Anti-Nazi Catholic's Heroism and Martyrdom Told
in Zahn's Documented Story 'In Solitary Witness'

Boris Smolar's

Between You

. . . and Me

,

(Copyright, 1965, Jewish
Telegraphic Agency, Inc.)

Washington Moods

The State Department has no easy task now to explain to members
of Congress why it does not apply to Egypt the amendment to the
foreign aid bill adopted by the Congress last year . . . This amendment,
denying American aid to nations preparing for aggression, was adopted
beeause of the continuing acquisition by Egypt of Soviet arms, Nasser's
repeated threats against Israel, and Egypt's military intrusion in
Yemen . . . The State Department has resisted that amendment and
was reluctant to brand Egypt an aggressor . . . Now, however, Nasser
himself has publicly admitted he is sending arms to the rebels in the
Congo and intends to do so also in the future, defying American
policy there . . . Adding insult to injury, he told the United States
"to jump in the lake" if she does not like his policy, and boastfully
hurled other verbal insults at this country at a public meeting in
Egypt . . If sending arms to the Congo rebels to kill Americans
there is not an act of aggression, what is? . . . Numerous members
of Congress — especially those who voted for the amendment to
deny American aid to nations involved in aggression — are now seek-
ing an answer from the State Department to this question . . . They
wonder whether the United States must still give aid to Nasser when
he burns down American Government buildings in Cairo, shoots down
American civilian planes without apologizing for it, and uses American
aid indirectly to acquire more arms from Russia and to send some
of these arms to the Congo rebels.
*
*

American Aid

American aid to Egypt has been expanding rapidly since 1958, an
by the end of this current fiscal year it will have totaled close to one
billion dollars . . . In fiscal 1964 alone Egypt received about 1
million dollars, mostly in wheat, corn, beef, poultry and other sure us
commodities . . . Of this, 140 million dollars came from the U.S.
Government and more than nine million dollars were channeled
through voluntary agencies . . . Food for its 28 million people is
Egypt's greatest problem and American aid is designed to help Egypt
alleviate its critical food shortage . . . However, Nasser seems to
worry little among his hungry people and prefers to use his assets
for acquisition of arms from Moscow and for all kinds of military
adventures. inchiding the sending of arms to the Congo rebels . .
Friends of American aid want to help raise the living standards of
the Egyptian people . . . But Nasser's predilections for adventure —
.and his insults to the American Government — have made many in
Congress feel differently about our well-intentioned aid program to
Egypt . . . It is now being argued that this program finances indirectly
Nasser's arms buildup and forces those he constantly threatens — like
Israel — to divert their resources for defense . . . Critics in Congress
claim that when the United States enables Nasser to acquire food
without any cost in foreign currency, we are releasing his foreign
exchange resources to pay for. Soviet arms and German missile experts.
*
*

Critical Views

Washington economists are openly critical of Nasser's economic
policies . . . So is the International Monetary Fund which three years
ago provided a -112 million dollar stabilization program to which the
United States contributed 30 million dollars . . . This program was
to boost Nasser's currency reserves which have been dwindling for a
number of years . . . However, it did not take long for Nasser's
reserves to again decline . . . The IMF has been insisting that Egypt
put its economic house in order, but Nasser continued to spend more
and more on. Soviet arms . . . Over the years, the United States has
financed many other projects to help Egypt's precarious economy ..
Involved in these projects are such American firms as the RCA, the
Westinghouse Electric International, the Export-Import Bank . . . The
United States also helped Egypt by giving her technical aid and by
enabling her to build and expand many plants, helping her to obtain
railroad equipment and to modernize her airways . . . With all this,
however, Nasser is bristling with enmity toward the United States
and continues to incite the people of Egypt against this country.

Canadian Teachers Told to Consider
Jewish Feelings in Protestant School

OTTAWA (JTA) — The Royal
Commission on Education, which
has been preparing a series of re-
ports dealing with the over-all
practices in the various educational
systems in Canada, recommended
in its third volume in the series,
issued Monday, that teachers in
Protestant schools attended by
Jewish children, must be aware of
the fact that many of their stu-
dents are Jewish.
Proposing that two hours of re-
ligious education weekly "is suf-
ficient" in the schools, the Royal
Commission recommended that
wen such limited attention to re-
ligion in the schools be confined
"to the moral teaching of children
and adolescents first in the form
of intellectual integrity and a sense
of collective responsibility."
The report then noted: "One of
the blunders of our system has,
without doubt, been to gorge the
.ohild with religious theory, to fill
his day with routine practices."
"In the Protestant schools of
Quebec," the report continued,
"the teaching of religion is not
doctrinal, but based on com-
mented readings of the Bible.
The teacher must, therefore,
make a clear distinction between

the facts and his own comments,
however well informed he may
be. One must be aware that, in
Montreal alone, out of 63,194
pupils in Protestant schools,
17,725 are Jewish, and that 20
per cent of the teaching body
is also Jewish."

The report noted that, among
Jewish parents, "the obligation to
give their children a religious
background is a fundamental pre-
cept of their religion. The famliy,
the synagogue and special He-
brew schools are used for this pur-
pose." The commission also rec-
ommended that study of the He,
brew language be included among
the elective courses in modern
languages to be offered in schools
which can "justify" such instruc-
tion.

Eshkol Honors Dane

In his previous book, "German
Catholics and Hitler's Wars," Prof.
Gordon C. Zahn of the University
of Chicago, himself a Catholic, ex-
posed the failures by churchmen
to resist that Nazi terror. His study
of the conditions in Germany have
elevated him to the role of an

authority on the German situation,
and his newest work, a tribute to
an anti-Nazi Catholic, belongs in
the accumulating library on the
holocaust.

Zahn's "In Solitary Witness: The
Life and Death of Franz Jagerstat-
ter," published by Holt, Rinehart
Sr Winston, (383 Madison, NY 17),
is a great tribute to the Austrian
peasant who was a very devout
Catholic, who protested against
the "horrible human slaughter,"
who, in 1943, was beheaded by
Germans after a several years'
constant rejection of the Hitler
ideas.

The title of Zahn's book im-
mediately indicates that the hero
of his story deals with a man
who stood alone —"In Solitary
Witness." He was the only one
to cast a vote against the An-
schluss in Austria, in the elec-
tion in his village, in 1938. He
refused to fight in Hitler's war.
He was firm in his religious
views.

Zahn's account of the martyrdom
and heroism of Jagerstatter con-
tains full accounts of his hero's
writings. It is a fully documented
story.
There is a sentence in the book,
quoting Jagerstatter, which indi-
cates that church teachings had
their effect on him, including the
story of the crucifixion. While he
protested the "human slaughter."
and condemned the anti-Semitic
acts of Hitler, there is this quota-
tion from Jagerstatter: "I believe
that what took place in the spring
of 1938 was not much different
from that Maundy Thursday 1,900,
years ago when the Jewish crowd
was given a free choice between
the innocent Savior and the crimi-
nal Barabbas."
Nevertheless this story belongs
in the annals of the heroic resist-
ance.

Zahn, in his preface, offers this
biographical note about his hero:
"Frani Jagerstatter was born on
May 20, 1907, in St. Radegund, a
small village in Upper Austria. His
natural father was killed in World
War I when he was still a child,
and when his mother married, her
child was adopted by her husband.
"In his youth, Franz had gained
a reputation for being a wild fel-
low, but in general, his daily life
was like that of most Austrian
peasants.
"In 1936, he married a girl from
a nearby village, and they went to
Rome on their honeymoon. A Cath-
olic by birth, he experienced a
religious awakening — apparently
about the time of his marriage—
and later served as sexton of his
parish church.
"When Hitler's troops moved
into Austria in 1938, Jagerstatter
was the only man in the village to
vote against the Anschluss. Al-
though he was not involved with
any political organization, and did

man -rushed up to give him a hand.
JERUSALEM (JTA) — Prime Rabbi Samuel asked him why he
Minister Jens Krag of Denmark, was so attentive, and the man re-
stressed his country's "deep gen- plied, "I have a lawsuit in your
uine affection for Israel" in a court." Thereupon Samuel said: "I
speech at a dinner given Monday am forbidden to be your judge."—
in his honor by Israel's Premier Ketubot.
Levi Eshkol. Premier Krag arrived

here Sunday for a six-day official
state visit to Israel.

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, January 8, 1965-15

geous in the movement of resist-
ance against Nazism,

Like

BRANDy?

Riccaddly Cocktail's got it!

42 PROOF $

4/5 QUART

1.49

CODE NO

6658

UNITED BRANDS . DETROIT . U.S.A.

SINGLE MEN AND WOMEN

BachelorPartg°

Travel With Your Own Age Group

❑

under 33

0 over 33

Corkfait Polio - Rigid Mita
Roma Reafamaida

ORIENT SCANDINAVIA ISLAND HOP
CRUISES
WORLD BERMUDA
HAWAII
MEXICO JAMAICA
BRITISH ISLES • EUROPE (11 countries)
1-ISBON, SPAIN, TANGIER
CALIFORNIA/LAS VEGAS
PUERTO RICO/VIRGIN ISLANDS
NEW YORK WORLD'S FAIR
for free 32 pg catalogue coated-

Bee Kalt Travel Service

OR CALL BEE KALT

or

HAROLD KALT

For an Appointment at Your Home or Office
DETROIT PHONE JO 6-1490
Birmingham MI 6-2170

For
Young
Men
6 to 60

SEMI ANNUAL

Furnishings S

Clothing

ALE

% to

undergo one brief period of mili-
tary training, he remained openly
anti-Nazi, and publicly declared he
would not fight in Hitler's war.

Judges' Comment
Commenting on the text, "Thou
shalt not take a bribe," the Rabbis
say: this means not merely a
money-bribe, but every other kind.
Thus on one occasion when Rabbi
Samuel was getting on a ferry, a

gious devotion - and a refusal to
yield to brutality. He sacrificed
himself for his ideal and he cer-
tainly ranks among the most coura-

"After many delays, Jagerstatter
was called to active duty in Feb-
ruary, 1943; by this time he had
three daughters, the eldest not
quite six. He maintained his posi-
tion against fighting for the Third
Reich, and was imprisoned, first
at Linz, then at Berlin. After a
military trial, he was beheaded,
Aug. 9, 1943."
-
When Jagerstatter was con-
fronted with a "Heil Hitler"
greeting, his rejoinder was "Pfui
Hitler!"
His life story is that of a reli-

0%

OFF

GOIN' SOUTH?

We've got the
smartest

CRUISEWEAR

to enhance the
enjoyment of
your trip.
J.R.V.

ItINCETON

SEVEN MILE AT EVERGREEN

Invited Charge Accounts

KE 3-4310