."T" - course of his fervent appeals in defense of Jewish rights he his wife, the former Sylvy R. _The game Was so' absorbing that even _ -now:r-inits re telling, urged the establishment of a Jewish national homeland. Prof. Levy, continue to receive con- of C ourits ac - gratulations from all parts of th-e. Shai story reads like a romance. Tiae numerous - that were Lindsey writes: PalestinianJewry, the sacrifices d6airig'plots'agaitit a the world in connection with the total - "Reports of Russian persecutions of Jews elicited from Cox a Made - to _assure -.the security' of the JeWish settlements, his being named to share - the resolution calling for treaty negotiations with the Russian govern- cooperation of the Jewish settlers, combine to form a great drama. r e c s oi sn w on niN, rae, in 1 Russia 1959 Nobel Prize for Medicine m e, n in noersdse r Ttioi e p rHo eucste J ea d w -oi s”ht-America this a n . House Shai's dedicated organization was able not only to protect Cox. asking the State Department for the correspondence concerning these negotiations. delivered a short speech on the subject. He de- the arms held by Jews but also to acauire stocks that were scribed the anti-Semitic atrocities in Russia and expressed his hope about to be shipped out of Palestine or to be destroyed by the for the eventual establishment of a Jewish national homeland. As . . when they were readying to leave the country. It was for Russia, he declared: 'We have become used to persecutions in BritiSh that country. It is part of its barbarism.' and, therefore. 'it becomes .part of "liberation"—some called it theft—but the Israelis felt us especially' to offer 'asylum to these stricken people.' Lower East it was their right to acquire these munitions, as it was a Side Jews in New York applauded." Matter or life or death for them. Besides, the feeling persisted Prof. Lindsey relates that two years later the problem of that the arms belonged to them, since the British were over- the Jews: in Russia again claimed much of "Sunset" Cox's atten- -taxing them while refusing to protect them against Arab attacks. tion. He traveled through Russia and therefore spoke with some Shai also supervised and protected underground Hagana arms fac- authority about the land of the czars. Prof. Lindsey points out: tories known as "Ta'as," from the initial letters of "Ta'asiya Tsva-ith," military industry. The numerous incidents of the manner "Protesting.Russian mistreatment of Jews as 'part of my duty as in which these factories were kept a complete secret from the a representative of a large Hebrew element,' Cox described in ..„._ Mandatory forces are additional indications of wise as well as brave detail the pogroms, 'the horrors of 1881,' some of which he had •.„ operations by a small force that knew that in its hands was placed the protection of Jewish lives and the security of the settlements observed first hand during his recent trip abroad. He urged that were created by Jews during decades of toil by a people's the President to protest firmly to the Russian government and sweat and blood. to lend army tents for the care of Jews expelled from Russia." Many names of noted Israelis who made sacrifices in the An interesting paragraph in Prof. Lindsey's book throws :course of these liahu operations are who mentioned by the Delek. Among them additional light on Congressman Cox's tour of Russia. We read. Golomb, directed Hagana activities; DR. ARTHUR KORNBERG are those "As he moved toward Odessa, he admitted 'a desire of Behor Shitreet, then a senior Jewish police officer in Jerusalem, with Dr. Severn Ochoa, of the who became the Minister of Police in the Israel government, leaving this realm.' Not, he explained, because of any impolite- ness or unkindness but because of a 'feeling of insecurity,' New York University College and many others. Many aliases are used in describing the Shai which arose from the fact that he was known to have denounced of Medicine. leaders. in Congress the Russian persecution of the Jews. Reaching The prize, amounting to more Delek provides a record of assistance given the Shai and Odessa, he recalled that, 20 years earlier, he had been offered than $42,000, was awarded to Israel's defense forces by Jewish policemen and Jews who served them for their discovery of the opportunity of going there to manage a grain elevator for in the Mandatory administration. The warnings received in ad- his father-in-law, but he had turned it down: 'What a business- enzymes for artificially pro- vance from these men often saved entire communities and Shai's man Odessa lost, when I chose to be "elevated" otherwise, and ducing some of the key sub- programs of activities. Thus, since the British failed to provide how little, alas, has politics gained.' With a feeling of relief stances of life. The Kornbergs the security that was needed by the Jewish population, some have been at Stanford Uni- the Coxes sailed out of Odessa harbor on a Russian ship bound of their officials, many of them Christians, came forth with for Constantinople." • versity, Palo Alto, Calif., only since last July, when Dr. Korn- - help — on time to avoid calamities. " 'Sunset' Cox: Irrepressible Democrat" is a delightful and The work of Histadrut in providing assistance to Shai, in most informative book. It is a splendid description of the Con- berg became a professor there, the manufacture of munitions and in a multiple of ways gressman about whom Lincoln said that in reading Cox's speeches and head of the department of biochemistry. in which help was given, is highly commended. he "sought it for the humor said to be in it; but while it meets Palmach and other groups came to the assistance of Shai in my expectation in that respect, it has a far higher merit." Jewish Prof. Kraeling to Give making it possible for so-called "illegal" immigrants to come readers will find in this biography the interesting information to Palestine. "In view of the open war which -was waged by that Cox was a precursor of modern Zionism, that he was a fore- Field Lecture on Nov. 5 Prof. Carl H. Kr a e l i n g, the government, the C: I. D., and the police against the Hagana runner of Herzl and a harbinger of Zionism before the advent authority on Hellenistic archae- and the Jewish population, it became essential to increase our of the political movement. C ology, will be the next speaker intelligence activities and establish . new sources of information in the Walter and Lea Field within the government departments," Delek writes. Thus, Arabs Six Other WSU Books and Christians as well as Jews became sources of information Wayne State University Press also published six other new Lecture Series, at Wayne State in the tremendous defense activities. volumes: "A History of the Newspapers of Ann Arbor, 1829-1920," University, Thursday, Nov. 5, on the subject, "Temple, Delek exposes the anti-Semitic activities that were con- Louis W. Doll; "A City Finds Itself: The Philadelphia Home Rule Church and Synagogue at Dura- - ducted in Palestine by General Barker. Shai exposed his vile Charter Movement," by Joseph D. Cruinlish; "The Principles and Euroos." progrm, and the scandal that developed, as a result of interna- Practice of Criticism: Hamlet, The Merry Wives, Othello," by His lecture, to be given at tional notoriety given to the British general's campaign of hate, Allan Gilbert; "Living Consciously: The Science of Self," by the Community Arts Audi- John M. Dorsey and Walter H. Seegers; "Sociological Theory and hack-fired and destroyed Barker'.s demoniacal plans to destroy torium, Ferry and Second, will Mental Disorder," by Prof. H. Warren Dunham; "From the the Yishuv. Cannon's Mouth,"—the Civil War letters of Gen. Alpheus S. be illustrated. The public is invited. • In Delek'S story there are accounts of duplicity .on the Williams, edited with an introduction by Milo M. Quaife. part of some of the informers who worked as agents for 1 SHAI` — - Record of Israelis' Heroism