Friday, May 30, 1980

'King of Jews' Explores
WWII Judenrat Councils

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"King of the Jews" by Les-
lie Epstein (Coward,
McCann and Geoghegan) is
now an Avon paperback.
The book explores Jewish
complicity with the Nazis
during World War II in the
institution of the "Juden-
rat," local councils set up to
govern the ghettos and to
draw up lists of those to be
sent to the death camps.
The Judenzat committees
forced Jews to participate in
the slaughter of other Jews.
The book tells the story of
one man in particular,
Isaiah Chaim Trumpelman,
and his efforts to endure the
rigors of carrying out the
bidding of the Germans.
Trumpelman is the fic-
tionalized name of Mordecai
Chaim Rumkowski. Indeed,
the novel's entire plot is
based on Rumkowski's life
and actions.
Who was Rumkowski?
Lucy S. Dawidowicz, in
The War Against the
Jews 1933-1945," tells
that prior to World War II
he was superintendent of
an orphanage and a
"klal-tuer" (a communal
leader).
When the Germans
entered Lodz, Poland, in
1939, they appointed him
head of the Judenrat (Coun-
cil of Jewish Elders). As
such, he turned out to be
dictatorial, despotic and ar-
bitrary. "Every initiative on
the part of political parties
or individuals that he ap-
proved of, he appropriated
and made officially his own.
Whatever he disapproved of
withered and died."
Not surprisingly, "he was
mocked and despised."
A detailed and incisive
description of the "Chair-
man," as Rumkowski was
called by the people of the
ghetto, and his actions is
Joseph Zelkowicz's historic
account "Days of Night-
mare," reproduced in Lucy

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S.
Dawidowicz's
"A
Holocaust Reader."
Zelkowicz was a Yid-
dish journalist and ar-
chivist. His documentary
writings, like those of
Emanuel Ringelblum
and Chaim Kaplan,
"serve as sources of so-
cial history."
According to the novel
"King of the Jews," ".
every now and then you
hear some fantastic story
that he has turned up in one
place or another. Still brea-
thing. Still alive. Impossi-
ble! Not true! His age would
be more than 100! Ladies
and gentlemen, we do not
have to think of him any-
more."
—A.W.

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Jerusalem:
A Re-United 13

JERUSALEM (JTA) —
Thirteen years after its
reunification, Jerusalem
has emerged as Israel's
largest city with a popula-
tion of 420,000, surpassing
Tel Aviv.
According to statisticsTe-
leased Jerusalem Day,
290,000 of the city's resi-
dents are Jews, 100,000 are
Moslems and 12,000 are
Christians. In the 13 years
since the Six-Day War, the
total population increased
by 137,000 or approx-
imately 52 percent. The
post-1967 residents include
95,000 Jews and 42,000
non-Jews.
Meanwhile, a bill declar-
ing united Jerusalem the
capital of Israel was ap-
proved on its first reading
by a large Knesset majority
and 'referred to committee
for further work. The bill
was introduced by Interior
Minister Yosef Burg in the
form of a new "basic law."
Basic laws differ from or-
dinary laws in that they re-
quire a two-thirds majority
of the Knesset to change
them. They are enacted
with the understanding
that at some time in the fu-
ture all basic laws will be
incorporated into a formal
state constitution.

Hebrew Class
at Vets' Center

NEW YORK (JTA) —
The Coatesville (Pa.) Vete-
rans Administration
psychiatric center has
started a basic Hebrew
class.
Rabbi Philip Goodman,
the Jewish chaplain at the
medical center some 40
miles west of Philadelphia,
started the class when he
found that "many Jewish
patients" are "very proud of
their Jewish heritage and
anxious to learn."
His report appeared in
"The Circle," a publication
of the National Jewish Wel-
fare Board.

El Al Losses

JERUSALEM (ZINS)
El Al management predicts
a loss of $23 million to $39
million while government
economists predict the air-
line will lose $50 million
this year.

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