THE JEWISH NEWS
Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with issue of July 20.
1951
Member American Associaton of Englsh-Jewish Newspapers, Michigan Press Association. National Editorial Association
Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield. Mich. 48075.
Phone 356-8400
Subscription $7 a year. Foreign $8.
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
Business Manager
CHARLOTTE DUBIN
City Editor
Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the fourth day of Teret, 5730, the following scriptural selections
tel be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion. Gen. 44:1-44:17. Prophetical portion, 1 kings 3:15-4:1.
Candle lighting. Friday, Dec. 12, 4:49 p.m.
Torah readings for Fast of 10th of Tel:et, Friday, Dec. 19: Prophetical portion,
Erod. 32:11.14, 34:1-10: Prophetical portion, Isaiah 55:6-56:8.
VOL.
. LVI.
No. 13
Page Four
December 12, 1969
Histadrut's 50 Years of Service
When, in 1920, a group of pioneers who
were among the builders of the early settle-
ments in Eretz Israel gathered to form the
General Federation of Labor in Palestine
(with the term Israel used after the emerg-
ence of the state). the movement that became
known in Hebrew as Histadrut began its
activities as one of the great forces in Jewish
life.
The founding of the great movement 50
years ago emphasized the major social forces
that were inherent in the Zionist cause. The
creation of Histadrut gave impetus to halut-
ziut—to the desire for and allegiance to pio-
neering in the re-birth of a Jewish national
existence.
It was a force not only in the Land of
Israel, in the Yishuv which preceded Israel
as a state, but in Jewish communities through-
out the world because it represented labor
and the return of Jews to creative pursuits
from which they were barred by the pre-
judices of the Christian communities almost
everywhere on the globe except in the demo-
cratic countries that rejected prejudices only
in the current century.
Histadrut taught young Jews who settled
in Israel to return to an old Jewish calling--
to farming and to tilling the soil, to horticul-
ture as well as to agriculture, and to experi-
mentations which revolutionized the new
Jewish life that was rooted in the ideal kibutz
collective life.
It was a social force in many other aspects
—in the creation in later years of cooperative
efforts in the distribution of farm products,
and in the establishments of industries that
became vital to Jewish statehood.
In the critical years when both the British
and the Arabs threatened the existence of
the Jewish settlements, Histadrut inspired
the movement of the shomrim—of the guards,
protectors, watchmen, who served as Israel's
defense units. With the emergence of Israel,
these shomrim became the nucleus for an
army and were the background for the de-
fensive elements who protected the settle-
ments that dotted Eretz Israel that had be-
-crrA
come Medinat Israel.
When Histadrut first was organized, there
were 87 delegates representing 4,433 Jewish
workers at the formative meeting. Today Pere Marie-Benoit, Anti-Nazi
Histadrut is a force of more than 1,000,000
members. Counted among them are tens of Hero, Acclaimed in New Book
thousands of Arab workers, who, thanks to
One of the noted heroes of the last war, the anti-Nazi Capuchin
Histadrut, have gained high status as labor-
ers, as wage earners who receive pay equal to priest, Pere Marie-Benoit, who risked his life to rescue Jews in France
that acquired through the years by their Jew- and in Italy, is receiving acclaim in an important volume by a lady
ish fellow-workers and fellow-citizens. Those who labored with him in his rescue activities.
who are antagonistic to Israel would do well
In "Incredible Mission," published by 'Doubleday, Fernande Labou-
to learn these facts, and the Arabs themselves
have much to learn from this experience to cher relates the dramatic events that marked the activities of the
Frenchman
who first labored in behalf of the refugees in his native land,
appreciate how Histadrut has helped elevate then escaped
to Rome from Nazi threats to apprehend him and to send
their standard of living.
him on with other victims to concentration camps and possibly exter-
Histadrut has gained high status among mination
camps. In Rome, he carried on his work of saving lives.
the world's labor movements. We extend to it
our hearty greetings. On this occasion, as the
The tribute is the work of the widow of one of the Jews who
Detroit supporters of Histadrut engage in
was murdered by the Nazis but who had been helped to escape
upholding the hands of the Histadrut leader-
from one of the prisons in which he was held. Ludwik Nadelman,
ship in Israel, we view the local fund-raising
Fernande Leboucher's husband, was an idealist. He was unselfish.
campaign as deserving of generous support.
He did not wish to be rescued alone as long as there were other
(4 1k_
Jews who were held by the Nazis. That is why he delayed escaping,
Order-Taking as a Criminal Defense
Vietnam's tragedies assume a frightening
role in the murder charges that have been
leveled against American servicemen. Admis-
sions of mass murders, the cold-blooded form
that the attacks assumed in the death of men,
women and children, of what appeared to be
routine killings, are reminiscent of the Nazi
era.
What has taken place in Vietnam is akin
to the defense that was resorted to by Adolf
Eichmann and many other Nazi criminals
who claimed immunity because, as soldiers
of war, they were following orders.
It is this horrible defense that must be
exposed and ruled out for all time to come
as a valid reason for committing murder.
When a person is ordered to kill, or to
commit any crime that is contrary to his con-
science or to the basic principles, he must
reserve the right to defy orders, to refuse to
be a party to a killing.
War in itself is cruel, and the protests we
have today from an awakened youth and
their supporters may be leading us to the
right path of peace. Dr. Albert Einstein at
one time advocated that people should refuse
to serve in capacities that could lead to war,
and his feeling was that if there was such a
rebellion it would be better for those refus-
ing to be cannon-fodder or media for murder
to fill the world's jails than to yield to the
crime of war. It was only when the Nazi ter-
ror afflicted all of mankind that he condoned
the democracies' struggle to stop the Hitler
horrors.
But even then Einstein would not and
could not have approved of order-taking. That
in itself, when human lives are involved, or
basic decencies are negated, is wrong.
It is in this light that the case of those
involved in the Vietnam murders must be
judged.
Once and for all time to come, let such an
idea—approval of order-taking—he erased
from the human mind. Then it might end
forever in human actions.
Educational Reform: Community Council Proposal
"With the exception of parochiaid," the
Jewish Community Council goes along with
the program introduced for educational re-
form to repair much damage suffered by
our schools for lack of funds, proper teach-
ing personnel and the desired cooperation
of parents and teachers to assure proper
designation of duties for the most vital instru-
ment in the life of our people.
It can not be denied that much of the
flight from the big cities is ascribable to the
decline in our educational system in the big
cities. Regardless of the causes that have led
to such a tragic state, the fact is that there
is need for advancement, that there must
be an exertion of effort sufficient to reduce
the shortcomings and to speed the way to-
wards the progress that is needed to guaran-
tee the highest standards in teaching.
The Community Council's admonition is
based on the belief that:
"All citizens of Michigan must recognize
and address themselves to a financial and
educational crisis of major proportions exist-
ing in the public schools of our state. The
defeat of millage proposals in many districts,
the subsequent deficit financing of these
districts, the lengthy teachers strikes, the
continuous problem of high school dropouts
and overcrowded classes and the need to
assign educational responsibility at the state
level, bear testimony to some of the inade-
quacies of our present public educational
apparatus."
These views must be accepted as ele-
mentary and therefore as especially compel-
ling in the present critical stage in American
life. By rebuilding our school system we
will have rebuilt our communities and re-
established the amity that stems from knowl-
edge and understanding among all elements
in our midst and is therefore the most vital
in our life.
perhaps that is why he perished, since he could have saved bis own
life several times. He-was finally caught and sent to his death, and
in the meantime Father Marie-Benoit carried on his labors and
emerged among the saintly men who defied Hitlerism.
Fernande had gone to Father Marie-Benoit to ask him to help her
husband. He consented, proceeded to assist Ludwik, provided false
passports and ration cards to Ludwik and the fellow sufferers from
Nazism who were helped by him, many escaping.
It was the beginning of a courageous few years of labor during
which the Capuchin father did not hesitate to forge pagsports, to risk
his own life in the rescue efforts, to call upon other clerics to help him
in
the dangerous labors.
He became the head of the DELASEM organization—the movement
known as Delegazione per l'Assistanza dei Emigranti Ebrei — Jewish
Emigrants' Aid Society, and he succeeded in gathering funds that made
it possible for the group to function and to aid many escapees and
those it helped escape from the Nazi terror.
Some of the methods resorted to in gathering aid for his move-
ment and in providing relief involved Marie-Benoit in many dan-
gers and on several occasions he barely escaped capture.
Among the men the priest worked with was the late Chief Rabbi
Israel Zolli of Italy who later became a convert to Catholicism. Fer-
nande does not tell about the conversion of Zolli, and this is one of the
shortcomings in an otherwise most valuable book that gives credit to a
heroic figure. Mme. Leboucher also undertakes in this volume to defend
Pope Pius XII, whose failures to speak out against the Nazis had been
condemned in "The Deputy" and other exposes. But the author of
"Incredible Mission" points to occasions when Pius XII did rescue
Jews and encouraged Catholics and churches to welcome refugees and
to work for their rescue. But the quotes of Pius XII's declarations
clearly indicate that he never referred either to Jews or Nazis by name
when speaking of help for the needy.
What Fernande does is give a full account of the German meth-
ods of rounding up Jews who were destined for destruction. Her
book is a review of the war years and the Nazi tactics in France
and in Italy.
Her hero is portrayed in appreciable fashion as a humble and dedi-
cated religious leader. He was born Pierre Peteul and he was named
Marie-Benoit for his priesthood in honor of a Catholic saintly leader. He
is now a Capuchin father superior. His having been a passport forger
is recorded among the great deeds of a noted humanitarian, and he has
received honors from the state of Israel, which has recognized his
heroism, from the president of Italy and from former President Johnson.
The greatest tribute is a canticle composed by Jewish children in
Italy who honored him in poetic fashion. That poem is an appropriate
conclusion to- the-noteworthy. book-by Fernande Leboucher.