Czechoslovakia: the Days of Dr. Husak

BY JIM COLLINS
munity in Czechoslovakia and
Jews abroad.
(Editor's Note: This is the
Hand in hand with the mass
second article of two by Collins,
media, which now suffer similarly
a specialist on Czechoslovakian
drastic
curtailment, they had,
affairs.)
LONDON — The future historian under Alexander Dubcek, come

to leading Jewish organizations In
the U.S., Great Britain and else-
where in the West. The cancella-
tions coincided almost to the day
with the demotion of Alexander
Dubcek and the accession of Dr.
Husak to the post of first secretary
of the Communist Party.
The obvious expectation was
that the Union of Jewish Relig-
ious Communities in the Czech
lands would act as host on this
occasion. There was consider-
able surprise when the invita-
tions were, in fact, issued in
April by Cedok, the official
Czechoslovak t r a v el bureau,
through their offices in New
York, London and elsewhere.

openly discussed and fought anti-
Semitism.
Since Dr. Husak's advent, all
these voices have been silenced.
But the most glaring example of
the decreed change in attitude to
matters Jewish is, probably, the
memorial meeting held on the site
of the former Terezin concentra-
tion camp in the early part of May.
Some 140,000 people had been de-
ported by the Nazis to Terezin be-
tween November 1941 and May
1945, chiefly from the west. Three-
thousand of them survived, 33,000
died in the ghetto of the camp, an-
other 87,000 were deported to the
gas chambers of Auschwitz, Tre-
blinka and other annihilation
camps in Nazi-occupied Poland.

Organizations invited consider-
ed this a matter of taste and show-
ed their good will by accepting in
principle. However, on April 20

will have little difficulty in estab-
lishing at least one positive achieve-
ment in the first 100-plus days of
Dr. Gustav Husak's rule after
April 20 when he took over the
leadership of the Czechoslovak
Communist Party from Alexander
Dubcek. As if by a magic formula,
he "solved" the Jewish problem
in his country and that of anti-
Semitism in one big swoop.
"J e w s" a n d "anti-Semitism"
alike are now anathema in a coun-
try which, against the obvious will
of its overwhelming majority, has
once again been compelled by So-
viet pressure to revert to the polic-
ing of life and thought alike.
Jewish communities do, in fact,
still have government per capita
assistance for their registered
members as is allocated to mem-
bers of all other religious denomin-
ations in the country for the main-
tenance of their religious institu-
tions, modest publications and
some of their cultural efforts —
the latter chiefly with an eye to
the "export value" in political
and or currency terms.
However, such assistance is

•

not novel to Czechoslovakia
where, since 1918, a religious
communal tax has been levied by
the state, together with income
tax on members of all religious
denominations, and redistributed
to them for free disposition with
a state subsidy added.
If there is no formal change evi-

dent in Czechoslovak Jewry, the
actual changes since Dr. Husak's
advent are substantial. The intro-
duction of strict censorship covers.
it would appear, close control of
all references to matters Jewish:
to Israel, outside the official
party approach: and to anti-Semit-
ism.
The axe has fallen on almost all
the periodicals which defended
communism "with a human face
and heart," among them Listy.
weekly of the Czechoslovak Writers
Union: Reporter, weekly of the
Union of Czechoslovak Journal-
ists; Student and Mlada Fronta.
weeklies of the student and yoifth
organizations, and many others.
Among the editors affected by
the ban are a number of well-
known authors and journalists of
• Jewish oriein and an even larger
number of gentile writers and
newspapermen who• up to the very
eve of Dr. Husak's takeover, made
no secret of where their sym-
pathies lay.
Even more important is the

out in opposition to the unqualified
support of the Arab case in the
conflict around Israel. They had
insisted upon the right to free
travel and sojourn in Western
countries and upon the legal and
professional rehabilitation and com-
pensation of Communist persecu-
tion among whom the number of
Jews — including those who never
had any association with the Com-
munist Party — was relatively
high.
Last but not least, they had

But from the leaders of the
Czechoslovak government, there
came no word of tribute in com-
memoration of these Jewish
Nazi victims. By the stroke of
someone's pen, the memorial
meeting had been transformed
into and reported as a "peace
rally."

Italy apart, no Westerners were
among the representatives of the
Prague diplomatic corps invited to
to attend.
If representatives of the Czech
Jewish community attended, their
presence remained unreported in
the mass media. Dubcek, the prin-
cipal speaker, appears to have
been compelled to limit himself
to a reference to "more than 40,-
000 victims from 17 countries in
Europe", a figure which in fact
barely covers the Jewish victims
from the Bohemian lands.
The attitude of the new Czech
leadership under Dr. Husak also
permeates the gyrations surround-
ing the celebrations of the millen-
ium of Jewish settlement in the
lands of the ancient Bohemian
crown. Originally scheduled for
the summer of 1968, they were
postponed to July 1969. when War-
saw Pact troop movements in
Czechoslovakia started prior to the
entry of the allied Communist
armies on Aug. 21 last year.
During the first days of April
1969, the celebrations were again
canceled without explanation after
i nvitations had already been sent

(the day Dr. Husak took over) the
Jewish religious communities in
Prague, if one is to follow the of-
ficial version, decided of their own
volition that the celebrations would

yet again be canceled.
Press comments, ascribing this
decision to outside pressure, were
hotly denied by Jewish leaders in
Prague. Later it became known
that while there may not have been
"outside pressure" in the narrow
sense of the term, the Jewish
community had at least been the
object of a maladroit exercise: It
had been faced with a demand by
the ministry of education and cul-
ture to guarantee, in foreign cur-
rency, the equivalent of Western
hotel reservations for visitors of
the event.
In short. one of the most ancient
Jewish communities in Europe had
been treated on a par with a bloc-
booking travel agency. in the full
kno•edge that it woud not be in
a position to meet this demand
from its own funds, being as it
were, subsidized by the state. and
that there would be inadequate
time left for an approach to Jew-
ish organizations abroad to assist
in this matter. This latter possib-
ility, to put it mildly, may have
been at the back of the mind of
the foreign currency fumblers in-

volved.

Vehtnik, the official monthly
of the Jewish community in Bo-
hemia, published in mid-May,
neither referred to the milleni-
um celebrations nor to their
cancellations.

A new book, "Schools in Crisis" Be on the lookout for extremist
by Naomi Levine and Richard elements seeking to control a local
Cohen, lists "10 Commandments" decentralized district. Their tactics
to help major urban centers avoid must be watched closely and their
the errors of planning and execu- actions condemned promptly.
tion that plagued New York. The
Make every possible effort to
paperback was published by Popu- prevent differences over the pros
lar Library.
and cons of decentralization from
The authors reject the idea that deteriorating into a black-white or
strife and disorder are "inevitable" Negro-Jewish conflict. This could
in school decentralization. But they prove fatal to any decentralization
warn that strong political leader- plan.
ship and clear-cut lines of authority
A highlight of "Schools in Con-
are necessary if conflict and chaos flict" is a chapter, written by Mario
are to be avoided. In their list of Fantini of the Ford Foundation,
dos and don'ts they urge:
author of the Bundy Report which
Spell out clearly the powers re- first recommended decentralization
tained by the central board and as a blueprint for solving the urban
those delegated to local boards. school crisis. Fantini argues that
Failure to be specific leads to dis- "the major problem with our edu-
aster.
cational system is one of institu-
Delegate powers with caution. tional obsolescence necessitating
Authority once transferred from a basic over-all reform."
central source to a local group is
"Pouring more money into a
not easily given back.
system will not
Work out detailed guidelines list- non-functioning
make
it function. It is how the
ing the respective authority of cen-
tral board and local board before funds are used that makes the
Fantini asserts.
any decentralization program is in- difference,"
The book was based on a study
augurated, even an experimental
originally prepared for the Ameri-
one.
Stand firmly behind the guide- can Jewish Congress, of which Mrs.
Levine is the race relations con-
lines once they're adopted.

Make sure that the mayor and sultant and Cohen associate direc-
other public officials as well as tor.

unions
and civic groups work together in
preparing the decentralization plan
and in forming a broad coalition to
give it the widest possible support.
This will make. it clear that the
plan is not designed to benefit
ethnic, racial or religious group but
the whole community.
Make sure that the board of edu-
cation decentralization plan has the
support of the mayor. He's a big
factor in mobilizing public support.
Don't ignore the rights of teach-
ers and other school personnel.
They have a legitimate interest in
the structure of the school sr.stem,
just as parents and children do.
Experiment first—try decentrali-
zation in a few neighborhoods, not
only in poor, black and depressed
areas but in white, middle-class
sections too. Unless the white com-
munity believes decentralization!
will improve education for their
children, it's not likely any such
plan can be either adopted or suc-
cessfully implemented.

parent groups, teachers,

'The Feminized Male' Deals
With Classroom Problems
A volume of extreme interest in
the study of our school system,
offering data resulting from much
research. describes the role of

women in the educational sphere
and shows how men control the
administrative positions and women
influence the classrooms.
Patricia Sexton, in "The Femin-
ized Male: Classrooms, White Col-
lars and the Decline of Manliness,"
published by Random House. cov-
ers a vast area and throws light on
many developments that deserve
fullest study in relation to our
school system.
Many aspects of the problem.
hitherto overlooked, are pinpointed.
The author outlines views of stu-
dents as well as parents and teach-
ers and in the course of her study
shows the vast differences not only
in the male-female conflict in
school administration and teaching
but also in the views of the boys

and girls as they view each other.

Adventure in Jewis h Learning Offered
to Communal Wor kers in New York

However, Dr. Richard Feder, 95-
year-old chief rabbi of Czechoslo-
vakia, was permitted to continue
his "study in depth" of 1,000 years
BY HERMAN L. SAINER
of Jewish history in his country,
Editor's Note: Sainer, director of
which he had commenced in the
spring of 1968.
the Jewish Orientation and Train-
He concluded with the Jewish ing Seminars (JOTS), is JWB re-
community's pathetic wish to the gional consultant for the New York
fact that these publications
Czech nation "that it may stay free State and New York Metropolitan
brought to the public an .out-
and independent, that it may up- regions.)
standingly frank and courageous
The Jewish Orientation and
hold its lofty traditions, modesty
dicussion of issue s, among
and diligence, and that it may Training Seminars (JOTS) consti-
others, affecting the Jewish com-
never oppress anyone."
tute a graduate-level training pro-
gram in Jewish history, tradition,
and philosophy for Jewish center
workers as well as social workers
in other settings in the New York
By ELIAIIU SALPETER
from Somalia, which they held as Western oil interests in the whole metropolitan area.
(Copyright 1969..1TA. Inc.)
mandate since World War II, Is- region.
Now completing its 19th academ-
JERUSALEM — Israel is provid- rael and Ethiopia are the only
ic year, JOTS is rooted in the con-
Yet, pol itical observers here are
ing training and education to Ugan-
non-Arab countries bordering on
viction that increased knowledge
not quite sure that Washington of the Jewish heritage and its val-
dians, Kenyans and Ethiopians in
the Red Sea.
Israel as well as sending experts
The Ethiopian coastal province is fully understands the implications ues and of the overwhelming en-
and instructors in the economic Eritrea, and the Arabs have re- of the Russian-Arab game.
counters of the Jewish people with
field to those countries.
cently begun to ferment an "inde-
It is pointed out that compared other peoples and other cultures
A measure of the extent of these pendence movement" among the with the Western interests in- through the centuries will enrich
relations is the fact that a reception • Moslem majority of the Eritrean volved, the amount of American the professional competence of the
by the Israel ambassador in Ugan- population. This "independence" is aid to Ethiopia is utterly insuffi- social worker.
da, in Abba Eban's honor, was openly organized, financed and di-
cient. Washington possibly does
This program, conducted under
attended by some 200 Israelis serv- rected from neighboring Sudan and not realize that relatively small
the auspices of the Jewish Edu-
ing there as experts and advisers. "revolutionary" Syria, and its ob-
assistance to the two non-Arab
cation Committee of New York
Another measure was the fact vious purpose is—should they suc- nations in the area—Ethiopia and
and the New York Metropolitan
that the tragically assassinated ' ceed—to turn the Red Sea into an Israel — could effectively block
Region of the National Jewish
Tom Mboya, heir apparent to , "Arab lake."
this Soviet penetration,
Welfare Board, is funded by a
Kenya's venerated leader Jomo
The fact that both Sudan and
special
grant from the Federa-
This view seems to be shared not
Kenyatta, some years ago chose Syria are today ideologically prob-
tion of Jewish Philanthropies of
Israel as the place to spend his ably closer to communism than only by Jerusalem and Addis New York.
Ababa, but also in other East Afri-
honeymoon.
even Egypt and the arms they give
Every effort is made to have
Ethiopia, of course, is a very to the Eritrean "revolutionaries" can capitals.
every social agency associated
special case in this picture. She has come from the Soviet Union is just
Said one of their diplomats the with federation, including all cen-
a very direct joint interest with one outward expression of the fact other day: "Sure, Washington will ters and Ys, consider that enroll-
Israel in preventing Arab encroach. that Arab efforts at the Red Sea wake up to the problem in two or ment in JOTS is an integral part
ment in the Red Sea area.
are actually part of the Soviet plan three years. Maybe it will not even of its in-service training program.
Following the departure of the to control the areas south of Suez be completely too late. But it will
Some 200 center workers, and a
British from Aden and Italians and thus pose a direct threat to cost much more to stop the Arab- like number of caseworkers, have,
Russian inroads than if it were since 1955, shared the excitement
40 — Friday, August 15, 1969
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS done right now."
of this pioneer program whose sig-

Israel Shares Common Interest With Ethiopia,

•

AJCongress Researchers' Volume
Points Way for School Planning;
Sexton Study Defines Female Role

nificant task is to impart knowl-
edge and understanding about Jew-
ish values and insights to social
workers.
An impressive variety of courses
has been given through the years,
providing background learning in
Jewish history and philosophy as
well as case material relevant to
improved practice, in such areas
as adolescent behavior and family
relationships.
JOTS students have come from

centers, casework agencies, camps,
homes for the aged, and social
service departments of hospitals to
be taught by outstanding rabbi-

professors.
This adventure

in Jewish
learning has now been extended
to center board members with
a course of six sessions on the
origins and development of the
American Jewish community and
its institutions. A second course
deals with the impact of Jewish
life of the various societies in
which Jews have lived.
It is felt that board members
by participation in such courses
enrich their leadership potential

in the Jewish community.
The uniqueness of JOTS

is that

it stresses Jewish commitment
through Jewish learning. JOTS is
essentially a program of training
in Torah. Modern Jews, including
Center workers, can find through
Jewish learning the source for the
loyalty they seek for themselves
and their children, the self-respect
and the courage they need to face
personal and professional prob-
lems.

