THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS . — Friday, . June 30, 1961

Purely Commentary

Literary Trends Are
to Glorify Germany's
Search for Democracy

By Philip I El Al Record : 9 1/2 Hours
lomovitz from N.Y. to Tel Aviv

S

of, the Bonn Government truly represents majority opinion in
Is Swastika Vanishing? New Trends of Kindnesi to Germans
tO
the land. The government is admittedly doing its utmostBut

,

New interest is being created, in Germany and in Soviet, i uproot every vestige of Nazism and to decry the p ast.
Russia, as a result of the East-West tensions which embrace while "it is apparent that most of the opportunist ex-Nazis do
so many areas, including the Middle East, and because of the
noti- wish the return of this past today, and the government
crisis aroused by the split city of Berlin.
rightfully keeps them from doing so," we can thank the excel-
It is due to these situations that there is added concern lent economic conditions . in Germany for such developments.
about Israel, and that so. many books continue to be published Just as in the case of Jews who returned to Germany it was
about the Jewish State; and that so many • publications are a matter of "ubi bene, ibi patria"—"where it is well with me,
being made available about West Germany and its attempts at there is my country"—so also the good times experienced by
assuring a democratic way of life, and about Russia and her Germans account for their "wish to be 'model democrats'."
aims, and the Russian attitude toward the Jews.
But, what will happen in the event of an economic
important books on Israel, in which
• Among the most
crisis? And, can you ever trust a former Nazi?
is
made
to
the
East-West
problem,
is
Ben
•
valuable reference
It would be unreal also to overlook the fact that not only
Halpern's "The Idea of the Jewish State" (Harvard University the affiliated
Nazis, but nearly all the Germans condoned the
Press).
Nazi crimes. It was only a handful that risked strong opposition '
Two important books that have just made their, appearance to Nazism in the days of Hitler. No one questions the sincerity
deal with the Russian Jewish problem. They are "Star in of Brandt and Adenauer and von Brentano. There are too many,
Eclipse" by Joseph B. Schechtman (Thomas Yoseloff) and however, who must be taught—they must be trained again and
"The Jewish Problem in the Soviet Union" by B. Z. Goldberg again and agaiii—they must be told over and over again that
(Crown). The latter especially merits the attention of all who what had happened 16 years • ago can not be forgotten and
are interested in Russian attitudes, and the book has special, forgiven. It is doubtful whether the majority of the German
appeals to Jews who should become fully aware of the threats people accepts this reality. That is why we are inclined to the
to the existence of the. Jewish communities in the USSR.
belief that the earnest effort of two distinguished writers, in
There is no doubt that the Eichmann trial is responsible the booklet "The Vanishing Swastika," results in exaggerations.
for the renewed interest in the new Germany and in the claims
Thus, one must hope that the authors of this pamphlet are
that democracy has found new roots in West Germany. The justified in believing that because of a lack of knowledge of
'Berlin situation certainly has added sparks to the limelight anti-Semitism, coupled by a lack of interest in it, "no Hitler-
in which the Federal German Republic now finds itself. It is' like demagogue could stir up the populace with the rallying
no wonder that so many books have been published in recent cry of 'The Jews are our misfortune'." Let us hope that the
Months about the Bonn Government, that so much attention authors' belief in "the abhorrence which stimulated many of
is being given the Adenauer administration, that new anxieties the (recent swastika smearing) misdeeds"' is based on realism.
are being indicated in the German situation. -
Let us hope, as Emmet and Muhlen state, that "the Swastika is
- Is it any wonder that when a book entitled "The Vanishing vanishing from West Germany." They say that "the democratic
Swastika" makes its appearance the question should be asked: Germans have been successful and seem to indicate a regenera-
how permanent is_ the 'disappearing" ,act? Isn't it natural for tion of the German people," and they call this regeneration "a
the generation ,that remembers Hitler and for the one that political miracle." Anything to the contrary would be a calamity
has folloWed - it immediately to begin to ask,anew whether new for mankind.
threats are to be feared from a restored economic and military
The interview with ADL leader Benjamin R. Epstein, an
-
German strength?
appendix to this book, is a fine gesture of friendship,' although
An American Council on Germany recently was formed it is not very convincing. Another gesture of friendship incor-
under the presidency of Dr. George M. Shuster, the distin- porated as an appendix is the admirable address by New Jersey's
guished Catholic lay leader, who describes the new group as "an Governer Robert B. Meyner, as a welcome to Chancellor Ade-
organization devoted to understanding between America nauer, at a dinner in New York; and Theo Sommer's "The Nazis
and free Germany:" Two Officers of the organization, Christo-- in Our Judiciary," also in the appendix, is a welcome analysis
pher Emniet and Dr. Norbert Muhlen, collaborated in writing of the position of Germany's judges and -the suggestion that
the pamphlet, "The Vanishing Swastika," published by Henry former Nazis in the judiciary should "purge themselves."
Regnery Co. (545 5th, N.Y. 17). Dr. Shuster wrote the foreword
Dornberg's 'Schizophrenic Germany' Sees No Danger Ahead
to this booklet.
John Dornberg, author of "Schizophrenic Germany," pub-
..:Subtitled "Facts and Figures on Nazism in West Germany,"
thiS compilation sets out to prove that the Bonn Government is lished by Macmillan Co., was born in Germany. His father was
earnestly adhering to democratic principles of the republic it is sent to Buchenwald, and upon his release after a brief stay
Olding. Since this work was -sponsored by an organization that there took his family out of Germany when John was 9. He is
scifeks our "mutual. understanding" with Germany, it is to be now, after his service with the U.S. army in Germany, the
assumed that it aimed at the outset at creating l'"a pleasant editor of the American servicemen's Overseas Weekly in .Ger-
many. He has studied the German problem since his return to
setting for the theme.
his, native land and has learned from his non-Jewish German
in
hiS.
foreword
=indicate
1:
Dr.
Shuster
makes
it
a
point
to
•
that the major Jewish organizations "deServe credit for a proph- wife and her family "that many of the crimes committed by
the Nazis . . . had been carried out in secrecy."
etic insight into the problem and - a constructive effort to
His - view is that:
Solve it." He states that "we would be creating a vicious

circle of misunderstanding . . . by:Mistaking for spokesmen

Of the German people those few hundred' youthful delinquents

and Nazi die-hards who perpetrate• outrages" and that: "By
crying 'Wolf! Wolf!' we might well prepare the way for ,a
• •
tnture return of the Nazi Werewolves. "
The authors, according to Dr. Shuster, "do not attempt to

forecast the future of the new German .democracy. Obviously, in
view of the continued threat: from the East, supreme efforts will
be needed to develop and preserve it. They do find, however,
that the trend toward democratic thinking and action in present-
day Germany is encouraging, despite recent incidents, and that
a sympathetic understanding by the American Peeple of the
many problems involved is the best way to encourage this trend.
Whether one agrees or disagrees with this vieW, I believe that
this booklet assembles significant and . representatiVe data from
which the reader can draw his own conclusions."
- It is an honest approach, based On definite convictions, and
Dr. Shuster is to be taken seriously. The question that arises is

"Although there are neo-Nazis, there is no danger of a
Nazi resurgence , or of neo-Nazism. Although there are Nazis
in government and private life, to say that the Nazis are back
in power is exaggeration of the crassest sort. Although there
are nationalistic elements and the democratic development
of the Bundeswehr leaves a lot to be desired, there is no
imminent threat of excessive militarism or nationalism. Anti-
Semitism, although a factor, is relatively 'speaking and in con-
sideration of past _history, not much more prevalent in Ger-
many than elsewhere." -
He does, however, admit that "the real determination as to

whether the new Germany is a fact or fable can only be made
in the future," that the real problems are whether Germany can
_ eather a political
- withstand the test of a depression and can w
onslaught from the left and the right. .
Dornberg's book has a lot of merit because it provides a
thorough review of the German situation and quotes many valid
facts and figures about the Nazi regime and the post-war period.
As' an historical document, Dornberg's "Schizophrenic Ger-
as to the facts themselves. .
. The authors. of "The Vanishing Swastika" emphasize that many" is a fine addition to William Shirer's "The Rise and
"the bestial cruelties of the Nazi camps as revealed in the con- Fall of the Third Reich" (Simon and Schuster). It unearths
eentration camp trials have been given full coverage in the PreSs "skeletons in the public closet" and unravels many of the
and by means of radio and -motion pictures." They assert that tragic facts - about the regime that was responsible fol.: . the
•
"the German people fully support the prosecution of the murder of millions.
The revelations in this book about the extent of German
criminals."
anti-Semitism and the manner • in which the Nazi crimes now
Would that the latter statement were as true as the com-•
are being unravelled should compel many of the young Germans
mendation of the manner in which- the trials are being covered
to ask questions about the past, to challenge their elders, to
ht the German press. There is reason to dOnbt the wholeheart-
edness of the German :people's -endorsement of the prosecu- inquire why the bestial' deeds could have occurred. If that Were
possible, if Dornberg's facts , could be brought again to the
tions c the Nazi criminals. On tlite'contrary, it is this com-
attention of all Germans, they could go a long way in assuring
•Mentator'S 'opinion that the Germans desire to have the entire
that the status he describes in the present can remain the
matter involving Nazism' forgotten as quickly as possible, and
the Germans could act to bring that about,
policies for the future.
if a majority - of -thee
they would, even if it would mean that the criminals would
- Yet,In their totality, the facts presented merely add to the
horror that is in human hearts over what was represented in
go scot-free, as many of them already have.
• Emmet and Muhlen repeat the charge that about 600 former- . Germanism.
In an enlightening chapter, "The Fault of the Schools,"
Nazis "now live in Cairo," but when this commentator' broached
the subject in Bonn to one of the high officials in the German Dornberg tells of current efforts to present the facts about the
Foreign- Office, it was denied. West Germany it becotning
Nazi crimes to the youth of today in German schools. If this
program could be assured of 'success, there would be greater
concerned about Arab pressures, that. even the admission of
hope for a better future. •
leadership of Arabs by the Gernians was pooh-poohed.
- The authors of the pamphlet under review make the addi-
. As in " "The Vanishing Swastika," Dornberg's book: de-
tiOnal statement that Nazi crirninalS prefer life in exile belieing scribes the good intentions of the present good government
allegations that Germany's prosecution of- thein "is said to be with headquarters . in Bonn. Once again, one must pray that
lackadaisical," and they mention. "Adolf -Eichmann; whom Ger- the future will bar repetition of the crimes that were witnessed
man law-enforcement agencies had hunted for a long time, though by our generation. •
in vain, until Israeli agents finally ferreted him out." Would that Adenauer's Germany More Fortunate Than Spain
this, too, were totally true! Have German law-enforcement
agents been so thorough in their search of the criminals? Hasn't • In, many respects, Adenauer'S German Federal Republic is
there been a measure of eye-shutting to many of the crimes? most fortunate. It is more fortunate than the Spain after the
Why was Eichmann able to escape justice for 15 years, some Inquisition.
When the Jews were expelled from Spain and many_ of them
of which he had 'spent in, Germany?
forced to convert to Christianity, a herem—excornmunica-
'Emmet and Muhlen may be right in protesting against a Look were
tion—was
imposed on the country. It was decreed that Jews
Magazine article, charging that rowdy acts wrongly are inter-
should
never
return to that land where Jews at one.time experi-
preted as .being typical of present-day Germany. Unfortunately,
difficUlt to .:assert with certainty that the official. position enced a Golden Period in their literature but which was trans-

,

it is

-Before departure of El Al
Israel Airlines first non-stop
flight between New York and
Tel Aviv, Captain TOM.
JONES (left), El Al's man-
ager of flight operations,
who was in command, re-
ceived best wishes from dis-
tinguished former pilot,
CLARENCE D. CHAMBER-
LIN, who flew the first pas-.
senger non-stop between New
York and Europe, and had
witnessed the Lindbergh take-
off in May, 1927. El Al's Boe-
ing 707 Intercontinental jet,
powered by Rolls Royce en-
gines, and carrying 97 passen-
gers, left New York Interna-
tional Airport on June 15 at
9:30 p.m., DST, and arrived
at Lod International Airpoi,
'Israel on June 16 at 1:30 p.m.
Israel time, after 9 hours and
33 minutes flying time. The
flight of 5,760 statute miles
is the longest regularly sched
uled non - stop commercial
flight in aviation history. El
Al's non-stop flights will,
leave froM New York every
Thursday at 9:30 p.m.

Allow N.Y. Scholarship
Holders Study in Israel

NEW YORK, (JTA)—The New
York Board of Rabbis reported it
had obtained a reversal of a rul-
ing by the New York State Edu-
cation Department, which had
barred high school graduates hold-
ing Regents scholarships - from
Spending a year in Israel before
taking advantage of the college
scholarships.
The rabbis said the dropPing
of the ban was made known in
a letter from Sherman N. Tinkel,
man, director of the division of
educational testing of the State
Education Department. The latter
wrote the rabbis that "a leave of
absence may now be granted for
any reason that would improVe
the scholarship holder's readiness
to profit from college attend-
ance," and asserted that this ap ,
plied to such students "who plan
on a work or study program in
Israel." - •

formed into a graveyard for thein
and their faith.
During' World War II, Spain
did assist in the rescue of some
thousands of Jews from Nazism.
Prior to that time, a number of
Jew's returned to that.land. Dur-
ing World War I, some Jews—
most eminent among them was
Dr. Max Nordau who was exiled
from France as a former German
—found refuge in Spain.

But today there are only
3,500 Jews in Spain.

Yet, some Jews have returned
to Germany. Many_ of them came
to collect restitution funds that
are due them. Some are there
for their pensions as former na-
tionals. But the boon, to Ger-
many is the friendly relationship
with Israel, the establishment in
Cologne of the Israel Mission, the
strong economic ties between
Israel and Germany. •
Indeed, the Germany of today
is much more fortunate in the
benefits it derives from Jewry
than Spain, from whom the curse
I of the Inquisition has not been
(erased.