Purely Commentary Tragic Recollections of the Holocaust in . Christian Vienna Production of 'Fiddler' . Attitudes and Rejection of Silence on Crimes Recalling the Holocaust—Drama Enacted in Vienna nation? How long will people be silent while indignities are being im- posed upon Jews in Moslem countries? A special report to the New York Times from Vienna by Ted Szulc, The debate has assumed a vast scale. In a recent issue of the published under the heading "Israelis Starred in Viennese 'Fiddler' New York Times, the charge of Christian silence was renewed by one of Draw Enthralled Yet Uneasy Audiences," should be read very widely. world Jewry's most distinguished scholars, Dr. Robert Gordis. His It states: letter follows: VIENNA, Feb. 23 — Thirty-one ing to the thought of performing Clergy's Silence on Black Anti-Semitism years ago a teen-age girl named Sholem Aleichem in German in To the Editor: Lya Dulizkaya fled her native Vien- Vienna. It is clear that the anti-Semitic utterances and actions of a small na for Palestine with her parents Miss Dulizkaya, whose mother group of black extremists are not representative of the vast majority because Hitler had occupied Aus- had been a famous prewar singer of our black fellow citizens. It is equally certain that these manifesta- tria and it was no longer safe for and diseuse in Vienna, agreed tions of anti-Jewish hostility are increasing in intensity and threaten Jews to remain here. rather quickly. Having secretly at- to infect ever larger segments of the community. Last night, Miss Dulizkaya, now tended Max Reinhardt's classes There are two ominous aspects of this agitation that have scarcely a popular Israeli musical comedy here as a young girl—her mother been noted, if at all. Anti-Semitism is, unfortunately, no new disease actress, stood smiling on the stage was against Lya entering the thea- in the body politic of modern civilization. But the black apostles of of the Theater and der Wien, ter—her dream had always been to anti-Semitism are Johnnies-come-lately in this area. where Mozart once conducted his return in triumph to the Vienna Hence they are free, both in their words and actions, from the "Marriage of Figaro" to reap thun- that "once rejected us." restraints of civilized speech and behavior that characterized the derous applause from an enthusi- Mr. Yadin, who was born in "genteel anti-Semitism" of the past before the advent of Hitler. It is astic, but obviously self-conscious, Palestine 47 years ago and spoke in his ignoble tradition that they walk. Viennese audience. no German until he later memor- Along with her Israeli co-star The. second and even more distressing aspect of the present ized the Tevye part, thought longer dangerous situation is the reaction—or lack of it—of most of the Yosef Yadin, she had just com- about it. white Christian community in general and of the official custodians pleted the first week of perform- He consulted friends and his of its religious and ethical tradition in particular. ances in the Vienna production of elder brother, Yigael (the archaeol- "Fiddler on the Roof"—called "An- Lack of Response atevka" here—which has become ogist and former Israeli Army As the group tensions become exacerbated, the silence of the the hit of the 1969 theater season in chief of staff) and finally decided Christian churches of New York and the nation, of individual ministers, to come to Vienna "because it was priests and laymen as well as of organized Christian bodies, is deafen- this still-sophisticated capital. Miss Dulizkaya, playing Golde, something we must do." ing. This almost complete lack of response by the spokesmen for the Miss Dulizkaya came for the re- Judeo-Christian moral tradition, in which I fervently believe, is and the bearded Mr. Yadin as Tevye the milkman are the toast of hearsals in December to rediscover particularly tragic in this year of grace. Vienna. The reviewers cannot find the city she once fled and to bask It comes two decades after the tragic failure of the Christian enough words to praise the moving in her new fame. The press lionized church—except for a small group of great-souled Christian heroes and production, oddly more sentimental her even when the musical was martyrs—to lift its voice against the horrors of the Nazi holocaust. than the "Fiddler" that is on Broad- still in rehearsals, and one day she It comes a year ands half after May 1967, when the misrulers found the elderly superintendent's way. wife in the building where the of the Arab states boldly announced their intention to annihilate the The Deeper Meaning state of Israel and destroy its , people. Then, too, most Christian leaders But to all concerned—the Israeli Dulizkaya family lived three de- remained mute, and broke into loud protests only after Israel miracul- stars, the Vienna newspaper re- cades ago. ously escaped its threatened extinction. The old woman broke into tears, viewers and the Viennese public— Now for the third time within living memory the specter of it was not just the play and the embraced her and said: "Thank artistic success that counted, but God, they forgot to put you in the active anti-Semitism has raised its head. Once again the spokesmen of religion remain silent, as though the confrontation is a contest the meaning of presenting, on an oven .. ." Austrian stage, the tale of pogrom. A foreigner watching the full- between the black and Jewish communities, of no interest to any- For this still is a city of grim house audience one night this week one outside. Thus Christian leaders in the post-Nazi era continue to make the memories, a ciiy where wartime could not escape the sense of self- guilt has not yet vanished 31 years consciousness pervading the tiered egregious blunder of regarding anti-Semitism as a Jewish issue and not as a Christian and human problem of massive dimensions. Their after the Nazi Anschluss, even theater. though the Austrians nowadays The men and the women especial- silence justifjes the cynical observation that the only thing we learn tend to say they were an occupied ly those in their middle years. from history is that we learn nothing from history.—Robert Goris, Pro- country, not a collaborator nation. seemed careful not to laugh too fessor of Bible, Jewish Theological Seminary, New York, Jan. 24, 1969. A short time thereafter, a great libertarian, another eminent Once a great center of Jewish soon at a joke and not quite sure intellectual life—the home of Sig- just when to applaud. It was barely scholar, the Catholic leader the Rev. Edward J. Flannery, replied mund Freud, Stefant Zweig and perceptible, but there were frac- and made some concessions to Dr. Gordis' charge. Dr. Flannery wrote: Fritz Kreisler among many others tion of seconds that seemed inor- `Silence' of Christians —Vienna now has no more than dinately long and responses that To the Editor: In the Middle Ages, when Jews were forced to listen to Christian 10,000 Jews. There were 200,000 in were just a shade this side of spon- sermons, some of the more imaginative listeners stuffed cotton in 1938. Viennese reactions to Jews taneous. There were tears. are studied and careful. But Vienna reviewers of "Anate- their ears to produce the desired silence. One wonders if the practice It was in this atmosphere that vka," which takes its name from has not survived in our own time when one hears so many charges of Rolf Kutschera, the director of the the town where the musical takes silence in the churches from Jewish—but also Christian—observers of the Jewish-Christian scene. jewel-like Theater 'an der Wien, place, have been direct. ' Prof. Robert Gordis in a letter to The Times (Jan. 30) charged conceived bringing "Fiddler" to The critic for Die Presse wrote: Vienna, at a considerable expense "We know what indescribably cruel Christian leadership with silence both during the Six-Day War and because, theoretically, the German- fate was reserved to the successors more recently on the emergence of black anti-Semitism. He termed language rights to the musical are of whom Sholem Aleichem wrote the silence "deafening." Will Maslow is quoted in a news story on blocked until next year by German . . . and that's what frightens us Jewish-Negro relations (Jan. 26), as leveling a similar charge. producers who put it on in Ham- when we catch ourselves applaud- Israel Defended I should like to point out that during the Six-Day War several burg and West Berlin. ing just because the choreography When Mr. Kutschera decided to is so splendid, or when we smile at Christian leaders spoke out very clearly in defense of Israel, including produce "Fiddler" this year, his an outlook on life that, in its fatal- Richard Cardinal Cushing, Bishop Paul J. Hamilton of Atlanta, the friend Yoram Harel, a Vienna- ism, contributed to let unprecedent- Catholic Peace Society, the present writer, and several others. Since then their statements have been widely publicized by Jewish writers. based Israeli artists' manager, ed horror become reality." As for black anti-Semitism, the American Bishops' Secretariat for came up with the idea that Israeli The Kurier said: stars should be brought here to "During and,after the perform- Catholic-Jewish Relations issued a statement last November evaluating the status of Jewish-Christian relations at the present time, which perform. ance I anxiously put the question One day last spring, Mr. Harel to myself whether it was permissi- referred very directly to black anti-Semitism. Among other matters the statement, pointing to the emergence telephoned Miss Dulizkaya in Tel ble after the holocaust to play such Aviv — she played in the Israeli a comparatively harmless tragedy. of antagonism to Jews among blacks, paid tribute to contributions production of "Fiddler"—and Mr. Bill the question can be answered of Jews to civil rights and warned that unless the rights and dignity Yadin, who was busy singing Fal- in the affirmative. Today's Ana- of every group and individual are respected, those of none are safe. staff and had never even seen tevka is anywhere in the world Catholic Spokesmen The statement was sent to all wire services and was reported at Tevye on the stage. where minorities are persecuted. As both Miss Dulizkaya and Mr. Being a reminder of this, gives the least in the Catholic press and was widely circulated in the Jewish community. It was reprinted by one major Jewish organization and was Yadin told the story the other eve- play its raison d'etre." ning after a performance, each re- The Communist newspaper Volks- included in the Newsletter of the Synagogue Council of America. This statement of the Bishops' Secretariat as well as the words of the acted with a touch of soul-search- stimme titled its review, "Ana- Catholic spokesmen during the Six-Day War were made well within tevka, Mon Amour." earshot of Professor Gordis, Will Maslow and other critics who have What sad reminders are inherent in this report! And how timely made similar charges. it is in an era of forgetfullness! There can be no question that the churches have been too silent When liberty loving people protest against evidences of bigotry in with respect to the dangers and difficulties of the Jewish universities, or other spheres, they are accused of creating an atmos- both throughout the world and here in America. This fact, community however, phere of hysteria. There are so many who advise forgetting: why rake entitles no one to ignore or minimize that which has been said or done. up old hatreds, they say—labeling a reminder of the barbarism as The charge of silence in such matters is a serious one. Anyone hatred. Whose hatred? That's what must be recalled in order that what who raises his voice on the subject owes it to his listeners to have had happened should not happen again. looked thoroughly into the facts of the matter. If he fails to do so, will Indifference always led to acquiescence to renewal of bigotry and it or not, he only contributes further setbacks to Jewish-Christian barbarism and brutality. The Vienna play admonishes against indiffer- dialogue.—(Rev.) Edward H. Flannery, Executive Secretary, American ence. 11 is by remembering Amalek that we can prevent the emergence Bishops' Secretariat for Catholic-Jewish Relations, Seton Hall Univer- of New Amaleks. sity. Orange, N. J., Feb. 1, 1969. * * Very soon after Dr. Flannery had expressed his views, another The 'Silence o nti-Semitism': The Christian Voice distinguished Christian, the Pittsburgher Dr. Donald W. Mcllvane. Once again, in the 1930s and the 1940s, during the European complimented Fr. Flannery but took a stand in support of the more tragedy that resulted in the death of many millions at the hands of critical view of Dr. Gordis. He wrote: barbarians, and in the era when medievalism played a role in efforts Clerics' Silence on Anti-Semitism to prevent the rebirth of Jewish statehood, there is a debate over the To the Editor: role that is played by Christians in the re-emerging anti-Semitism. Father Edward Flannery's letter (Feb. '7) is a genuine contribu- Are Christians blind to reality in the issue involving the Middle tion to understanding in the present Jewish-Christian tensions in New East? Are they calloused to Arab threats to exterminate the Israeli York City, which are also felt elsewhere throughout the country. 2—Friday, March 7, ,1969 THE : DETROIT. JEWISH. JAWS He rightly puts in better perspective the "silence of Christians" by, listing some of the. things .said by Christian leaders. I have only By Philip Slomoyitz the greatest admiration for Father Flannery in his work. I was deeply affected by his classic work "The Anguish of the Jews." However, the statements of a few men in the church must not ob- scure the fact that the great ma- jority of Christian leaders have indeed been silent. Here in Western Pennsylvania a reasonable estimate would be that in no more than one out of every 10 Christian churches has there been a strong sermon on Christian- Jewish relations during the past 10 years. My own Catholic Church issued a magnificent document at the Second Vatican Council, "On the Relationship of the Church to non-Christian'. Religions." Despite the undoubted goodwill of the bishops in this area, there are very few parishes where ser- mons have been preached on this document. Parishioners who did not read the press would never know that it existed. All hail Father Flannery and his noble effort—but Rabbi Robert Gordis' charges on the silence of Christians are still substantially true. If Christians in New York and elsewhere can recognize this truth, then they will have profited from the present agony in New York City.—(Rev.) Donald W. Mcllvane, Pittsburgh, Pa., Feb. 13, 1969. This discussion merits attention in wider quarters, and the interest that attaches to it is the emanation of some sort of an assurance that Christians will speak, that there will be a rejection of silence, that every display of bigotry will be condemned. Perhaps we can't expect such action from the so-called Good-Will Movement: the National Confer- ence of Christians and Jews. There was another Brotherhood Week and so few heard about it that the NCCJ now suffers renewed scru- tiny. But there are many Chris- tians who are outraged by bias and discrimination, when it is practiced against ' Jews, blacks and others who need the entire community to become interested in just causes. In the instance of the outrage- ously hate - provoking lecture at Oakland University, two weeks ago, for example, it was vital that not Jews but Christians—and the lecturer's fellow-Muslims—should speak out and express their revul- sion over lies spoken by a college professor. Perhaps the issue raised by the scholars Gordis, Flannery and McIlvane will serve the pur- pose of arousing a determination not to permit injustice, indignity and The Lie again to emerge in all their ugliness. * * * Terrorism: Examples of 'Heroism' in Attacks on Civilians in Israel When terrorists risk entering an "enemy" camp they are, of course, heroes to their compatriots. But they are as much heroes as a man who murders a Presidential candidate: because in a democracy, whether it is in the United States or in Israel, it is so easy to get near a public figure ! But there is also the factor in- volving the governments in whose behalf the terrorists speak. When the Nassers and the Hussein feign a role of civilized beings they prove their hypocrisy by ap- proving murders of civilians in supermarkets, in university cafe- terias, in bus stations. When the Big Four get together to discuss Israel's status and the conditions in the Middle East in the atmosphere of unfriendliness in the and injustice to Israel UN whence have come so' many prejudices against Israel ! — let these facts be remembered: that the Arab rulers are responsible for the uncivilized acts perpetrated against Israel !