co
Purely Commentary
'Fail-Safe'—Expose of Computerized Systems,- Resort- to
'Lex Talionis' Misinterpretations, Exaggerated 'Resistance'
'
1-4
as
• r•I
ti)
z
C/2
ti
O
E—I
F.T4
A
Two distinguished- writers and scholars—Eugene Burdick--and
Harvey Wheeler—combined their skills to produce the most excit-
ing novel of •the year—"Fail-Safe"—the theme of. which deals with
the machine age, with the dangers of war and the use of atomic
weapons, with the power struggle between East and West.
"Fail-Safe," published by McGraw-Hill (330 W. 42nd, NY36),
is a most stirring account of the missing of signals, of the jam-
ming of radio connections which prevents the United States and
its young and energetic President from recalling a group of bomb-
ers on the'way to destroy Moscow.
A private conference medium, by direct telephone between
the President and' Khrushchev had been agreed upon and was
resorted to for the first time in the President's effort to prevent
the catastrophe.
At the very outset in this stirring novel, the explanation
given to a visiting Congressman in the War Room in Omaha is:
"Fail-Safe point is different for each group. They also change
from day to day. This is a fixed point in the sky where the
planes will orbit until they get a positive order to go in. With-
out it they must return to the United States. This is called
Positive Control. Fail-Safe simply means that if something fails
it is still safe. In short, we cannot go to war except by a direct
order. No bomber can go on its own discretion. We give that
order."
But in this story the order failed, the bombers failed to
receive instructions to return home, they could not be intercepted
even when they were reached before approaching Moscow because
their orders were not to be misled by the President's voice—it
could be a disguise and the enemy's ruse—and Moscow was about
to be bombed.
To prove to Khrushchev that it was an accident, that the
United States was sincere in its desire for peace, the President
provided his own retaliatory remedy: ordering our own bombers
to destroy New York—a city for a city, "an eye for an eye",
thereby restoring peaceful relations and rescuing both nations,
thereby neutralizing the two nations' losses.
Thus, it was established there are no infallible creations.
As the President, after offering the sacrifice of New York for
Moscow, said to Khrushchev over the specially installed Con-
ference Line: "Today what we had was a machine-made calamity.
And I'm thinking that today you and I got a preview of the
future. We damn well better learn carefully from it. More
and more of our lives will be determined by these. computerized
systems."
"Fail-Safe" may be interpreted as a very evil novel. It is
a frightening story of destruction. Its wickedness lies in the mis-
interpretation of the Lex Talionis—the law of retaliation—the
eye-for-eye Biblical rule. In Jewish law eye-for-eye did not mean
a literal application but a monetary compensation. Tooth-for-a-
tooth did not mean that if someone knocked out your tooth you
went after one of his. But the literalness of the idea has misled
and misguided. The wrong application of humaneness has caused
worldwide trouble. Now we are told by two brilliant writers in
a truly great novel that our President orders the 'destruction of,
our major metropolis as an appeasement for the misguided attack
on Moscow! Because it is conceivable, it is all the more wrong,
and therefore there has to be a new evaluation of international
relations in order to avoid the detriments of "computerized
systems."
"Fail-Safe," with its man-made problems and its frightening
psychological screening system, with its expose of the disillusion-
ment about the infallibility of our machine age, also has an inter-
esting Jewish angle of particular importance at this time, when
there is so much discussion about the resistance against Nazism
or the lack of it. One of the experts in the "Fail-Safe" story
is a Jew, Walter Groteschele, whose father, the German Jew Emil
Groteschele, a tough, brilliant, hard-working physician, who told
other Jews in his native Hamburg that there were only two
alternatives: "arm and fight, or leave Germany." He left, could
not support himself through the years required to pass medical
examinations in this country and instead secured employment in
a kosher butcher shop: "this was an irony, for Emil Groteschele
was a Reform Jew and anything but devout. But the work did
allow him to use his hands in somewhat the fashion for which
they had been exqUisitely trained."
Emil Groteschele offended a Cincinnati Jew "by arguing
that Anne Frank and her family had acted like imbeciles.
Rather than hiding in an attic and clutching their Jewishness
to them they should have made plans to escape. Failing that,
they should have been prepared to fight the Nazis when the
final day came. 'The stens leading up to that miserable attic
should have been red with Nazi blood—and that of the Frank
family,' Dr. Groteschele argued bitterly." Such was the attitude
of resentment against failure to resist.
The authors of "Fail-Safe" place in the mouth of Dr. Gro-
teschele other firm assertions sUpporting resistance. Thus, the
elder Groteschele's argument in the Burdick-Wheeler novel is:
"If each Jew in Germany had been prepared - to take- one SS-
trooper with him before he was sent to the camps and the gas
ovens, precious few Jews would have been arrested. At some
point Hitler and the SS would have stopped. Face it, if every
Jew who was arrested had walked to the door with a pistol in
his hand and started shooting at the local heroes, how long would
the Nazis have kept it up? . . . But the first Jews who shuffled
quietly off to death camps or hid like mice in attics were instru-
ments of destruction of the rest."
The novel's authors proceed to state that Dr. Groteschele
bemoaned having been "bred for a softer environment: Jewish
ladies with too much fat, rabbis with ulcers, people who ate too
much sour cream, lox, matzoh balls." He' advised his son, "don't
waste your time whining, be good enough to get into the group
you want." Taking his advice seriously, his son "attacked knowl-
edge as if it were an enemy." Thus there emerged the expert
who advised the President and the military in a time of emergency.
But the elder Groteschele's assertions are unconvincing and
unrealistic. Imagine all the Jews, anywhere, with pistols, ready
to shoot down their enemies when attacked! By the same token,
why didn't Poles and Russians, who were mowed down in the
tens of thousands, similarly resist? Why blame only the Jews?
Indeed, there should have been greater resistance, but when
chiding Jews for hiding "like mice in attics," the conditions of
-
Mechanical Fallibility
Dangers ... Judaism
Council Shenanigans
By Philip Israel Bans Two
Slomovitz British Airlines
the time, the overwhelming enemy odds, the hopes—futile though
they proved!—that deterred resistance, should be taken into
consideration.
This, however, is a minor factor in "Fail-Safe." It may be
mere fantasy, but it is chilling. It is the tragedy it suggests for
mankind through "computerized systems" that must be viewed
as menacing; and if the Burdick-Wheeler novel will guide mankind
away for delusions about the infallibility of machines, perhaps it
will serve a purpose for which we may be indebted to the authors
for all time to come.
.
Charter Flights
LONDON (JTA) — The Israel
government was disclosed to
have banned the British United
Airways and the Scottish .Cale-
donian Airways from operating
charter flights into Israel.
The first party of 84 British
pilgrims for the Easter holidays,
who had been scheduled to de-
* * *
part from Gatwick April 11 on
Judaism Council Spreads Its Venom
a Caledonian liner; had to be
Only those who understand how self-hatred can turn into a switched to an. El Al plane
destructive and venomous prejudice will be able to judge the leaving from London airport.
complexes of a group of Jews who continue to spread hatred John de la Hay, chairinan of
among their own kinsmen.
The American Council for Judaism is spreading its poison
relentlessly. Its handful of members are writing letters to news-
papers, they appear on public platforms to incite hatred against
Israel and Zionism, they sponsor lectures by people who work
hand-in-hand with enemies of peace and collaborators with Arabs
who seek Israel's destruction, their officers create suspicion
among non-Jews about Jewish agencies.
It is about the latter that something needs to be said. The
anti-Israel and anti-Zionist Council, in its disregard of basic
principles of justice, at the time when the Jewish Telegraphic .
Agency was protesting against a ban on its Washington corres-
pondent from a State Department briefing on Middle East affairs,
inaugurated a campaign to besmirch the Jewish Agency as well
as the JTA, accusing the latter of failure to be a genuine news
agency—just because the Jewish Agency had come forth with
urgently needed support for JTA! If that charge were justified,
then many Jewish communities would have to be branded as
foreign agents—just because they aid the most important agency
in the field of untrammeled Jewish information!
Then the (un)-American Council increased its destructive
work with vindications of Soviet Russian anti-Semitism—defying
truth, overlooking even the confirmation of anti-Jewish acts In
the Soviet Union by our State Department.
That's what we have to contend with when a small group of
Jews hates itself so deeply that it seeks to arouse hatred for all
Jew's. Should we merely feel sorry for them? Getting angry about
their shenanigans certainly won't help.
Arab Threats and Israel's New Dangers
Is - the new threat to Israel as a result of the Egyptian-Syrian-
Iraq merger creating a hopeless situation for the Jewish State?
There is no doubt that the situation is more menacing than
ever. "The new Arab trinity," as the unity of the three enemies
of Israel is described, coupled with the comfort that is being given
to Nasser by our West German "friends," present real dangers.
Yet, there have been threats before, and there were all sorts
of attempts to unite the Arabs—mainly with the hatred of Israel
as the cement for their fusion—and why it is difficult to foretell
what the future holds in store for the troubled Middle East. All
the speculations by news analysts, many of whom do not know
what they are talking about, are valueless.
- Even the recurring threats are valueless. For instance, in
Nocosia, this week, the Egyptian Ambassador to Cyprus said that
the newly united Arab states "will speed up the liberation of
Palestine, of every inch of Arab territory in the hands of im-
perialists and will thus terminate misfortune, injustice and tyr-
-anny." This is mild compared with the hatred that had been
spewed by Nasser. One must, therefore, take this,--too, with a grain
of salt.
The basic facts are: Israel can withstand her enemies on land,
but she is endangered in the air. Therefore, Israel must speed up
aerial power. Also: Israel's defense depends—tragic as it is—on re-
taining a balance of power. This is where the great humani-
tarians in our Government must recognize the invalidity of
mere lip service and the necessity _ for action to stop Nasser's
aggressive plots. Unless there is sincerity of purpose, Israel is
endangered. But if our Government will stop giving aid to a group
of war-mongers who seek Israel's destruction, there is hope for
peace—and peace can only come if Israel is made secure. Without
security for Israel, there may be war, and a war anywhere today
threatens the peace of the entire world. Therefore, it is urgent
that there be an end to bluffs—whether it is in Washington or in
Cairoand that there should be genuine sincerity of purpose in
assuring peace—for Israel, for the Middle East, for the world.
the Scottish airline, said "we
are looking to the British gov-
ernment to protect our interests
as a British carrier."
A Ministry of Aviation spokes-
man criticized the Israeli action.
He said: "The Israel govern-
ment has -a policy which in ef-
fect says it will not allow char-
ter flights in if they are for
the purpose of carrying inclu-
sive-tour passengers and if it
feels that the business can be
carried by scheduled airlines."
He added that the British gov-
erninent was making represen-
tation on the issue to the Israel
government.
Editorial from JN
Placed in Record
by Rep. Griffiths
Congresswoman Martha W.
Griffiths on April 8 inserted in
the Congressional Record The
Jewish News Editorial, "Honor
to Heroes of Warsaw Ghetto,"
from our issue of March 29.
In her introductory statement,
Congresswoman Griffiths de-
clared:
"Mr. Speaker, the President
has called upon the people of
this country to observe the 20th
anniversary of the Warsaw
Ghetto uprising on April 21. I
am pleased to insert in the Rec-
ord the following editorial from
The Jewish News of March 29,
1963, which is a fitting tribute
to one of the finest examples of -
human heroism in history."
Moscow Rehabilitates
Executed Jewish Writer
LONDON, (JTA)—A novel by
the late Moshe Kulbak, a well-
known Soviet Yiddish writer
who was executed during the
Stalin purges of Jewish intel-
lectuals, has been re-issued in
the Soviet Union in Russian
and White Russian translations,
according to news from Mos-
c ow.
Both volumes are illustrated
by prominent Soviet artists. The
editions were issued in com-
memoration of Kulbak's 67th
birth anniversary. He was
born in March 1896.
SS Officer Rajakovic, Former Aide
to Adolf Eichmann, Jailed in Vienna
(Special to The Jewish News)
" VIENNA — Erich Rajakovic
turned 'up in Vienna on Wednes-
day and was immediately put
under arrest in connection with
charges he had a key role as
an Adolf Eichmann aide in the
wartime deportations of 110,000
Dutch Jews to Nazi extermina-
tion camps.
The arrest climaxed a series
of flights by the former SS
officer starting with a sudden
departure from Italy two weeks
ago shortly before a Milan news-
paper carried a lengthy report
on his Nazi background. He ap-
peared in Switzerland and was
promptly taken into custody and
escorted to the border where he
was expelled.
Late last week, he arrived in
Munich. The Bavarian govern-
ment announced he was an un-
desirable alien and would be
expelled. He then disappeared
In West Germany and his where-
abouts were unknown until he
appeared in Vienna Wednesday
morning.
The Trieste-born f or m e r
Nazi officer had Austrian na-
tionality but the Austrians
lifted that nationality last
January when stories about
his Nazi past began to circu-
late.
* * *
MUNICH (JTA) — The one-
time head of the Nazi Security
Service in Holland admitted his
responsibility for the deporta-
tion of some 100,000 Jews from
Holland and said that Erich
Rajakovic was one of his aides.
Rajakovic has denied Dutch
charges that he had a key role
in the deportations.
Dr. A. Harster, who has been
since 1957 a high civil servant
been tried in Holland and had
served a sentence. He added that
Bavarian officials had full knoWl-
edge of his political past.
The former Nazi Security
Service officer also said that,
because of the publicity attend-
ant on the discovery of Rajako-
vic, he had decided to apply for
a retirement pension.
Harster was in charge of a
department of the Nazi Reich
Security office from June,
1940, to September, 1943. His
version was that he "super-
vised" the transfer of the
Dutch Jews to a Nazi camp in
Holland. He contended, how-
ever, that he had not taken
part in any further deporta-
tions.
* * *
VIENNA (JTA)—Netherlands
in the Bavarian Interior Min-
istry, made the admission and has notified Austria—as well as
the implication of Rajakovic in West Germany—that it intends
an interview with the Berlin to request the extradition of
"Morgenpost." He said he had Erich Rajakovic.