6 Friday, June 29, 1919
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Hammer Honored
NEW YORK — Zevulun
Hammer, Israel's minister
of education and culture,
was honored for his out-
standing leadership in the
field of Jewish education at
the annual meeting of the
Board of Jewish Education
of Greater New York.
Condemnation, Defense of the Judenraten
By JOE GREEN
(Johannesburg,
South Africa)
One of the first actions of
the Huns was to abolish the
pre-war leadership. In its
stead judenraten (Jewish
councils) were set up, the
,members of which were ap-
pointed by the Germans.
Every prudent man
The councils were there for
dealeth with forethought.
one purpose only and that
was to ensure that the laws
and decrees promulgated by
the invaders were carried
out.
In addition, the task of
maintaining order within
the confines of the ghetto
was thrust on their shoul-
ders. This meant that the
Ghetto had to be policed.
For this purpose a Jewish
gendarmery was recruited.
The Jewish councilors soon
found that they were caught
between the devil and the
deep blue _sea.
On the one hand many of
them tried to ease the posi-
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ter often entailed the use of
threats and force.
They were responsible
for the collection of the
so-called fines and "vol-
untary contributions"
which in effect were but
euphimistic terms for ex-
tortion and outright rob-
bery.
They had to supply hos-
tages as surety for good be-_
havior. But the most gh-
astly duty thrust on them
was the job of supplying
men and women for the
forced labor gangs, for de-
portation and for so-called
resettlement.
It happened time and
again that the Jews did not
on their own accord present
themselves for "selection."
There were times when the
Jewish police had to round
them up and drive them by
force to the "collection and
selection" points.
One's mind becomes
numbed as one reads how
Jew chased Jew down the
streets, through the houses,
the cellars, the attics and
drove them to the transpor-
tation centers.
Another filthy job that
fell to the Judenrat was
to cajole their fellow
Jews into believing that
BJE Offers
Reading Guide
for Children
NEW YORK — The
Board of Jewish Education
of Greater New York offers
a summer reading guide for
children. The list includes:
"The World Over Story
Book Series:" A set of four
anthologies of classic
Jewish literature, folk
legends, biblical accounts
and holiday fare.
Jehuda 'Steinberg's "In .
Those Days," the story of
the adventures of a young
Jewish boy, separated from
his family.
"Miloni" which is an
illustrated Hebrew dictio-
nary specifically designed
fbr children-.
For information on these,
or any other BJE publica-
tions, contact Frada Harel,
Department of Marketing
Services, Board of Jewish
Education, 426 W. 58th St,
New York, N.Y. 10019.
Rap Sessions -
for Pa. Single
Jewish Parents
NEW YORK (JTA) —
Forty single parents have
been meeting weekly in
small groups in a program
organized by the Jewish
community center of
Pittsburgh designed to pro-
vide them with emotional
support and help them
share experiences and feel-
ings, according to a report in
the "JWB Circle."
There were some mayorS
who understood full well the
nature of the Nazi plague.
They realized that no means
or . methods would stop its
deadly spread. They fought
the Nazi, sometimes openly
but more often with guile.
They would offer excuses. -
They would lavish bribes on
the officials. At times they '
were successful in keeping
the evil day away yet a little
longer.
The Mayor of Vilna was
shot because he had the im-
pudence to demand infor-
mation as to the whereab-
outs of men who had been
taken away for so-called
labor duties. His "crime' -
was yet still greater in that
he refused to cooperate until
the information was forth-
coming. Some mayors rose
to great heights in their de-
fiance of the Nazis.
- Few men in Jewish his-
tory have reached that
pinnacle ofspiritual mar-
tyrdom as did Joshua
Isaacson of Baranowitz.
He was called on to round
up 3,000 of the so-called
useless eliments, the -old
folk, the weak and the
sickly, otherwise there
would be a general "akt-
zion" in the ghetto.
This was IsaacSon's reply,
"Every Jew, no matter who
or what he is, is dear to me. I
will
not surrender a single
Many of the councilors
truly believed that there
The Nazis were wild with.,
was only one way of sur-
fury.
They stripped both
vival and that was to bow
the head to the Nazi, give Isaacson and his wife naked
him whatever he asks for, and forced them to witness
be it money, jewelry, the massacre of their be-
goods and also human loved Jews. They were then
lives. Many would die but both shot.
Men like Schwartzman
a remnant would survive..
On one day they would and Himmelfar of Tuchin,
send many to their deaths Dworetzki of Zhetel, Lapu-
and on the next day they tin of Lachwa led their
would save the lives of a brethren into battle,against
the Nazis. Barash of Bialys-
handful, of individuals.
In some centers such as tock supplied the "Fighting
Lodz, Zaglembum and•War- Jews" with arms.
In a number of places the
saw they were instrumental
in setting up safety points Jewish police or portions of
the police force were part of
and schools.
the underground or assisted
the Jewish resistance
Opera Figure
groups,
to Sing in Israel
Such was the case in
NEW YORK -- Met- Kovno, Zhetel, Bialys-
ropolitan - Opera tenor tock, Baranowitz and in
Luciano Pavarotti has com- the smaller ghettoes.
At Zdunsku Volo, the
pleted the New York sea-
son, and will fly from his mayor hurled. the gauntlet
home in Modena, Italy, for back into the face of the
two July concerts in Israel. Nazis. He was called on to
Pavarotti will perform in supply five hostages. He
Jerusalem July 3, and at a presented himself at the SS
special concert July 7 in Tel headquarters with his wife"'
AN4v's Mann Auditorium as and two children. He said,
a tribute to the late Richard 'Here are four of the five
hostages_ You will have to
Tucker.
Zubin Mehta will conduct - find the fifth one yourse-
the' Israeli Philharmonic lves."
* * *
during the Tucker tribute.
A bust of the late singer will
Acknowledgement —
be unveiled by Mrs. Tucker. source material: The Ghetto
Also scheduled to .be at the Wars"- — Zukerman and
concert will be Sylvia Basuk, "Jewish Partisans,"
Mann, wife of the Philadel- "Wars of Jewish Partisans"
phia philanthropist for — Kahanowitz, "Face to
whom the auditorium is Face With the Nazi Foe" —
Burstein.
named.
the Nazis' intentions
were honorable — that
they were not proceeding
to the death factories but
to new homes. Again
one's mind becomes
blank as one reads how
the Jewish police of a cer-
tain town proceeded to a
nearby village and in-
formed the Jewish popu-
lation there that they had
nothing to fear. They
were being transported
to a new locality.
The Jewish villagers (ex-
cept for a few youngsters,
the survivors and the ac-
cusors) believed them and
entered the train. When the
train reached the city the
Jewish police climbed down
from their guard posts and
SS men took their place.
Yet it would be unfair to
make a sweeping condem-
nation of the Jewish coun-
cilors. The bitter truth is
that they were caught in a
trap, with duties thrust on
them from which the wis-
dom of a thousand Solomons
could not have extracted
them.
There were some who
took the only way out and
that was death by self-
infliction. Adam Czer-
nowitz of Warsaw took his
life rather than implement
- the Nazi demand that he
supply 7,000 souls per day
for transport into hell.
•
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