72 Friday, November 21, 1980

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

JPS Publishes 24 Friedman Holocaust Essays

The late Philip Friedman,
author of "Roads to Extinc-
tions: Essays on the
Holocaust" (Jewish Publi-
cation Society), has been
called the "father of the
Jewish Holocaust litera-
ture." A prominent histo-
rian in his native Poland,
Friedman devoted many
years to the study of the
modern history of the Jews
in Eastern Europe.
Under the impact of the
tragic experiences of World
War II, which he miracul-
ously survived, he devoted
himself to scholarly re-
search on the history of the
catastrophe, combining the
immediacy of first-hand ex-
perience with sound histori-
cal methodology. He thus
became the founder, in ef-
fect, of a new discipline in
Jewish studies — the his-
tory of the Holocaust —
which within recent years
has burgeoned, gaining the
attention of an increasing

PHILIP FRIEDMAN

number of researchers and
the interest of a growing
readership.
The present volume, pub-
lished jointly by the Jewish
Publication Society of
America and the Confer-
ence on Jewish Social
Studies, contains a selection
of Philip Friedman's major
Holocaust essays, composed
during the 15 years preced-

ing his death in 1960. Many
of the 24 essays, translated
from Polish, Yiddish, and
Hebrew and carefully foot-
noted, are not readily acces-
sible elsewhere.
Written with considera-
ble restraint — all the more
remarkable on the part of a
Holocaust survivor whose
personal ordeal included
the loss of a wife and child —
these chapters describe
what actually happened in
both historical and
psychological terms.
In his introduction to
this volume, Prof. Salo
Wittmayer Baron, the
noted Jewish historian,
writes, "Even now, some
two decades after his
death, Philip Friedman's
scholarly contributions
to the study of this vital
aspect of Jewish and
European history in the
years 1939-1945 rank
among the significant
achievements of contem-

Old Fortress Site Is Found

TEL AVIV — An ancient
fortified settlement on the
road to Jerusalem from
Emmaus (Latrun) which
served as an important
- strategic area and a mili-
tary and civilian base for
guarding access to
Jerusalem has been dis-
covered by Tel Aviv Univer-
sity archeologists. The for-
tified settlement, Hurvat
Mazad, served over the
course of centuries as a
strategic point and a way
station on the ancient road
linking Jerusalem to
Mediterranean Sea port,
particularly Jaffa.
The Tel Aviv University
I team, headed by Dr. Moshe
Fisher of the Archeology
,
Division of the Classical
Studies Department, dis-
covered a Hasmonean for-
tress which, during the
period of Alexander Janai
(103-76 BCE), must have
been important in warding
off the Seleucid enemy. The
200-square-meter structure
was surrounded by thick
and strong walls (1 1/2 meters
wide), its area divided be-
tween living quarters and
storage sections. On each
side, a strong, square watch
tower commanded a lookout
of the entire area.
The archeological finds -
inside the fortress indi-
cate that it was appar-
ently occupied only by
soldiers, and not by fam-
ily units. Typical of mili-
tary installations, very
large amounts of storage
jars were found, which
were apparently used to
store non-spoiling foods
which required no cook-
ing. The life style in the
fortress appears to have
been stark and minimal.

An unusual and rare find
was coins minted in lead
rather than copper. The for-
tress was probably gutted
by fire during warfare and
its walls forcibly destroyed.
The area apparently
underwent another stormy
use during the war between
the Jews and the Romans
(66-70 CE). In that period a
fortified farm was erected
upon and next to the Has-
monean ruins. The farm
served both as a guard post
on the Jerusalem Road and
as an agricultural center.

- It was apparently occu-
pied by a large Jewish fam-
ily and probably served as a
sort of inn for friendly
travellers. A bronze scale
for weighing money indi-
cates that the farm served
as a commercial enterprise.
Coins minted by the re-
volt were imprinted with
the caption, The Second
Year of the Liberty of
Zion" (Years 67-69 CE).
Remains of, olives and
fruits and vegetables are
indications of its agricul-
tural nature. They ap-
pear to have developed
an underground water
system for utilizing
winter rain water.
Domestic and not strictly
military life are also
demonstrated by such finds
as make-up, juglets of per-
fume, cooking pots and
utensils, housewares such
as hand-mills, and ceramic
vessels for food in food stor-
age pits. The farm (about
100 square meters) was
covered with ashes and
broken vessels, an indica-
tion of the destruction and
abandonment which oc-
curred during the great re-

volt. This settlement is one
link in a chain of settle-
ments which served as an
important axis between the
sea and Jerusalem during
the period of the revolt.
During the Roman-
Byzantine Period (Second-
Seventh Centuries CE) the
area was again used as a
military installation but on
a smaller scale. The
Roman-Byzantine strategic
method was different. They
chose to forego massive for-
tification and opted for
smaller fortified look-out
posts complemented by
small patrol groups.

The post was apparently
occupied for a short period,
but the use of Roman mile-
stones on that ancient road
to mark • the distances
primarily for military pur-
poses of planning food
supplies and walking dis-
tances for soldiers indicates
that it was considered a
strategic passageway dur-
ing the Roman period as
well.

During the early Mos-
lem period (700-800 CE)
the ancient structures
were still used and new
structures were added to
guard the road and a
large underground pool
that provided water for
passersby. The settle-
ment during that period
does not particularly
indicate strategic use.
The archeological dig was
made possible with the as-
sistance of the Jewish Na-
tional Fund, the Thyssen
Foundation of the Federal
Republic of Germany, and
volunteers from Israel and
abroad.

porary Jewish historiog-
raphy."
The first section of this
work, titled "Segregation
and Brutal Discrimina-
tion," deals in the systema-
tic fashion with the pre-
liminary steps taken by the
Nazis after the outbreak of
the war: the imposition of
the yellow badge, segrega-
tion of the Jews from their
neighbors, assignation of a
special Polish "reservation"
to those forcibly brought
from other lands. This sec-
tion also includes a chapter
on a little-known aspect of
the Holocaust experience,
"The Karaites under Nazi
Rule," as well as detailed
accounts of events in Po-
land, Germany, Austria,
Czechoslovakia, and the
Ukraine.
The second section, "Ex-
termination," describes not
only the murderous
methods employed by the
Germans in such locales as
the author's native LwOw --
the subject of the most ex-
tended treatment in this
book — but also the crimi-
nal "scientific" experiments
performed on the Jewish
prisoners in the death
camps.
Other chapters deal with
the Judenrate, the sup-
posedly autonomous but in
fact German-appointed
Jewish councils. One essay
discusses the fate of the
Gypsies, described as "the
Nazi genocide of an Aryan
people."

DR. SALO W. BARON

The third section ad-
dresses the enormous
methodological prob-
lems confronting resear-
chers of the Holocaust
and offers a survey of the
initial research done in
the field.
Finally, in an Appendix,
the author sets forth an
"Outline of Program for
Holocaust Research." This
comprehensive program
was initially prepared by
the author for his own use,
as a plan for research to be
conducted in the new field of
Holocaust studies. He sub-
sequently elaborated this
program and submitted it to
an international congress in
1950. It is here published for
the first time.
Referring to the "Out-
line," Prof. Baron notes,
"The plan was so carefully
conceived that, even three
decades later, it may still

prove helpful in fostering
additional investigations."
Prof. Baron concludes "The
best the author's numerous
admirers, co-workers, and
successors can do to per-
petuate his memory is to as-
sist in the implementation
of some of his as yet un-
realized plans and in the
continuation of the work so
auspiciously begun by him."
Philip Friedman (1901-
1960) received his PhD fro
the University of Vieyinc.
and later taught Jewish his-
tory in Poland. From 1944-
1946 he was founder and di-
rector of Poland's Central
Historical Commission; in
1947 he became director of
research for the Centre de
Documentation Juive Con-
temporaine in Paris.
He came to the U.S. in
1948 at the invitation of
Columbia University,
where he was a research
fellow and lecturer. He
also headed the Jewish
Teachers' Seminary in
New York, and taught at
the Herzliah Teachers'
Seminary.
He was the author of
numerous major historical
studies that have appeared
in Polish, German, Hebrew
and Yiddish, two English-
language works, "Martyrs
and Fighters: The Epic of
the Warsaw Ghetto" and
"Their Brothers' Keepers,"
and (with Jacob Robinson)
the monumental "Guide to
Research in Jewish History
under Nazi Impact."

Raoul Wallenberg Prison Mate
Insists Swedish Hero Still Alive

Avraham Kalinski of
Nahariya, Israel, who vis-
ited here briefly last week,
insists that Swedish hero,
Raoul Wallenberg is alive.
Kalinski was arrested in
Russia in 1950 and was
transferred from prison to
prison. He states that it is
Soviet policy not to keep
anyone in a single jail too
long.
In three prisons, Kalinski
says, his prison mates in-
cluded Wallenberg.
He insists that Wallen-
berg's health was good,
that he was in his full
senses and while he was
on occasion treated less
kindly than other pris-
oners he was not seri-
ously affected by his im-
prisonment.
Kalinski believes that
continued efforts for his re-
lease can be successful now.
He says that in contacts
with Swedish government
officials he has come to be-
lieve that now that Sweden
is not under Socialist domi-
nation there will be a
greater readiness by Swe-
den to press upon the USSR
to secure Wallenberg's re-
lease.
Kalinski related his ex-
periences to the Forward, to
Russian and other news-
papers before his Detroit
visit.
Kalinski called attention
to a more recent report that
Wallenberg was seen alive
in a Russian prison in 1979.

The reference to Jan Kap-
lan, with whose family
Kalinski had conferred to
get later reports on Wallen-
berg, is described in the No-
vember Atlantic in an arti-
cle entitled "The Wallen-
berg Mystery" by Kati Mar-
ton. This is the reference to
Jan Kaplan in the Kati
Marton article:
"In 1979 the long dor-
mant case was forced
open again. This time a
Tel Aviv dentist was the
unlikely connection. Dr.
Anna Bilder had never'
heard of Raoul Wallen-
berg until she received a
telephone call from her
father, a Moscow Jew re-
cently released from a
Soviet prison camp.

Jan Kaplan, a former
administrator of an operatic
conservatory in Moscow,
was jailed in 1975 on
charges of black marketeer-
ing, following his request
for an exit visa to Israel. He
was freed 18 months later
for health reasons.
"Kaplan told his daugh-
ter it is possible to survive
life in Gulag. 'In fact,' Kap-
lan went on, met a Swede
in the Butyrki prison in
Moscow who has survived
30 years.'
"For nearly two years
Anna Bilder had no further
word from her father. Then,
in July 1979, Anna's mother
smuggled a letter to her
daughter in Israel.

" 'My deaf Anna,' Mrs.
Kaplan wrote, the same
thing has happened
again to your father. For
the past year and a half
he has been imprisoned
. . . I had lost all hope
after having been sum-
moned to the Lubyanka
by the KGB, where I was
told all this happened be-
cause °La letter concern-
Swiss or a Swede
named Wallenberg whom
your father knew in the
prison infirmary.

" 'Your father had writ-
ten to you about this Wal-
lenberg and tried to get it to
you through some tourists
he met in the synagogue _ .
Since then, your father
been in Lefortovo and
Lubyanka and I have now
lost all hope of ever-seeing
him again.'
"The letter resulted in an
official request from the
Swedish Foreign Ministry
to interview Jan Kaplan,
wherever he may be. It was
the first official Swedish
communication on the sub-
ject of Raoul Wallenberg in
14 years. It has thus far eli-
cited the same response as
most other efforts on his be-
half: silence."
(Swedish Foreign Minis-
ter Ola Ullsten will raise
the Wallenberg case in his
Madrid speech at the Hel-
sinki Agreement follow-up
conference.)

cz7,