Friday, January 3, 1964—THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS-2
# enials of Guilt Mark
Purely Commentary Wholesale
Resumption of Trial of 22 Nazis
By PHILIP SLOMOV ITZ
The ilberry Classic Theater
Coinciding with the historic 400th Shakespearean anniver-
sary, Wayne State University will open its Classic Theater in
mid=january.
As a mark of respect and honor for the university's presi-
dent, Dr. Clarence Hilberry. the new playhouse will be known
as the Hilberry Classic Theater.
The entire community shares with the university the satis-
faction of being able to extend deserved honors to a distinguished
scholar, an able administrator and a man who has helped elevate
the university that commenced with modest beginnings in our
community to great heights.
Wayne State University is the outgrowth of the small college
that was known as Detroit Teachers College. Now it is one of
our nation's very great institutions of learning.
Our university's theater also is an outgrowth of very meager
beginnings. Now it may well hope to become one of the note-
worthy theatrical enterprises in the land.
An able cast has been assembled from 24 schools in 12
states. The devotion it is displaying, coupled with the dedication
of the directors and the deep interest of university auhorities in
this enterprise, assure for it a great success.
It is a joy to welcome it and to congratulate Dr. Hilberry
and all who are associated with it for making this playhouse
possible for Detroit.
Worldwide Tributes to Dr. Silver's Memory
Detroit's memoial meeting in tribute to Dr. Abba Hillel
Silver, to be held this Sunday evening, is one of many that have
been planned in Jewish communities throughout the world.
They are the natural resonances to great gifts that had been
made by a single person for the betterment of mankind, for the
advancement of labor's dignity, in support of civil rights, in
defense of Jews everywhere and especially in behalf of the
movement that labored to end the homelessness of Jews and,
with his aid, attained that •goal.
Indeed, he was primarily a Zionist. But it should be remem-
bered that he was a man of great culture, that he produced
imperishable works in his theological studies, in his evaluation
of the Messianic idea as it is considered in Jewish tradition,
and, of course, in his propagation of the libertarian principles
for and among Jews.
It is what he did within the Jewish fold, in his striving
to have Jews hold their heads high, to straighten their shoulders,
to improve their status among the nations of the world, that
he was especially creative. He helped our people to attain a
great dignity, to help themselves, to rise high in the area of
libertarianism. For such an attainment, his name will remain
imperishable in Jewish history.
War-Mongerers Alert the World
Abdel Gamal Nasser must have been so enraged by the
announcement that Pope Paul VI will include Israel in his Holy
Day tour that he has once more lost his temper and has intro-
duced a new phase of war-mongering. He began his new anti-
Israel campaign through his controlled press—by disseminating
such stupidities as the warning that the Pope will be assassinated
in Israel. (It must have been from his quarters that the circulars
emanated for distribution in Toronto and elsewhere linking
Ruby with a Communist plot against Kennedy). But the non-
sensical propoganda had fallen on deaf ears, and the Egyptian
dictator thereupon proceeded to challenge the Arab nations to
join him in a conference to plan a war on Israel in retaliation for
the installation of the vast system that is to provide water for
Israel's parched areas in the country's southern portions.
It is inevitable that Nasser's new Don Quixotean tactics
should arouse some fears lest a new war should be waged in the
Middle East. In a sense, we should be grateful to the Arabian
war-mongers: at least they are warning the world of their inten-
tions, and if there really is a danger that another conflict will
emerge from the windbags who are rattling their sabers again,
there should be sufficient time for the United Nations to prove
that it is not impotent and that it can prevent a war before
actual bloodshed.
A major responsibility to act against all impending dangers
rests upon our own Government and on the State Department.
The U. S. Senate has warned the administration far enough
in advance to refrain from giving aid to Nasser in the event
he proceeds with war threats against Israel. Let us see how
the State Department reacts to the admonitions of our legis-
lative bodies.
In the meantime, it will be necessary for the world at large,
and—of course—primarily for Jews everywhere, to understand
what is involved in the water scheme that is arousing so much
hatred and agitation.
Let it be known and appreciated that the Israeli undertaking
is a natural inclination to give the country much-needed water
supplies. There was to have been a joint water development
project for both Israel and her Arab neighbors, and our Govern-
ment was ready to finance it. But the Arabs, bent upon harming
Israel, abandoned a plan that would have been of help to their
people. That's how the dictators work. Therefore Israel pro-
ceeded with the plan independently.
In a pre-Christmas editorial, "Truce in the Holy Land," the
New York Times described the situation well when it stated:
As thousands of Christians stream across the fortified
Israel-Jordan frontier in Jerusalem in an annual Christmas
pilgrimage soon to be crowned by the visit of Pope Paul, the
spirit of the Prince of Peace seeks to reign in a land holy to
tihi ee religions. But—as it has been for millennia in the past—
the peace is a precarious one. Both Arabs and Israelis still
engage in an arms race to prepare for, or to stave off, a sec-
end round in the Palestinian partition war.
"The basic issue remains the proclaimed Arab deter-
mination to drive the Israelis into the sea. This aim can be
taken with a large grain of salt so long as there is a military
balance between the two, especially with the Arabs as dis-
laited as they now are. But the political fact of irreconcilable
Arab hostility has thus far frustrated all efforts at accom-
modation between them for their own mutual benefit.
This Arab refusal to recognize that. Israel is here to stay
is also behind the latest dispute over Israel's project to tap
FRANKFURT, (JTA) —
Wholesale denials of any wrong-
doing or wilful' participation
were entered here by some of
the 22 former guards and medi-
cal personnel at the infamous
Auschwitz-Birkenau death fac-
tory, whose trial resumed here
monday before a court com-
posed of three judges and six
jurymen. All were charged,
when the trial opened a week
ago, with participation in the
torture and murder of 4.000,000
inmates — mostly Jews — of the
Nazi annihilation c a in p s in
Auschwitz and Birkenau.
The proceeding — the biggest
mass trial of accused Nazi mur-
derers since the Nuremburg
War Crimes Trials of 1946 —
was postponed today after a six-
hour session, until January 6.
On that date, the court an-
nounced, the trial will be re-
sumed on a three-day-a-week
basis, sessions to be held Mon-
days, Thursdays and Fridays.
Heinrich Bischoff, 59, admit-
ted he was transferred from
another SS unit to a job as a
guard at Auschwitz. However,
he maintained he did not even
know what the SS was, had
been drafted into that forma-
tion of Hitler's Elite Guards,
and "I didn't want to have
anything to do with them." He
served at Auschwitz three
years.
Bischoff was charged with
brutally shooting down five or
six Birkenau inmates in the
summer of 1943, with .stamping
on another inmate's neck until
the victim was dead, with
dancing on the corpse of still an-
other man he had just shot. But
Bischoff insisted he was "mere-
ly . a victim of circumstances,
drawn into Auschwitz inadvert-
ently."
His style of defense was fol-
lowed by all the others ques-
tioned B run o •Schlage, 60,
a building superintendent,
Jordan River water for the
arid Negev. The project is
part of a larger one worke.l.
out under American auspices
to use common water re-
sources to make the desert
bloom on both sides of the
frontier. But since the .Arabs
veto any joint enterprises that
would benefit Israel, the lat-
ter is going ahead with its
part to irrigate urgently need-
ed land for its growing popu-
lation.
"As a result the Arabs are
again making war-like noises.
They are intensifying their
hitherto rather ineffective
boycott against Israel and
their chiefs of staff save .just
met to concert military action
if the Israeli pipelines go into
operation. The key figure in
the situation is President Nas-
ser, - even though his country
is not directly involved in
the Jordan dispute. He boasts
of the prowess of his army,
but he is also exploiting the
dispute to make a new bid
for Arab political unification
under him as an essential
preliminary to any military
steps. Since clinch unification
is not yet in sight, the chances
are good that the present
truce will be preserved."
Indeed, the sound and fury
is great and the senselessness of
the Arab noises is equally im-
mense. But all common sense
points to another impending
abortive scheme that may, more
than any other launched by the
Arabs, prove the lack of realism
in the Nasser-pursued policies.
Perhaps the unhappy and im-
poverished masses of the Arab
peoples will soon awaken to the
fact that they are being misled
and that the only hope for ad-
vancement. for all peoples in the
Middle East lies in a sound
peace between Israel and the
Arabs.
charged with having been a
member of numerous selection
squads which picked victims for
murder, denied everything. Jo-
hann Schoberth, 41, a farmer,
said he knew nothing about the
allegations that he participated
in punier o u s executions and
helped select inmates for ship-
ment to the gas chambers.
Heinz Hoffman, an engi-
neer already under sentence
to life imprisonment for two
murders committed at Da-
chau, was accused of special-
izing in selecting children for
annihilation at Auschwitz, and
of having sent hundreds of
adults also to the gas ovens.
He too said he was innocent
of these charges as he was,
also, of the murders commit-
ted at Dachau.
Among the charges against
Hoffman were two accusing him
of forcing a dozen prisoners to
undress and stand naked in sub-
zero weather until they died. "I
was falsely convicted at Munich
on the Dachau charges," he yel-
led at the court, "and I am
equally innocent of these
charges."
Among the other prisoners
who continued the litany of de-
nials, after being charged with
sadistic acts of torture and mur-
der, were Oswald Kapuk, who
shouted: "I haven't done any-
thing; I shouldn't be here." He
insisted he had "never heard of
the SS."
Two of the accused are den-
tists, Dr. Willi Frank, 60, and
Dr. Willi Schatz, 58. Alongside
the dentists was a pharmacist,
Dr. Viktor Kapesius, 56. All
three had worked in the Ausch-
witz medical section. They were
accused of murdering dozens of
inmates by injecting them with
phenoline and by beating them.
But they insisted they were in-
nocent.
Judge Hans Hofmyer spoke up
sharply to Dr. Hans Laternser,
chief of the team of defense
attorneys, a lawyer remembered
here as the man who defeated
Field Marshal Wilhelm Keitel
and other Nazi generals during
the Nuremberg trials in 1946.
Dr. Laternser objected to
questioning of the accused by
Dr. Henry Ormond, a private
prosecutor representing the sur-
viving relatives of 15 Auschwitz
victims. As Dr. Ormond started
to interrogate some of the ac-
cused, Dr. Laternser leaped to
his feet and told the court: "I
have instructed my clients not
to answer Dr. Osmond's ques-
tions, and I shall instruct them
now not to answer your ques-
tions if the same questions are
repeated by the court."
Beating a pencil on the bench
for emphasis, Judge Hofmyer in-
terrupted the attorney, saying:
"You have the right to instruct
your clients as you wish. But
your clients also have the right
to ignore your instructions. Fur-
thermore, I have the right to ask
whatever questions I desire, re-
gardless of who has already
posed them in this court room."
There was loud applause from
the visitors' gallery, where some
50 or 60 German high school
and college students were
seated.
■ 143 41INHI•1111*(14 ■ 13.11•11•4)!0411111111.0 ■ 111.11 ■ 1.1)40/0 ■ 01011 ■ 0111•10041•11•1011•1111.041111i0.1111•11.0i1•43411111.14111 ■ 41 ■ 0•1•111.
Boris Smolar's
Between You
... and Me
(Copyright. 1964
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)
1964 Elections
Jewish organizations already are on the alert for the Novem-
ber Presidential elections . . . They draw attention to the fact
that, in preparation for the nominating conventions of the major
parties next summer, proposed platform planks and other policies
will be widely discussed . . . They suggest that timely prepara-
tions be made for submitting appropriate recommendations to
platform committees and other policy-formulating groups of the
major political parties . . . Among other things, these Jewish
organizations are interested in ensuring that U.S. economic aid
is not diverted and misused by Arab governments to acquire
offensive weapons and undertake aggressive adventures .
They also want the American Government to pursue a policy
of bringing an end to Arab boycotts of American firms dealing
with Israel; ratification by the Senate of the United Nations
Genocide Convention; granting of authority to the Attorney
General to seek injuctions an his own initiative against any
denial of civil rights . . . They support the principle of church-
state separation in keeping with American traditions and with
the spirit of the U.S. constitutions; oppose any governmental
financial aid to schools under religious control or supervision;
recommend alertness to proposals for the enactment of humane
slaughter legislation and steps to assure that, in any such laws
as are enacted, Shehita is explicitly defined as a humane method
. . . They strongly believe in the need for relaxation of the
present immigration laws.
Immigration Perspectives
Approximately 7,000 Jewish immigrants—the same number
that came in 1963—are expected to arrive in the United States
in 1964 . . . Emigration from Cuba has fallen off in 1963, -but
special refugee legislation permitted many Jewish immigrants
from Egypt, Eastern and Western Europe to join relatives in
this country . . . In 1964, little emigration of Jews from Cuba
to the United States is anticipated, and most of the Jews from
Egypt eligible for settlement in this country already have arrived
. . . However, newcomers from certain Eastern European coun-
tries are expected in great numbers— mainly to join relatives
already settled here . . . In a recent major message to Congress,
the late President Kennedy urged a broad revision of our im-
migration laws . . . If such liberalized legislation is adopted,
many more persons would be permitted to immigrate to this
country .. . Most of the 7,000 Jewish immigrants who came to
this country last year settled in New York City ... The average
cost of resettling a refugee family of four in New York is
estimated by the New York Association for New Americans as
being about $1,000 . . . But. NYANA had spend in 1963 only
about $900,000 to meet the needs of 4,500 Jewish newcomers . .
Its projected cost of aiding newcomers to settle and become
self-supporting in the New York area in 1964 is slightly in
excess of this sum . . . Altogether NYANA resttled nearly 95,000
Jewish immigrants in the New York area since 1949 . . This,
in addition to the immigrants which are being resettled by the
United Bias Service in communities outside of New York . .
NYANA gets its fund from the United Jewish Appeal.