18—Friday, January 6, 1967

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

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Boris Smolar's

'Between You
. and Me'

By BORIS SMOLAR
(Copyright, 1967, JTA, Inc.)

DIVIDED BERLIN: Divided Berlin is a city of two worlds — the
democratic and the communist . . . When one has the chance to visit
both parts of Berlin, he gets an idea how Jews live under a democratic
- regime and what kind of a life they live under a communist regime
. .. Before the Nazis came to power, there were in the whole of Berlin
about 170,000 Jews . . . They lived a normal life, with the organized
Jewish community enjoying the right to tax each member of the com-
munity for Jewish needs . . . The tax imposed by the community was
10 per cent of the general income tax paid by each Jew who considered
himself a member of the Jewish community . . Only those who spe-
cifically declared themselves as not wishing to belong to the Jewish
community could evade paying this tax, and such Jews were few even
among assimilated families . . . The government undertook to see to
it that the tax to the Jewish community was paid . . . Thus, the Berlin
Jewish community hard quite a budget, with the income being spent
on maintaining wonderful medical and welfare institutions which were
the pride not only of the Jews but of the entire city . . . What hap-
pened to these institutions? . . . The Nazis set fire to some of them,
while confiscating the other buildings and converting them into offices,
stables, laundries and warehouses . . . Some of the buildings were
recovered in West Berlin after the fall of the Nazi regime when a small
number of Jews returned home from concentration camps . . . They
have been rebuilt on reparations funds received from the city and are
today functioning again . . . In the part of Berlin now under the com-
munist regime, they are either occupied by the municipality as offices,
or boarded up . . . It was in that part of Berlin that the headquarters
of the Jewish community were situated, on Oranienberger Strasse . . .
Today the building, which was always humming with Jewish life, is a
city welfare office with no Jew seen around . . The neighboring
famous Oranienberger Synagogue stands as a devastated building, with
nobody ever giving a thought to restoring it, but with a sign on it tell-
ing the tragic story of the Nazi annihilation of the Jews.
THE BERLIN WALL: There are today about 6,000 Jews in West Berlin
and they constitute the largest Jewish community in West Germany
. . In East Berlin, on the other side of the Berlin Wall, there are
about 850 Jews, and they constitute the largest Jewish community in
the part of Germany ruled by the Communists . . . While in West Berlin
there are about 500 Jewish children up to the age of 15, attending Jew-
ish schools and kindergartens, there are in East Berlin no more than
14 Jewish children, from infants till the age of 20 . . . This gives a
picture of the poverty of Jewish life in the Communist part of Berlin
as compared with the life of the Jews in West Berlin . . . In West
Berlin you find four synagogues, a Talmud Tara, a modern home for
the aged maintained by the Jewish community, Jewish courses for
young and adults, a community library where one finds books in Hebrew
and Yiddish and newspapers from Israel, and other Jewish institutions
indicating growth of Jewish life . . In Communist East Berlin there
is only one synagogue which is closed most of the weekdays and where
services take place only on Saturdays and holidays . . . The rebuilding
of Jewish communal life was made possible mostly through reparations
paid by the West German municipality to the Jewish community . . .
No such reparations have been paid to Jews by the Communist regime in
East Germany; however the government there maintains the East
Berlin synagogue and all the Jewish cemeteries in East Germany . . .
It also maintains a traveling rabbi for the 850 Jews in East Berlin and
the other 700 Jews scattered throughout East Germany, about 100 of
them in Leipzig — the second "largest" Jewish community in East
Germany . . . The Weisensee Jewish cemetery -- the community's
cemetery in Berlin before the Nazi era — is situated on the Com-
munist side of the Berlin Wall . . . For many years after erection of
the wall, it was the practice that when a Jew died in West Berlin, his
body was escorted by his family and friends only till the _Wall . . .
There, at a check point, the body was handed over to the Communist
authorities for burial at the Weisensee cemetery, with none of the
relatives from West Berlin permitted to cross the Wall into East
Berlin . . Recently, the Jewish community of West Berlin — getting
nowhere in negotiations with the East Berlin authorities to permit close
relatives to escort their dead to the grave — established its own
cemetery in West Berlin .. . I visited the Weisensee cemetery in East
Berlin now and found the graves very much neglected, although the
cemetery is being taken care of by the East Berlin municipality.
JEWISH OUTLOOK: There is no contact between the Jews of East
Berlin and West Berlin . . . The Berlin Wall, which separates the two
parts of the city, also separates completely the two Jewish communities
. . . The Communist authorities in East Berlin do not permit any Jew
from West Berlin to enter their section of the city . . . This isolates
the Jews in East Berlin — and the small number of Jews in East
Germany — from maintaining any contact with the well-organized
larger Jewish communities in West 'Germany . . . The outlook for the
Jews residing on the Communist side of the Berlin Wall is gloomy,
especially since they have no youth . . . About 92 percent of the Jews
in East Germany are aged people living on pensions . .. On the other
hand, Jewish communal life in West Berlin is marching forward . .
It concentrates around the Jewish Center on Fasannenstrasse built by
the Senate of West Berlin for the Jews in the city ... This is an impres-
sive modern building erected on the spot of the former synagogue
where the late Chief Rabbi Dr. Leo Baeck held last services before
he was deported by the Nazis to Theresienstadt Camp. . The Nazis
attempted several times to set fire to this synagogue, however the
building resisted even their dynamite . . . Part of the building was,
however, devastated and the building remained neglected all the years
of the Nazi regime . . The new modern building now contains the
synagogue with its inside dome built from the decorative stones of the
old synagogue . . . An "eternal flame" burns at the wall in memory
of the 6,000,000 Jews killed by the Nazis .. . The Jewish Center is full
every evening during the week with Jews, young and old,_ spending
the evening there either at lectures, or at the library, or at other func-
tions, educational or social . . . Most of the middle-age Jews are not
Berlin-born, or even German-born . . . They come from Poland, Hun-
gary, Czechoslovakia and Romania and it is they who are the parents
of the 500 children which the Jewish community counts and cherishes
. . However, the elderly Jews are practically all Berlin-born, with
most of them survivors of concentration camps .. . The spark-plug of
the Jewish community in West Berlin is its energetic president, Dr.
Heinz Galinski.

Barnes' Intellectual History of Western World
Presents Thought, Culture From Early Times

Three notable volumes, totaling views contained in the publication the autocratic church or monarchs
1,400 pages, offering scholarly com- "Letters of Eminent Men," is sub- of the 16th or 17th centuries." He
ments and a thorough clinical ac- sequently analyzed in Barnes' his- adds: "Mussolini cryptically re-
count of the culture of the West, tory.
marked that liberty is a wasteful
have been republished in revised
Hebrew literary creations, the luxury that efficient government
editions, in paperbacks, by Dover exchange of philosophic views be- connot afford. Hitler made it an
Publications (180 Varick, NY 11).
tween Jews, Christians and Mus- even more dangerous luxury in Ger-
"An Intellectual and Cultural His- lims, the period of Jewish crea- many." There is an admonition,
tory of the Western World" by tive efforts during the Spanish however, in his declaration: "But
Harry Elmer Barnes presents a his-
period are outlined briefly.
Americans should not be too con-
tory of thought and culture, a re-
Commenting on anti-Semitism temptuous of Fascism. The military
view of events from earliest times, and other forms of intolerance, Dr. state capitalism that developed as
affecting the Western World's de- Barnes states that "Fascism and a result of the Cold War has all
velopments.
Nazism in the 20th Century were too many similarities to this Euro-
The first volume covers the eras as constructive of civil liberties as pean system."
through the Middle Ages; the sec-
ond deals with the Renaissance
MIZRACHI HATZAIR 1967
through the 18th Century, and the
third covers the 19th Century to
the present time.
*Ages 17-23
• Kibbutz-moshav work period
*Seven weeks spent in Israel
The religious aspects are
*Strictly Orthodox
'plus European stopover
*14th year in operation
among the elements under re-
*Total cost: $945
view very early in this historical
Write to: Mizrachi Hatzoir Israel Summer Institute
account. The contention here, in
•200 Park Avenue South
New York, NY 10003
relation to Hebraic records, is that
"the Hebraic religion contracted
into a narrow shell," that the
change came when the Hebrews
migrated somewhat extensively
during the Hellenistic times,"
and Dr. Barnes pays this tribute
to the Hebrew: "Indeed. it is
HARVEY SCHREIBMAN, Conductor
quite true that no other people
—unless it be the Attic Greeks
Featuring the Premiere Performance
—have exerted an influence on
later civilization so dispropor-
of The Canfafa
tionate to their size, wealth and
political strength."

ISRAEL SUMMER INSTITUTE

Detroit Jewish Folk Chorus
30th Annual Mid-Winter Concert

The realm of religion, the He-
braic factor, the various eras, in-
cluding those of Philo and Alex-
andrian Jewry, are examined in
relation to the world of that time.
In relation to the appearance in
the 16th Century of "Letters of Ob-
scure Men", Dr. Barnes offers a
brief summary of an important his-
torical occurance involving Pfeffer-
horn and Reuchlin:
"A Jew by the name of Johann
Pfefferkorn had adopted Christ-
ianity and developed all the fervor
and ferocity of a new convert
Hence he proposed that Jews be
forced to attend Christian churches
and listen to Christian sermons and
be prevented from lending money
at interest. Furthermore he sug-
gested the burning of all Jewish
books except the Old Testament.
Accordingly, the opinions of prom-
inent German clerics and scholars
were sought. John Reuchlin, when
approached, took his responsibility
seriously and went deeply into the
subject. He praised Jewish litera-
ture as a whole, condemning only
certain works devoted to witch-
craft or abuse of Christianity. In-
stead of approving Pfefferkorn's
suggestion, Reuchlin recommended
that a chair of Hebrew be estab-
lished in each university in order
that Gentiles might become better
acquainted with, and therefore
more tolerant of, Jewish literature
This enlightened view enraged the
anti-Semites. Reuchlin's attitude
was declared heretical and his reply
was publicly burned. The case
aroused bitter controversy . . .."
The controversy, the exchange of

Probe Nazi Career of VIP
Suspended From Bonn Post

BONN (JTA)—The West Ger-
man government is awaiting re-
sults of an investigation by the
state prosecutor into the wartime
Nazi career of Friedrich Karl
Vialon before deciding on wheth-
er any disciplinary action should
be taken, Jerglen Wischnewski,
minister of economic aid, said.
He made the statement in a
parliamentary reply to a question
asto whether the government
planned any action against the
former state secretary of the
ministry for his Nazi career. Via-
lon has been accused of perjury
and complicity in the wartime
murder of Jews in Baltic coun-
tries.
Vialon was suspended from his
post after the new coalition gov-
ernment of Christian Democrats
and Social Democrats, headed by
Kurt Kiesinger as chancellor,
took office.

.

"THE .MARCH TO SELMA"

Poem : Malka Gottfried

Music: Vladimir Heifetz

Yiddish, English, Hebrew Folk Songs

SCHREIBMAN

SUNDAY EVENING, JAN. 15-8 P.M.
At the Jewish Community Center

Meyers Road at Curtis

Tickets From All Members of the Chorus
Mr. R. Boron, 341-9231 or Box Office evening of performance

January 12 'to February 10, 1967
JNF Sabbath Saturday January 21

Tasks:

• To avow full solidarity with the State_of
Israel on its 19th birthday.
• To focus attention on the activities of
the Jewish National Fund in building the
Land of Israel and strengthening its se-
curity with special emphasis on the new
and first Detroit Development Area proj-
ect in northern Galilee, on the borders
of Syria — the reclaiming and rebuilding
the settlements of Gadot and Mishmar
Hayarden.
• To deepen JNF sentiment among the
masses of the Jewish people.
• To mobilize the broadest possible support
for the JNF through the widest possible
use of JNF's traditional collection meth-
ods.
• To place another thousand Blue-White
JNF Boxes in Detroit and Michigan Jew-
ish homes.
• To plant more trees in Israel. Israel needs
more trees. Trees represent the rekindled
strength and lifeblood of the land. Trees
conserve the soil. Trees beautify the
land. Trees reclaim the wasteland. Trees
provide employment and absorb thou-
sands of the State's temporarily unem-
ployed. And Trees strengthen our ties
with Israel.
• To remind Jews to remember JNF in
their Wills, thus not only linking their
names forever with the land of Israel,
but that their legacy will help ALL of
Israel. JNF land supports the whole Is-
rael economy—it grows Israel's food—on
it stand Israel's religious, educational
and welfare institutions.

PHONE NUMBER:
UN 4 2767

PLANT TREES
FOR
ALL
OCCASIONS

A JNF BOX
IN EVERY
JEWISH
HOME

-

JEWISH NATIONAL FUND

18414 WYOMING AVE.

Detroit 48221

ALL CONTRIBUTIONS TO JNF ARE TAX DEDUCTIBLE

