c 5; 100 Witnesses to Testify Against I Nazi Murderer Karl Chmielewski (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) BONN—More than 100 wit- nesses from Austria and Poland were expected Tuesday to be called during the trial of Karl Chmielewski, a former SS cap- tain accused of causing the death of 297 inmates of the Mauth- ausen concentration camp, which opened in the Ansbach Assisses Monday. Chmielewski was accused by the prosecution of inventing a number of means of quick dis- patch of inmates, including the "death baths" in which prisoners were stripped in midwinter in the outdoors and hosed down with icy water until they col- lapsed and died. If the trial lasts through April, as is expected, it will be one of the biggest of its kind yet held in West Ger- many. Chmielewski, who was found in 1958 hiding under an as- sumed name near Ansbach, where he had earned his living since the end of World War II as a rabbit breeder, denied re- sponsibility during preliminary investigations for the killings in Gusen, a IVIauthausen sub-camp. Kennedy Asks Report on Arabs WASHINGTON, (JTA) — President Kennedy indicated in- terest in the Arab refugee situa- tion and asked the Right Rev. Francis B. Sayre, dean of the Washington Cathedral, who re- turned recently from the Near EaSt, to send the White House a written report. . Rev. Sayre called at the White' House, at Mr. Kennedy's invita- tion, • to report on an "explora- tory trip" to the Near East spe- cifically to survey the Arab refugee issue. A leader of a group of clergymen and others concerned about the' fate - of the Arabs who once lived in Pales- tine, Rev. Sayre said he could not divulge exactly what Mr. Kennedy said, but made known that the President wanted a written report to augment their discussion. Seeking to evaluate chances for a solution of the Arab refu- gee issue, Rev. Sayre visited the United Arab Republic, Jordan, Lebanon, and Israel. He com- mented that sometimes he found the situation rather discourag- ing and thought "the human problem" had become enmeshed in "politics and economics." He indicated that it might have been his special role to attempt to learn what was behind the im- passe on Arab refugees. DOM According to the prosecution, the number of deaths at Gusen during Chmielewski's administra- tion rose from 300 a month to 2,000 through application of the death bath and other methods devised by the former SS cap- tain. According to evidence from camp records now held bY the prosecution, a total of 10,000 victims perished between 1940 and 1942 while Chmielewski was at the camp. Walter Junge, one of his as- sistants and working overseers, also was awaiting trial on simi- lar charges. Chmielewski, now 56, joined Himmler's general staff near the end of the war after service at the Orieanienburg and Mauth- ausen death camps. Austria Defends Actions on Nazis VIENNA, (JTA) — The Aus- trian government declared, in reply to a charge from the Vienna Jewish community that scores of Austrian Nazi . war criminals were free in Austria, that legal action had been taken on every known or reported case of war crimes. The charge had been made at a press conference at which a Jewish community spokesman asserted that Austrian authori- ties had received the names of 40 to 50 such criminals, all of whom were guilty of multiple murde - s. One of the names was that of Franz :purer, who was captured by the British Army, turned over to the Russians, and sentenced to 25 years on charges of responsibility for the slaying of 80,000 Jews in Vilna. Yeshiva University Seeks Oldest Student The response to Yeshiva Uni- versity's public appeal for in- formation leading to discovery of the institution's oldest living alumnus has been quick and varied. The university, born as Yeshiva Eitz Chaim in 1886 and planning its 75th anniversary celebration for 1961-62, had Started with names of three early students. It now has six. Shortly after the appeal was sounded, Solomon Green sug- gested it might be his brother, H. L. Green, 77, of Los Gatos, Calif. Julius Yavarskovsky volun- teered his father, Joseph, - 75, of New York City. Mason Padgug, 71. of New York City, called to say, "it might be me." All at- tended Yeshiva Eitz Chaim be- fore the turn of the century. BY HENRY LEONARD "And now that our Shabbas services are over, I should like to present and thank the members of our temple choir . . . Mr. Haggarty, Miss Johnson, Mrs. O'Conner and Mrs. Whitney." Copr. 1959, Leonard TritikIn Capital to lase Reform Center Ben-Gurion Resigns from Literary Body in Dispute Over Lavon Issue The establishment of a social action center in the nation's capital to implement the ethical principles of Reform Judaism has been announced by the Union of American Hebrew Congregations. Judge Emil N. Baar, of New York, chairman oi the UAHC's Board of Trustees, .stated that the religious body this fall will open the Emily R. and • Kivie Kaplan Center for Religious Action, a three-story building just purchased at 2027 Massa- chusetts Avenue in Washing- ton, D. C. The building will house the first social action center 'in that city established under the au- spices of any branch of Juda- ism. The center will serve as an arm of the Commision on Social Action which is the joint body of the UAHC and the Central Conference of Ameri- can Rabbis and affiliated re- form bodies. Opposition to the planned center was voiced in a state- ment by Dr. Norman Gersten- feld, reform rabbi of the Wash- ington Hebrew Congregation, who declared: "We don't want anything that speaks for Juda- ism. Let the pulpit speak for itself and the . people for them- selves." `Judge Baar observed that the center was being opened as the result of an overwhelming vote of reform Jewish leaders at the 1959 biennial assembly of the TJAHC. The organization also noted that many Christian groups had offices in Washing- ton. D.C. and that every effort would be made to cooperate with these bodies, as well as with other Jewish agencies. Commenting on the establiSh- ment of the center, Rabbi Ber- nard Bamberger, President of the Central Conference of American Rabbis, _hailed it as a means for advancing "the cause of righteousness in pub- lic affairs." The new center was expected to express the inter- est of the Social Action Corn- mission in such issues as world peace, the ending of various forms of discrimination, civil liberties, and interfaith rela- tions. JERUSALEM, (JTA) — David warning that the methods of Ben- Ben-Gurion has withdrawn his Gtirion's supporters in the fight membership from a committee to against Lavon, the Histadrut sec- translate world classics into He- retary-general, constituted a clan- brew as a by-product of his battle ger to Israel's democracy. Bergman said he hoped that against Pinhas Lavon. Professor Hugo Bergman, chair- the resignation was not final be- man of the committee, said that cause he felt there was no con- the reason for the withdrawal ap- nection between membership on peared to be the attitude of Pro- the committee and political af- fessor Martin Buber, a former fairs. Buber also indicated he president of the committee, in could see no such relationship and pointed out that the commit- the dispute. Buber was one of the signa- tee was made up of individuals - tories of a manifesto signed by i holding diverse views on the a group of Israel intellectuals t Lavon affair. Greet Meyerhoff's Selection as UJA's National Chairman Responding to the news that Joseph Meyerhoff, president of the Associated Jewish Charities of Baltimore, was named gen- eral chairman of the United Jewish Appeal, leading figures in Israel's government and in the Jewish Agency cabled warm- est greetings to the UJA's new top officer- Meyerhoff was unanimously elected to UJA'S top national post at the 1961 national inaug- ural conference in Miami Beach on Feb. 5. He succeeded Philip M. Klutznick, of Park Forest, Ill., who resigned the UJA office in order to accept the appointment by President Ken- nedy as a key member of the U.S. Mission to the United Na- tions. Among scores of messages from Israel received at UJA national headquarters in New York were cables from Levi Eshkol, Israel'S Minister of Finance, and from Moshe Shar- rett, former Prime Minister who is a leading member of the Jewish Agency Executive in Jerusalem. Both Israeli lead- ers expressed confidence that Meyerhoff and the entire UJA would press forward with the humanitarian program of aiding 320,000 of Israel's still unab- sorbed immigrants to become self-sustaining, creative citizens in the land in which they found haven. Sharett on Aliyah: Taboo in USSR, Morocco; Encouraged Elsewhere (Direct JTA Teletype Wire" to The Jewish News) - JERUSALEM — The existence of anti-Semitism in the Soviet Union, with official acquiescence, was reiterated Monday by Moshe Sharett, former Prime Minister and now a member of the Jewish Agency Executive. Speaking at a radio press con: ference, Sharett cited "anti- Semitic articles in the Soviet press which are official plat- forms." Sharett, replying to questions on Aliyah, said there were coun- tries on two continents where the masses of Jews wanted to leave but were forbidden by authorities to do so. This was understood to be a reference to the Soviet Union and Morocco. He said that on two other con- tinents Jews were considering Aliyah not because of persecution or the threat persecution but because of existing or incipient social changes in those countries, presumably a reference to South Africa and some Latin American nations. He reported that an emissary had just been despatched from American Firm Gets Prospecting Rights for Phosphate in Israel (Direct JTA Teletype Wire to The Jewish News) - JERUSALEM — The Alumina Corporation, an American firm, Was disclosed Wednesday to be the first foreign company to ob- tain prospecting rights in Israel for a resource other than oil. The Israel government ap- proved a contract signed several months ago in the United States by Dr. Menahem Bader, director general of the Israel Develop- ment Ministry, with the corpora- tion for prospecting phosphate deposits in the Negev. The corporation is setting up a subsidiary to be called the Israel American Phosphates Co. to exploit the prospecting rights obtained by the parent firm in three large Negev areas. The corporation plans to invest 500,- 000 pounds ($280,000) in the project. If workable deposits are found, the corporation will establish a refining plant with an annual capacity of 500,000 tons. The government has guaranteed that royalties paid by the American firm will not exceed those paid by the Israel National Phosphates Co., and in any case the royalties will not exceed more than seven and one-hall per cent. `Christian Century' Asks _UN Probe Plight of Jews in Morocco Israel to the United States carry- ing a list of 500 jobs open for experts and technicians. He quipped that "until now we sought jobs for immigrants. Now we have begun to seek immi- grants for jobs." In an evaluation of the 25th World -Zionist Congress, he said there had been. a narrowing of positions on the question of Aliyah. One side, he said, gave up the extremist thesis that all Zionists must come to Israel, a comment referring to Prime Minister Ben-Gurion. On the other hand, he said representa- tives from Western countries in the Zionist movement did not disassociate themselves com- pletely from the demand . for Aliyah from their countries. Toby Robins to Have Stratford Play Role STRATFORD, Ontario—Toby Robins, one of Canada's most popular television personalities and stage actresses, has been signed for the role of Rosaline in Michael Langham's produc- tion of "Love's Labour's Lost." The c o e d y, one of three Shakespearean plays to be pre- sented at the 1961 Stratford Festival, will have its first per- formance on June 21 and for the balance of the summer will be seen in repertory with "Coriolanus" and "Henry VIII." Later in the season, this trio of plays will be joined by Donald Lamont Jack's new Canadian comedy, "The Canvas Barricade," first contemporary play to be presented on the Festival theater stage. This will be Miss Robins" second appearance at the Strat- ford Festival. In 1954, she was seen as Mariana in "Measure for Measure." That, however, was during the days of the tent theater. This will be her first performance on the stage of the permanent theater, except for a one-evening appearance last year as star of the revue, "Spring Thaw." Known from coast to coast as the pretty and vivacious per- manent panelist of the CBC's popular quiz show, "Front Page Challenge," Miss Robins has an equally-envied reputation as an actress. Her record on the stage is just as impressive. She has been seen as the addled heroine of "Visit to a Small Planet" and as the jaded neurotic in "Two For the Seesaw," opposite George McCowan, at Toronto's Crest theater. She has also seen duty in "School For Scandal," "Dream Girl" and "The Rose Tattoo." Once she "flew" as Peter Pan. Married to William Freeman, Toronto stage producer and motion picture exhibitor, Toby Robins is the Mother of two children, who will be 'spending the summer in Stratford with her. WASHINGTON, (JTA) — The magazine Christian Century, im- portant organ of Pr ot e st ant groups, called for a United Na- tions investigation of the plight of Jews in Morocco. In an editorial, the magazine said "The United Nations should investigate the deterioration of human rights in Morocco and act Gurfein Again Voted so as to remind the authorities of that country that their position President of Hias NEW YORK, (JTA) — Murray in the world community will not be strengthened by repeating the I. Gurfein has been re-elected president of United HiaJ Service. Classified ads bring fast results! crimes of the Nazis."