Bergen Belsen Survivors Wean the Holocaust,
Perpetuate Memory of Victims in Award Library

A Remembrance Award Library
has just been issued as a tribute to
the memory of the victims of
Nazism and the heroes of the re-
sistance.
It is a timely product—on the
occasion of the observance of the
Warsaw Ghetto heroes' revolt, as
a refutation of the Polish efforts to
denigrate the role of the resistance
forces, as a mark of respect to the
millions who perished and those
who survived the Holocaust.
Issued by the World Federa-
tion of the Bergen Belsen As-
sociation, under the leadership
of a hero of the resistance and
the man who has led in expos-
ing the crimes after his own
survival — Joseph Rosensaft —
this library contains historical
data, collections of poetic
works, reminiscences, tributes.
In this assorted set of noteworthy
literary products is included the
treat work by
Elie Wiesel, "The
Town Beyond the
Wall," in a trans-
lation from the
French by Steph-
en Becker. The
prefatory note by
the distinguished
author, who was
among the wit-
nesses to t h e
Na zi crimes in
Auschwitz, con-
tains a deeply
moving message
aimed at preserv-
Wiesel • ing "an image of
the past." Addressed "To You,
Friends in Remembrance," Wie-
sel's statement declares:
"Is there a town beyond the
wall? There is nothing but a tale.
The tale I have hold is the one
which I myself would like to have

lived. It tells of encounters I my-
self would like to have had.
Haunted by the dead, one talks
of them and to them. But like
you, I sometimes find myself fall-
ing silent in order to capture
their vision which, beyond ruins
and walls and words, reached
out to us from places swollowed
up by time and fire. You and I
friends in remembrance, we
know how to listen, and to
whoin."
As a companion volume, the
Bergen Belsen Memorial Library
series contains the superb narra-
tive ". . Than a Tear in the Sea"
by Manes Sperber, in a translation
from the French by Constantine
Fitzgibbon, with an introduction by
Andre Malraux. Sperber asserts in
his introductory essay "Hurban or
the Inconceivable Certainty" that
the hope that was engendered in
people during the hurban was re-
sponsible for pushing people "to
fight anew each day for one day
more," the hope that resulted in
refraining from resistance, adding:
"We were never taught how to rid
ourselves of hope." It is an ex-
planation for the puzzle why there
was not more resistance.
There is criticism in this essay
of the failure of world opinion and
of Jewish public action to speak out
more ardently against the Nazi ter-
rors. The current Russian anti-
Semitism, the degradation of Rus-
sian Jewry, is brought to light here,
and the eminent author declares:
"There is an immense Jewish prob-
lem in Eastern Europe; it is ter-
rifying."
The Catholic Andre Malraux,
in his tribute to the Sperber nar-
rative, to its expose of the soul's
stirrings in the era of sufferings,
emphasizes the importance of
confrontations, of interrogations,

making Sperber's work "the rec-
ord of deadly truths."
Another volume of poems. in this
literary collection is a book of
poems by Jacob
Glatstein, one of
the most distin-
guished poets of
our time. Titled
"I Shall Record,"
Glatstein, in an
introductory es-
say, in his stir-
ring poems, pays
honor to the Hol-
ocaust's victims
and sings of the
glories" of faith
and the dedica•
tion to an inherit
ed idealism. He
explains his
poems as a recol-
lection of events Glatstein
never to be forgotten, of days and
nights when his mind was occupied
with the tragedies -that afflicted
Israel and the world.
The fourth volume in this library
of works about the Holocaust is
the collection of poems in Hebrew
with the Polish texts on opposite
pages by Czeslaw Slezak, under
the title "Wolam cie Jerusalem"—
"Karatikh Yerushalayim"—with a
testimentory essay in Hebrew and
in Polish.
Thanks to the Bergen Belsen
Memorial_Press, the present col-
lection of deeply moving works
contains also a large volume of
the poems of Aaron Zeitlin-
"Lieder fun Hurban tin Lieder
fun Gloiben" — "Poems of the
Holocaust and Poems of Faith"
—in which the anguish of a great
poet is expressed as an expres-
sion of faith, as a tribute to the
sufferers, as a call to hold high
the banner of the Jewish people.

0

The Peace Clock

At the Bialik House in Tel-Aviv,
there is (stands) a large grand-
father clock which plays the tune
of the national anthem, "Hatikva,"
when each hour chimes. "The
Hope Clock" was made by the
Jewish clockmaker from Paris,
Moshe Maimon, who gave it to
the poet Haim Nahman Bialik as
a gift.

It is the first volume of Zeitlin's
work, to be followed by a second—
all emanating from the spirit of a
man of faith and of vision.
In a stirring "Statement of Aims
and Purposes of the Remembrance
Fund," the World Federation of
Bergen Belsen Associations ex-
plains its approach to this immense
The same clockmaker also made an-
publications effort:"
other large, wonderful grandfather
clock,
profusely decorated. which he
"The memory of the apocalyp-
called "The Clock of Peace," as it says
tic epoch of the European Jewish
the word "Shalom" when each hour
chimes. In , this Nvay. he wanted to
Catastrophe and the Holocaust say
that time is calling for peace on
should not remain sterile. What earth. The moment the word "Shalom"
is heard, the clock chimes and swords
man lived through in those few and hammers appear on the face of
the clock. The hammers break the
years which lie outside of Time,
into pieces, and an inscription
may well become—beyond sor- swords
appears containing the words of the
Prophet Isaiah, "And they shall beat
row, suffering and hatred — the
their swords into plowshares . . .
cornerstone of a new humanism.
Nation shall not lift up sword against
A love for mankind, less utopian
nation, neither shall they learn war
any more." This is repeated each hour.
but just as noble, may well be
During the World War, the clock-
borne out of the total inhumanity maker
succeded in saving himself and
this
• clock of his, and when he im-
which we have known.
migrated to Israel, he brought the won-
It is the sacred duty of the derful clock with him. The clock-
was offered large sums of money
generation of Auschwitz and Bel- maker
for . this interesting clock, but he did
sen and of those born in the wake
not want to sell it. for he said that
this clock which was made was to
of the dread cataclysm, to bring
serve only the idea of peace, and its
all to mind, to explore it in ful-
proper place was only in Eretz Yisrael,
the land of the prophecy of peace.
lest depth, and to pass it on to
Published by Brit Ivrit Olamit with
future generations. New words, the
assitance of the Memorial Founda-
new concepts, new ideas, a new tion for Jewish Culture in Israel.
vision of the world we live in, a
Material in vowelized, easy Hebrew
can be obtained through your local
different attitude toward our
Hebrew organization, or by writing to
fellow men, a different nostalgia Brit Ivrit Olamit, P.O. Box 7111, Jeru-
of God and Man, will take root salem, Israel.
from the prodigious mutation of
the human species which we
have witnessed."
T
In this five-volume set. a high-
light of the Bergen Belsen sur-
vivors' library, we have a combina-
tion — of tributes to the memory
of the Nazi victims, of an act of t4
remembering, or recollections—and
at the same time of recognizing the
voices of the great poets in Israel
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and their cries for justice. This is
a magnificent literary collection t 7
and is a tribute to those who would
not forget their kinsmen of the
time of the Third Hurban.

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ner book is the introduction to it
that was written for the paperback
edition by noted historian and
author, Barbara W. Tuchman.
Miss Tuchman's essay is not
only a thorough analysis of Haus-
ner's "Justice in Jerusalem" but
is, additionally, a valuable com-
mentary on the Eichmann case
literature and among the first of
and its effect on this generation.
the great writers who also pro-
Miss Tuchman comments: "To
duced in Hebrew. In the present
Schocken paperback, the repro- convey to Israel's youngest gen-
duced story of "The Travels and eration an understanding of thiS
Adventures of Benjamin the issue and of the nature of the
Third," in a translation by Moshe tragedy that overtook their lost
Spiegel, we have a satire on ghetto ; people was a main objective of the
life inspired by the 13th and 19thl Eichmann trial. It was undertaken
Century travelers, Bejmain of by the state that was wrenched in-
Tudela and Joseph Israel Benja- ∎ to life out of the aftermath of the
tragedy, from a sense of responsi-
min.
bility to its people, to the dead,
In this work we now have in an and to history."
English translation in a paperback
A valuable set of photographs
the story of a traveler, a martyred , adds to the value of Hausner's
wanderer who has his home and compilation of facts in this volume
scores of other difficulties—reflect- Schocken Books also issued in
ing life in the ghetto, the miseries paperback "The Story of Robin
confronted, the courage required Hood and Other Tales of Adven-
to carry on. Pathos and humor ture and Battle."
intermingle here.
Edited by Andrew Lang, with
•
*
illustrations by H. J. Ford, this
Unquestionably, renewed inter- reproduction of classics is a 'nag-
est is certain to be aroused by the nificent addition to the literature
appearance as a paperback of for young readers.
Lang's . introductory
"Justice in Jeru-
essay
salem" by Gide- serves as a guide for parents and
on Hausner. This teachers in introducing to the chil-
is t h e thorough dren the splendid works of the
account of t h e past which will endlessly thrill
Eichmann trial youthful readers.
*
*
by the man who
was Israel's at- 2 Antheneum Paperbacks
torney genera l
Among the new paperbacks are
and t h e prose- two delightful poetic works pub-
cutor of the Nazi lished by Atheneum.
criminal.
"Reasons for Moving" by Mark
The manner in Strand is a collection of 22 poems,
which "the mills the second by the able author
of justice" were whose first, "Sleeping With One
Hausner grinding, the Eye Open," appeared in 1964.
crime itself, the manner in which
There are six challenging
both the prosecution and the de-
poems in "Anwser Back" by
fense handled their cases, the wit-
Donald Finkel.
nesses, the summations, the judg-
Inspired by Walt Whitman, rortis) rois? rrol rit:z4irq)
ment — the entire procedure is Finkel's poetic works reflect the
(rinvt: mnier T17q..1
thoroughly reviewed and the spirit of the age and answer to
Hausner book is the most author- many challenges of our time.
itative record of a case that stirred
Finkel previously authored
the entire world.
"Simeon," "The Clothing's New 40—Friday, April 19, 1968
Adding significance to the Haus- Emperor," and "A Joyful Noise."
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Schocken 'Paperbacks Feature
Classics by Eminent Scholars

Schocken Books may well be con- of Ecclesiastes and its use of
sidered among the pioneer pub- quotations, the world -view of
lishing houses which have en- Koheleth, the theory of an Aramaic
riched the paper-
origin, scientific methods in re-
back mart
search about this pholosophic text.
Already distin-
guished as pub
"Inside Kasrilevke" is one of the
lisher of the
classic works of Sholem Aleichem
works o f Nobel
and its appearance in a new paper-
Prize Winner S.
back will certainly be widely ap-
Y. Agnon, Schoc
preciated.
Containing 30 drawings by the
ken's expansion
eminent artist, Ben Shahn, in a
of its paperback
translation from the Yiddish by
shelf is especial-
Isidore Goldstick, this new edition
ly noticeable at1
provides added enjoyment n o w
this time.
that "The Fiddler" has added to
The firm's eat-
est product help
the great humorist's popularity.
in thepopulariza-
The guide to Kasrilevke in the
Lion of a number
several opening chapters, t h e
of the most im
handling of the theme "The Poor
and the Rich" and the thoroughly
portant books of
recent years. In- Dr. Gordis human and social approach, in the
eluded among them are those of humorist's natural fashion, pro-
Sholem Aleichem, Mendele Mocher vide the delight readers always
S e f or im, Dr. Robert Gordis, get from Sholem Aleichem and the
gideon Hausner -and Dr. Joachim knowledge they acquire about a
Prinz. world that has vanished.
"Koheleth, the Man and H
World," by Dr. Gordis, is without
Dr. Joachim Prinz gives a view
doubt one of the most valuable of medieval Christendom in
commentaries on a biblical theme. "Popes from the Ghetto."
This study of Ecclesiastes, n o w
As was indicated in the review
offered in its third augmented edi- of the book when it first appeared
tion, is certain to -fulfill the au- as a hard cover product, in 1966,
thor's hope of contributing "to a Dr. Prinz not only elaborated up-
deeper knowledge and a wider ap- on the role of Jews who rose to
preciation of Koheleth which has great prominence in Catholicism
been described as the most mod- , but acquired special commenda-
ern hook in the Bible."
i tion for his thorough research into
Indeed, the interpretation as the Vatican, the life of a number
provided by Dr. Gordis, has a of medieval Popes, the world con-
special message for our time, ditions under which they func-
"being dedicated to teach men tioned, their attitudes towards
to love life, accept its limita- Jews and the many anti-Jewish
tions and rejoice in its bless- demonstrations.
tit tit 4'
ings."
Dr. Gordis' study — it was re-
Then there is the popularization
viewed in these columns when the of the works of Mendele Moeller
work first appeared in 1951—dis- Seforim.
cusses the theory of Solomonic
Mendele (Shalom Jacob Abram-
authorship, the style of the Book I vich) was a pioneer in Yiddish

Hebrew Column

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