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Sabbath
Issue
Commentary
Page 2
Story on Page 40
Eichmann
Trial's
Lesson:
Beware of
Repeating
Crimes
-THE JEWISH NE
F—Il
A Weekly Review
of Jewish Events
Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper—Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle
Vol. XXXIX, No. 17
Editorial
Page 4
loorgliorinsialop 17100 W. 7 Mile Rd.—VE 8-9364—Detroit 35, June 23, 1961—$5.00 per Year; Single Copy 15c
Eichmann Sticks to Defense
as Pawn Accuses Globke
(Direct JTA _Teletype Wire to The Jewish News)
410 Opening of Center on Saturdays
Creates Communal Storm; Rabbis'
Sermons, Laymen Protest Action
The decision of the board of directors of the Jewish Community Center to introduce some
activities—including the health center—on Saturday afternoons, beginning tomorrow, has aroused
a new storm of protests.
At a meeting of representatives of the Conservative and Orthodox rabbis of the city and a
group of interested laymen, held June 15 at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Abe Kasle, a declaration,
unanimously adopted, was issued, stating that:
". . the issue of the opening of the Jewish Center on the Sabbath is detrimental to the very
basis of Judaism, and it will tend to divide the conununity. Consequently, the Rabbinate of
Greater Detroit and many interested laymen will not rest until the Sabbath, the foundational .
institution in Jewish life, will be respected by our- Jewish public institutions."
A decision was reached at that - meeting that all local rabbis should devote their sermons
on the Sabbath that immediately followed the meeting, to the Sabbath issue and to protests against
the actions of the Center.
Rabbi Chaskel Grubner, executive director of the Council of Orthodox Rabbis of Detroit,
reports that all of the Conservative and Orthodox rabbis delivered the scheduled sermons. The
Reform rabbis adhered to their originally scheduled themes and avoided the issue. Some of the
Reform rabbis, however, continue to sympathize with the protesting - group, as they did last year,
when the issue first arose.
Rabbi' Grubner said that another meeting of .rabbis and laymen will be held soon and that
a conference is scheduled with Charles Gershenson, the recently-elected president of the Center,
to review the issue with him. He said that there is a strong desire to avoid a "hillul ha-Shem"
(desecration of the Holy Name) or any scandals that may arise publicly as a result of the
Sabbath issue, but he added that "we cannot control what some people may do" and that "some
have said that they may find it necessary to picket the Center" as part of their protest against
the adopted Sabbath opening action.
Reviewing the situation that has arisen, Rabbi Grubner, speaking for the protesting group,
•said that the position taken by Rabbi Eliezer Silver, of Cincinnati, who often has been referred
to as "the dean of Orthodox Rabbis," has been viewed unrealistically. He said that Rabbi Silver,
being in his 80s, must have been misled and was taken in by proponents of Sabbath programming.
He said that Rabbi Silver has been repudiated on this issue by the .Union of -Orthodox Rabbis
and by other national religious organizations, and that there is unanimity in Orthodox ranks
against conducting Sabbath programs in Jewish institutions.
• Reporting on the action that : was taken against "the:violation of the Sabbath," Rabbi Grubner
said that the June 15 meeting was called for one hour-8 to 9—but lasted from 8 until 11:30 and
provoked heated demands for action by the community against the decisions of the Center's
board of directors.
He insisted that the operation of the health club is an outright violation of Sabbath rules,
and that other program plans similarly involve violations of the Sabbath.
Supplementing the decision of the group that met at his home; Abe Kasle, who has been
in the forefront in efforts to prevent the opening of the Center on Saturdays, issued a personal
statement, which follows:
"It is with deep concern and a feeling of uneasiness that I have read that the Detroit
Jewish Community Center decided to open its doors for operation on Saturday by a vote of 2T
for and 8 against which, on the surface, sounds democratic.
"It is true that the Jewish Community Center is an autonomous organization; yet, its
deficit financing is contributed by the JeWish Welfare Federation which is supposed to repre-
sent the entire Jewish Community. It appears t o me that an agency that depends on deficit
financing usually confers with the heads of the Welfare Federation before making any major
move. It is inconceivable to me that this was not done, and some of the 'higher-ups' in the .'ed-
eration gave the nod of O.K. to this major move and yet claim that the Jewish Community
Center is an autonomous organization and they can do as they please.
"Looking at it from a broad point of view as to the total Jewish life in our community,
you will find that we have over 30 congregations and temples, with rabbis that are elected
yearly by the members of each congregation or temple. Not long ago a historic meeting was
held in the city of Detroit by 32 rabbis duly elected by their congregations on the same basis
as a congressman is elected from a different ward, and those 32 'rabbis met and discussed
whether or not the Center should be open on S aturday, or closed. Of the 32, 31 voted to keep
the Center closed on Saturday. That, to me, is democracy in its highest form. Yet, the board
of directors of the Jewish Community Center have again voted to open the Center on Saturdays.
"The question then arises—does the board of directors of the Center, who are hand--
picked, nominated and elected by a certain small group of our community, have the right to
take it upon themselves to desecrate the day of Sabbath, knowing that 31 rabbis out of 32 have
voted that the Center be closed on Saturday?
"It has been said many times, and I have said it time and time again the last seven or
eight years, that a massive and impressive building which is beautiful to look at, with a nice
appearance, must in time become oppressive. For instance, the Orthodox Day School has been
trying to get a grant from the Federation for the last 25 years for its daily students pro rata
fOr Hebrew teaching. Yet, the Federation time and time again has ruled that the Jewish
community, with the Federation at its head, can not and will not contribute for parochial
(Continued on Page 2)
JERUSALEM — Adolf Eichmann, t es t if yin g
Wednesday for the second day in his own defense,
sought to implicate a present high official in the West
German Government, State Secretary Hans Globke, in
the early persecution of German Jews by the Nazi
regime. _
The charge against Globke, a key aide in the gov-
ernment of Chancellor Konrad Adenauer, was part of
a carefully rehearsed version of Eichmann's anti-Jewish
activities purporting to demonstrate that his role in
the Nazi machinery for dealing with "the Jewish prob-
lem" was a minimal one.
Under the coaching of Dr. Robert Servatius, his
defense counsel, Eichmann made the statement about
Globke when he was asked why he thought his Jewish
Affairs Department had been expanded. He replied
that "this phenomenon" was the indirect result of
"the initiative of Dept. 1-A of the Ministry of the
Interior" and of efforts of Globke "toward the with-
drawal of citizenship and confiscation of Jewish
property."
-
Globke, who was an interior ministry subsection
head during the Nazi regime, has been under fire for
years on charges of aiding the Nazi legal strategem to
despoil German Jews. He has contended that he re-
mained in his post under the Nazis and that he was
helpful to many Jews in that capacity.
Using his pencil as a pointer as he testified in his
glass-enclosed prisoner's dock, Eichmann testified with
zest on the Nazi bureaucracy, all of it aiming to uphold
his argument that he was a minor cog in the organiza-
tion machinery and that other and more highly placed
Nazis developed and implemented the vast program of
expulsion, torture, degradation, spoilation and murder
of the victims of the Nazi holocaust.
At one point in his lengthy efforts to prove that
he was always concerned for the welfare of the Jews
(Continued on Page 18)
Pearson Disclaims Charge
No Deal with Nazi's Son
Drew Pearson in a statement to The Jewigh News this
week denied that he had any connection with the visit in this
country of Nicholas Eichmann. His statement 'follows:
"At no time have I had any deal regarding the book by
Eichmann's son. At no time have I ever met Eichmann's son,
had any correspondence with him, nor assisted in- any way his
entry into the United States. In fact, I highly disapprove of
his coming to the United States at this time; and, although
given the opportunity to meet him, refused to do so.
A member of my staff, Mr. Jack Anderson, who works also
for "Parade" magazine, was in Buenos Aires last summer; and,
in the course of trying to track down some Nazi escapees in
Argentina; did meet Eichmann's son and did later arrange to
facilitate his entry into the United States, in connection with
the publication of a book by the Monarch Publishing Company,
incidentally, a Jewish firm. Unfortunately, he did not consult
me- in the matter or I would have advised him very strongly
against this action. When I learned that Eichmann's son had
arrived in the United States, I urged Anderson to have nothing
to do with the matter, and young Eichmann has now returned
to Argentina.
This week I carried the following item in my radio broad-
cast:
-
'Nicholas Eichmann, swaggering son of the man who
masterminded the murder of 6,000,000 Jews, has now re-
turned to Argentina after three weeks in the United States.
Why U. S. authorities permitted him to enter this country
in the first place remains a mystery; presumably it was on
the theory that the sins of the father should not be visited
on the son. In this case, however, Eichmann was a swagger-
ing, conceited young punk who had learned nothing from
the tragic crime committed by his father and should not
have been admitted to the U.S.' "