West- German Chancellor Ludwig Erhard in the Thick of Embarrassing Hot 'Krueger Case' By JOHN DORNBERG JTA Correspondent in West Germany (Copyright, 1964, Jewish Telegraphic Agency, Inc.) BONN—The suspension of West German Refugee Minister Hans Krueger has touched off the biggest crisis to date for Chancellor Ludwig Erhard, and one of the hottest political disputes here in recent years. Hours after Krueger announced that he was asking for his own suspension from office, pending the outcome of an inves- tigation into his Nazi background, the Social Democratic Party fired off a broadside that goes to the heart of the affair. "It is high time, said SPD spokesman Franz Barsig, "that the federal government take steps to examine the personal histories of cabinet members before their appointment, so that Pankow (East Germany) doesn't get a chance to impeach them." It seems only natural, said the SPD, that the back- grounds of ministers would be checked more carefully than those of any other public officials. Ludwig Erhard Schildkraut Saga HE JEWISH NE About Presidential Running Mates Commentary Page 2 Under the German parliamentary system, tinlike the requirements of the U.S. Constitution for example, cabinet appointments are not subject to ratification or investigation by the Bundestag, the lower house of Parliament. The Krueger affair, fused by East German allegations that the minister had served as a judge and prosecutor on special Nazi summary courts in Poland, and had participated in Hitler's and Ludendorff's November 1923 march on the Feldherrnhalle in Munich, is especially embarrassing to Chancellor Erhard. Not only had most Germans and the world hoped that with the resignation of Konrad Adenauer there would be a new era in Bonn, but Krueger was the only new member of the cabinet to take office with Erhard last Oct. 16 to have been personally selected by the new chancellor. Adenauer's position on officials with Nazi background was always clear, an SPD source pointed out. When Krueger's predecessor, Prof. Theodor Oberlaender, was under fire for much the same reason, Adenauer resisted demands to fire him Continued on Page 32 MICHIGAty A Weekly Review of Jewish Events Michigan's Only English-Jewish Newspaper—Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle VOLUME XLIV — No. 24 a 100 pedie iicun Shop Iraqi Rules Menace 5,000 Jews ORT'S New Service Plans New Goals in Our Campaign Editorials Page 4 17100 W. 7 Mile Rd. — VE 8-9364—Detroit 35, February 7, 1964—$6.00 Per Year; This Issue 20c azi Exposes More Arrests Lead to end uschwitz Trial Jewish Organizations to Act Against USSR Policy on Jews at Parley Set for April 5-6 NEW YORK, (JTA)—A national Jewish confer- ence, representing all major Jewish organizations— religious and secular—will be held in Washington on April 5 and 6, to voice the unified protest of American Jewry against the suppression of Jewish culture and Jewish religious rights in the Soviet Union. A decision to summon such a conference was adopted at a parley of representatives of Jewish organi- zations active in all phases of Jewish life in this country. The American Jewish Committee and the Synagogue Council of America agreed to join in calling the Wash- ington conference which will, in addition to discussing the situation of the Jews in the Soviet Union, also send a delegation to the White House. A delegation of the conference will also seek to present the recommenda- tions of the parley to Anatoly Dobrynin, the Soviet ambassador in Washington, for transmission to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev. At the preliminary parley held in camera at Hotel Delmonico by representatives of all the interested Jewish organizations, tentative preparations were dis- cussed for the broadest measures to attract the widest attention of the American people to the discriminations FRANKFURT (JTA)—A second Auschwitz murder camp trial, involving 20 defendants, will open here as soon as the current case against 22 former guards and officers is completed, a district court spokesman announced. Reporting that preliminary investigation into the cases of the 20 defendants had been completed, he said the trial could begin immediately but the delay was forced by the lack of courtroom facilities. The defendants in the forthcoming Auschwitz trial include former SS men up to the rank of major and two former inmates, both criminal prisoners. Charges and evidence in the case already fill 20 volumes, and hundreds of former Auschwitz inmates have been questioned in investigations that included research in Israel, Poland, East Germany, Hungary and Czechoslovakia. Only three of the 20 defendants are in pre-trial confinement, the other 17 having been released on bail. Among the 20 are the former labor chief of the camp at Birkenau and two commandants of subsidiary camps in the huge murder complex. Four are former SS truck drivers charged with aiding and abetting murder by transporting inmates to the gas chambers in trucks. As compensation for this work, they received extra rations of food and whiskey. Other defendants are members of the camp secret police, and a medic responsible for making up the duty roster of the hospital and medical staff. This roster listed the camp doctors and medical assistants assigned to take part in selection for gassing of inmates arriving at Birkenau and those assigned to supervising the gas executions. One of the two criminal inmates is charged with having murdered Fritz Beda-Loehner, the librettist of operetta composer Franz Lehar. At the trial against 22 guards and officers of the Auschwitz camp, Josef Klehr, 59, a carpenter who served in the camp for four years as a medic, admitted killing 250 inmates over a two-month period by giving them injections of phenolic acid directly into the heart. In addition to charges that he killed or aided in the Continued on Page 16 Jewish Education Is Rated 'Major Idea' ; Schools Honored at Federation Meeting Tribute to the United Hebrew Schools, on the occasion of the community's educational system's 45th anniversary, and recognition of the schools' accomplishments and their plans for continued expansion of Detroit's cultural activities, marked the 38th annual meeting of the Jewish Welfare Federation, at the Jewish Center, Tuesday evening. At this meeting, Max M. Fisher, president of the Federation, who presided at the gather- ing, became the 14th recipient of the Fred M. Butzel Memorial Award for distinguished com- munal service. The official honors to the Hebrew Schools were extended by Fisher, and David Safran, president of the schools; and Albert Elazar, the schools' superintendent, responded. A third year student of the schools, Martin Fridson, gave the invocation in Hebrew and in English at the dinner that preceded the annual meeting. The gathered 400 dinner guests joined Hyman Safran in a toast with wine from Israel to the United Hebrew Schools' 45th anniversary. In his opening remarks as chairman of the meeting, Fisher acclaimed the Hebrew Schools and referred to Jewish education as "the corn munity's major idea." In his address evaluating the schools' obje ctives and reviewing their history, David Safran spoke of "the rewarding program" which enh antes the work of the educators. He described the development of educational standards here, the growth of the schools to their present student population of 4,000 in 14 branches, receiving their Jewish education from a staff of 125 teachers. Safran told of the enlistment of congrega tional schools and other affiliates into the school system. He said the schools' total budget is $892,000, of which $460,000 is the Federation allo- cation. He appealed for continued community support and aid from individuals by means of memberships and endowments, in order to assure continued progress for the school system. Recalling the leaders of the past, Safran listed the presidents who preceded him since the United Hebrew Schools were founded in 1919: Esser Rabinowitz, M. H. Zackheim, Robert Continued on Page 3 Continued on Page 16 Abraham Borman Gives $50,000 Israel Bonds Gift for WSU Scholarship Fund Abraham Borman, leading Detroit businessman, philanthropist and communal leader, presented an ini- tial gift towards a $50,000 endowment in State of Israel Bonds to Wayne State Uni- versity to establish a fund for scholarships from the proceeds of the interest on the Bonds. Borman, chairman of the board of Borman Food Stores, Inc., which sponsors the Borman Near-Eastern lecture series at Wayne, is shown presenting the Irael Bonds to Dr. Clarence B. Hil- berry, president of the uni- versity. The scholarship fund A. Borman will provide $2,000 annually from the 4 per cent return on the Bonds, and will be administered through the Office of the Student Finan- cial Aids of the University. Borman is co-chairman of the 1964 Detroit Allied Jewish Campaign, a vice president of the United Foun- dation and an Israel Bond Golden Trustee.