THE JEWISH NEWS Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20, 1951 Only Way to Deal With Saboteurs Member American Association of English—Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association, National Editorial Association. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17100 West Seven Mile Road, Detroit 48235 Mich., VE 8-9364. Subscription $6 a year. Foreign_ $7. Seeoud Class Postage Paid at Detroit, Michigan PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and -Publisher CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ SIDNEY SHMARAK Business Manager Advertising Manager CHARLOTTE HYAMS City Editor Sabbath Scriptural Selections This Sabbath, the 19th day of Sivan, 5725, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues: Pentateuchal portion: Num. 8:1-12:16; prophetical portion: Zech. 2:14-4:7. Licht benshen, Friday, June 18, 7:52 p.m. VOL. XLVII, No. 17 Page 4 June 18, 1965 Silence Unworkable in Dealing with Prejudice There is no doubt that Russia is sensi- tive to criticism. Else, the two • Jewish scientists who objected to the protest meet- ing in Madison Square Garden in New York would not have written to the New York Times to express their indignation over the raising of Jewish and non-Jewish voices in condemnation of the Soviet acts of discrim- ination against Jews; else, there would not have been the frequent attempts on the part of Russian spokesmen to condemn Israel, Zionism and American Jewish organizations with claims that they are unduly propagandiz- ing against the Soviet Union. But the facts are at hand. Even one of the most outspoken defenders of communism and of the Russian regime, the editor of the Communist Yiddish Morgen Freiheit of New York, Paul Novick, conceded that there re- main vestiges of Czarist anti-Semitism in the USSR. Upon his return from Russia, in February, the Freheit editor, in an address at a public rally in New York, said: - As a result of my trip, I am convinced more than ever that my paper, while branding the slogan of 'Soviet anti-Semitism' as a cold war slogan, has been correct in voicing over the years the opinion that remnants of anti-Semitism are still to be found in the USSR and that the Soviet Government, in combating various forms of crime, ought to combat criminals who are guilty of anti- Semitism—which is prohibited by the Soviet con- stitution. While I did not hear of any overt anti-Semitic acts or see any anti-Semitic litera- ture, I was told by a number of persons that remnants of the legacy of the Hitler occupation of almost the whole of the European part of the USSR as well as the legacy of the Stalin 'cult' are still felt here or there, whether in the form of a racial insult which sometimes goes unpunished, or of something which may appear as discrimina- tion. It is also well known that the legacy of the `cult' in the diplomatic field—the absence of Jews in this field—has not been eliminated .. . there is still needed a full rehabilitation and restoration of the Jewish cultural institutions that were adminis- tratively suppressed during the days of the 'cult'. This has not as yet taken place. There is no fixed Jewish State Theater anywhere in the USSR—and there were about a dozen of them before they were closed in 1948-49; no Yiddish publishing house, newspapers, schools, scientific institutes and other institutions for Yiddish culture that existed before. Likewise, religious liberties have not as yet been fully restored—the publishing of prayer books, etc. The anti-religious propaganda con- ducted in the USSR is mostly of a questionable character, producing such 'literature' as that of Messrs. Kichko, Mayatsky and their ilk, which even if not intentionally anti-Semitic turns out to be anti-Semitic in fact. After the removal of Nikita Khruschev there began in the USSR a trend towards the re-establishment of what they call 'Lenin's Norms', or Lenin's programme. One may hope that the programme which was main- tained under Lenin and in the years after his death when his programme was followed — whether in relation to Jewish culture, or Jewish religion, or the struggle against anti-Semitism— will be re-introduced, and as speedily as possible. . . Whatever questions there are to be raised concerning the Jews in the Soviet Union— and they should not be overlooked or glossed over—should be raised within the effort for co- existence and peace, so that international tension be eliminated as much as possible. Haven't we pleaded that there should be amity, that there should be peace in the ranks? But peace does not spell the elimina- tion of everything that is decent and all semblances of Jewish aspects of life of the 3,000,000 of our kinsmen who reside in Russia. The best answer to the apologist for the Russian regime, Aaron Vergelis, the editor of the only Yiddish periodical in Russia, Sovietish Heimland, was given by the emin- ent philosopher, Bertrand Russell, who, re- futing Vergelis' defense of the USSR policies related to Jewish issues, declared: Your reply is lacking in scruple when it dis- misses as a "cold war" attitude expressions of concern for Soviet Jews which exist in progressive, pro-Soviet and also Communist circles in the West, and when it makes the ridiculous charge that the motive is the diversion of attention from "the racist and anti-Semitic orgy rife in some countries across the water". You cannot be unaware that the Communist Parties in Italy, France, United States, Canada, Scandinavia, Australia and else- where have publicly criticised anti-Semitic litera- ture in the USSR, discrimination against the Jewish religion and the deprecation of Jewish culture. You are grossly misleading your readers if you suppress this important fact and misrepre- sent honest criticism of the inequality experienced by Soviet Jews. Your readers are surely able to judge for themselves the sincerity of your state- ment that it is an "obvious, natural fact" that Soviet Jews today "have less of a yearning for Jewish culture than in the '20s and '30s" and that "one cannot artificially expand, without rhyme or reason, the scope of cultural work done in Yiddish". Nor can one with knowledge of the true situa- tion of Soviet Jews be impressed by what you say about the "fruitful" conditions available to Yid- dish writers. Only five or six books in Yiddish have been published in the Soviet Union since 1948, not one by a living writer. I am fully in- formed of the cultural facilities that have been accorded to Soviet Jews since 1956. I welcome them as some mitigation of the crimes Stalin committed against the Jewish people, but they are meagre, grudging, and inadequate to the needs of a vigorous intellectual community of some 3,000,000 Jews, of whom almost half-a-million speak the Yiddish language as a mother tongue. The striking cultural amenities supplied to even the smallest Soviet national and linguistic minor- ities illustrate injustice at present imposed on Soviet Jews. You ask why I do not express anxiety about the unavailability of Jewish and Yiddish cultural institutions in Britain. The Jewish Year Book for 1964, published by the London Jewish Chron- icle, lists hundreds of Jewish organizations of every kind, scores of libraries, museums, news- papers and schools, manifold religious institutions and a considerable selection of book titles on aspects of Jewish history, religion, sociology, pol- itics and philosophy. A number of the listed insti- tutions have facilities in both the Hebrew and Yiddish languages. All this exists for a total Jew- ish population in Britain of 450,000. As the appointed editor of the only Jewish' journal in the USSR, you are not an initiator of policy on Jewish matters but an authorized spokes- man. The present moment, however, requires all of us to explain the need for an enlightened Jew- ish policy to the Soviet government. More than two years ago, as a sincere friend of your country and its policy of co-existence, I said that this situation would do much harm to the reputation of the Soviet Union. This, indeed, has proved true. It will be unfortunate for both the Soviet Union and the Jewish people if something is not quickly done to accord dignity and justice to Soviet Jews. Nor can this letter end without an expression of concern that little has been done to reunite sur- vivors of Jewish families broken up by the war, and so to terminate their prolonged sufferings. Alvin Schwartz's 'How ...' Book Great Youth Classic for Parents Alvin Schwartz has written a classic for children, and the Macmillan Co. (60 5th, N.Y. 11) has just issued his new book under the title "How to Fly a Kite, Catch a Fish, Grow a Flower, and Other Activities for You and Your Child." It is a "parents' do-it-yourself guide to recreation, athletics and nature," and it is much more than that: it instructs, directs, offers advice of so wholesome a nature that his volume could well become a must in all homes where the desire is to train the child for practical purpose and to assure the parents' readiness to be able to go along with their children in such constructive efforts. Excellently illustrated with drawings by Mary Weissfeld, this book is one for teaching and learning, contains information and guidance about skating and biking, all sorts of athletics, water sports, camping and hobbies. It instructs in m a king things and even has a splendid chapter on cooking, with recipes the youngsters can make use of. Magic and natural interests, plants and animals, the values of the zoo, the importance of museums and nature centers—these and many more are under discussion in expert fashion. In the chapter on family camping, the author even offers advice on "if someone gets lost." The author advises: "Instruct your child not to wander into the woods by himself. Also, emphasize that, if he loses his way, he is to stop and stay put until help comes. If you and your child go for a walk in the woods, let someone know where you are headed and when you expect to be back . . " , etc., etc. The chapter on magic is an especially thrilling one for youngsters, and the instructions about animals and pets, about birds and insects, are of great value. Alvin Schwartz has produced a most valuable book. It should be in every home where there are children and where parents take an interest in youth. Oisvanger's 'Royte Pomerantsen' Issued as a Schocken Paperback Immanuel Olsvanger has for many years been recognized as the noted authority on Jewish humor. His most impressive work remains the series of volumes of Jewish stories told in Yiddish and printed in Evidence is mounting to prove that the Latin characters. "Royte Pomerantsen," his book that tells "how to laugh in Yiddish," prejudices extant in the USSR are not minor, that the discriminating acts are multiply- has been reprinted as a paperback by Schocken Books (67 Park, NY17).; __, and it is as much a classic today as it was when it first appeared ing. They are in evidence on the economic 1947. front, in religion, as pressures to interfere This is a delightful collection of stories. It echoes the good spirit with the private life of Jews in Russia. of the Eastern Jewish communities. It reveals how Jews laughed at The reasons for such policies remain themselves and how humor became a weapon for survival. puzzling. Russian Jews were part of the great Here is a typical story, as told by Olsvanger under the title "Reb revolt against czarism. Yet they are be- Eyzers Eytse": ing eliminated from political life, they live in In a shtetl hot men gasus gebaut a nayem brik ibr'n taych,. fear lest they should be branded as enemies Es is geven a danger un a breyter taych, iz mimeyle der brik oych of the state, circumcision is being practiced geven lang un breyt. As der brik iz shoyn fartig gevorn, hot men by non-Jews but Jews fear it lest they should geret in shtetl, as men darf frier aussprubirn, oyber er iz genug shtark, as men zol kenen of em forn. Hot men gegebn farsheydene be branded as subversive, and the Hebrew eytses, vi men zol aussprubirn dem brik. Is geven eyner a id, a language has been proscribed. chochem, reb Eyzer, hot er gezogt azoy: "Es iz doch a poshete Will the protests of American and other zach! Men darf tsuzamennemen vifl es iz do shvigers in shtot, un Jews bring the desired results? Will the men darf zey lozn aribergeyn ale in eynem dem brik. Is vet men Soviet authorities abandon their prejudicial zen: vein zeyariberkumen b`sholem, iz gut; un tomer vein zeg attitudes towards the Jewish citizens? Only araynfaln in taych undertrunken vern, iz oych nit shlecht.", time will give the answer to these questions, Of course, one must know a bit of Yiddish to understand the and all we know from experience is that stories. are more simple, others more difficult. But for the many only through plain speaking, only by means who still Some are able to understand the text, these stories will entertain of protest, can indignities be challenged and will provide good reading at public functions. "Royte Pomerantsen" and prejudice end. The moment there is a is among the new paperbacks that will no doubt have a strong appeal yielding to the demand and the pressure that for readership. we hush up, that there should be silence, we The variety of stories in this volume is unique. An introduction to submit to indignities and yield to oppression. the paperback by Harry Golden acclaims Olsvanger's gifted way of That must never be. gathering the best in Jewish stories.