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Purely Commentary
By PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Roman Jewry's 'Return' to Traditional Practices
ROME, Italy—An interesting politico-sociological development
has resulted here from the tragedy that was imposed upon Jewry
by Nazi-Fascist regimes.
Prior to the promulgation of the racial laws by Benito Musso-
lini, in 1938, more than half the Jewish marriages were with
Christians. There still are intermarriages today, but the number
has been cut most drastically.
Before the NaZi influence upon Italy and the emergence of
the cruelties. of Fascism, there was a• marked indifference to Jewish
needs and practices. Today, the synagogues are better attended and
there is an upsurge of Jewish devoutness.
"The turn is to the right," Mrs. Tullia Zevi, our JTA Rome
correspondent, explained.
.
The Bnei Akiba, the orthodox youth organization, has gained
a strong hold on the children. Youngsters who belong to this group
now ask their .parents for kosher fOod.
There is a marked aversion to mixed marriages and there is
deep concern lest the bigots raise their ugly heads again. There
is genuine cause for such concern because the reactionary elements
have gained political strength. It is as a reaction against such gains
that the communists, too, have gained ground. The latter drew 24
per cent of the vote in the last election.
Jewish leaders here - now prediet another wave of anti-Semitism
just prior to the Adolf Eichmann trial in Jerusalem. Some of them
believe that the swastika smearing of a year agO was child's play
compared with what anti-Semites contemplate as their reaction
against the capture of the arch-Nazi criminal and his trial - by Jews.
Of course, there are the friendliest relations between Jews and
Christians, yet there is a feeling that anti-Semitism is not altogether
dead, that there was an Italian group of bigots that betrayed Jews
to the Nazis.
One prominent Italian leader said: "Jews in Italy look like
their Italian fellow countrymen. _They live alike, there is hardly a
difference between them. Yet, when the Nazis came to round up
2,000 Jews for the concentration camps a*l - treOatoria'tbey- located
them. Someone showed them the way to 'die- Jelis!”
From - the same source the feeling is acquired that the Vatican
was always late in coming to the rescue of Jews, that the repudia-
tion of the racial laws of 1938 did not come from the late Pope Pius
until several years later.
No one here is forgetting the massacre of 332 Italians — '73
of them Jews — by the Nazis, in retaliation for the blowing up of
a truck with 32 SS men by the partisans. The incident has come
down in history as that of the common burial of the 332 — Jews
and Christians in one common burial ground — in the Cave at
Fosse, Ardeadine. It is the tragic story of the Cave.
The sad experiences of the last . 20 years have given a new
lease of life to the Roman Jewish comm
unity. Services at the main
synagogue on Lungotevere Cenci are well attended. There were
impressive special Hanukah services. .Children and their, parents
alike sing the hymns with warmth. 'Anyo
ne who ever had the inten-
tion of destroying .Jewry will be disillusioned when he. witnesses
the resurgence of Jewish life in This Old . City in which .developed
the struggle between Rome and Jerusalem.
A brief comment about our Rome correspondent, Mrs. Tullia
Zevi. She is a Radcliffe graduate who met her husband while he
was a Harvard student. A world famous architect, he now is pro-
fessor of architecture and history of architecture at the university
here. They were married in the U.S., then returned to Italy where
two children were born. Mrs. Zevi knows nine languages, speaks
four fluently. She writes for Italian newspapers and is also the
correspondent for Manly in Israel. Prof. Zevi is the author of
several books. His "Architecture in Space" was published in an
English edition by Horizon in New .York. The preface to the
Hebrew edition was written by Prof. Martin Buber.
* .* *
Language in Israel; Teefty feefty` Proposition
TEL AVIV, Israel—This "Old-New Land," as Dr. Theodor
Herzl, the founder of the modern political Zionist movement. re-
ferred to Palestine when he first formulated a program for Jewish
statehood, has many problems. Not least among them is the language
problem.
This is the Babel of Languages. The settlers have come from
all parts of the globe. When one speaks of the seventy languages
heard in Israel, he underestimates. Some linguists now believe that
more than ninety tongues are spoken here. It has recently been
reported that among the dialects heard here is Tadjiki: it was spoken
by a barber in Jerusalem who revealed it to be a Central Asian
language.
For some time after the British had left Israel, there, was a
struggle for supremacy between French-and English. Hebrew has
definitely been established as the language of the land, and while
the thousands of newcomers continue to struggle to master it, there
is no longer any doubt that the language of the Bible has become
the spoken language of the land. Even in the days of Jesus, it was
Aramaic that was _the medium of expression for the masses. Hebrew
was the language of the scholars. Now, however, Hebrew is the
language . of the street—of the school, the market place;-:the
theater, as well as the house of worship.
French competed with English for secondary position, and for
a time it appeared that it might retain that position, due primarily
to the fact that so many immigrants had come from Algeria and
Morocco and other French-speakina. areas. But English has finally
conquered and has retained its place as the second language of
Israel. The fact that tens of thousands of Americans, as well as
many thousands of English and South African residents annually
tour Israel, has contributed towards the triumph of English. Now
English is taught in all Israeli schools starting with the sixth grade.
It is of more than passing interest that many English words
have been incorporated into Hebrew. One of the truly striking
acquisitions into Hebrew is the term frohnt-beck-ex. It began by
referring to the rear axle of a car as back-axle or beck-ex; then
beck-ex became any axle, finally evolving the term frohnt-beck-ex.
Another Hebraized Anglicism is kvahker which refers to any
cooked cereal. The English dumbbell has been mutilated into tembel
as a Hebrew term for stupid. Feefty-feefty has become a Hebrew
term for half-and-half. The Israelis have adopted the term spid for
speed, and trahfic is a name used for traffic officer. Many other
English words have similarly been adopted for Hebrew usage.
-
Israel to Pay for Eichmann's Defense;
Nazi Disputes 6 Million Jews Were Killed
JERUSALEM, (JTA) — The
Israel Cabinet is expected to
approve at its next meeting a
recommendation to provide $20,-
000 for fees and costs requested
by Dr. Robert Servatius for deL
fending Adolf Eichmann, the
Nazi colonel who- directed ..the
extermination:. of the" .00000
European Jews.
Eichmann's trial is scheduled
to begin March 6.
The recommendation w a s
made by a special ministerial
committee which included Jus-
tice Minister Pinhas Rosen and
Mrs. Golda Meir, Israel's for-
eign minister. The decision to
pay the costs and fees of the
German attorney was based on
the fact that a rejection of Dr.
Servatius' request would have
resulted in his withdrawal from
the case, because there is no
other source of funds to pay
him.
It was noted that the re-
quest to the Israel Govern-
ment to pay the fees and costs
was made by Dr. Servatius on
the grounds that Eichmann
had signed a statement agree-
ing to stand trial in Israel
if he was provided an ade-
quate defense. This was re-
garded as additional proof
that Eichmann submitted
himself to Israeli jurisdiction
after his seizure in Buenos
Aires last spring.
At a press conference, Serva-
tius said that Eichmann would
plead "not guilty" to the
charges of being responsible
for the mass murders of Euro-
pean Jews. The attorney said
that Eichmann intended "to ad-
mit the fact" but that he would
not admit responsibility.
The lawyer said Eichmann's
defense will be based on the
contention that he acted under
orders. The press conference
followed • Servatius' . third meet-
ing. with .Eichrhann in the Nazi's
prison cell.
Servatius said that, unlike
other Nazis, Eichmann was
not trying to hide the fact
that he was one. Eichmann
is "convinced," the lawyer
stated, that he executed or-
ders handed down by his Nazi
superiors, and that "he did
Kennedy Names
Johnson to Head
Anti-Bias Group
what he ought to have done."
Asked whether Eichmann
shows any regret for his mass
murder activities, Servatius re-
plied: "He considers the word
`regret' as childish regarding
what he has done. You cannot
40 such things and merely say
A VM sorry'."
Servatius expects to see the
prisoner again before return-
ing to Germany. According to
the attorney, Eichmann has
spent his time writing and read-
ing his memoirs. So far, Eich-
mann has written 4,000 pages
of his life story, signing each
page, Servatius said.
According to the attorney,
Eichmann denies that the
number of Jews killed in the
Nazi extermination program
reached the figure of 6,000,-
000. "The number is much
smaller," Eichmann was re-
ported by the attorney to have
insisted, and he said docu-
ments will prove the real-
number.
Servatius said that Eichmann
saw a summary of the articles
recently printed by Life maga-
zine, which were written by one
Willem Sassen, a - friend of
Eichmann's in Argentina. (The
Jewish Telegraphic Agency dis-
closed recently that Sassen is
not German but Dutch, was
tried in absentia for his war
crimes in both Holland and Bel-
gium, and was sentenced to
death by a Belgian military
court.)
Eichmann told Servatius' he
had told his story to Sassen in
Buenos Aires in 1955 "while
we were drinking wine,". but
had not signed the final pages
of the manuscript which • was
to have become a book of his
memoirs. ,
The Nazi admitted, the at-
torney said, that he was
present when a Jewish child
was murdered by the Nazis
and when Jews were taken
to the gas chambers. But he
insists that some of the opin-
ions in the memoirs are Sas-
sen's, and not his.
Eichmann denies, Servatius
said, that, as quoted by Sassen,
he had said he would jump
into his grave happily "know-
ing six million Jews had pre-
ceded me." Eichmann explains
he said when Germany lost the
war he felt that at least six
million of Germany's enemies
had been killed too.
V.100. .1111.141•110.0 MIND. 01110.0 41•01111111.04111 ■ 04 ■ 41 ■ ,3411,..111 ■ 0
■ (1 •11.111141
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Boris Smolar's
:Between You
... and - Me'
(Copyright, 1960,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency,
Inc.)
Washington Uproar
It seems that the boys in the. State Department have gone a
little overboard in stirring up panic over Israel's second .nuclear
reactor . . . The scope of the Washington uproar baffled many
in this country when it turned out that the reactor will not be
ready before three or even four years . . By :that time there
will either be international control of nuclear weapons, -or
God help all of us . . . And Israel made it clear a long time
ago that she was willing to establish mutual control Of . arena=
ments With the Arab countries, if they would Only be - agieeabIe
to such an arrangement . . . The dramatization which the boys
from the State Department have given to Israel's second, nuclear
t the
reactor was especially out of proportion considering qba
British Government indicated that such fuss. was not justified
. . . Everybody knows that the world cannot stand still for three
or four years without acting to prevent the use of atomic weapons,
since it is clear that Communist China will soon reach the
capacity of producing the atom bomb . . And a Communist
China with an atom bomb would be as dangerous to Moscow
as to the democratic world . . . On the other hand, if Israel
should succeed—with the aid of France—in bringing its second
nuclear reactor to a point of production, it would be the kind
of production from which industry and agriculture - in the arid
Negev would benefit most . . . And the fact that Israel needs
atomic energy to develop its industry and agriculture has long
been recognized even by the United States . . . Otherwise, the
U.S. would not have given to Israel the first nuclear reactor
which is open to - everybody visiting Israel, as the second reactor
will be when it is completed . . .
Committee on * *
PALM BEACH, Fla., (JTA)-
President-elect John F. Kennedy
announced here that he has ap-
pointed the next Vice President,
Senator Lyndon B. Johnson, as
chairman of the
Governmental Contracts.
Problems and Pressures
Jewish student enrollment in American colleges and uni-
Kennedy said he has given
Johnson a directive to end versities has greatly increased this year . . . At some universities
racial, religious and other dis- the increase is termed "phenomenal," exceeding 50 percent as
crimination in employment by all compared with last year's total number of Jewish students . . .
contractors who provide prod- The New York. State Teachers College. which had just a hand-
ucts and services to the Federal ful of Jewish students a few years ago, today has 498 Jewish
Government. The Committee on youngsters . . . The tiny Alfred University, tucked away a
Governmental Contracts, with the hundred miles from nowhere in the western part of New York
same aims, was established by State, today has 350 Jewish students out of a total of less than
President Eisenhower in 1953. 1,000 youngsters attending this institution in a community
Vice President Richard M. Nixon of about 1,500 inhabitants . . . The number of Jewish freshmen
has been chairman of the corn- at Queens College increased this year from 600 to 1,000 . . .
mittee in the outgoing administra- This story, says a report of Hillel Foundations to the Bnai Brith
tion. Board of Governors, can be duplicated almost everywhere' . .
The Committee is authorized to Naturally, this growth in number of Jewish students puts pres-
make - recommendations for end- sures for expanded services by the Hillel Foundations -. . . At a
Mg discriminatory practices by budget of about $1,800,000 Hillel maintains this year 219 Foun-
contractors selling to or serving. dations and Counsellorships and sponsor chairs of. Judaic Studies
the - Government, to receive coin- at four universities . . . Hillel owns 51 buildings, two of which
plaints about such discrimination, —at the University of Buffalo and at Temple University in .
to further educational programs Philadelphia—were dedicated only last year . . In colleges
toward ending such discrimina- where Hillel does not function Jewish students frequently
tion,:and to. maintain liaison with encounter serious problems . . . A case in point is Mount Holy-
governmental and non-govern- hoke College in Massachusetts attended by 150 Jewish girls . .
mental bodies to assist in elim- Since Hillel does not serve there, the college compels the Jewish
Mating the basic causes of dis- students to attend the weekly Protestant chapel services . .
crimination in employment. The reason for this regulation, as stated by the college presi-
dent, is that rabbis appear as guest speakers at these college-
sponsored services once or twice a year . . . If rabbis find it
Israel to Get
possible to preach in the chapel services, Jewish students should
Freighter
certainly have no objection to attending them, the college ad-
HAMBURG, (JTA) — One of ministration argues . . . Faced with new demands for the
the largest freighters built for extension of its program to more colleges, Hillel is not in a
Israel under the West German position to comply with these requests because of the relatively
reparations agreement was small size of its national staff and the inadequacy of its financial
launched here. The 22,000-ton resources . . . The Bnai Brith Hillel Commission is, therefore,
vessel was named the "Bin Gedi." , now studying the problem to find a solution.