18—Friday, December 8, 1967
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Difficulties for Allies, Russia's Role,
Hass Murders of Jews Are Related
in Nobecourt's 'Hitler's Last Gamble'
James Nobecourt has compiled
an impressive collection of data
n "Hitler's Last Gamble: The Bat-
tle of the Bulge," an impressive
work that indicates the menacing
situation that faced the Allied
forces and the blunders of the Ger-
mans. In an excellent translation
from the French by R. H. Barry,
this splendid work, published by
Schocken Books, throws light on
many hitherto undeveloped situa-
tions. Its revelation of many of
the occurrences during the last
war make this volume indepensa-
ble for students of the period of
World War II.
The reader learns that some
of the offensive moves by the Al-
lied forces came late, that some
opportunities were missed. that
General Eisenhower "was bound
by his instructions from the Com-
bined Chiefs of Staff Committee,
and it was not in his nature to use
military operations to force a po-
litical decision."
Discussing at this point some
of the handicaps encountered by
Eisenhower—lack of supplies, etc.
—Nobecourt states: "Even suppos-
ing he had available the material
resources required—which is high-
ly doubtful—it seems questionable
whether the resistance which he
would have encountered on the
territory of Germany itself could
have been broken in late summer
without serious fighting." Thus
there were temporary delays, until
the British and the Americans, at
first "taken by surprise and caught
off balance" finally adjusted to
the war effort and "to the realities
of the struggle."
Nobecourt reviews the plan
that was proposed by Henry
Morgenthan Jr. for the "Pas-
toralization" of Germany. He de-
scribes Franklin D. Rosevelt's
endorsment of the proposal. But
the plan is described as "totally
unrealistic" and Nobecourt states
that it only encouraged Goeb-
bels' life and death propaganda,
that: "Eisenhower's headquarters
made no secret of the fact that
in the face of such statements
of principle, even though they
were subsequently watered down
by Roosevelt, it would be diffi-
cult to break German morale."
Hitler's postures and attitudes
are analyzed and the author writes
that Hitler often resorted to ti-
rades, at times against his friends,
that: "When he ran out of breath
he would hark back to his favorite
story: that of Frederick the Great
and how he had been saved by a
series of miracles. Though he re-
membered only superficial inci-
dents in the story Hitler likened
himself to this legendary hero."
Describing the Nazi "Thousand-
Year Reich" dream, Nobecourt
gives this account:
"Himmler, the Reichsfuehrer SS,
had ordered Adolf Eichmann, a
lowly lieutenant-colonel and ac-
cording to his own statement no
more than a bureaucrat, to set
down the number of Jews whom
he had collected and massacred.
It appeared that 4,000,000 had been
liquidated in the concentration
camps and 2,000,000 done to death
by the SD (Security Police) Com-
mandos. Himmler was disap-
pointed; he had hoped, that the
figure would be well over 6,000,000.
In addition there were the regime's
internal enemies who had been fill-
ing the concentration camps ever
since 1933; from 1940 onwards
their numbers were swelled by the
resisters, accused of political or
racial crimes. The figure of
20,000,000 has been given for
prisoners of all types, some of
*
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PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE
YOUR HEART IS IN ::MERICA
C.gri up
.
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'-•
whom passed through the 15 main
concentration camps before being
distributed into the 900 forced
labor camps."
Referring to the role of the
Soviet Union in the war against
Nazism, Nobecourt quotes: "Ilya
Ehrenburg was writing in Prav-
da: `the only innocent beings in
Germany are the dogs and un-
born children."
He indicates relative to the turn
of events which led to the German
defeat: "The launching of the
greatest of all the Soviet offen-
sives, employing vast resources,
was sufficient to show that the
time for compromise, if it ever
existed, was now past. There was
nothing left for Germany but to
return to the time-honored game of
playing off East against West."
Of course that failed and soon
came the final showdown — de-
layed, obstructed but decisive.
Think of your forefathers! Think
of your posterity!
—John Quincy Adams (1802)
Holiday Magazine Devotes December Issue to Israel
Holiday magazine Is devoting its Handbook article "Israel for the
December issue to a full-scale cov- Tourist."
erage of Israel, including six sep-
In adition to the major articles,
arate articles and three additional the magazine also includes three
separate
photographic reports, cov-
photo essays of the Land.
Writers Harry Golden, E. J. ering 24 pages, dealing with "The
People
of
a Proud Land," a photo
Kahn, Jr., Herbert Gold, Aubrey
Menen, Mario Pei and Joan Comay essay of the Israeli people in con-
join with photographers Henri Car- temporary activities, "Heroes of a
tier-Bresson, Burt Minn, John Lew- Harsh Land," including photo stud-
is Stage and Arnold Newman in ies of Ben-Gurion and Moshe Day-
contributions to the issue, which an, and "The Face of a Varied
features as its cover The Jerusalem Land," recording the topographic
beauty of the little nation.
Windows by Marc Chagall.
Quotes and Highlights from the
In characterizing the special Is- Holiday Magazine articles on Israel
rael issue, Holiday Editor Caskie follow:
Stinnet said, "We took pains to let
The Hebrew Language by Mario
the dust of the war settle before
rushing into print. We were not Pei: There are few curse words in
nearly so interested in picturing Hebrew. Since Hebrew lacks these
an Israel flushed with victory as handy verbal lightning rods, the
we were in showinghow that na- angry Israeli curses in Arabic. ...
tion reacts to normal tensions, the
The Israelis are growing a healthy
problems it faces each day."
The major articles cover "The crop of slang. A pretty girl is a
Meaning of Israel," its role in the "bomba" (bomb). Or she might
world today, "A Country Comes of provoke the comment: "eizu hati-
Age," which describes the spirit of ha" (what a morsel)! The influence
the tiny nation, and "In The Foot- of English on Hebrew slang is ap-
steps of The Past," which pictures parent when erratic driving is
the historical origins of the coun- called "Chicago," an aggressive
try. The other major articles in- woman is a "bulldozer,' and a wide-
clude "Jerusalem," depicting that hipped girl has a large "tender"
Holy City, a report on "The Heb- since "tender" also means pickup
rew Language," and a Holiday truck. A flat tire and an accidental
pregnancy are both "panther"
(from the British "puncture'),
• • •
Jerusalem By Herbert Gold: In
1958, viewing a military parade
which featured French Mystere
fighters ,one Israeli remarked: "A
measure of how weak Israel is, is
that its great ally is France."
• • •
A Country Comes of Age By E.
J. Kahn, Jr.: Surrounded as they
are by Biblical landmarks, Israelis
take a chatty view of Biblical
figures. "That Herod," one Jerusa-
lem woman said, looking toward
his tomb, "he was a real stinkeroo
" ... "We're lousy occupiers,"
one government official told Kahn,
"We've had no experience in that
field ,so we vacillate between
mercy and toughness.' ...
Some 7,000 volunteers went to
Israel this summer to help after
the war, but there was so little for
them to do that an organization of
Israeli volunteers sprang up to help
the foreign volunteers find work...
There are 30,000-40,000 TV sets
in Israel, but most belong to Arabs
since most programs come from
Arab countries. There are live
belly dancers plus "I Love Lucy"
and animated cartoons with Arabic
subtitles. . . .