Historic 'Beiliss Case,' Czar Nicholas' Aid to Bigots Who Spread Ritual Murder Libel, Told by Maurice Samuel America and Alfred Knopf, is a remarkable act of recording, a splendid work of research and an unusual commentary on the anti- Semitic trends in Russia during Czarist days, when an inhuman and atrociously vicious libel was encouraged in its sponsorship of the ruler of Russia. MAURICE SAMUEL Maurice Samuel, unquestionably the most creative 'Jewish writer of our time, has reconstructed an historic event in his newest book. It renders an important service to Jewry and to mankind by its ap- proach to truth and justice and it brings to light the events which marked a dramatic episode in the history of anti-Semitism in Russia. His "Blood Accusation — The Strange History of the Beiliss Case," published jointly by the Jewish Publications Society of and com- As an on mentary on the lack of informa- tion regarding major occur- rences, Samuel points out in his interesting introduction that while the Dreyfus Affair is frequently written about, the Beiliss case is unknown. While he need not have done that, he thereby justifies his work which. began in 1962 and which in- volved him in research in which he required expert assistance in the collection of the recorded facts. A group of Detroiters sev- eral years ago encouraged this effort with assistance to the staff of researchers. The Dreyfus and Beiliss cases are contrasted: there were such vital differences between Russia and France. But Samuel neverthe- less shows that they "had the same fundamental purpose — to arrest and turn back the forces of prog- ress; and time showed that in each instance the particular case was but,- an episode or an instru- ment in the larger historical strug- gle. In France anti-Dreyfusism had been related to the rejection of Conservative Jewry Hails Gains of Movement in Israel GENEVA (JTA) — The World Council of Synagogues, attended by 250 delegates from 11 coun- tries, concluded its deliberations here with a resolution hailing the founding of the United Synagogue of Israel made up of 20 Conserva- tive congregations, Emanuel G. Scoblionko, of Allen- town, Pa., was reelected president of the Council. The concluding session was ad- dressed by Dr. Louis Finkelstein, head of the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York, who laud- ed the growth of the Conservative movement. Earlier, the conference heard from Rabbi Marshall Meyer, of Buenos Aires, Argentina, who said that the Jewish communi- Farbstein Seeking Use of Mt. Scopus for Peace Center WASHINGTON (JTA) — A Con- gressional resolution advocating the establishment in abandoned Hebrew University buildings on Mt, Scopus, in Jerusalem, of a branch of the Truman Peace Cen- ter open to all Mideast students was submitted here by Rep. Leon- ard Farbstein, New York Demo- crat. Rep. Farbstein, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, told Congress that since it is the Policy of the United States to en- courage peaceful resolution of Mideast disputes, the Truman Cen- ter for Advancement of Peace should expand its scope to utilize the unused buildings on Mt. Sco- pus. "It would undoubtedly con- tribute to peace to have Jordanian and Israeli students studying side by side," he said. The Farbstein resolution would, if adopted, declare "that the United- States Congress favors the establishment in abandoned uni- versity buildings in Jerusalem of a branch of the Harry S. Truman Center for the Advancement of Peace, which would be open to the students of all Middle Eastern countries." 32—Friday, August 72, 1966 ties • of South and Central Am- erica "are practically devoid of rabbinical leadership, and of a the 1789 revolution and it was ac- companied by a romantic nostalgia for the illusory simplicities and sweetnesses of the ancient regime; but Petainism and collaboration- ism in World War II were an expression of the same rejection and echosed the language of the Dreyfus case. In Russia the Bei- iss case was mounted by men who hoped by means of it to strengthen the autocracy and to crush the liberal spirit that was reviving after the defeat of the 1905 revo- lution." Of special importance, there- fore in the expose of the crim- inal forces who pressed charges against an innocent Jew while overlooking the evidence that was mounting against a crim- inal woman and a gang of thieves who were responsible for the murder of the 13-year-old boy whose death caused the initia- tion of the ritual murder charge, is the role that was played by the Czar, Nicholas II, and by the Czarina Alexandra. In the presentation of these facts Sam- uel presents an important chap- ter on Russian history — on the role of Rasputin—who were responsible for the medieval rulership that dominated over the Russian masses, leading to their eventual overthrow, to the murder of the Czar, the Czania, and the Czarevich. With his presentation of the facts regarding Mendel Beiliss, the simple Jew who became a world figure as a result of the limelight in which the Kiev court figured in this tragic case, Samuel actual_ ly reconstructs a bit of Russian history and thereby adds valuable data regarding the Czarist rule, the Russian people, the newspapers in Russia and the intellectuals as well as the many common men who refused to fall prey to the atrocious ritual murder propagan- da. There was a sense of justice among many of the ordinary peo- ple who were outraged by the case that was drummed up by anti-Semites. Some Russian offi- cials were demoted and punished for attempting to ferret out the truth. The Czar was in the middle. He was kept informed about the dynamic and vibrant synagogue." As an example of synagogal "void" in Latin America, he cited the fact that, of the 350,000 Jews in Buenos Aires, only 50,000 at- tended services during the last High Holy Days. To overcome the indifference to- ward the synagogue on the part of Latin American Jewry, Rabbi Mey- er reported, the Conservative movement is attempting to concen- trate on Jewish youth. Hebrew Corner The rabbinical seminary . in Buenos Aires, established by the Eilat Conservative movement, now has The event occurred on the 11th of 20 young Latin American Jews Adar, 5709 (1949). Military vehicles studying for the rabbintate, Rabbi full of soldiers approached the shores of Eilat and stopped. The soldiers Meyer said. In another address, Rabbi Stuart E. Rosenberg, of Toronto, warned that "the new entente" between Judaism and Chrstian- , ity, resulting from the spirit of ecumenicism, involves conceal. ed dangers. "To be effective," he said, im- plementation of that spirit "must exact from both Christians and Jews reevaluations of traditional attitudes toward each other. As Christians seek Christian renewal, so must Jews seek Jewish renew- al." Other addresses were delivered by Rabbi Raphael Posner, professor in residence of the American Stu- dent Center of the Hebrew -Uni- versity in Jerusalem; and Rabbi Bernard Segal, executive director of the United Synagogue of Ameri- ca. At the opening session, the Council presented a special award in absentia to Mrs. Helen Suzman, the only woman member of the South African Parliament and an ardent foe of that country's apar- theid policy. Mrs. Suzman, who is Jewish, could not come here to receive the award personally be- cause of her duties at home. The South African legislator was cited for her "distinguished leader- ship in the battle to translate the prophetic vision that 'all men are created equal' into a living re- ality. THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS jumped out and took up positions. But it soon became clear that the enemy troops had already run away from the place. "We must hang an Israeli flag on the building!" said the Commander. But no one had a flag. What was to be done? A soldier brought a sheet, a second soldier took out a bottle of blue ink, and in a few minutes the bedsheet became a Jewish flag with two stripes and a Magen David (Star of David). The flag fluttered in the wind and gave notice that the Shores of Eilat were in the hands of the Israel Defence Force. That was the last day of the War of Independence, and also the first day of the town of Eilat, the southern- most point of the State of Israel. This spot is one of the most mar- vellous places in the world. No other city has grown with such speed or has such fascination. There are several reasons for this. First of all, the wonderful scenery— on the south the blue bay, and all around high, wild mountains. And the climate—Eilat is the Miami of Israel. It hardly knows what winter is like. A warm sun always shines there. The town grew very fast. Thousands of people arrived there—young people born in the country and immigrants from all parts of the world. They built a large harbor there, and ships began to arrive in the port from Africa, India, Japan, and Australia. A large pipeline transports the oil from Eilat to the refineries in Haifa. Near Eilat, the pioneers discovered the copper mines of King Solomon's times and reactivated them. Today Eilat is a modern city, with new handsome houses, large hotels, an Ocean Museum, theaters and movies, schools, restaurants, etc. And where does Eilat get its water? It' at the very edge of the desert! Eilat draws part of its water from the sea. Large engines pump out the sea water and convert it into good sweet water. Eilat is the pearl of the south of the State of Israel. Published by the Brit Ivrit Olamit. with the assistance of the Memorial Foundation for Jewish Culture. Material in vowelized, easy Hebrew, can be obtained by writing to the Brit Ivrit Olamit, P.O. Box 7111, Jerusalem, Israel. happenings. He was among the chief culprits. So many people were involved in the case that Samuel found it necessary to list a dramatis Personae at the commencement of his history of the noted case. By listing and identifying the figures in the ca s e, he is most helpful to the reader. Of even greater importance are the appended 14 pages of notes. While the author expresses the view that "only a small — but very important — number of my readers will be interested in the notes — I am sorry to inconven- ience them for the benefit of the majority," the fact is that as an historical record the Samuel book is especially valuable because of these notes and because of the collection of records regarding the occurrences in Russia, the anti- Semitism, the struggle for justice, the ultimate triumph of truth. There were many intrigues. The anti-Semites were adamant. The prosecution knew who the guilty were, but they determinedly pur- sued the plot to impose a charge upon Jewry — although there was an effort to make it appear only a Hasidic minority practiced ritual murder. A strange jumble marked the trial. An illiterate jury returned a guilty verdict. It was discovered — and by the anti-Semitic Novoye Vriemya—that the vote was 6 to 6, which meant acquital. The world press called it a comedy. Russia was ridiculed. The prosecution called the case a triumph for its efforts and celebrated with a ban- quet. The released Beiliss left for America, after first settling for a brief time in Palestine. He was a pronter, he recorded his case in the Yiddish press, died in New York in 1934 and was forgotten- now to be revived in interest agz in the Samuel book. The Beiliss defense attorneys— V. A. Maklakov, Oscprr- O. Gruzen- berg_ =..--wrierre'Tti a superb light. There are a number of people who refused to be misled by the cabale. Samuel's commentaries, his de- scription of the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the spread of which began after the Beiliss case, and numerous other occurrences, com- bine to make this a great his- torical compilation, brilliantly writ_ ten. It could take a reviewer thou- sands of words to analyze the splendid literary attainment in "Blood Accusation" by Maurice Samuel. Pulitzer Prize winning author and critic Mark Van Doren correctly said that this book of less than 300 pages could have been a thousand pages. By the same token much more could be said about this book. Suffice it to say that it is, indeed, great ! It is superb writing ! And there will be much more to say about it in time. —P, S. 1-11-1:vri mnri •, .Q949) u"Vr, ,ntin u" ;1;11 -1 . 1Tin Ilppr nitro.; .1- .?,11 ntrx InIpT frite?!? lopr), Rir0 .nirT - !tnt'itr. t7r71-)x rT4ri '717 n*r.)'? 1V;;:j L7:ri ?nit017 L7n . L2),1 trirt tii'ktt2 '244 1prj wIrTix rr L 2tg 77 j7 k4VVI 9Pir.) 47.1 5nri .1)1T Ti .7.? n'Pn r17 "1 1.) 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