THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Friday, Feb. 22, 1974-47

Death of Maurice Sugar Recalls
Turbulent Era in Detroit History

A dramatic chapter in De-
troit's history, in the era of
bitterness over subversions
and the fears of emerging
threats of communism, when
socialism also was viewed
with suspicion and disrespect,
is recalled with the death on
Feb. 15, of Maurice Sugar,
at his home on Black Lake
near Anaway, Mich. He was
81.
He was counsel for some
100 unions. As chief counsel
fe- *he United Auto Workers

More Obituaries
Page 38

from 1937 to 1947, he en-
couraged sitdown strikes.
He befriended the late
Walter Reuther. After Sugar
served for a decade as
UAW's chief counsel, Reuther
considered him too far to the
left, and he discharged him.
The Black Legion viewed
Sugar as a Communist and
threatened him with death.
' He was a draft dodger in
World War I and served a
year in the Detroit House of
Correction, but in World War
II he volunteered his ser-
vices out of his conviction
that Nazism was a world
menace to be defeated,
A University of Michigan
Law School graduate, he was
editor of the Michigan Law
Review. He was disbarred
for refusing to register for
the draft four years after
passing the bar in 1913, but
President Roosevelt's grant
of amnesty enabled him, in
1934, to resume law practice,
In 1949, he was one of the
defense attorneys for 11 New
York Communists who were
charged under the Smith Act
with advocating forcible over-
throw of the U. S. govern-
ment.
Sugar was the first Ameri-
can lawyer to add a black
colleague, George Crockett—
now Recorder's Court Judge
—to his staff.
When the Ford Motor Co.,
after a tense period, decided
to recognize the UAW, Sugar
was one of labor's repre-
sentatives at the bargaining
table.
In 1939, he was the com-
plaining witness in a criminal
libel suit in a UAW factional
war. The attorney for the de-
fendants, Larry S. Davidow,
then also a well-known law-
yer who had abandoned his
Jewishness for Unitarianism,
accused Sugar of being a
Communist—a charge denied
by Sugar. That's when a cir-
cular attributed to Sugar was

ARD OF THANKS
family of the late
Zeldes acknowledges
with grateful appreciation the
many kind expressions of
sympathy extended by rela-
tives and friends during the
family's recent bereavement.

ji

The Ramily of the Late

L1BE BINDER

acknowledges
with grateful apprecia-
tion the many kind ex-
pressions of sympathy
extended by relatives
and friends during the
family's recent be-
reavement.

produced as being a Com-
munist a p p e a 1. (Davidow
was believed to be Sugar's
brother-in-law. )
It was proven that the cir-
cular also had been distribu-
ted in 1935 when Sugar was
a candidate for the City
Council. It was proven that
the so-called Communist
Manifesto accredited to Sugar
was intended to hurt his
council campaign.
Prosecuting Attorney Dun-
can C. McCrea and his chief
assistant, Bernard A. Boggio,
conducted a thorough investi-
gation. Boggio had written
to Rev. Hugh Chamberlin
Burr of the First Baptist
Church on March 26, 1936:
"A careful reading of this
pamphlet would disclose to
any student of politics that it
was put out by someone to
injure the candidacy of
Maurice Sugar and not to
assist him."
But the libelous charges
kept being repeated in efforts
to besmirch Sugar's name,
and the American Jewish
Committee also became in-
terested in the matter. Fur-
ther inquiries brought this
statement, dated March 9,

JNF Leader
Isaac Faxstein

Isaac M. Faxstein, a long-
time Zionist and active mem-
ber of the Jewish National
Fund, died Tuesday at age
93.
Mr. Faxstein, 23034 Sussex,
Oak Park, is survived by his
wife of 65 years, Martha; a
son, Manuel; a daughter,
Mrs. Maurice (Bessie) Gla-
zier; five grandchildren and
one great-grandchild.
With his wife, Mr. Fax-
stein devoted much of his
time and energy to the Jew-

ISAAC FAXSTEIN

Photo taken on the Faxsteins'
50th wedding anniversary in 1959.

ish National Fund. His was
a love of Zion that extended
as far back as 1900 when he
purchased Palestine stock
certificates, which he never
sold, as an indication of faith
in the upbuilding of the Jew-
ish homeland. They also
planted a forest. in Israel.
Here, the Faxsteins were
active in the Zionist Organ-
ization of Detroit, Mizrachi,
Home for Aged, Bnai Brith
and Hebrew Benevolent
Society. They were among
the founders of the Detroit
Baby Day Nursery.
Born in Kiev, Mr. Fax-
stein came to the U.S. in
1906, and lived 54 years in
Detroit. He and Mrs. Fax-
stein were married in Provi-
dence, R.I. He was a retired
food market owner.

In Memoriam

In beloved memory of Mrs.
Rose Hershman who died
Feb. 9, 1956, 27 days in She-
vat; from her daughter, Mrs.
Gerald Altman; and her son,
Irving Hershman.

Shayne Fund Set Up

BENJAMIN BLUM, former
Detroiter of North Miami
Beach, died Feb. 20. Survived
by his wife, Sylvia; a son,
Stanley of Detroit; a daugh-
ter, Mrs. Peggy Welton of
St. Petersburg; six grand-
children and one g r e a t-
grandchild. Interment Miami.

MAURICE SUGAR
1930's Photo

1937, from Boggio in behalf
of McCrea, addressed to the
editor of the Jewish Chron-
icle, now The Jewish News:
"It was brought out in
questioning the various mem-
bers of the Black Legion that
this manifesto was prepared
by them, and also distributed,
in an effort to defeat Mr.
Sugar's election."
Sugar wanted to be re-
membered for labor songs he
had written. He was es-
pecially proud of "The Soup
Song" and the "Sit Down
Song."
Many of the ideas he pro-
pagated, such as the right to
picketing, which the Michi-
gan Supreme Court con-
firmed in 1940, have now be-
come common practice.
As the target of the violent
Black Legion, it was revealed
that the plot on his life was
more serious than originally
believed—one Black Legion
executioner actually moved
into his apartment with in-
tent to kill but failed in his
mission.
Sugar, defending his lib-
eralism, constantly rejecting
charges of communism, told
The Jewish News editor in
the late 1930s: "All my life
I have been a vigorous
fighter against war, fascism,
anti-Semitism, Negro dis-
crimination and discrimina-
tion against the foreign
born." Accusations that he
was a Communist were
never proven.
Born Aug. 8, 1891, in a
logging camp in Brimley, in
the Upper Peninsula, he was
brought to Detroit by his
parents when he was 9. In
1914 Sugar was married to
Jane Mayer, for 30 years a
physical and health educa-
tion supervisor in Detroit's
public schools.
He turned to farming after
his retirement.

Monument
Unveilings

Unveiling announcements may
be inserted by mail or by calling
The Jewish News office. 17515 W.
9 Mile Rd., Southfield, Mich. 48075,
356-8400. Written announcements
must be accompanied by the name
and address of the person making
the insertion. There is a standing
charge of $4.50 for an unveiling
notice, measuring an inch in
depth and $8.00 for one two inches
deep with a black border.
• a •

The family of the late Rose
Migdol announces the unveil-
ing of a monument in her
memory 12 noon Sunday,
March 3 at Hebrew Memorial
Park. Rabbi Goldschlag will
officiate. Relatives and
friends are asked to attend.

Those who wish to contri-
bute to the Frances Shayne
Memorial Fund established
by Kinneret Chapter, Pioneer
Women, may send checks to
Mrs. Frances Driker, 20210
Faust, Detroit 4$219.
Mrs. Shayne, a past presi-
* *
dent of Kinneret and a lea-
PERRY S. STERN, 11501 der in the Sholem Aleichem
Petoskey, died Feb. 14. Sur- Institute, died Feb. 11 at age
vived by three brothers, Dr. 76.
Edward A., Dr. Leonard and
Meyer, all of Miami; two
sisters, Mrs. Harry (Beatrice)
Newmark and Mrs. Milton
(Mildred) Weiss.

Survived by two daughters,
Mrs. Maurri (Mollie) Klasky
and Mrs. Daniel (Lillian)
Hamburg of San Francisco;
and seven grandchildren. In-
terment California.

EDITH BROTSKY of San
Francisco, died Feb. 16. Sur-
vived by a sister, Esther Sin-
ger of Detroit; and nieces
and nephews.
*
MORRIS BURSKY, 2234
Florian, Hamtramck, died
Feb. 13. He leaves his wife,
Madeline; and five sisters,
Mrs. Sam (Mollie) Robinson,
Mrs. Sam (Fannie) Calfin,
Mrs. Sally Paul, Mrs. Jack
(Mary) Smith of Battle Creek
and Mrs. Solomon (Belle)
Budnitsky.

WE MAEMEER
111:11k7 n'zx

* • *

•ISADORE WEISS, 25619
Greenfield, Southfield, died
Feb. 20. Survived by his wife,
Minnie; a son, Edward; a
daughter, Mrs. Louis (Vir-
ginia) Fried; four grand-
children and six great-grand-
children.

*

Sidney A. Deitch.

SAMUEL (CAMENETZKY)
CARMEN, 15689 Hilton,
Southfield, died Feb. 15. Sur-
Ivived by his wife, Dora;
three sons, Jack, Max and
Morris of Jerusalem; a
daughter, Mrs. Jack (Belle)
Borin; 16 grandchildren; and
13 great-grandchildren.
0 0 0
R
A
FINKELSTEIN,
N 0
8651 St. Marys, died Feb. 14.
Survived by her.. husband,
Morris W.; a son, Marvin
Nelkin; and three grandchil-
dren.

DETROIT
MONUMENT WORKS

JULIUS FRIEDMAN of
Northfield, Ill., died Feb. 19.
He leaves his wife, Ruthe;
two sons, Alan and William;
a daughter, Mrs. Kenneth
(Rochelle) Schmidt of Moore-
head, Minn.; his mother,
Mrs. Harry (Nessyl Fried-
man of Detroit; four broth-
ers. including Frank, Calman
and Lester, all of Detroit; a
sister, Mrs. Alexander (Fae)
Bobkin of Detroit; and one
grandchild. Interment De-
troit.
*
ANN JERRIS, 1545 Ouel-
lette, Windsor, died Feb. 15.
She leaves her husband,
George; three sons, Clayton,
Bruce and Craig; a daugh-
ter, Candace; her mother,
Mrs. Samuel (Bessie) Perl-
mutter; two brothers, one
sister and two grandchildren.
*
*
ISADORE KEYFITZ of
Toronto died Feb. 14. Sur-
vived by a brother, Murray;
two sisters, Mrs. Harry
(Dorothy) Horowitz and Mrs.
Bernard (Lyl) Kasky of De--
troit; nephews and nieces.
Interment Toronto.
* *
LEO MARGULES died
Feb. 18. He leaves his wife,
Ruth; a daughter, Mrs. Allen
(Estelle) Barg; and three
grandchildren.

c`.%

*

14441 W. 11 Mile Rd.

Gardner, betw. Coolidge & Greenforeld
626-0330
311 1 2711, Eve

NATHAN H. PRESENT,
3917 Normandy, Royal Oak,
died Feb. 17. He leaves his
wife, Clara; and a son,
Murray of Upper Montclair,
N. J.
* C 0
NATHAN RUDNICK, for-
mer Detroiter of Monterey
Park, Calif., died Feb. 18.

Adar
Joseph Clinton
Nathan Dinkin
Bella Ellias
Sarah Miller
Sam Osnos
Aaron Pollack
Ben Solomon
Noah Applebaum
Minnie Kane
Morris Kraizman

MONUMENT CENTER, INC.

661 E. 8 MILE, FERNDALE
1 1/2 Blocks E. of Woodward

6 Blks from 3 Jewish
Cemeteries on Woodward

LI 2-8266

'JO . 4.5557,

zchLaukxWainer
Y aitm
S
Nathan Deutsch
Jennie Feldman
Louis Goldberg
Israel Goldin
David Goldman
usKaplan
d
I Isidor H
Mendelsohn
Frank Orechkin
Elkuno Rosenheck
Isaac Zlotnik
Sheini Bas
Shmuel Y.
Gabriel N.
Eisman
Sam Elias
Moe Engel
Meyer
Greenspoon
Joseph L.
Holtzman
K awa
P hilip
Oscar Lerchin
Yale Levin
Bertha Migdal
Harry Smith
Henry Waterstone
Adele Brown
Bella Chesnuk
Anna Chinitz
Dora Cohen
Sally Hess
Rose Raimi
Rose Segerman
Leon H.
Stillwater
Hyman Sweet

If a death
occurs away
from home.'

We can make the desired

arrangements regardless
of where a death occurs.

Worldwide Service
IRA KAUFMAN CHAPEL

18325 W. Nine Mile Rd.
Southfield

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Abraham Berman
Max Berris
7
Julius Hess
Sarah Miller
Nathan Peretzman
David H. Rom
Bertha Weitzman
Anna R. Werner
William Zack
Abraham August
Bessie Berris
Gavriel Echman
Jack P. Engel
Karl Levin
Anna Levine
Katherine Radner
Joseph Saks
Hyman Schwartz
Janet Straus
Susan Topor

A telephone call to us
gives you the assurance
that a man you know is
helping you.

28
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Mar.
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Yeshivatli Beth
Yehuda

Elgin 7-5200

*

HARRY MEISNER, 3140
Parkland, West Bloomfield,
died Feb. 17. He leaves a
son, Gordon; and three
grandchildren.

During the
coming wee k
Yeshivoth Beth
Y•huda will
observe the
Yohrzeit of the
following de-
parted friends,
with the tradi-
tional Memor-
ial Prayer., re-
citation of
Kaddish and
studying of
Mishnayos.

15751 W. Lincoln Dr.
Southfield

Ira and Herbert Kaufman

Phone 557-6750

2

1

BERG & URBACH

./he .qt/e_ii it/ l ' attitikietili
FORMERLY KARL BERG MEMORIALS
MANUEL URBACH &. SON
aity jib 13405 CAPITAL at COOLIDGE • OAK PK. • LI 4 2212

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