Eleanor Ihoosel - ell Emerges in i.i111 lle• Greatness by Lash as First Lady of the ■ IV orld in ili(.graphy portant issues and to people in Joseph Lash. special editorial writer for the New York Post, has written one of the great biogra- phies of our time, and the subject of his newest work emerges anew as one of the great ladies of all ages. In "Eleanor Roosevelt," which is subtitled "A Friend's Memoir— a Close-Up View of the First)Lady by published of the World." Doubleday. Lash , lives up to the title. evaluates the immense ac- complishments of the eminent lady life when you should have a sense of security it is when you are a child." • same year she spoke for Dr. Stephen S. Wise at an Ameri- can Jewish Congress dinner, on the plight of Jewish refugees, and she declared: - "This country should not remain indifferent to the sor- rows of other people of the The world . . ." Lash tells about her work as head of the Youth Aliyah advisory committee, of her "adoption" of a 13-year-old Spanish boy whose par- ents were killed in the Spanish Civil War and of a Finnish war orphan. There were many dramatic ex- periences in Eleanor Roosevelt's life. Lash tells. for example. that when. in the early days of the Nazi terror. while speaking at City College. New York. she was heckled with cries. "The Yanks are not coming," and she shot back: "All right. All right. But what if the Nazis are?" Scores of incidents are recorded how she came to the aid of many people. how she defied criticism when she thought and knew she was right in her approach to im- public life. There is a long account of the interest . Mrs. Roosevelt took in Zionism and in Israel, in the UN debates and in the role played by the United States in approving the parition plan in 1947 and in its contemplation. At one point she threatened to resign as the U. S. representative at the t..".1 if Israel were to be let down. and President Truman pleaded with her to stay on. It was while the ddlaate over partition was still on. As Lash reports: "She informed the President and Secretary Marshall that she would have to state her feelings publicly and if they wished her to resign from the UN she would do so . . . The President was still for partition. He had not Depart- construed the State ment's advocacy of a trusteeship as an abandonment of the origi- nal plan. She thought the people down below had tried to put one over on him. The trusteeship proposal faded away. Mrs. Roose- have velt's resignation would been a political disaster for the President . . ." Then Lash tells about Mrs. Roosevelt as the "steadfast sup- porter of Israel. which she de- scribed, after her first trip there. 'in early 1952, as a 'breath of fresh air' compared with the stagnation she had found in the Arab coun- tries. Israel reminded her of the 'spirit which founded America' in the devotion, excitement, and largeness of vision that were going into the building up of the nation." Lash continues at this point: "Despite her sturdy support of Israel, the Arabs considered her a friend. She visited the refugee camps. commenting afterward that 'human misery anywhere is heart- breaking, and it is no less heart- breaking when one feels that some- thing could and should be done about it.' She held the Arab gov- ernments. with a little help from the Communists, to blame for keeping the refugees stirred up. "Arab and Israeli. • Soviet-bloc propagandist and British aristro- crat. all respected her and most listened to her. She had by 1953 become. as UN newsmen •reported. •the chief tourist attraction' at world headquarters." Yet she was not reappointed to the UN as U. S. delegate by Presi- dent Eisenhower! A footnote has historical inter- est. Lash states: ".At Mrs. Roose- velt's burial service in Hyde Park, which was attended by the three Presidents who had suc- Gure- F.D.R., David ceeded witsch, her good friend and per- sonal physician, went up to Gen- eral Eisenhower and asked him, 'How could it happen that you did not make use of this lady? We had no better ambassador." Eisenhower shrugged General and moved off. Mr. Truman was standing nearby and David re- peated to him what he had just said to the general. 'I made use of her," Mr. Truman commented. 'I told her she was the First Lady of the World.'" Many distinguished personalities pass in review in this book. The events recorded. the people who played their role in our history, the world crises—all fade into comparative insignificance when contrasted with the greatness of the First Lady described in Lash's "Eleanor Roosevelt." —P.S. Respiratory diseases can be ser- iously aggravated by air pollution. The TB and Health Society favors air pollution control. Support the Society by answering its appeal on behalf of Christmas Seals. which fight tuberculosis and other res- piratory diseases:• ELEANOR ROOSEVELT and inter alia analyzes the events that occurred in this country and in other word areas during Mrs. Roosevelt's lifetime. In many respects this is a be- hind-the-scenes look into the White House. a glance at the major con- flicts that marked the three terms plus of Franklin D. Roosevelt's administrations. reveals many facts about the men and women who surrounded the Roosevelts. Lash's is such a warm evalu- Lassie leading ation. it is such a fine hut%an document. that this biography will be read with the greatest of interest. There were times when Mrs. Roosevelt interceded with FDR in matters that are now made known. but which were then kept from knowledge. There were public many points of anonymity. yet there were times when the two differed. Often. when Mrs. FDR's views prevailed. they proved wise and could be viewed as having developed beneficially fOr America and the world. There were many Mrs. Roosevelt •faced conflicts, many challenges. and from all of them she emerged the lady. the sincere and dedicated supporter of human causes. She had her struggle with the leftists. with the Youth Congress where much an- tagonism developed against her. but she always was able to face opposition with great , courage— and with the dignity that had. in- deed. made her the First Lady of the 1Vorld. Cardinal Spellman had criticized involving the in matters her church-state issue. and she was accused of anti-Catholicism. but as in issues relating to Communism. she emerged in this one. too. triumphant and the result was the friendship bet ween her and the catholic prelate. There are several references to her interest in Israel. She had re- ct.ived a gift book made for her in a children's village in what was then Palestine. in 1940. and Lash reports: "Describing the efforts of Jew- ish children. refugees from Germany. to make new lives for themselves. Mrs. Roosevelt said she would show it (the gift book) to children in this country, es- pecially to those in under- privileged areas 'because I think it will give them courage' in the work of rebuilding here. She added: "In a world as troubled as that of today. anything one can do to make the lives of chil- dren happier must be done with a feeling of great satisfaction. because if there is one time in THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 40—Friday, November 20, 1964 N'S A k tfak Pak Starting down Woodward from Putnam Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, at 9:25 a.m. Join the fun! See 11 TV stars in person. Hear 12 big bands from high schools all around the city. See 20 colorful floats with Lassie's float in the lead, followed by favorites like Rub-A-Dub-Dub (this year's Detroit School Contest winner.) See Christmas Carol Santa Claus himself on his way to by Mayor Cavanagh—and and Hudson's Toyland to be welcomed you. Watch the telecast on WWJ-TV, starting at 10:15 A.M., Sonny Eliot commentates; nationwide te1e. cast on WJBK-TV, starting at 10 A.M., Arthur Godfrey, Bess Myerson commentate.