Commentary by Prof. Gutmann on Power of Evil inflicted on Mankind by Nazism
Three Volumes deal with Bulgarian Jewry's Unique Role in War Era, Effects of
Bestialities and Merciless German Experiences and Compassionate German Agonies
By DR. JOSEPH GUTMANN
Professor of Art and Art
History, Wayne State
University
Andre Eilrissaud, THE NAZI SE-
CRET SERVICE. Translated
from the French by Milton
Waldman. New York: W. W.
Norton, 1974, 320 p.
Frederick B. Chary. THE BULGA-
RIAN JEWS AND FINAL SO-
LUTION, 1940-1944. University
of Pittsburgh Press, 1972. 246
13 -
Lili Hahn, WHITE FLAGS OF
SUIRELKNIDER. Washington-New
York: Robert B. Luce, 1974,
354 p.
The three books under re-
view share one common
theme — the power of evil —
the machinery of its internal
organization and conflicts
and its external debilitating
effect on the existing organs
of the state and upon its in-
dividuals. As an American
Jew, it is a painful experi-
ence to confront the Holo-
caust, to capture and under-
stand the meaning of the
Nazi nightmare. Yet even
this most excruciating ex-
perience cannot be ignored,
for the spectre of its recur-
rence looms all too large in
world history, and especially
in Jewish history.
The Nazi Secret Service by
Andre Brissaud, a Frenth
free-lance journalist and tele-
Vision director, is a most
sickening book to read. Cov-
ering the Nazi Secret Service
up. to 1940, it hardly touches
on the Jewish tragedy, but is
replete with deception, mani-
pulation, distrust, treachery,
terror, blackmail and assas-
sination—the weapons of the
Nazi criminals. It describes
the rise of cold-blooded -cyni-
cal misfits who could "have
given lessons to the great
Jesuit inquisitors," and who
were capable of blind obedi-
- ence and animal docility to
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
54—Friday, November 1, 1974
RABBI LEO
GOLDMAN
Expert Moifel
Serving Hospitals and Homes
LI 2-4444
LI 1-9769
their Fuehrer. Were it not
for Watergate, the frighten-
ing and bizarre episodes
could now easily be dis-
missed. Yet how often, fqr
the sake of control and pow-
er, have they and will they
be repeated by governments
and institutions?
Brissaud recounts how the
"hangman of Europe," Hein-
rich Heydrich, Himmler's
lieutenant and evil genius,
schemed and lied to attain
almOst absolute - control of
the S.D.—"he police of the
mind, the instrument for
measuring and controlling
thought" — and how Ernst
Rohm, the leader of the
Brownshirst (the S.A.) and
his staff, the close friends of
Hitler who helped him attain
power, became ruthlessly
liquidated in Heydrich's
struggle for power. We read
of secret collaboration -be-
tween the armies of the Sov-
iet Union and Germany from
1923-1932, of intrigues and
struggles between the Ger-
man army and the S.S.
We come across forged
Nazi documents conveyed to
Stalin, which may have been
instrumental in Stalin's mur-
der of the members of his
own officer corps in the Red
Army. We- witness the sinis-
ter comedy of an attack on
a radio station at Gleiwitz, a
border _town between Ger-
many and - Poland, noting how
S • S. men, dressed in Polish
uniforms, and concentration
camp victims, dressed as
Germans, played in this in-
credible drama • that was a
propaganda ploy for invading
Poland. -
One cannot help but get
the impression that Brissaiid,
who has been tracking and
investigating the Nazi secret
police since 1945 and who
interviewed some of its lead-
ing criminals, is fascinated
by them and admires them.
No word of judgment ap-
pears in the entire bodk. Like
a detective story, the various
episodes of treachery and
violence are recounted, inter-
RABBI S. ZACHARIASH
In Home or Hospital
557-9666
CANTOR SIDNEY
RUBE
Certified Mohel
_ 358-1426 or 357-5544
Oct. 26—To Dr. and Mrs.
Alfred Feingold (Susan Arn-
koff of Pontiac) of Coral
Gables, Fla., a daughter,
Helen Anne.
* * *
Oct. 19 — To Mr. and Mrs.
Joel Hearshen (Nancy Stein-
gold), 20855 Lahser, South-
field, a daughter, Rachel
Beth.
* * *
Cantor SAMUEL
GREENBAUM!
Certified
M- OHEL
Serving Homes 8 Hospitals
399-7194 — 547-7970
•
•
-
•
•
•••
•
Jews to Poland were the Al-
lied victories in Russia, Afri-
ca and Italy. The king's role
in saving the Jews of Bul-
garia was not an active one.
He may have interceded for
individual -Jews, but he yield-
ed on the Jewish issue to
political pressures; his poli-
cies vacillated as his small
nation was caught between
the demands of Russia on
the one hand and the Reich
on the other. It must be
pointed out that a large sec-
tion of the Subranie (parlia-
ment) and many members
of the court protested the
planned deportation of all
Bulgarian Jews to Poland in
1943. Above all no other
institution with comparable
influence so consistently op-
posed the government anti-
Semitic uolicy as did the
Holy Synod of the Bulgarian
Orthodox Church."
The staunchest friend of
the Jews in Bulgaria was
none, other than the coura-
geous Metropolitan of the
Bulgarian Orthodox Church,
Stefan. Chary's book is not
"another history of horror
and degradation, or for that
matter, of glory and human-
ity," but a well-researched
and documented study of a
little-known chapter in Holo-
caust history.
White Flags of Surrender
is a most moving book by a
sensitive woman, Lili Hahn.
It is neither a whitewash nor
expiation of guilt by a former
party member nor a grue-
some account of human tor-
ture. It . is the diary of a
young woman who agonizing-
ly witnesses the disintegra-
tion of her own family and
friends. Her career as a
music critic for a Frankfurt
newspaper ended abruptly as,
Lili Hahn, who could not
compromise her principles,
was dismissed by the Nazis.
She chronicles the slow, help-
less transformation of com-
mon citizens under a power-
ful, ruthless government of
their own choosing.
Hahn's mother was an ar-
dent Christian of Jewish ori-
gin; her father a distin-
guished and prominent physi-
Oct. 11 — To Mr. and Mrs. cian jingoistically proud of
William E 1 s o n (Rochelle Germany. "Mother tried to
Goldstein), 24320 Moritz, Oak raise me a good Christian;
Park, a daughter, Dana
Anne.
RrtAs
Specialized
MOHEL
spersed with human foibles,
fears and the love lives of
the criminals. While many of
the episodes make for fasci-
nating reading, they give us
only limited insight and pro-
vide little understanding of
the rise and control of such
a corrupt and evil power.
* *
By contrast, The Bulgarian_
Jews and the Final Solution
by Frederick Chary, Assoc.
Prof. of History at. Indiana
University, is a sober and
well-balanced study of Bul-
garian government policy
toward Jews during the last
four years (1940-1944) of the
Goetterdaemmerung (twilight
of the mad German gods).
The author of this well-
documented study has uti-
lized many sources—the cap-
tured German diplomatic
papers in the National Ar-
chives in Washington, docu-
ments in the Bulgarian Acad-
emy of Sciences in Sofia,
Bulgaria, and materials in
the archives of Yad Wa Shem
in Israel — and has inter-
viewed surviving officials
and individuals.
The Jews in the small na-
tion of Bulgaria, allied to the
Nazi Reich, survived. Why?
Chary • shows that "despite
Bulgarian claims that theirs
was the only country in
which - all Jews survived,
their experience was not
unique. The Bulgarian Jews,
like a great- many Rumanian
and Italian Jews, and all the
Finnish Jews were saved be-
cause these countries were-
allied to the Reich rather
than defeated by it."
Speculation that King Boris
saved the Jews is unfounded,
"The king himself was nei-
ther a Nazi nor an anti-
Semite." The Jewish commu-
nity became, according to
Chary, a pawn in the king's
international maneuvers.
There is no question that in-
ternal forces were significant
in halting the imminent de-
struction of Bulgarian Jewry.
Most decisive -however in pre-
venting the deportation of
Oct. 17 — To Mr. and Mrs.
Sanford Lesnick (Norma
Rautbort), 29688 Brentwood,
Southfield, a son, Daniel
M arc.
* *
Oct. 14 — To Mr. and Mrs.
Sholom Y. Josephs (Marcy
Miller of Detroit) of Atlanta,
Ga., a daughter, Tammy
Shira.
* * *
Oct. 13—To Dr. and Mrs.,
Arthur B. Simon (Judith
Okrent), Ann Arbor, a daugh-
ter, Karen Leah.
• • • -
Oct. 8—To Mr. and Mrs.
Hanley Schreiber (Joan
Levin), 22157 Chatsford Cir-
cuit, Southfield, a daughter,
Lisa Renee.
• * *
Oct. 6—To Mr. and Mrs.
Norman Dines (Rita Gross-
man), 19908 Heyden, a
daughter, Lisa Frances.
** * *
Oct. 3 — To Mr. and Mrs:
Arthur Jacobs (Barbara
Klein), 15240 Kenton, Oak
Park, a daughter, Carrie
Lynn.
• *
Sept. 23 — To Dr. and
Mrs. Douglas J. Miller (Jan-
ice Bobroff), former Detroit-
ers of Miami, Fla., a son,
Zachary David.
r *RIPPLE'
SOLE SHOES
family to know about con-
centration camps? Are the
masses of every country so
obtuse, or is this comple
lack of perception the privi-
lege of the unaffected few?'
Hahn writes: "There is rv.
German, French, American,
or other national politics.
There are merely different
categories of men who obtain
the confidence of the masses
by false pretenses; then once
in power, they pursue their
own selfish ends. The peopl ,
prefer illusion to the trio-
The business of a p
is anchored in thi.,_. .__
deception." She rightly point
out that "no nation is all good
or all evil," and that th
white flag of surrender "is
the only one on earth whic..!
no government demands. its
subjects defend with weapoi-
in hand."
Although it is difficult t‘
account for the tardy wave
of books on the Holocaust
intended to stir an apathetic
Wester n conscience, oht.
ought to be grateful that
these books contribute to,
keeping its memory alive.
JNF. Dedicates Camp
GOLAN—Along the ascent
from Banias to Neve Attiv,
a new Jewish National Fund
camp site was dedicated by
JNF world chairman, Jacob
Tsur, in memory of Nahman
Alexandron, past head of the
JNF Land Reclamation Di-
vision.
HAZEL TOV
Dr. Si Mrs. Thomas Ditkoff (Linda Balberman)
on the Birth of A Son,
Howard Michael
Mr. & Mrs. Chaim Weinberg
THE JEWISH
I
HOUR
IN ENGLISH
WITH
JULES and MARY ABRAMS
News, Interviews and Beautiful Music
Every Monday, Wednesday and
"ROZHINKES
mit MA-NOLEN"
Combine FUNCTION
With STYLE for
Men and Women
by
HA CK
DAWN ... Tan,
Bone, White
$35.00
• Black or brown
$45.00
T.M.
RIPPLE
Sole Corp.
father wanted to make me - a
good German. I felt like
laughing at the irony- in the
result of their efforts." Hahn
describes her bitter, frighten-
ing and degrading experi-
ences with the Gestapo in her
attempts to save her parents
frOm certain death, while
neither of them was capable
of facing up to the realities
of Nazi Germany.
She recounts the unques-
tioning loyalty the Nazis com-
manded, so that even mem-
bers of her own family held
her in suspicion. She details
the problems of assimilated
families in Nazi Germany
and relates the egoistic needs
for self-esteem and power of
individuals who could be ma-
nipulated at will by ruthless
leaders. Hahn freely admits
that she was not born to be
a heroine. Nonetheless a rare
person emerges from the
pages of her diary—a coura-
geous individual who main-
tained her humanity in the
midst of the most inhuman
insanity.
What raises this book
above others dealing with a
similar subject are the per-
ceptive and disturbing ques-
tions the author poses: "Can
most people only have sym-
pathy when they are person-
ally affected? Must bombs
destroy their own houses to
awaken their imagination?
Must a close relative be at
the front to make them con-
scious of war? Must one have
a Communist or a Jew in the
ALSO
OTHER STYLES
iiaci
ON RADIO
Nal NM
F5IVIGIV
SHOE COMPANY
235 PIERCE, BIRMINGHAM
L
33 East Adams
19360 Livernois • 20901 Kelly Rd.
I
'A • •
1141110 STATION