Biography of Hammarskjold Describes UN Leader's
Discussions With Ben-Gurion' Friendship with Buber
A great legacy is re-introduced
in a noteworthy biography, "Ham-
marskjold," by Emery Kelen, pub-
blished by G. P. Putnam's Sons
(200 Madison, N.Y.). It comeF
:::::::: - . -...-: close to describ-
-...'ing the late sec-
retary general of
the United Na-
tions as a genius
and it asserts:
"I think man-
' kind will be us-
ing Ha m m a r-
skjold's bridge
for a long time
to c o m e." The
Hammarskjold b rid g e conno- t
tation is emphasized in the biogra-
pher's statement: "His work lives
in the words he .spoke before
United Nations gatherings,. press
conferences, academies. A study
of them shows no deviation, side-
stepping or backsliding. They
formed a taut, narrow and safe
bridge which led us the first few
steps from Wilson's age into the
the nuclear age, but it stretches
far beyond into the future."
Dag Hammarskjold's role in
the handling of the Middle East
issues, his visit with David Ben-
Gurion, his friendship with Prof.
Martin Buber, are among the
scores of interesting episodes re-
corded in this important work
that has a great bearing on UN
history.
Kelen points out that Hammar-
skjold's "relationship that he would
have preferred and which he at-
tempted to establish with the press
was very much that of teacher and
pupils." He relates the following:
i. "In Jerusalem, he had become
fast friends with the Jewish phil-
osopher, Martin Buber, at whose
modest Arab stone house he was
a frequent visitor. The melencholy
Viennese Jew would sit at his desk
behind his stacks of manuscripts,
wearing slippers, a robe, and a
scarf around his neck; while Ham-
marskjold, the grace, impeccably
groomed Lutheran from Sweden
occupied a chair. Together they
soared into the patterned infinities
of abstract thought, smiling at each
other like David and Jonathan.
Hammarskjold proposed to trans-
late Buber book, "I and Thou,"
into Swedish and indeed, 12 pages
of this translation were found in
the wreckage of the plane."
\ )
Kelen's biography offers a full
account of the plane crash, Sept.
18, 1861, over Ndola in Southern
Rhodesia, in which Hammarskjold
lost his life. The investigation is
accounted for as well as the con-
sternation it causes when it be-
came known that the UN spokes-
man was lost to the world.
'\
Describing the Hammarskjold-
'Buber friendship, his biographer
/--- states: "It is by no means as-
tonishing that the Secretary-
General, tormented by a sense
of isolation and exceptionality,
should have been drawn toward
the philosophy of Buber which
attempts to solve the dilemma of
communication between man and
man, and man and God. Briber's
phrase 'I and Thou' is _ an
anagram of various communica-
tory relationships. 'I and Thou'
exists between man And wife,
between doctor and patient,
teacher and pupil, and the pas-
for and his flock. Furthermore,
writes Buber, 'The relation with
man is the real simile of the
relation with God . . . The love
of God is unreal unless it is
crowned with love for one's
fellow men.' The communication
or 'dialogue' that takes place
between such relations was intri-
cately examined by Buber, and
his ideas engrossed the lonely
Hammarskjold . . "
Then there is the resume of the
events that affected Israel-Arab
relations, the Sinai Campaign, the
formation of the United Nations
Expeditionary Force on the Israel-
Egyptian border. This historic oc-
currence is described objectively
by the biographer.
Kelen makes reference to the
suspicion of Hammarskjold in
some Israeli and Jewish ranks and
of Ben-Gurion's attitude. Hammar-
skjold reportedly admired the sim-
plicity and courage of the King of
Jordan "and he appreciated his
difficult position between the
giants , Nasser and Ben-Gurion."
At this point Kelen writes:
"Prime Minister Ben-Gurion
was a thornier pr o b 1 e m. This
hard-knit, s t o c k y man whose
domed head was garnished with
the light plumage of a snowy
egret, had originally been called
David Green, but he had chosen
for himself the name of Ben-
Gurion, Son of the Lion, and it
was more than a name; it was a
program. He frowned upon Ham-
marskjold because he considered
him hostile to Israel. This sus-
picion had nestled in Ben-Gur-
ion's heart ever since Hammar-
skjold had addressed to Dr. Na-
hum Goldmann, leader of the
World Jewish Congress, remarks
that gave Ben-Gurion to believe
that Hammarskjold questioned
the wisdom of the partition of
Palestine. Furthermore, Ben-
Gurion had a low opinion of
Hammarskjold's f a me d diplo-
matic technique. 'In the Israeli
view, Hammarskjold thinks that
situations can be solved merely
by formulating them.' as Time
Magazine put it (Nov.. 26, 1956)."
In relation to the Ben-Gurion as-
pect of Hammarskjold's s t or y,
Kelen thereupon relates the follow-
ing: Paula Ben-Gurion, the prime
minister's stately wife, on the other
hand, had enormuos diplomatic tal-
ents, and she displayed them to
Dag. 'Why don't you get married?'
she asked him. 'Then you would
have to worry about your wife and
you would leave us alone."
"Still," Kelen continues to relate
the relationship. "stating at Sdeh
Boker, Dag and David had friendly
discussions about art, literature
and religious philosophy, and when
Paula asked him- to help peel the
potatoes, the Secretary - General
helped. 'Ben-Gurion is nobody's
friend,' an Israeli c o m m e n t e d
skeptically upon the visit. 'His reli-
gion-philosophical coversation was
only an effort to bridge their in-
soluble differences.'
"But on May 9, when, back in
New' York; Hammarskjold report-
ed to the Security Council, he told
them to their considerable admira-
tion that he had received from all
the kings of the East. friendly and
unfriendly, from Israel, Egypt,
Syria, Lebanon and Jordan, writ-
Chapter Honors City of Hope Chief
Friday, June 17, 1966-9
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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ten assurances that the cease-fire
pr o v i d e d in the 1949 armistice
agreements would be observed."
The peace was broken, there were
the fedayeeen, whose incursions
into Israel described by Kelen, and
new actions were needed, result-
ing in the leadership of Canada's
Lester Pearson in bringing about
UN action in ending the 1956 con-
flict and in forming the UNEF.
There is reference to Golda
Meir's conversations with Ham-
marskjold whom she upbraided
"as if he had been a schoolboy."
The biographer states that "up-
on his visit to Israel, he was
greeted by demonstrators carry-
ing posters calling him 'Nasser-
shield'; a hurtful reminder, per-
haps to the Secretary-General,
of the days when his father had
been called cHungerskjold' in
Sweden. Eden in his memoirs
wrote bitterly that after the
cease-fire on Nov. 6, 'it would
have been possible to shape a
lasting settlement of the Arab-
Israeli conflict and get some
secure guarantees about the free-
dom of passage through the Suez
Canal.' He said that 'he never
would have anticipated that the
cards that were in the hands of
the United Nations and the
United States would have been
thrown away as they were in
that situation."
In these and scores of historic
events, the important role played
by Hammarskjold are depicted
thoroughly in Kelen's splendid bio-
graphy.
you
believe
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