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- OLDSMOBILE, INC. tion of their unfortunate 28000 TELEGRAPH at Tel-12 Mall brethren and on the other hand they had to carry out Just South the orders of the Nazis. The of 12 Mile Rd. implementation of the lat- If You Want to BUY 'EM We Want to SELL 'EM! See Us First! GLASSMAN 354-3300 0 C CS) U) 0 Our winning 9 awards in 9 years ... but each award is very special to us! This year's Diamonds Today Competition Award to Link Wachler is for a sliding diamond solitaire ring - 18K yellow gold with emerald cut diamond. Available in limited edition. Opening second location at Renaissance Center soon David Wachler & Sons Internationally famous award winning Jewelers American Federal Savings Building 24700 Northwestern Hwy./Southfield, MIR313) 356-7322 Your Master Charge and Visa Card Welcome 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. • - frIlliSIMEMIIIIPTE;:,U11111rAt ri JEWISH NATIONAL Fun 27308 Southfield Rd. 557-6644 Southfield, Mich. 48076 Closed Sundays July & Aug.