Purely Commentary
Barry Goldwater: His Jewish Grandfather, His
Episcopalian Mother, His Jewish Stories
Meet Barry Goldwater, the Republican nominee for the Presi-
dency. Quoting from Senator Dirksen's nominating speech: "he is
the miltitant grandson of an immigrant peddler."
When the Arizona Senator arrived in San Francisco, on July 9,
to participate in the convention, to
attend press conferences, to meet the
public, he began his initial greeting
with a reference to his grandfather,
who, he told the welcoming crowd,
was an immigrant from Poland who
came here 112 years ago to seek his
freedom. He added that he was here
to continue the tradition by dedicat-
ing himself to the perpetuation of .
the American freedoms.
The Goldwater story is told in
an interesting book, "Mr. Conserva-
tive," by Jack Bell, published by
Doubleday, which was reviewed in
our columns when it first appeared
in 1962.
The grandfather referred to was
Michel—Michael—Goldwasser, w h o
became known as "Big Mike," who
first came from Konin, province of
Poznan in Poland, to Sonora, Calif.,
in 1852. He came to the U. S. with
his brother Joseph. "They were part
of a brood of 22 fathered by Hirsh
Goldwasser, who, with his wife, Eliza-
both, kept an inn."
Goldwater
The name soon was Anglicized to Goldwater. "Mike had an ad-
venturous streak that seems to have skipped a generation to deposit
itself within Barry Goldwater." There were adventurous experiences
by the two founders of the American Goldwater enterprises, which
soon became affluent. Soon the Goldwater store was established in
Prescott and was followed by an expansion in Phoenix. Michel's son
Baron is described in "Mr. Conservative" as having "cut a dashing
figure as a bachelor." He was married to Josephine Williams in 1907
and many of Barry's characteristics seem to stem also from the distaff
side of this intermarriage. (The other part of the Goldwater family
still is believed to be Jewish).
Bell's biography of Barry states that "Josephine Williams, who
traced her ancestry directly back to Roger Williams, had been raised
in Nebraska. She was consigned to Arizona on the basis of a mistaken
diagnosis that she was tubercular. There she met and married Baron
Goldwater. Thin as a proverbial rail, Mrs. Goldwater was a bundle of
energy. An expert with rifle and shotgun, she taught her children how
to shoot and ingrained in them a love for the oudoor life. She wanted
them to he tough in convictions as well as in body and a part of this
involved adherence to the beliefs of the Episcopalian Church."
This explains Barry Goldwater's church affiliation—the religious
training of a child usually being the responsibility of the mother.
Bell tells us that "the Senator said he was told he was an Episcopalian
before he was told he was a Jew." Bell quotes Barry:
"I am proud of my Jewish father and grandfather. I've
inherited some of the characteristics of the Jewish people and
and that has been a great advantage to me. They are warm-
hearted, understanding people who make friends easily. And
I've never been discriminated against because I am part Jewish."
Then Bell supplements this assertion with the following:
"This seems to be the point at which to dispose of an apo-
cryphal story which has pursued Goldwater for years. It involves
a swank golf club where Goldwater was supposed to be flexing
his muscles to tee off for a golf game when he was informed by
an apologetic pro that he could not play the course because he
was Jewish.
"'Well,' Goldwater was supposed to have replied, `I'm only
half Jew so would it be all right if I played nine holes?'
"If the occasion had ever arisen it would have been in char-
acter for the senator to have come up with some such response.
But both Barry and brother Bob say it never happened. It seems
likely that Bob thought the whole thing up as a gag to tell the
Professional Golfers' Association at one of their meetings."
That's part of the Goldwater story. There will be many gags,
anti-Semites already are clogging the mails with attacks on Gold-
water-the-Jew, although the Arizona senator is said to be the candidate
of rightists; and Goldwater himself will tell many stories. He loves
to gag about Jews and Negroes. If he gets to be less careful than he
has been in the last three weeks, he may lose votes with his bad
jokes. But he does have a sense of humor, and he never hides his
Jewish background.
The great-grandson of Hirsh of Konin in Poznan, the grandson of
Big Mike, the son of Baron and Josephine is in the limelight. He'll
remain in the public eye until the day in November when the voters
choose between Barry and Lyndon. Exciting days are ahead- for the
next three-and-a-half months. We may as well be fully acquainted
with a son and grandson of our kinsmen.
But he can't even be called a half-brother in faith. He was brought
up in the church. He is a stranger to Torah. He knows not the Sayings
of Our Fathers and their ethical precepts — Pirke, Aboth. Else he
couldn't have voted against the civil rights bill, and he would not
have been a militarist.
He tells Negro and Jewish jokes that prove he is not lacking of
a sense of humor, but if he is careless with some of them they won't
be vote-getters.
There will be a lot of talk about "Goldwater the Jew." That's why
this analysis: so that we may know the background that was decidedly
Jewish and the candidacy that isn't.
Goldwater's Record and Republicanism
In the past two years, especially in Michigan during the Gover-
norship of George Romney, the Republican party has been building
up machinery to gain the votes of minorities. Not unlike the Demo-
cratic party, the GOP (Grand Old Party) has consistently placed
emphasis on such liberal ideas as protection for Israel—mentioning
Israel by name in the platform; assurance of a desire to liberalize
the existing discriminating immigration law, and other similar issues.
For the first time since Congress had spoken favorably on Israel
and Zionism—and that dates back to 1921, when the ultra-conserva-
2
Friday, July 17, 1964
THE-DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
The Republican Candidate,
the Party Platform and Its
Most Blatant Ommissions
By Philip
Slomovitz
'five elder Henry Cabot Lodge co-sponsored the pro-Zionist joint
Congressional resolution—the 1964 Republican platform fails to
mention Israel. The platform ignores the immigration issue. It does
follow an ultra-reactionary trend of condemning the Supreme Court.
In his report to the New York Times from San Francisco analyzing
the platform, Anthony Lewis included the following:
On the domestic side, the platform called for overruling of
the Supreme Court's decision last month that districts in each
house • of state legislatures must reflect population.
A proposed constitutional amendment to let one house in a
bicameral legislature ignore population factors was endorsed. So
was legislation to halt reapportionment by Federal courts until
an amendment can be approved.
The Supreme Court's decision barring state-imposed prayer
in the public schools was also a target of the draft platform.
The committee called for a constitutional amendment "per-
mitting those individuals and groups who choose to do so to
exercise their religion freely in public places, provided religious
exercises are not prepared or prescribed by the state or political
subdivision thereof and no person's participation therein is
coerced."
The proviso in that last clause seemed to some observers to
make- the proposal meaningless. The Supreme Court decision
barred only officially required prayers, and some lawyers thought
the plank merely stated what the law already now allows.
In what was taken as another implied slap at the Supreme
Court, the platform demanded tougher legislation to bar obscene
material from the mails.
The Birch Society and the rightists had gone much farther: they
even demanded the impeachment of Chief Justice Warren and some
of his associates. How grateful we are to the Republican convention
that it did not go that far!
With the hat campaign about to be launched, as soon as the Demo-
crats will have concluded their business in Atlantic City in August,
the Republicans will have a lot of explaining to do.
And there will be need to examine Goldwater's Senatorial record.
Thus far, emphasis has been on his vote against the civil rights bill.
But with the new reactions that are in evidence in the Republican
platform, it will be necessary to know how Goldwater stood on other
issues. How else will the voter be able to judge between the candi-
dates?
In the meantime the GOP is on the spot. On the eve of the
convention, with so many young people now replacing the Old Guard,
it was suggested that instead of being called the Grand Old Party the
term Young should be substituted for the Old. In that case, it would
become G.Y.P.. That really wouldn't be very fair to the party, would it?
Report 'Balancing'
Syrian Attacks
Returned by Israel
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
JERUSALEM — The Israel For-
eign Ministry decided Tuesday to
return to the Mixed Armistice
Commission a report on recent
Syrian border incidents sought to
"balance" the picture by saying
that "both sides" fired without
stating which opened the attacks. ` ----f
Initially United Nations truce in-
vestigators had established that the
Syrians opened fire.
The Israel-Jordan. Mixed Armi-
stice Commission, meanwhile, con-
demned Jordan for a "grave viola-
tion" of the armistice agreement
in an incident last week at Shaar
Hagolan, in which an Israeli bor-
der police sergeant was killed. The
report, in line with customary
procedures, also condemned Israel
for returning the fire but noted
that Israeli forces did not appear
on the scene in an aggressive man-
ner.
In a new incident Tuesday three
Jordanians were reported wounded
in shooting across the Yarmuk
River, the area where the sergeant
was killed.
Mrs. Golda lair, Israel's foreign
minister, met with Walworth Bar-
bour, United States ambassador to
Israel and conveyed to him the
gravity with which Israel views
the attacks.
Col. Marsh, the deputy chief of
staff of the United Nations, Truce
Supervision Organization, was in
Damascus to confer with Syrian
officials. He returned for talks
with Israeli officials.
cN
Frondizists, Jews in Argentina, Condemn Proposal
by Peronists to Investigate the Activities of Zionists
(Direct JTA Teletype Wire
to The Jewish News)
BUENOS AIRES—A high official
of the People's Radical Party, the
government party in Argentina, de-
clared Monday that the party
would "do everything in its power"
to fight the country's rising anti-
Semitism.
He made the statement in con-
nection with indications that. the
party was organizing efforts to
block a proposal
by a Peronist de-
s puty for a. Con-
gressional invest-
igation of Jewish
organizations and
their ties with
Israel. The pro-
posal was made
by Juan Carlos
Cornejo Linares
in terms which
the Jewish
spokesman called
openly anti-Semi-
tic.
"There is no
room for radical
Frondizi
discrimination on the political
scene," the official said. "It is not
proper and the government party
will do everything in its power to
fight it."
His assurance was supported
by Miguel Ortiz, the foreign min-
ister, who said that the People's
Party had a history of battling
for civil rights and religious
equality. He added this was
recognized by leaders of the
Argentine Jewish community.
He cited as an example of that
policy the fact that President
Arturo Illia set a precedent when
he invited a rabbi and a Protes,
tant minister to be present on the
reviewing stand with Catholic
clergy for the July 9 Independence
Day celebration. Dr. Guillermo
Schlesinger, chief rabbi of Con-
gregation Israelite, was the offi-
cial Jewish representative.
Government spokesmen have in-
sisted that the anti-Jewish cam-
paign was restricted to small
though financially strong groups
of nationalist extremists. More re-
cently both government and Op-
position Party leaders appeared to
have decided that the time had
come to challenge the repeated
statements of such propaganda.
and that they also praised the
"Zionist fighters who founded the
state of Israel."
The letter then asked why the
committee proposed by Linares
did not include an investigation
of Nazi groups in Argentina and
the Arab League's activities in this
country.
Previously former president
Arturo Frondizi said his followers
in Congress would strongly oppose
the Peronist proposal. He de-
nounced it as a "blatant example
of a well-organized sinister plot
designed to divide the nation."
Argentine Jews are concerned
about the gap between such of-
ficial reassurances and the rec-
ord of police in carrying out
orders to arrest persons involved
in anti-Jewish incidents such as
the beating of Jewish students
and the machine-gunning of a
Jewish home.
The Peronist deputy had asked
for an investigation into Jewish
schools and training camps to de-
termine whether "the education
and cultural information received
there is in conformity with the
highest principles of Argentine
nationality."
The DATA, central body of Ar-
gentine Jewry, in its letter to the
Peronist parliamentary bloc
charged that the deputy had used
"typically Hitlerian language" and
that the influence of the Arab
League was "clearly noticeable" in
his demands.
The DATA recalled that two Per-
onist deputies had lauded Theodor
Herzl in 1951 in a public session
of Parliament as "an important
figure in the Zionist movement"
Weizmann Institute
Awards First PhD
REHOVOTH—The Feinberg
Graduate School of Israel's Weiz-
mann Institute of Science awarded
its first PhD to Benjamin S. Benj-
aminov, a n American - trained
chemist, who earned his degree by
working two years on the study of
anti - tumor compounds obtained
from the plant family of cucumb-
ers.
Dr. Benjaminov's doctoral paper
on "The Chemistry of the Cucurbi-
tacins" is an important contribu-
tion to research on cancer causa-
tion, it was announced by Dewej
D. Stone, chairman of the board
of the Weizmann Institute.
Abraham Feinberg, New York
businessman a n d philanthropist,
established the Feinberg Graduate
School of the Weizmann Institute
with a family gift of $1,000,000 in
honor of his parents, Jac and Eva
Feinberg.
S1-Million Rosenwald Book Collection
Presented to the Library of Congress
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Lessing
J. Rosenwald, Jewish philanthr-
opist, has presented a collection of
rare books valued at $1,000,000 to
the Library of Congress.
L. Quincey Mumford, librarian
of Congress, said that the gift
of more than 700 rare volumes in-
cluded many from the earliest
period of printing as well as "ex-
traordinary" editions of Ameri-
cana.
He said that, with the excep-
tion of a few books, the famous
Rosenwald collection is now the
property of the Library of Con-
gress. Previously the equally re-
nowned Rosenwald collection of
25,000 prints and drawings was
given to the National Gallery.
.
The collection includes 160
books from the library of the
Duke of Arenberg which prey.-
viously were not available to
scholars. Also in the gift is the
first Bible in German with wood-
cut illustrations from Augsburg
circa 1475, and a Latin Bible
printed on vellum by Nicolaus
Jenson, Venice, 1476. A Geog-
raphy by Ptolemy of 1478 eon.-
tains the second atlas ever print-
ed with collection of maps en-
graved on copper.
Other rarities include several
books printed in Mexico, books on
the history of science from the
sixteenth century, books with
woodcuts by Dyrer and illustra-
tions after designs by Holbein.
c
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