THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, July 28, 1961 —
32
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By MILTON FRIEDMAN
(Copyright, 1961,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
WASHINGTON — Rep. Sey-
mour Halpern, New York Repub-
lican, is seeking to persuade At-
torney General Robert F. Ken-
nedy to place George Rockwell's
American Nazi party on the sub-
versive list.
The rising tide of Nazi violence
and racist agitation has caused
public outrage not only in Arling-
ton, Va., the Nazi headquarters,
but also shocked the nation. Con-
victed by a New Orleans. La.,
court along with nine of his
"stormtroopers," Rockwell be-
came emboldened. He boasted
support of civil libertarians, stat-
ing "the American Civil Liberties
Union now has the New Orleans
case in the higher courts." He
bragged that his conviction would
be reversed on civil liberties
technicalities and that he would
avoid serving the pending sen-
tence. _
Halpern pointed out that
the Nazi group has grown, espe-
cially after the rise of racial ten-
sion in the South. Active Nazis
in the national capital area are
federal employes. An official sub=
versive designation of the Nazis
under Executive Order 10450
would alert federal hiring offi-
cials. Communists are barred
from government jobs, but Nazis
are employed.
Even members of the armed
services have been discovered
in the Rockwell gang. In cases
where identifications were
made and strong complaints
pressed, a few individuals were
discharged from the Army and
Marine 'Corps.
Attorney General Kennedy
studied H a 1p ern's position.
He referred the matter to J.
Walter Yeagley, a ssist a nt at-
torney general as an internal
security issue.
Yea gley advised Halpern
' that "some doubt has been ex-
pressed as to the advisability of
giving such an organization the
extensive publicity likely to flow
from the prolonged hearing that
would necessarily result from in-
voking the designation proce-
,
dures." This comment came at.
the very moment Israel was try-
ing through the Adolf Eichmann
trial to publicize the inherent
menace of Nazism and anti-
Semitism.
Justice Department sources
reported that "liberal groups"
had advised against branding
Rockwell subversive and "seem
to prefer to hush up the Nazi
situation."
The Assistant Attorney Gener-
al also pointed out that the pur-
pose of designation is to alert
Government hiring officials to
the fact that stated groups have
a subversive character. The de-
signation of the American Nazi
party under this program would
not bar the continuation of its
activities and those of its leader,
George Lincoln Rockwell, nor
would such a designation involve
the imposition of any sanctions.
However, Yeagley said that
"notwithstanding the problems
presented with respect to possi-
ble designation of the organiza-
tion itself, the activities of Rock-
well regarding possible criminal
prosecution have been and are
the . subject of continuing inquiry
by this department. While the
information currently available is
insufficient to warrant criminal
prosecution of Rockwell under
federal statutes within the juris-
diction of this department, you
may be assured that should our
inquiry develop evidence legally
sufficient to establish such a
violation it will be - acted upon
with diligence and vigor."
Yeagley told. Halpern: "I
assume that local authorities will
take prosecutive action against
the members of the organization
as has been done in the past
when their activities involve
violations of local law such as
disorderly conduct. or breach of
the peace."
Rockwell proudly advertises
in his hate-sheets: "We are not '
on the subversive list"
, Commenting on recent violence
in Arlington, Va., Rockwell said
"least of all do I fear a battle in
Arlington courts and the Com-
monwealth of Virginia, where I
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were dangerous and difficult. It may
be assumed that it was his ambition
in his travels to find the traces of the
lost ten tribes.
Benjamin recorded in detail the
names of the countries and cities that
lie visited, their size and beauty, the
distances between one town and
o t
another,
r a e sntde dt h inmusm
e lbf e r no f ges i d jeonct:i
residents .and heard from them of
their economic situation and the rela-
tions between the Jews and non' Jews.
He gathered stories, reminiscences
and legends and talked with the lead-
ing Jewish scholars of that genera-
tion.
An important chapter in his travels
was his visit to Eretz Israel which
was under the rule of the Crusaders.
In the port of Jaffa he found 200
Jews, in the city of Lydda . . . one
Jew, in Bethlehem . . . one Jew, in
Tiberias . . . 50 and Jerusalem . .
200.
Rabbi Benjamin's book which was
composed before the - invention of
printing was circulated in many
copies which are extant today in
various museums and universities.
Translation of Hebrew column.
Edited by Brit Ivrit Olamit,
Jerusalem
on the appeals.
Arlington community leaders
were spurred to form the citizens
committee by the increasing au-
dacity of • the Rockwell group.
The committee, made up mostly
of non-Jews, will pr es s for
means of getting the Nazi group
out of Arlington county. Mrs.
Stone, one of the leaders, said
that the community could no
longer tolerate the Nazi menace
and others said that responsible
residents could, not permit their
community to be the site for a
"headquarters" for an avowed
Nazi group and for an anti-Semit-
ic "revival reminiscent of Hitler's
early days."
Arlington County Board chair-
man Leo Urbanske indicated
that the board would insist on
militant action by legal officials
to protect the community..
The reaction among civic and
church groups of all types and
denominations generally was
summed up to be a growing feel-
ing of being "fed up with a grow-
ing nest of Nazis, beginning to
act like -a private army and even
trying to 'arrest' and imprison
people."
The two Rockwell Nazi
"stormtroopers," sentenced to
a year of hard labor on a con-
vict road gang, withdrew the
appeal of their convictions.
They feared that a grand jury
might reopen the case and impose
even heavier sentences.
Charges of felonious assault
rather than simple assault and
battery could result in possible
penalties of up to 20 years im-
prisonment.
Braun and Garber withdrew
their appeals, _apparently after
Rockwell consulted on their be-
half with Hassan. Rockwell
said: "I've talked. to Mr. Hassan
and he's convinced me that they
can make a big deal out of it."
Cornell Law Prof Justifies Israel's
Objection to Miss ionary Activities
Hebrew Column
T
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(Continued from Page 1)
The boy told the court how the
Nazis had pursued him in the
street when he and other boys
passed the Rockwell "headquar-
ters," dragged him into the build-
ing, handcuffed and otherwise
abused him. Non-Jewish boys who
had witnessed the episode cor-
roborated the testimony.
A large crowd of indignant cit-
izens filled the courtroom while
other "stormtroopers" placed an-
ti-Jewish sheets on windshields
of cars parked in the courthouse
area. Among those in the court
audience were clergymen of vari-
ous faiths, leaders of civic, labor,
women's, school and other or-
ganizations.
The case was heard in juvenile
court because under Virginia law,
such a court has jurisdiction over
all offenses involving anyone un-
der 18. The leader, George Rock-
well, was present with many of
his followers.
The third Nazi sentenced, in
another court, was Anthony
Wells, who was convicted of
assaulting a 16-year-old youth
on an Arlington §treet. He was
sentenced to 60 days in jail and
fined $100.
In other street brawls, two
other Nazis and a 17-year-old
youth were arrested. The two
Nazis, Charles Beveridge and
Roy James, and the youth, were
arrested on charges of disorderly
conduct. The youth said he was
assaulted and - swore out a war-
rant against James. The court
acquitted James.
In imposing sentence on Gar-
ber and Braun, Judge Creeger
told the defendants that "what I
feel about your exploits and what
your organization stands for, I
have tried to divorce from this
trial as much as possible." The
two defendants appealed and
were taken to jail to await action
have found the courts and police
to be absolutely professional and
fair, in spite of all the pressures
brought by such organizations as
the Jewish Anti-D ef a m a tion
League and the Jewish War Vet-
erans."
Hundreds of indignant Arling-
ton residents, Jews and non-Jews,
engulfed the county court house
when a 13-year-old Jewish boy
this -month testified. Ricky Far-
ber told the court he was seized
by Nazi "stormtroopers" on the
streets, taken to the Rockwell
headquarters, a n d questioned
about his religion.
In an interview, Ricky stated
that he walked by the Nazi head-
quarters with some friends • on
their way home. One of the boys
remarked: "Look at that big
Nazi flag." Then, according to
Ricky, "All a sudden, about ten
guys came running from the
house. They were yelling cuss-
words .. we were afraid and ran.
I fell down, but -got up and ran
to a porch and rang the doorbell
because I hoped somebody would
help me."
"One of the troopers with a
lead pipe came up and told me
to come down or he was going
to come up and get me. He came
up on the porch and pushed me
down the stairs. He twisted my
arm behind my back and another
person held my other arm .
they took me to the Nazi house
and pushed me down . . . got the
handcuffs and put them on me."
"There were ten big guys
standing all around me. One had
a pistol hanging from his belt.
They asked if I was a Jew."
When police finally freed Ricky
he returned home in tears. The
Arlington police did not bother
to escort him safely home even
after he described, in tears, what
he had suffered.
The police failed to make an
arrest until Ricky's father, Hy-
man Farber, swore warrants.
His mother told how he had to
be given a' tranquilizing drug
and put to bed. He remained
inside his house for the next
several days.
The community erupted in out-
rage.
Hiding under the cloak afford-
ed by civil liberties fanatics, the
Nazis grew bolder. But the public
decided that abduction and beat-
ing of 13-year-old boys had noth-
ing to do with "free speech."
This was Arlington, Va., 1961.
It was not Nazi-occupied Warsaw
of 1941 when other Nazis twisted
the arms of other 13-year-old
Jewish boys. Arlingtonians, by
• the thousands, are determined
that Arlington will not become
another Warsaw.
Benjamin of Tudela
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•'7
Soon it will be the 800th anniver-
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sary, of Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela's
departure from Spain on his travel to
300 places in the countries of Europe,
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'nfltr.
Benjamin of Tudela was the first to
a written description of all he
rixit leave
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saw and heard. From his notes we
•
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learn about his period and receive a
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picture and description of the state
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• •
of the Jews in the lands of their dis-
persion.
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It is not clear what prompted him
to go forth on his long travels during
the Crusades when there was no easy
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means of transport and the roads
-'*
Arlington. Stirred to Action by Nazi
`Stormtroopers' Who Abused Youth
Rep. Halpern Asks U.S. Place
Rockwell on Subversive List
.
ITHACA, N.Y., (JTA)—"The
recent trouble over a funda-
mentalist church in Jerusalem
needs to be seen against a wider
background in order that the
incident be properly under-
stood," Prof. Milton R. Konvitz
told a large audience at Cornell
University.
The speaker, an authority on
American constitutional law and
professor of law at Cornell, said
that Israel was not unique in
being aware of a missionary
problem.
In many countries throughout
Asia, Africa and Latin America,
governments have been con-
cerned with missionary activi-
ties and some nations have im-
posed legal or extra-legal re-
strictions on t h e admission
and activities of Christian mis-
sionaries. . •
The attitude of these coun-
tries is well reflected said
Konvitz, in the following
statement of Ghandi: "If you
(Christian missions) feel that
the Indian religion is also
true, though like all religions,
falls from perfection, and you
come in a brotherly spirit of
helpfulness to cement friend-
ship then there is room for
you here. But should you
come here as the, preachers
of a new gospel to an 'unen-
lightened people,' then, to the
extent that I am interested,
there is no room for you."
Konvitz said that at one time
mission schools performed an
important service in countries
where there were no govern-
ment schools. Many of the pres-
ent African and Asian leaders
received their education in such
schools. But now there are gov-
ernment schools in these coun-
tries, and mission schools are
not as welcome as they were.
The speaker also referred
to the statement made some
months ago by Reinhold Nie-
buhr, leading Protestant theo-
logian in the United States, that
the Christian churches ought to
end their efforts to convert
Jews to Christianity.
This liberal position has not
been accepted -by the Church
groups generally, and the last
ones that can be expected to
accept this position, said the
speaker, are the fundamental-
ist, evangelical churches — like
the one that was attacked in
Jerusalem.
Konvitz also called atten-
tion to the fact that some of
the important church bodies
have adopted resolutions not
to proselytize among children
under 18 years of age.
This, too, he said, represents
today only a minority point of
view. Many of the Christian
sects go in for "soul-snatching"
without regard to the youthful-
ness or immaturity—or senility
—of the "prospect."
It was especially the activi-
ties among children in Israel
that was, said Konvitz, provoca-
tive of criticism and even in
some quarters, of strong feel-
ings. "In Israel today there are
some 700 Catholic missionaries
belonging to about 30 different
orders, and about 200 Protestant
missionaries belonging to 18
sects or denominations.
"They go about their work
unmolested; the laws of Israel
protect them in their right to
conduct .legitimate missionary
work; but this does not mean
that Jews in Israel do not have
strong feelings about mission-
ary efforts, especially among
children," Konvitz said.
"Fanaticism on one side is
likely to arouse fanaticism on
the other—souls are as valuable
to Judaism as they are to fun-
damentalist Christians," he said.
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