Section B, Page 6
DETROIT JEWISH NEWS, December 18, 1964
Dramatic Story of Detroit Jewish Community's
Role in Great Rescue Efforts Through the UJA
By LOIS WINSEN
Director of Public Relations
Jewish Welfare Federation of Detroit
Custom endows any institution with an aura of
historical permanence. So it is easy to believe that the
UJA has always been with us. Actually it originated in
1938 as an instrument that would enable American
Jews to finance the deliverance of their co-religionists
from Nazi Europe.
Heretofore, the Joint Distribution Committee was
responsible for all relief work overseas, and the United
Palestine Appeal was settling Jews in Palestine. De-
troit Jewry had given generously to the JDC since
World War I. and had also supported the UPA.
The idea of a combined drive was not new to De-
troiters. Central fund-raising was begun here in be-
half of local Jewish institutions and oppressed Jews
overseas in 1925. when a campaign by the late Henry
Wineman raised S150.000 from 2.794 contributors. So.
when. in 1938. Detroit Jews saw their relatives and
co-religionists in Europe being engulfed by the Nazi
tide, they had a background of 14 years' experience in
united giving and working toward common goals.
before the crematoria fires had cooled. They returned
to tell their fellow-Jews in Detroit that the reports of
horror which had seemed to exaggerated were really
understatements.
In 1946. the Allied Jewish Campaign raised S3,-
744.000 under the chairmanship of Nate S. Shapero.
In
the ensuing year Jews with the tragic title of
"DP." displaced person. were herded into barbed-wire-
circled camps to await resettlement. To many of these,
the alternative of returning to Communist dominated
countries was worse thari remaining in the camps.
Other Jews risked their lives, or imprisonment. to enter
Palestine illegally and help found a Jewish state.
During this time. Detroit Jews raised money to keep
these people alive and well, to provide them with basic
needs, and with the religious articles. books and other
amenities their faltering spirits needed as badly as
food.
In 1948 the State of Israel was established. Detroit
area Jews raised S5.576.000 to empty the camps and
bring Jews to Israel. In 1949 and 1950. the slogan for
Jewish philanthropy in Detroit was "Empty the
Camps."
That year. the Allied Jewish Campaign, headed by
the late Fred M Butzel and Henry Wineman, raised
S651,889. One of the local agencies supported by the
Campaign was the Resettlement Service. which helped
Detroit's Jewish citizens make the arrangements nec-
essary to bring relatives here from Europe.
The work and generosity of Detroit's Jewish citizens
continued . . . contributing to the support of those
whom torture and horror had robbed of the ability to
be self sustaining.
Once the newcomers arrived, the Resettlement
Service and other Federation member agencies. the
Jewish Family and Children's Service, Jewish Com-
munity Center and the Jewish Vocational Service,
helped them make the necessary social and economic
adjustments to life in Detroit.
to heed the call for help. Since 1948, members of the
Detroit Jewish community contributed over S44.000.000
through the Allied Jewish Campaign of the Jewish
Welfare Federation of Detroit.
As Nazi brutality to .Jews increased, the American
government waived the immigration requirements for
personal sponsorship of each immigrant and let the
Resettlement Service. as an authorized agency, take the
responsibility for numbers of Jewish escapees who
settled in Detroit. More than 4.000 were snatched from
the clutches of the Nazis and brought to Detroit
through the work of the Resettlement Service.
In 1934, a group of 100 children arrived in Detroit
from Germany . . . seeking refuge from the Nazi ter-
ror. After that, the trickle became a steady stream of
children, oldsters and entire families.
And while the ugly. persistant rumors about the
horrors of Auschwitz and Dachau sent a cold chill
through the hearts and homes of Detroit Jews. Wine-
man and Butzel and the late Abraham Srere diligently
lead the Campaign in its important work.
When America entered the war, contact with Eu-
rope's Jews was cut off and efforts to save them made
impossible. When the war ended in Europe in 1945.
more than 6.000.000 Jews. including more than a mil-
lion children, had been exterminated.
The United Jewish Appeal invited Louis Berry and
Joseph Holtzman. Detroit builders with long records
of philanthropic work, to go on a fact-finding mission
to Europe. Holtzman and Berry saw the camps almost
Still, crisis followed crisis . . . first in Europe. then
in Africa. And through it all. Detroit Jewry never failed
In addition. two bank loans for S2.000,000 and S3.-
000.000 respectively were made on behalf of the UJA.
making available not only dollars but the faith and
credit of the Detroit Jewish community.
Leaders of the community who have carried on
as A.TC Detroit
the Butzel-Wineman tradition of help
chairmen include Nate S. Shapero. Maurice Aronsson,
Louis Berry. Harvey H. Goldman. the late Julian H.
Krolik. Abe Kasle. Irving W. Blumberg. John E. Lurie.
Max M. Fisher. Irwin I. Cohn. Leonard N. Simons,
Paul Zuckerman. Charles H. Gershenson. Abraham
Borman and this year Sol Eisenberg and Irwin Green.
Detroit Jews have contributed national leadership
to UJA as well. Joseph Holtzman is an honorary na-
tional chairman. Morris Adler. Louis Berry. Abraham
Borman. Charles H. Gershenson, Phillip Stollman and
Paul Zuckerman are members of the national UJA
Cabinet. Mrs. John C. Hopp is vice president of the
National Women's Division. and Mrs. Harry L. Jones
and Mrs. Henry Wineman are members of the national
board.
Now, to honor both the Detroit spirit and the man
himself for his energetic role in Jewish philanthropy,
Max M. Fisher. former associate general chairman
of the United Jewish Appeal. has been appointed Gen-
eral Chairman of the 1965 Campaign.
And Detroit Jewry in recognizing the significance
of the appointment reaffirms its pledge to stand hand
and heart with the needy Jews of the world.