Friday, November 8, 1963—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-2

Historic Challenge
By Philip
in Phyllis Bottome's
ato
Accuse Slomovitz
Sensational J'Accus
tarian justice. His name will, indeed, live, and she will be honored
for a long time for a courage that was unmatched in her day. She
was like a prophetess—to have foreseen the Hitler menace two
years before the Fuehrer waged war on mankind. May such vision
stand us in good stead whenever bigots raise their heads among
human beings.
*
*

Purely Commentary

When Phyllis Bottome, the famous author of more than 50
books, who wrote the first novel condemning Hitlerism—"The
Mortal Storm"—passed away in late August, this Commentator
paid tribute to her and called attention to her "J'Accuse" in
which she cried out in protest against her own people — the
British—for their failure to recognize the emerging crime of
Nazism.
Your Commentator made an attempt to secure a copy of her
"I Accuse." It was not available—until our London correspondent
and confrere, Josef Fraenkel, who traced the man to whom Miss
Bottome was married in Vienna, several years before the out-
break of World War II—Capt. A. E. Forbes-Dennis. From him we
learned that the New Republic had printed the "I Accuse," but
did not know when.
The New Republic, too, was unable to secure the text for us,
but thanks to the marvelous system of microfilming the New
York Public Library was able to secure a photographic negative
photostat copy of the article for us.
It appeared in the New Republic, issue of Dec. 28, 1938, as
"A Communication," and the text of the article reads:
"I accuse the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Primate of the

Youth Aliyah
Will Care for
25,000 Wards

(Direct JTA Teletype Wire to
The Jewish News)

JERUSALEM. — Moshe Kol,
world head of Youth Aliyah,
declared Wednesday at the
opening session of a week long
Another Interesting Recollection
30th anniversary world confer-
On the same page of the New Republic of Dec. 28, 1938, on ence, that the organization was
which the Phyllis Bottome communications commenced, in "The preparing to care for 25000
Bandwagon" column, appeared this note:
wards "from three centers" in
"The process of erasing all traces of Jewish influence continued other countries.
for
named
streets
Vienna
with the removal of signs from eighty
He reported that during the
of once
Jews, as well as of statuary and other commemorations
30 years of its existence, youth
honored Jews.
Aliyah had helped bring into
"Among those whose memory is to be eradicated is Joseph
Sonnenfels, who was responsible for the abolition of torture the country and absorb more
as a method of police investigation.—News item in The New than 110,000 youth. The open-
ing session was attended by
York Times."
of
Another very interesting warning is incorporated in this cabinet ministers, members
brief item. It is an admonition to those who believe that abandon- parliament and of the Jewish

Church of England, of culpable credulity in his statement to the
House of Lords, in which he quotes the letter of an Austrian
friend, as filled wtih joy over the German military occupation of
Austria.
"Does not the Archbishop know that he could receive no other
letter than one upholding the crime of the Nazis, since all letters
are censored by the criminals themselves, and only those allowed
through that support their crimes?
"Does not the Archbishop know that so-called suicides in
Vienna are taking place at the rate of a hundred a week?
"Does the Archbishop, Head of the Church of England, have no
pity for the race from which the Founder of his own religion
sprang?
"Can any Christian accept lightly the fate of the 200,000 Jews
in Vienna who are being systematically pillaged and tortured
and the further 6,001,000 half-Jews, who are in danger of being
deprived of their livelihood if they remain, or of 75 percent of
their fortune if they leave Austria? (Note: this was subsequently
increased to 92 percent.—P.B.)
"What further proof does any sensible man need that Austria
deSired to keep her integrity than Hitler's refusal to allow her a
free vote upon it?
"Does the Archbishop suppose that a vote under an armed

-

ment of Jewish affiliations and apostasy will rescue them from Agency executive and several
anti-Semitism when the ancient curse makes itself evident. Who hundred overseas visitors.
Deputy Premier Abba Eban
was Josef Sonnenfels?
greeted the assembly on behalf
The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia lists him as follows:
"SONNENFELS, JOSEPH VON, jurist and author, b.
of the government.

force is Free?
• "The worth of an opinion lies in the person who maintains it.
"We the people of Great Britain have a right to demand
who these mysterious strangers are, who communicate with our
Prime Minister from Rome and with our Archbishop from Vienna.
"We shall no doubt be told that: "It is not a matter of public
interest that their names should be mentioned. But it is surely
of public interest that the information of these mysterious
strangers should not be misleading.
"I accuse the Lord Halifax of invincible ignorance, for
stating in the House of Lords that he sees no reason to believe
in the sinister intentions of the German government, while Spanish
towns are being bombed to pieces by German airmen, whose fellow
countrymen sit on the Non-Intervention Committee.
"I accuse the Prime Minister of being publicly cited in a
Gerinan newspaper as 'Germany's man,' and of having deserved

Nikolsburg, Moravia, 1'732; d. Vienna, 181'7. He was the grand-
son of Michael Hasid, city and state rabbi in Berlin. His
father, Lipmann Berlin, who was raised to the nobility after
he and his sons were baptized, had adopted the name of Alois
Wiener, Edler von Sonnenfels, and became professor of lan-
guages at the University of Vienna in 1745. Joseph Sonnen-
fels studied law. In quest of literary achievements he became
a member of the Deutsche Gesellschaft which he had helped
to establish. There be ardently espoused liberalism after the
Berlin pattern. He became professor (1'763) and twice dean
of the University of Vienna. In his weekly periodical, Der
Mann ohne Vorurteil (1'765.67, 1769, 1'7'75), he fought for a
newly instituted subject, Polizei-und Kameralwissenschaft,'
against social and literary evils, and especially for a perma-
nent legitimate stage. As a result of his essay, 'Lieber die
AbsChafung der Tortur' (Zurich, 1775), and due to his
persistent struggles, the rack was abolished in the German
parts of Austria, in the Teesvar Banat, and in Galicia.
"Sonnenfels played a large part in the formulation of
Joseph II's Edict of Tolerance (1'781), which emancipated
the Jews. He was councillor to the Austrian chancery, chair-
man of the committee on studies and censorship (1779), and
became president of the imperial academy of fine arts in
1811."

The biographical note of Sonnenfels is followed by a list of
his writings on criminology and other subjects.
Here is a noteworthy example of a man who had made great
contributions to his country, who was converted to Christianity
by his father and whose new faith did not rescue his name from
Nazi abominations. Indeed, he was an exception among the bap-
tized: he helped in the emancipation of Jews. Perhaps that was a
contributing factor in the removal of his name from Vienna street
signs.
The Sonnenfels lesson remains part of the historic experi-
ences
of Jews—those who remained within the fold as well as
this insult.
"I accuse the 'Cliveden set' of money-conditioned thinking, those who abandoned us, in order to attain professorships and to
in that they are deliberately using their great wealth and the power be included in nobility among strangers.

of the press which they help to control, to hand England over to
the dictators in order to save their skins and their pockets.
_ "I accuse the present government of forsaking her natural
allies, all free and democratic countries, but most especially
France, America and those countries which have a right to look
to England for moral as well as protective leadership, in order
to curry favor with the forces inimical to our birthright of
freedom. •
"I accuse those who govern England of perfidy and cowardice,
and of a blind arrogance that will dig her doom.
"I accuse our press, with a few honorable exceptions, of having
given up their liberty of free speech under the guise of 'a
gentleman's agreement.' This is more than a mere political
situation; it is a moral question; and all British people with
consciences or with courage have a right and a duty to take

part in it.

"I accuse our present government and the Primate of the
Church of England of paltering with their consciences in making
friends with the Mammon of Unrighteousness, and of trying to
juggle with the conscience of England. by throwing away our
responsibility as human beings to our brother man."

"Phyllis Bottome"
Not since the days of Emile Zola, from whose "J'Accuse" in
which he challenged the persecutors of Alfred Dreyfus Miss Bot-
tome borrowed the idea of uttering a public "I Accuse," has any-
thing as powerful been heard.
This "Communication" was preceded by a letter to the editor
of the New Republic, who titled it "I Accuse . . . ." Here is the
text of Miss Bottome's letter, explaining the difficulties she had
in getting a hearing in her own country:

"Sir: Your readers may be interested in the enclosed
It was written last spring, shortly after the seizure
of Austria by Germany. Several liberal-minded weeklies in Great
Britain refused it with regret. It was then decided to print it
privately for distribution among friends and acquaintances. But
this plan was never carried out.
"A well known firm of British printers, who had done much
work for me in recent years, refused even to submit an estimate
far it. The text was then submitted to an attorney, who assured
us that there was no legal objection of any kind to its being
printed. However, another firm of printers with whom he had
contact refused to handle it. So did a third, which had been
connected with my family for three generations. In each case, an
unlimited indemnity was offered to cover any possible loss that
the printer might incur.
Phyllis Bottome"
"New York City
What a powerful moral lesson is contained in these com-

document.

munications. The Phyllis Bottome "J'Accuse" is a warning against
complacency and it demolishes whatever arguments are offered,
on any score, under any given conditions, by those who would
hush-hush matters of public concern.
Miss Bottome rendered a great service to the cause of liber-

Six Major Jewish
Welfare Groups
Hold Conference

GENEVA, (JTA) — The Inter-
national Council of Jewish Wel-

fare Service held its annual
meeting here with the participa-
tion of six major Jewish
agencies —the Central British
Fund for Jewish Relief and Re-
habilitation, the Joint Distribu-
tion Committee, the Jewish
Colonization Association, the
Standing Conference of Euro-
pean Jewish Community Serv-
ices, the United Hias Service

and the World ORT Union.
Oscar Joseph, chairman of the
Central British Fund, cited a
project in which the JDC is co-
operating with the United Na-
tions Children's Fund in experi-
ments in adding soybean con-
centrates to native Moroccan
foods to increase the amount of

proteins served in school feed-
ing programs. He also hailed
the fact that the first school

medical program ever operated
in Bombay, India has been one
of the achievements of a joint
effort by the JDC and the
World ORT Union,

American Jewish Committee Reveals Anti-Semitic
Growth in South, Arab Propaganda Threat in U.S.

CHICAGO, (JTA)—A sharp
rise "in the amount of anti-
Semitic literature put out in the
South by local Southern bigots"
was reported by the American
Jewish Committee at a meeting
of its national executive board.
The report, based on a year-
long study, said that most pro-
fessional anti-Semites in the
United States were posing as
"super-patriots" to gain accept-
ance in respectable circles. Their
appeals are directed mainly at
"isolationists, proponents of rad-
ical right measure and pro-Arab
apologists. They are avoiding
the 'shock tactics' of George
Rockwell and his American Nazi
party in their bid to infiltrate
`ultra-conservative' groups," the
report said.
They take positions of sup-
port of "states rights" and oppo-
sition to the United Nations, the
income tax amendment, foreign
aid, water fluoridation and men-
tal health laws. "By labeling dis-
approved measures as 'Commu-
nist' and attaching the same
label to Jews, anti-Semites hope
to gain a hearing and entrench
themselves into respectable cir-
cles," the report said.
A fertile area for the bigots'
wares has been communities
in the South racked by deseg-
regation tensions. It says:

"Since 1954, when the Su-
preme Court outlawed school
segregation, the promoters of
religious hatred have increased
their activities in the South
where a resurgent Ku Klux
Klan and more newly orga-
nized racist groups have pro-

vided channels for fomenting
anti-Semitism."

In addition, Arab propaganda
in the United States continues
to originate from several
sources. The report named in
the sources as the Arab League's
Arab Information Center, with
branches in several cities; the
Organization of Arab Students,
whose members—some 4,000—
are active on many U.S. college
campuses; and the embassies and
UN' delegations of the various
Arab nations.
Members of the board heard
another report disclosing that
some North African leaders in
Tunisia, Algeria and Morocco
are attacking Israel Zionism as
a political tactic in domestic
politics and to regain prestige
in the Arab world. While not
leveled against the Jewish citi-
zens or residents, these attacks
have helped to create "an ac-
cumulation of among
Moslems toward their Jewish
neighbors."

The report was based on an
on-the-spot survey conducted
by the Committee's European
office and made public by
Ralph Friedman, administra-
tive board chairman. There
are 130,000 Jews in Morocco,
30,000 in Tunisia and about
5,000 left in Algeria.

The survey stressed, however,
that despite anxiety felt by the
Jewish communities in the three
countries, "the anti-Israel cam-
paign appears not to have af-
fected their basic security and
fundamental rights." The survey
reported that of the 500,000
Jews who lived in North Africa

15 years ago about 165,000 re-
main today.
Regarding the anti-Israel prop-
aganda, the Committee report
stressed that responsible North
African leadership had always
tried to distinguish clearly be-
tween measures taken against
"Zionism" and policies toward
national Jewish minorities. In
spite of this, however, the report
adds that there has been some
"effect and interaction" stem-
ming from the attacks on Zion-
ism and the attitudes in these
countries toward Jews.
A year-long study of major

metropolitan and rural areas
has shown that "religious af-
filiation" plays an important
role in American voting pat-
terns, but it is "far from being
the only basis of choice."

The study, conducted by the
American Jewish Committee,
has sought to determine the in-
fluence of religion, national ori-
gin and race in nationwide and
local elections. Its findings were
made public by Morris B. Abram,
chairman of the AJC executive
board.
The survey found that Jewish
voting patterns tend to follow a
liberal trend and that Jews vote
readily for candidates who are
members of other faiths by re-
sponding to programs or beliefs
rather than to appeals of reli-
gious affiliation. In New York,
for example, where Jews consti-
tute more than_a quarter of its
population, there has never been
a Jewish mayor. Catholic candi-
dates frequently have garnered
greater support from Jews than
did their Jewish opponents.

