Non °mulls Moriar - Work That Lives on After Resistance in Warsaw Ghetto, Related in book Exposing Nazi Fl ungerWea pon to IDestroyJews A vast literature is accumulating to describe the Hurban—the holo- caust era of our time. Document- ary evidence is mounting to de- scribe the horrors that were per- petrated by the Nazis and to expose the cruelties that were practiced against the Jews and the subjugated nations. One of the most deeply-moving descriptions of the sufferings in the Warsaw Ghetto, where the emaci- ated remaining Jewish community incarcerated by the Nazis which was reduced from approximately 450,000 — crammed into the nine- square mile impoverished area of Warsaw—to 40,000 in 1943, finally rebelled, rose up against the op- pressors and staged the historic, heroic uprising that lasted for an entire month from Passover until May 1, 1943, is told in a new vol- ume by Dr. Leonard Tushnet of Irvington, N. J. _ "Uses of Adversity," a study of starvation in the Warsaw Ghet- to, published by Yoseloff, is both a medical document, showing the effects of starvation on human beings, and a record of Nazi atroci- ties. Dr. Tushnet compares the Warsaw experiences to the Min- nesota Experiment during which a study was made of the effects of starvation. The latter lasted 24 weeks — but in Warsaw it was of long duration. In Minne- sota those who were affected were few compared with the mass starvation under the Nazis. During the dark days of Jewish sufferings in Warsaw, an heroic group of doctors sought relief for the starved. They gathered data on findings that are considered of im- measurable value by Dr. Tushnet, who devotes an entire chapter, with biographies, to the courageous medical men. There are 27 such listings and only seven of them have miraculously survived death. Even the most hard-hearted, if there are such left after they read the record, will weep when they read of the struggles, of the pains endured, of the battle for a morsel of food, of the swollen bodies re- sulting from starvation, of the suf- ferings of the children. Dr. Tushnet commences his _study with a Latin quotation: "Non omnis moriar!" In these words Horace expressed the poet's dream that his work would live on after his death. And in a brief afterword he quotes Dr. Israel Milejkowski, who headed the health department of the Judenrat —the Jewish advisory council that was set up by the Nazis. Dr. Milejkowski (1847-1943) was the scientist who had "decided to use the horrors of their daily existence to -advance medical science, a touching demonstration of faith that humane studies would survive the war. In his biographical sketch of this brave physician, Dr. Tush- net states that when Dr. Milejkow- ski and the other officials of the Judenrat were liquidated on Jan. 19, 1943; and were loaded into a freight car for the Treblinka ex- termination camp, he shouted to the Nazis: "Murderers! Our blood will fall on your heads!" The afterword quotes Dr. Milej- kowski as having written in Oc- tober of 1942: "And you, Jewish physicians, you deserve some words of rec- ognition. "What can I say to you, my companions in misfortune, my dear colleagues? You, too, were part of the whole. You, too, were Geoff Taylor learned a great deal about the Nazis during the two years he was a prisoner of war in a German military prison camp. menaced by forced labor, star- He knows the Nazi tactics, their vation, deportation, by all the aspirations, the plans they had for forms of death that stalked our a continuing underground war to ghetto. And you — you gave the defend "the honor" of Germany. murder's a bold answer with your He became acquainted with the work — Non omnis moriar! ' " aims of the German Gestapo, with (Non orris moriar—"I shall not the Hitler hordes and their ide- altogether die" — is the Latin ologies and he has incorporated a quotation from Horace's measure of' that knowledge in his "Odes"). novel "Court of Honor" published Dr. Tushnet's remarkable book by Simon and Schuster. has the special merit of being a The title, of course, refers to a combination of scientific reporting as well as the exposing of the court of dishonor. It depicts a plot, Nazi crimes. It explains in detail led by a general — Dietrch von the effects of the famine, and at Bluckau—who was blinded in the the same time describes ghetto battle of Stalingrad. He expected life, reveals the horrors and out- to be courtmartialed but instead lines the resistance, tells how an received high honors from Hitler illegal smuggler becomes the pro- himself. Then he began to lay ponent of a great courageous act plans for revival of the Fehme —the resisting German force, the to help save lives. The research and the researchers loyalists' form of knighthood — provide data that should interest that set up underground elements all physicians, in view of the sacri- to prepare for a revival of German fices that were made under ad- strength. versity — and the book is properly As Taylor, British-born Austral- titled "The Uses of Adversity" — ian who now lives in Melbourne, to aim at a solution of illness explains in a prefatory note, the stemming from hunger. main characters in his novel are Meanwhile the background of the by no means imaginary. The man Warsaw Ghetto Uprising emerges who took over the organization in this volume in interesting detail, of the Fehme as proposed by the as a major historic occurrence. blinded general was none other Dr. Tushnet, whose 'Works are than Martin B o r in a n n, Hitler's based on material gathered out right hand man who was chosen of a desire to present the story by the Fuehrer to be his succes- of the Warsaw Ghetto Resistance sor, and who hoped to take control in its fullest historical merits, is of the German positions the gathering all available material on the subject. He already has moment Hitler died on May 8, published one book, prior to one 1945. His scheme failed and most devoted to the family, on the of the group that was sentenced ghetto uprising, and is working to die by the court of (dis)honor escaped. But the Fehme scheme on a third book on the subject. A physician who was born in itself is described to indicate the Newark, N.J., in 1908, he is now dangers that lurk from neo- a general practitioner (this is said Nazism, should such a new move- is currently going out of fashion") ment assume the german "resist- ance" position in an effort to re- in Irvington, N.J. —P.S. gain strength for the German military dreamers. Taylor's novel describes the trials, and in the course of them there emerge the interesting char- acters—the wife of the blind gen- eral who becomes an alcoholic, we made as men of the Western lustful for men, who is sentenced world. Where are the contributions of Judaism itself to modern civili- zation? How different the world would have been if Heine had been imbued with the spirit of the psalmist, Marx with the spirit of "A Psycho-Analytic Dialogue," the prophets, and Freud with the published by Basic Books (404 spirit of the Ba'al Shem." On the problem of children, Dr. Park, S., N. Y. 16), is the fourth Heschel writes that it is not the volume of Freud letters. In this problem of youth but "of our age: volume, the father of the school denial of transcendence, the de- of psychiatric studies exchanges creased sensitivity to the impon- letters with one of his star pupils, derable quality of the spirit, the Dr. Karl Abraham. The Freud- vapidity of values, emptiness in the Abraham letters are dated 1907- heart, the collapse of communica- 1926. They were edited by the tion between the realm of tradi- children of the two distinguished tion and the inner world of the in- scientists of the mind—Hilda C. Abraham and Ernst L. Freud. dividual." "For the high standard of liv- Freud's letters were translated by ing the young people enjoy we Bernard Marsh, Abraham's by his must demand in return a high daughter Hilda. The introduction by Edward standard of doing; a high standard of thinking," he emphasizes. Glover points to the value of His "Religion and Race" is an autobiography as it emerges in appeal for justice, emphasis on the personal letters and as evidenced principle of equality as "an ideal in the exchange in this volume. This introduction emphasizes that of the highest importance." Idols are smashed in other es- "one of the most striking and in says and there is a plea for knowl- the historic sense most intriguing edge, understanding, adherence to threads in the correspondence is socially just ideals. spun from the inner history of In "The White Man on Trial" he the administrative politics of warns against making religion a psycho-analysis, the gradual un- mockery in dealing with the Negro folding of personal reactions problem and "if we remain callous between Freud and Abraham to the irony of sending satellites on the one hand and on the to the sky and failing to find em- other those personalities who first ployment for our fellow citizens..." supported psycho-analysis, some "Confusion of God and Evil," of whom renounced their allegi- "The Individual Jew and His Obli- ance and by that means gained a gations," "Jewish Education," more lasting reputation than they "Jews in the Soviet Union," "The would otherwise have achieved." Many of the familiar names are Vocation of the Cantor," "Prayer as Discipline" and a number of listed to illustrate the point. The point is made by Glover other essay titles point to the vast spheres that are embraced in the that "the correspondence mani- philosophic, social and theological fests that 'closeness' of contact questions dealt with in this vol- by which the Jewish community is sometimes held to have ume. It is a most impressive guide demonstrated its emotional su- to "human existence," as a subtitle to "The Insecurity of Freedom" periority over the 'Aryan' com- munities of Northern and Mid- indicates.—P.S. - Heschel's 'Insecurity of Freedom' Essays Warn Against Expediency, Inspire Man's Faith Steeped in faith, formulating a message for humanitarian, ap- proaches in personal life and in the activities of the larger com- munity, Dr. Abraham J. Heschel, in a collection of essays published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux, pro- vides a guide for "human exist- ence." In his newest book, "The Inse- curity of Freedom," Prof. Heschel shows the way to responsibility of man to man, of man to society and to his spiritual duties. It is appropriate that the opening essay in this im- pressive work should be on the „subject "Religion in a Free So- ciety." In it, he states that re- ligion asks little of contemporary man, that "it is ready to off er comfort, it is ready to offer ed- ification" and "to shatter c all o us- n e s s." Evaluat- ing t h e Jewish position he de- clares "truth Dr. Heschel is underground, hidden from the eye," and, quot- ing Psalm 85:12, "Let truth arise from the earth," he maintains "if you bury the lies, truth will spring up." In his opening essay Dr. Heschel points out that "the most fatal trap into which religious thinking may fall is the equation of faith with expediency." He adds that "we must begin by disclosing the fallacy of aboslute expediency. God's voice may sound feeble to our conscience. Yet there is a divine cunning in history which seems to prove that the wages of absolute expediency are disaster. We must not tire of reminding the world that something is asked of man, of every man; that the value of charity is not measured in terms of public relations. Foreign aid, which offered to underdeveloped countries for the purpose of win- ning friends and influencing peo- ple, turns out to be a boomerang. Should we not learn how to detach expediency from charity? The great failure of American policy is not in public relations. The great failure is in private relations." The variety of the essays is in- dicated by one in which the men of medicine are paid tribute. In "The Patient as a Person," Dr. Tleschel writes that "to save hu- man life is to do the work of God," that "the calling and conduct of the meeting of doctor and patient is a supreme occasion for being human." "Human being is being sui gene- ris," he declares. "The only ade- quate way to grasp its meaning is to think of man in human terms. Human is more than a concept of fact; it is a category of value, of the highest of all values available to us." He comments on the "mysterious relationship between the Jewish people and the Jewish land" in the essay "Israel and Diaspora" and warns that "Judaism remains ir- relevant unless we develop a de- gree of sensitivity to the ultimate questions which its ideas and acts are trying to answer." He declares that "unless we overcome the ex- ternalization of Judaism, all our ef- forts will be futile. It is impossible to observe the Seventh Day, week after week, if one's inner life re- mains untouched and unenriched by it. Unless there is Sabbath in the soul, it is very difficult to re- main loyal to the Sabbath laws." Asserting that "our civilization is in need of redemption," he writes: "We are proud of our contribu- tions to modern civilization. But many of these were contributions Taylor's 'Court of Honor' ExpOses Dishonor of Neo-Nazis Fehme Tasks to die but takes her own life when Bormann's representative, a for- mer butcher boy whom she caught raping a girl prior to the Nazi era and held him in rebuke, attempted to attack her; a minister who preached against Nazism and de- fied the terror at the risk of his life; American and British cor- respondents who were charged with treason and sabotage; a pris- oner of war who was accused of having stolen a loaf of bread; prisoner innocently accused of raping a German girl, and others. * * There is evidence in this novel of Germans who were horrified by the Nazi crimes. And there is ac- cumulated proof of German indif- ference to what was happening. At the trumped-up trial of the Fehme, there were revelations of callous- ness, of knowledge of the crimes and of condoning them by those who failed to resist Nazism. The toy pistols filled with deadly acids that killed instantly and the methods of "Fehme" cruelty are added indictments against Nazism and the reviving neo: Nazi move- ments. From the evidence and the de- tailed descriptions of the accused there emerges the expose of what had happened under the Nazis— the terror of the concentration and extermination camps, the anti- Jewish policies, the inhumanities. One of the accused at the trial was an anthropologist who loved to make lampshades. He is ordered to go to Auschwitz and there he produces skulls from Jewish bodies for ornaments and makes lamp' shades out of human skin. His wife's betrayal causes him to murder her. Then he is tried by the Fehme. In the course of the development of the plot there emerges the Nazi policy of horror in its full bloom. It is because of this revelation that the Taylor novel assumes an important role as an indictment of the Nazis, as a warning against efforts to revive the Fehme. "Court of Honor" has much power. It is a splendidly narrated story based on a stirring plot about the worst terror of all times. Psycho-Analytic Dialogue' Contains Exchange of Freud, Abraham Letters die Europe (both men exhibited, each in his own way, a profound racial allegiance). . . ." In a letter written in 1907, there is a very interesting reference to his Jewish background in Abra- ham's letter to Freud. He wrote: "As a Jew in Germany and as a foreigner in Switzerland, I have not been promoted 'beyond a junior position in the past seven years. I shall therefore try to set up -- practice in Berlin as a specialist.. for nervous and mental diseases.: A reference to another eminent Jew in one of Abraham's letters (1908) is annotated as follows: "Herman Oppenheim, titular pro- fessor, founder of a well-known clinic in Berlin; as a Jew he was not eligible for a professorship at a University Clinic. He was re- lated to Abraham by marriage." Many historic and personal ele- ments enter into the discussions in the Freud-Abraham letters. The psycho-therapic issues are eval- uated and for the medical pro- fession this volume is of immense significance. At the same time, it is most illuminating and makes 'instructive reading for the lay- man. Dreams, jokes, sex problems, disputes with other psycho-an- alysts and a score of other im- portant issues emerge here and become understandable in their historic sense to students of the science developed by Freud. Excellently compiled, ably il- lustrated, this volume enriches the bookshelves devoted to 'the science of psycho-analysis. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS 40—Friday, May 13, 1966