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March 29, 1963 - Image 2

Resource type:
Text
Publication:
The Detroit Jewish News, 1963-03-29

Disclaimer: Computer generated plain text may have errors. Read more about this.

Purely Commentary

Germany Still 'Discovers' Nazi Criminals

By JOHN DORNBERG

(Copyright, 1963, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Many other Heusers have since
FRANKFURT—Before the U.S. cialdom of what is supposed to
be a democratic postwar Ger- been caught. More and more
Army
started
its
buildup
in
the
Ben-Gurion's Unrealistic View of American
keep turning up. •
post-Korea invasion days of 1950, many?
Jewry as a Dying Element without Israel's Spirit
Just the other day an investi-
Kaiserslautern, Germany, w a s
That is one of the questions
Replying to a number of questions posed by Rabbi Jay but a name on the road to Paris. which the Coblenz trial, despite gation was started against Theo-
Kaufman, vice-president of the Union of American Hebrew
In five short years the town its weeks and weeks of testi- dor Saevecke, a high - ranking
Congregations, regarding Israel's spiritual role, Prime Minister had an additional population of mony and mountains of docu- Germany Federal security police
David Ben-Gurion declared that three things—"Hebrew education 30,000 American servicemen and mentary material may never official who headed the "treason"
section of the government's Bonn
for the younger generation, the intensification of personal ties their dependents and became in- answer.
Security Group before being ap-
with Israel even on the part of those Jews who do not need to famous as the Sin City of Ger-
It is a question which all Ger-
settle there, and pioneering immigration of youth, scientists and many, the place where the Wild mans though, as they read the pointed to head the "murder"
intellectuals" — "will safeguard the survival of Jewry in the West had come to life again.
daily news dispatches of the trial squad at the West German Fed-
United States and will enrich it spiritually."
"K-town," as U. S. soldiers, procedings, ought to be asking eral Criminal Bureau in Wies-
baden.
The Premier, whose wisdom has been so vital in assuring famous for a language of their themselves.
Saevecke, it turns out, was an
the vast developments recorded by Israel in its history that is own, soon called it, had a wild
When Heuser was arrested in SS captain, too. He had been ac-
approaching the 15-year mark, may not have thought through and wooly reputation. Vice and
the problem involving American Jewry as fully as he- does those crime were rampant as prosti- 1950, those who had worked with cused of participating in brutali-
affecting Israeli citizens. It seems rather illogical that in an tutes, confidence men, black him r e f used to believe the ties in Tunis and Milan during
the war.
environment as tempting to assimilation as ours the solution marketers, pimps, gamblers, bar charges.
A Kaiserslautren newspaper-
How many Heusers and Saev-
should be as simple as Ben-Gurion has described it: primarily owners and sharpsters flocked in
man whose attitude on such mat- eckes are left to be "discov-
through an interest in Israel.
to .fleece American GIs and cash ter is beyond reproach, told this
ered?"
His views are worth examining.
in on the boom.
writer bluntly:
In reply to Rabbi Kaufman's queries, which, with the an-
The little city's 80,000 solid
"It can't be true. I've known
swers, appear in a feature article in the current issue of Ameri- burghers acted shocked, although
Histadrut Pressure
can Judaism, the organ of the Union of American Hebrew Con- they all realized that the Ameri- him for five years. I'm sure
they've
made
a
mistake
in
iden-
Ends El Al Strike
gregations, Ben-Gurion said that his government "represents the can invasion meant their eco-
tity."
people of Israel and no one else;" that the Israel government nomic salvation.
TEL AVIV, (JTA)—The cost-
But
it
wasn't
a
mistake.
"does not represent Diaspora Jewry and as a government it has
* * *
ly strike by air crews against El
* * *
no official policy on the problems of Jewry in general or of any
Then a man named Dr. Georg
As the case against Heuser Al Airlines ended this week
particular Jewish community abroad. The government does not Heuser came to town to take took shape, people in Kaiser- after 17 days when the strikers
interfere with the affairs of world Jewry, although it is conscious charge of the Kaiserslautern
slautern began to remember with yielded to powerful pressures
of the profound bonds between the State of Israel and the Jewish criminal police department. He what
he had investi- from the Histadrut and agreed
people everywhere. In determining its policy, it takes the needs soon was not only chief of de- gated enthsuiasm
the
discovery
of some skel- to return to work uncondition-
of the Jewish people into account but it has no official policy on tectives but advanced to direc-
etons
near
Kaiserslautern
which, ally. .
general Jewish questions and each member of the Government tor of the entire Kaiserslautern
A special committee on El Al
rumor
had
it,
were
the
remains
is entitled to hold whatever views he thinks fit on such subjects. force.
affairs of the Histadrut, which
of
Germans
executed
by
Ameri-
"The - opinions which I_ express - on matters of the- Jewish
For two years he waged ruth-
denounced the walkout from the
people do not, therefore, represent the views of the Government less war on the underworld, can soldiers in 1945.
They also recalled that he was start, accepted a letter from the
of Israel. Some of my colleagues may agree with my views; others leading raid after raid of Ger-
strikers stating their readiness
may challenge them. Among the Jewish people as a whole, there man cops and U. S. Army MPs to just as eager to prepare the case to return to work and to accent
against Max Bumb, a local busi-
are certain differences of opinion. I regard myself first and fore- clean up Sin City.
nessman, charged with killing Histadrut directives.
most as a Jew and only in the second place an Israeli and I say
In German police and Ameri- an SS man whom he found plun-
The airline management had
what I think as a Jew who is well aware of the fact that there can MP circles he had a solid
demanded that each striker sign
have always been controversies among Jews on the ideals, posi- reputation as one of the most dering his property in the spring an individual letter but it ac-
of 1945.
tion, and the future of the Jewish people."
competent crimebusters in the
But this was all afterthought. cepted the Histadrut decision
Because Ben-Gurion's views may strike at the very root of business.
Heuser had once been at the pin- and sent out orders for resump-
Israel-American internal Jewish relations, the balance of his
The town's burghers loved him nacle of his profession and it tion • of regular flights. The
statement is worth reading. He told Rabbi Kaufman:
because he had restored a sem- hadn't entered anyone's mind to strike will cost the airline some
"The people of Israel and the Jewish people are now confronted with blance of law and order to their
question his background.
4,000,000 pounds ($1,333,000).
two grave problems: the survival of the State and the survival of Jewry.
The State was established by the power of a Messianic , vision and by community.
constructive pioneering. But the vision has not yet been fully realized.
He was a frequent guest at
Not all the Jews who need the State, nor all the Jews who are needed
by the State, are in Israel. The building of the State has not been com- U. S. Army social gatherings. Dr.
Boris Smolar's
Heuser was always welcome at
pleted either quantitatively or qualitatively.
"In the Diaspora, especially in America, the danger of assimilation Kaiserslautern's post officers'
has grown. In the United States there is no need for any Jew to be
club and he was adept at balanc-
ashamed of his Jewishness and few are.
"The fact that there is no assimilationist ideology among Jews does ing martinis in one hand, hors
not lessen the dangers of assimilation — on the contrary, it intensifies
them. There is no need for any such ideology, life does its work automat- d'oueVres in the other, as he was I
ically below the level of consciousness. The Jews that remain in the at clinking beer steins with his I
Diaspora, particularly in America. cannot be preserved from assimilation teutonic friends in an old inn
(Copyright, 1963,
by the existence of Israel in itself. They must develop a Jewish content -
I Jewish Telegraphic
Agency, Inc.)
downtown.
of their own.
"This Jewish content must take the form of Hebrew education.
When, in May 1957, he was
Hebrew should become a second language for every Jewish boy and girl,
our history and Bible should be studied in the original. Without this. promoted to chief of the Rhine- Military Talk
How serious of a danger for Israel are the rockets which the
American Jewry will have no roots or foundations, and the greatest Jewish land-Palatinate's state police
center of our times may completely lose its Jewish character, as other division, Kaiserslautern city - German scientists are now producing in Egypt for Nasser? . •
communities in America have lost their distinctiveness.
"In addition to Jewish education, it is essential to intensify personal fathers and U. S. Army Officials Experts believe that for Israel the proliferation of rockets is
bonds with Israel, even among those Jews who do not intend to settle, were sorry to see him go. But serious enough even without megaton warheads . . . They do not
by means of visits sending children for their Bar Mitzvah or Confirmation
celebrations, high school graduates and college students for a year of they all 'agreed that he had doubt that Nasser has now rockets of V-2 capability built by the
study, by investment of capital in essential industries, by attracting young rightly earned his promotion.
Germans . . . &itch rockets could reach any part of Israel but
men and women to play a personal part in the advancement of science in
* * *
with questionable accuracy . . . The Cobalt warheads intended
Israel, and in the great pioneering enterprise of populating the Negev.
Today, in a German courtroom for these rockets contain high explosive with radioactive effect,
"These three things: Hebrew echication for the younger generation,
the intensification of personal ties with Israel even on the part of those in Coblenz, as he has for the past though they would not produce an atomic explosion . . . Expert
Jews who do not need to settle here, and pioneering immigration of _youth.
scientists. and intellectuals. will safeguard the survival of Jewry in the four - Months; Heuser Will again opinion is that Nasser. is financially not in a position to seriously
take his seat as chief defendant attempt to manufacture atomic bombs . . . However, like Cuba, he
United States and will enrich it spiritually."
In a recent Dialogue with Hayim Hazaz, an Israeli writer, in the biggest war crimes trial may try to borrow bombs . . In England—as well as among
regarding an indifference that purportedly has crept into Israel since the Nuremberg tribunals. members of Congress in Washington—the opinion prevails that
Heuser, it turned out, not only it is high time for the United States to attach peace strings to
towards literature, Ben - Gurion had this to say regarding
had assumed a fake doctor title aid Nasser in order to prevent him from developing nuclear
American Jewry:
"The Jews are a problematic people. It is unique in all in the jungle of postwar confu- weapons . . . Also to prevent him from carrying out his ambition
history. American Jews who retain their Jewishness are a sion, but had been a captain in to swallow up Jordan and the Arab oil-producing countries ..
miracle. A third-generation American Jew who is interested the SS.
A new joint Anglo-American policy for the Middle East is being
All of his police experience, discussed now between Washington and London ... Oil rivalries
in Israel and donates a million dollars for a boarding-school
before he donned the uniform of in the Middle East have bedevilled relations between England and
for Oriental children is a miracle . . .
"I see the revolution which is taking place in Israel. I the Rhineland-Palatinate forces the United States . . . With the recent revolutions in Iraq and in
in 1953, had been gained in the Syria, and with Nasser's new bid for unity to these two countries,
know it is taking place. Without it the Jewish people will be
liquidated. If our revolution succeeds, there will be Jewish service of the Gestapo and the both the United States and England see sinister implications for
survival in America, too. If it were not for Israel, there would SS.
the security of Western oil supplies . . . They also fear the pos-
He is accused, along with 11 Sibility of internal uprisings, instigated by Nasser, in Saudi Arabia
be no American Jewry—except for the Satmar Rebbe's Jews.
other SS men who served in a —where the U.S. has tremendous oil interests—and in Jordan
And I am not so sure what will happen to their children. I
have seen children of the extreme orthodox who have strayed." special security police squad ... And they are concerned for the safety of Israel . . . While it
And now we are beginning to wonder, and wonder, and near Minsk, Russia, from 1941 to is assumed that the kings of Saudi Arabia and of Jordan have
WONDER: is it possible that so eminent a statesman, a state- 1944, of having murdered 70,000 received some kind of Western guarantees for their thrones, this
builder, one who has been with and should understand American Russian Jews, Gypsies, feeble- is not considered a guard against possible internal revolutions—
minded persOns, and other "un- the kind of coups that have taken place during the last weeks in
Jewry, can be so naive?
American Jewry has come of age, and it may very well be desirable elements."
Iraq and Syria. A more effective protection of the present regime
The trial, now in its fourth in Jordan—strange as it may seem—is Israel's treat to intervene
that culturally Israel May have to lean on us rather than we on
the Israelis. We have to our credit very great scholarly attain- month, is actually called the if the regime is overthrown. .. . There is no doubt in London and
ments, and the prospects are that more and more of our young Heuser case because the "Herr in Washington that, Whether Egypt has rockets or not, Israel will
people will emerge with distinction in the cultural sphere, as Doktor" went about his wartime not remain indifferent to any direct military act against Jordan
work with the same energetic
they already do in the general scientific fields. -
by Egypt, Syria and Iraq which are now talking of "unity" . . .
More of our young people are beginning to take an interest attention to meticulous details as Israel may be compelled to march into Jordan even if the power
he
did
the
task
of
cleaning
up
in Jewish life. If they didn't, Israel's tourism might have declined
there passes into the hands of pro-Nasser elements by "internal
rather than risen. It is because young and old are interested in Kaiserslautern.
Heuser, as his former subordi- revolution." . . -
and concerned with Israel that the tourist trade has been made
nates in the Rhineland-Palati- Between Covers
so important for Israel by us.
"The Blessed Generation," a novel in Yiddish verse written
Yet, David Ben-Gurion believes that without Israel Jewry nate police force discovered, ex-
in
the
tradition of the classics in Russian poetry, is the latest book
ceeded
all
his
wartime
comrades
would be liquidated! Such a notion is inconceivable in Jewish
his
experiences. True, some, even the children of the most orthodox, in brutality. In addition to "nor- by Leon Feinberg, noted American Jewish poet . . . Like
often stray. But many among all peoples stray, and for every one mal" liquidations, Heuser gained earlier novels in verse, it is semi-biographical and is written
a reputation for ordered "special against the background of the turbulent days of the Bolshevik
who strays there may be another whose loyalties grow.
In the speculative spirit, it could be said that Jewry might executions" by burning his vic- revolution ... However, this time Feinberg transferred his heroes
decline, but not that- it will be liquidated. It might be said that tims alive or simply shooting to Palestine as refugees from Russia and shows the impact which
we are tempted by assimilative attractions: in that case there them down when he had the the building of a Jewish National Home makes on Jews who had
lived in assimilation ... Dramatically and with much feeling he
might just be a remnant—shearith Israel—that will survive. In urge.
* *• *
conveys how these semi-assimilated Jews find themselves Jewishly
any event, the lo omut ki ekhye — I shall not die but'live-
How could a man like Heuser reborn in the kibbutzim in Palestine and the strong love they
determination is more valid in the Psalms than it can ever be
rise to such heights in the offi- develop for the Jewish soil, • ,
in the unrealistic view of David Ben-Gurion.

By

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