'Krueger Case' Embarrasses Chancellor Erhard (Continued from Page 1) until it threatened Der Alte's own prestige in party govern- ment and foreign affairs. Once, when cornered in parliamentary debate about the background of his closest adviser, Hans Globke, and the records of other ministers a it d high-ranking officials, Adenauer said, "I think it's time to end the witch hunt for Nazis." That, at least, left the cards on the table. But no one in West Ger- many, friend or foe of the rul- ing Christian Democratic Party alike, would have predicted three months ago that Ludwig Erhard would also find himself in the thick of a Nazi scandal. Today, Krueger and his cronies in the expellee movement, which he once headed as presi- dent of the League of Expellees, are being blamed for the new chancellor's embarrassment. "It was Hans Krueger's duty to tell us and the chancellor about his past," said a bitter CDU functionary the morning after Krueger asked for his own suspension. "He should have known that the East Germans or the Poles had evidence on him that could have proved em- barrassing." SPD officials go even fur- ther than that. "In these days of disengage- ment and detente, when the fed- eral government is committed to improving relations with Po- land, the Soviet Union and other East European countries, a man with Krueger's views on the Oder-Neisse line and the east- ern territories was bound to be an impediment. He's an irri- dentist, and irredentism is out of step with the times," said a Social Democratic foreign affairs strategist. Krueger's own actions dur- ing the past weeks fall neatly into the pattern set by other West German officials who have found themselves in the same boat. When the charges were first leveled by East Ger- many's chief propagandist, Al- bert Norden (who happens to be. the son of a Silesian rabbi), Krueger denied them catego- rically and wrote them off as just so much "Pankow propa- ganda." Experience, however, should have taught Krueger, a member of Parliament since 1957, that the East Germans never make such allegations without proof. Protests in West Germany that the Pankow propagandists re- sorted to forged documents in previous cases have generally been proven false. It is only log- ical for them to fire their blasts with real bullets instead of blanks, for otherwise the whole exercise would boomerang. When Norden, in a Dec. 6 East Berlin press conference, al- leged that Krueger had been a judge on a special Nazi court in Konitz, Poland, which was responsible for the execution of 2,000 Poles, had been head of the Nazi Party in the town of Konitz, and had participated in the Feldherrnhalle march—the minister denied all the accusa- tions. "I was not a member of the group that marched on the Feld- herrnhalle," Krueger said. "At the time I was studying law in Jena. not Munich. I was only an ordinary member of the party and, from 1940 to 1943, until I was drafted into the army, I was a municipal judge in Ko- nitz. There was no special sum- mary court attached to the mu- nicipal court, and I never served on any such court or courts. Therefore I could not have been involved in the passing of death sentences. I know nothing of the execution of 2,000 Poles who had been interned in the Konitz prison. The prison. was under the jurisdiction of the district court, not the municipal court." But Norden held the aces and began playing them, round by round. He had Krue- ger's personnel forms on which the refugee minister had written, by hand, the fact that he had participated in the march. "Well," admitted Krueger, "I did write that, but it wasn't true. I just thought it would look good and help my promo- tion chances in the judiciary during the Nazi period." West Germans were shocked at this blunt admission of falsi- fication of documents and rank opportunism. His tenure as Nazi party leader in Konitz? Yes, it was true. He held the post for three months. The West German govern- ment press chief, Karl-Guenther von Hase, explained that Krue- ger's "nominal membership" in the party had been known to Erhard. Krueger said that, in view of this, he had seen no rea- son to also inform the chancel- lor that for a brief time he had been party leader in the town. Service on summary courts? Six weeks after the allegation was first made and the East Ger- mans supported it with docu- ments, Krueger admitted that it was true. "I think I served as an associate judge on one of those courts for a very brief time. I must have forgotten about it," he said. Political sources in Bonn pointed out that, in one respect at least, the Krueger affair dif- fered markedly from similar scandals under Adenauer's ad- ministration. Erhard didn't wait very long to act. And the betting here was that Krueger's suspension will be- come permanent. The investiga- tion is a formality. Krueger has resigned. The Detroit Jewish News Humbly Acknowledges Tribute to Its Editor Commended for Leadership By BERNARD G. RICHARDS (A Tribute to Philip Slomovitz and His Paper) One evening a few days ago it was my privilege to speak before the Theodore Herzl In- stitute on the Jewish leaders of a former generation, and I took the opportunity of reminiscing about some outstanding families out of which some eminent lead- ers emerged. The great families, who in different ways left their imprint on the evolving Jewish community, were, of course, the Seligmans, the Lehmans, the Sulzbergers, the Strauses, the Guggenheims, the Lewisohns, the Rosen- walds, and not least among them, the:, Schiff-Warburg family. Some distin- guished lead-) ers stood out without any family back- ground, like Louis Marshal, Samuel Green- baum, and others. The masses of Jews of immigrant origin also had their more B. G. Richards prominent families, which often challenged and came into con- flict with the earlier • settlers. These families included the Eisensteins, the Roggens, the Lamports, the Lewin-Epsteins, the Radins, and the Jarmolow- skys. Again, some personalities stood out, independent of not- able families, and they were Jo- seph Barondess, Zvi Hirs Mas- liansky, Otto Rosalsky and Ber- nard Semel. In reciting the activities and describing the personalities, I leaned heavily upon a notable book—like most important rec- ords now out of print—called "Memoirs of an American Jew." This was written by Philip Cowen, a native of New York, originally a simple printer, who by virtue of splendid public spirit and intense energy and Jewish devotion, became the founder of a most important Jewish newspaper which Ameri- The following article was released to the English-Jewish press this week by Seven Arts Feature Syndicate of which Nathan Ziprin is the editor. The author of the article, Bernard G. Rich- ards, director of the Jewish Information Bureau, 250 W. 57th St., New York 19, is one of American Jewry's most distinguished leaders. He was the first national executive director of the American Jewish Congress, an associate of the late Supreme Court Justice Louis D. Brandeis and the late Dr. Stephen S. Wise, author of hundreds of published essays and of two books, "The Discourses of Keidansky." This article reached The Jewish News during Mr. Slomovitz's absence from the city on a brief vacation. can Jewry had cherished for years. Cowen had the encourage- ment and cooperation of a not- able group of men who served on his editorial board and to mention their names is to indi- cate another strand of pioneer molders of opinion, perhaps the Sephardic strain, which served to f a s h i on the intellectual growth of American Jewry. These men are as follows: Frederick de Sola Mendes, Rev. Dr. H. Pereira Mendes, Cyrus L. Sulzberger, Dr. Solomon Solis- Cohen, Max Cohen, Jacob Fonda de Silva Solis, and Samuel Greenbaum. Cowen took part in innumerable important activi- ties, finally holding government office as an immigration inspec- tor. His contact with important people both here and abroad is by itself a rare phenomenon. In thinking of the past many other Jewish journals and journalists come to mind and the American Jewish newspapers, their sim- plicities of their past and their complexities of the present, pre- sent a problem in itself—one more problem for unburdened minds. There is no comparison be- tween the late Philip Cowen and our good friend Philip Slomo- vitz, auf Lange yohren. Cowen was more of a businessman, exec- utive, promoter. Slomovitz is a distinguished writer with a fine penchant for history, all in all an extraordinary journalist, of talent and resourcefulness. Cowen, in his own naive and simple way, surveys' in broad and most comprehensive form all the developments within our community close to the first quarter of this cen- tury. Just as Cowen could be painstaking guide and the di- rector to all the people, the events, the organizations, the commotions of his time, so I would choose Slomovitz as my mentor, advisor and informant about American Jewish affairs of his day. Without engaging in superlatives I would say that The Jewish News of De- troit is one of the few and one of the very best Jewish newspapers in America, one of the very few published in the English language any- where. In the first place The Jewish News tells you exactly and clearly and potently what is go- ing on within our community here and all the many things happening abroad which affect our people. It also explains, in- terprets, illuminates everything from a positive and emphatic Jewish point of view. Read the Jewish News and you are really fully informed about Jewish events, Jewish thought, Jewish art and . literature almost every- where. The paper has a special flair for watching and recording the book world. And now it is a little hard to explain enthusi- asm. It is rarely transferable, but I believe it goes together with strong feelings and intense convictions. I would say if there was one important enterprise and function that tends to assure the preservation of our identity and our ideals it is the act of connecting our present with our past, of constantly associating the things we do and think to- day with achievements of the past, the gains and triumphs of the spirit that the years left behind. That is where Phil Slomo- vitz comes in. To connect, to associate, to combine, to bring back the past, to make Jewish history live again—that, in my humble opinion, is the chief, most essential mission of the Jewish printed word, especially in our newspapers. This objective becomes espe- cially important in an atmos• phere of quick forgetfulness, indifference, and callousness, and the new sensations pro- duced by the rush of events. All the fanfares, all the ex- citement of the day, all the extravagant slogans and out- cries, all the orgies of photog- raphy and publicity, open ever wider the gates to oblivion. Deprived of vivid reminders and recollections of the past, we are heading only for more noise and intellectual sterility. Essentially, the Jewish news- paper, like any other good jour- nal, should be a history of the time and in that sense Phil Slomovitz, in his Jewish News and other truly responsible ed- itors endeavor to reflect truly, sincerely, and courageously the events of the time and their re- lationship to the Jewish past. Slomovitz himself best describes the understanding of his work in the following words: "The Jewish reader's respon- sibilities are, in a sense, greater than those of his neighbor's. Jewish news is more specialized, world Jewish news is often more difficult to gather, and it needs better understanding because it is, so often, a bit more depress- ing. That is why the Jewish news- paper and its editor are com- pelled to be more cautious and at the same time more enterpris- ing in securing the data that makes a Jewish newspaper the current history of the Jewish people." Phil Slomovitz not only "ex- plains and interprets, but has the courage to ask pertinent and pointed. questions. In other words, he is an editor who leads. I call your atten- tion to a characteristic edito- rial which appeared on Nov. 29 and which, employing the words from the Pirke Aboth or the Ethics of the Fathers, declares that "Scholars should be careful with their words." This is apropos of the declara- tion of Rabbi Maurice N. Eisendrath that Jews should revise their attitude toward Jesus. A suggestion that has previously come in different forms from other hasty re- formers. It would have been character- istic of Slomovitz to propose that at least for the next 50 years the Christians and Chris- tian leaders should be revising and re-evaluating their position with regard to Jews and Ju- daism. Though everlastingly youthful, Slomovitz has been a tireless worker for every good cause and Zionism and Israel itself can claim him as a founding father, youthful though he still may be. He formerly graced and directed another newspaper for many years and that too made history and contributed to the splendid development of the Jewish corn- munity of Detroit which occu- pies such high standing in Amer- ican Jewry. The Jewish News is not only an index to current events, it also serves as a guide to Jewish history, for every sig- nificant occurrence of the day is connected with some parallel happening of former years, just what happened, how the situa- tion was met and under what circumstances Jewish 'individuals and groups showed their devo- tion, their fearlessness, their courage. And here we receive the lessons that are priceless and unforgettable. Slomovitz will seek out the neglected, the for- gotten, great qualities that re- main obscure, and always the highest aims and the best quali- ties within Jewry are brought to the fore. In that sense he is the most devoted friend and most beneficent benefactor of our people. It has been my privilege to correspond and - to cooperate with Slomovitz for many yeArs and to watch his work with in- creasing admiration. We. are nearly always in agreement about Jewish questions and problems. There is one matter in regard to which I disagree with him. He should not confine his splendid work to only one community no matter how val- ued and important. He belongs to the whole of American Jewry and his paper should reach out for national circulation. LBJ Sends Message to Rabbis' Peace Parley (Direct JTA Teletype Wire (to The Jewish News) WASHINGTON — In a mes- sage to the Central Conference of American Rabbis in Wash- ington for a two-day conference on disarmament and world peace, President Johnson said Tuesday "You are meeting at a time when the disarmament discussions have been resumed, and our government has pro- posed a major initiative for containing arms production and reducing international ten- sions.' The President added, "the paramount issue of our time is peace. Religious leaders espe- cially can help maintain the climate of public opinion in which this spirit and this effort can continue. The conference you are holding is encourag- ing."