The period in which any given
people reach their highest power
in art is precisely that in which
they appear to sign the warrant
of their own ruin.—John Ruskin
(1859)
The Yom Kippur Confession
BY SAUL CARSON
eral hundred people in his Fascist
outfit. Some were Americans of
I'll have to disguise some of the Italian origin who thought that
names and places, for obvious rea- Mussolini was great and, therefore,
sons. But the story is true. And were open to Fascist blandishment
Happy New Year
two of the names involved are true. of an American variety. Art was
One is the well-known old Socialist the outfit's commanding general.
fighter, Norman Thomas. The other He had other "officers" under him.
Reliable Manufacturers
of Lightweight Concrete
is John Nicholas Beffel, one of Only one of these was a Jew, the
Masonry Units Since 1923
America's old labor publicists and man we call Sam. Sam was in
9143 Hubbell
the man who, away back in the charge of the organization's money-
Detroit, Mich. 48228
early Twenties, first called Amer- making department, the sale of
VE 8-3200
ica's attention to the Sacco-Van- brown shirts and other uniforms
zetti
case through an article in the to the deluded Fascists.
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New Republic. The names of the
In an effort to recruit more
other principals mentioned here Italian-Americans, Art held a rally
A Joyous New Year
are fictitious—although they were one night in a neighborhood heavi-
To All My Friends
very real. One of these was a Jew ly populated by Italian immigrants.
who shall be called here just plain A half-dozen Italian Anarchists
Sam.
came to the meeting to heckle Art.
It happened in 1933. Roosevelt During the meeting, the lights in
17616 Wyoming, at Thatcher
was President, the depression was the hall went out. One shot was
UN 3-2900
at its lowest depths, millions were fired in the darkness. The lights
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unemployed, and, just as Commu- went on again. One of the Italian
nists were making hay, so were anti-Fascists lay dead. Five or six
some would-be Fascists. One of the of the Italian anti-Fascists were
Best Wishes for a
latter, a man we'll just call Art, arrested. One of them was charged
Happy New Year
had organized a quasi-military
with murder. Art and several of
ga nization which, he promised, his top officers, including Sam,
would march a million men to told the district attorney that the
Washington to take the U.S. Gov- arrested man had fired the fatal
ernment away from "the Jew shot.
14411 West Eight Mile
Roosevelt."
Detroit 48235
341-6001
The radical movement set up a
Art had recruited perhaps sev- United Front committee to try to
save _the accused man from the
electric chair. Norman Thomas was
Greetings
chosen as chairman of the defense
committee; a well-known Commu-
nist attorney was taken on as coun-
sel; Thomas co-opted his old friend,
Originator of Lawn Underground Sprinkling System
Beffel, to act as the committee's
Rain's Only Rival Since 1915
investigator.
20122 Livernois
UN 3-9650
It took Beffel three months to
find out that several of Art's of-
ficers knew who had actually fired
the fatal shot but refused to sign
an affidavit reciting the truth. One
New Year Greetings
of the men who knew was the Jew,
Sam—the only Jew in the entire
outfit.
Sam had disappeared. Beffel
Silk Screen Colors — Supplies — Equipment
finally found him—in the home of
6340 Fenkell
the man's mother. Sam had just
862-11115
had an appendectomy which nearly
cost him his life. Beffel, born a
Catholic, couldn't get a confession
out of Sam. But he could play on
Best Wishes For A Happy New Year
Sam's gratitude to God for having
To Our Relatives, Friends and Patrons
saved his life through the opera-
tion.
Yom Kippur was near. Beffel
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There is one in your neighborhood. For the one nearest you
went to see the leading Reform
TO 8 8800
rabbi in the city. He told the rabbi
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about the case, and the rabbi con-
firmed the facts by checking with
Norman Thomas. A plan of action
was devised.
Sam, the son of poor, immigrant
Jews, living in a slum area, re-
New Year Greetings
ceived a letter on the fanciest sta-
tionery of the famous rabbi. The
rabbi invited Sam, personally, to
be his guest at the forthcoming
Yom Kippur services. Flattered,
Sam swallowed the bait.
During the Yom Kippur services,
the rabbi delivered a fiery sermon
dealing with the need for repen-
Holiday Greetings
tence on the most solemn of High
Holy Days. When the sermon was
over, a frock-coated usher tapped
Sam on the shoulder, whispered:
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"The rabbi would be pleased to see
Window Cleaning
you privately in his study." Sam
7735 Fenkell
864-2340
went with the usher to the rabbi's
study.
The conversation lasted a half
hour. The rabbi obtained a full
confession from Sam, who named
the real killer and promised to
testify if the man were to be ar-
rested. Behind a screen in the
rabbi's study was the arrested vic-
tim's defense counsel, Beffel, and
a secretary who had taken the en-
tire conversation down in short-
hand.
Ultimately, the notes were
transcribed. Sam signed the con-
fession, in the presence of the
Friends and Customers
rabbi. The man falsely arrested
was freed. The man whom Sam
had accused of firing the shot was
never located by police. Art was
arrested, charged with conspiracy
and sent to prison for three years.
His Fascist movement simply col-
lapsed.
It had taken John Nicholas Bef-
fel, a man of Irish-German descent,
born a Catholic, to engineer the
Yom Kippur confession that saved
an innocent man from the electric
chair.
(Copyright, 1966, JTA, Inc.)
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DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
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