2 Friday, June 12, 1981
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Purely Commentary
Observing the 80th Anniversary of Jewish National Fund,
the Movement's Founders and Its Local Commemoration .. .
Timerman Case and the Testing of Human Rights Obligations
By Philip
Slomovitz
Street Journal article "The Timerman Affair" in which the
Wiesenthal. He is known as the archenemy of sur-
writer, Irving Kristal, prolessor of social thought at the
viving Nazis. He has devoted his entire life to
NYU Graduate School of Business, declares:
tracking down the survivors, effecting (his most
It is quite true that anti-Semitism is endemic in
famous catch) the capture and subsequent trial of
Major among the current anniversaries on the Jewish
Argentina,
as it has been since the 1930s at least,
Adolf
Eichmann.
Wiesenthal
has
for
years
at-
calendar is the 80th of-the Keren Kayemet l'Israel, the
and is especially prevalent in some army circles
tempted to locate the infamous Josef Mengele, the
Jewish National Fund.
which can accurately be labeled "fascist." So,
scientist who specialized in perfecting means of
It marked the commencement of philanthropic acts for
even though the bloodiest excesses of that war
killing Jews. He was hot on the trail of Mengele in
the redemption of Eretz Israel and for the mass colonization
seem to be over, and the rebellion crushed, it is
Uruguay, but lost contact with his informant as a
movement of Jews in what was eventually to become the
nevertheless permissible to wonder whether the
result
of
an
act
of
carelessness
by
the
same
state of Israel.
worst is yet to come.
Jacobo Timerman. In an interview with Gustavo
It was and is more than philanthropy. It is the great
On the other hand, to say that it has already
Ruegger published in Montevideo El Pais on
task for creativity, for the return to the soil by the people
happened
— or is on the verge of happening — is
April
26,
Wiesenthal
spoke
as
follows
about
that was subjected to the ironies of ghetto life. It was and
irresponsible and dishonest demagogy. Thoug
Timerman:
remains the symbol of self-redemption.
anti-Semitism may be rife in certain segments o
Q: Do you know Timerman?
The JNF story is told very ably in a properly titled
Argentinian society, the government has been
A:
No.
I
know
that
in
Argentina
there
are
a
lot
of
book, The Awakening." That's the proper definition for
doing — and is doing —its best to render it ineffec-
Peronist sympathizers and that among them
JNF. It marked a national awakening, and the process-is
tual.
Jews in Argentina today lead lives that are
there
are
also
Jews,
and
I
also
know
that
many
of
outlined skillfully by the author of "The Awakening," Ira
not very much more nervous or fearful than those
these people went to jail accused of being in favor
Hirschmann.
of non-Jews. The Jews of Argentina are free —
of terrorism, with nothing to do with whether
Hirschmann is himself a symbol of that national ac-
have
always been free — to leave the country
or
not
they
might
have
been
Jews.
One
of
them
is
tivity. He served with distinction in the efforts of rescuing
whenever they wish, and to take all of their prop-
Timerman, and the people who wanted to help
Jews from the Nazi clutches. He represented the United
erty with them. The fact that relatively few have
him converted the case into an anti-Semitic per-
States in that role with great courage and emerged a
done so should tell us something.
secution.
I
can
understand
that,
since
Timerman
Jewish hero in the liberating tasks. He tackles the JNF
Moreover, all synagogues, all Jewish com-
is a leftist, he is against any government, any
munal organizations, all Zionist organizations
movement, that might be rightist; but in any fight,
(including the left-wirig Zionist organizations)
you have to stick to the truth.
function freely and openly, without any gover-
Q: Do you mean to say that Timerman being a
mental harassment. Rabbi Marshall Meyer of
Jew did harm to the Jewish cause?
Buenos Aires, a distinguished fighter for human
A: Timerman doesn't interest me. What matters
rights to whom Timerman has dedicated his book,
to me is the harm he did in the search for a war
is in the process of building a $20 million rabbini-
criminal.
cal seminary. That, too, presumably tells us some-
Put me (Buckley) down as deeply deploring the
thing.
treatment of Timerman by the Argentine thugs
In effect, the Argentinian Jewish community
who multilated him and admiring Timerman's
along with several of the major American Jewish
personal courage. Then put me down as skeptical
organizations, in keeping their distance from Mr.
of Timerman's usefulness as a moral arbiter, let
Timerman and his left-wing associates, are im-
alone geopolitical adviser.
plicitly vindicating the Reagan Administration's
As for his manners, perhaps while he was in the
prudent policy on human rights. The military re-
Argentine concentration camp he forgot that it is
gime in Argentina, for all its ugly aspects, is
not customary to accept the hospitality of people
authoritarian, not totalitarian.
who care nothing about human rights, desire
Now that the Montonero terrorists have been
world wars and are indifferent to torture and
crushed, the United States is using its influence to
HERMANN
SCHAPIRA
MENAHEM USSISHKIN
Nazism.
try to move the regime gradually toward greater
Buckley also referred to differences of opinion between
liberalization. Since Argentina is not an Ameri-
awakening achievements from every aspect of Zionist U.S. Ambassador to the UN Jeane Kirkpatrick over the
can protectorate and is not significantly depen-
ideological attainments.
Argentinian human rights issues, and there have arisen
dent on us, our influence is inevitably limited. But
It is notable in his book that he commences the JNF other elements in the issue to add to the disputed question
we are doing what we can to strengthen the more
history with the story of the man who was the movement's of whether Timerman was persecuted as a Jew as he
moderate and sensible elements in the army. The
creator, Prof. Hermann Schapira, the eminent Heidelberg charged or rather as a liberal whose viewpoint was inter-
outlook is far from hopeless.
mathematician. Schapira had a motto: "A penny a day from
preted as either extreme leftist or pro-Communist by prej-
every Jew." He believed that if every Jew were to give a
It would become utterly hopeless, however,
udiced government officials.
penny a day towards land redemption, a sufficient fund
were we to "write off" Argentina — excommuni-
At the root of the matter which has grown into a prob:
could be secured to assure that aim. But it required a penny lem is the attitude of the Argentinian Jewish community.
cate it, so to speak, from tthe community of na-
a day from every Jew everywhere. That became an impos- Timerman was very critical of Israel and its parliament
tions. Then the more extreme right-wing elements
sibility. While the motto "A penny a day is the JNF way" when an award to an Argentinian was presented a year ago
in the armed forces — the ones •who illegally ar-
was a motto for some decades, the requirements became in the Knesset. Timerman was bitter and his resentment
rested and tortured Mr. Timerman — would
immense.
surely take total power. One strongly suspects
that the Knesset should have been used as the meeting
That's when the genius of Menahem Ussishkin came place for such a presentation made the front pages in Is-
that there are many on the American left who
into action. He achieved the acquisition of land for Galil rael's newspapers.
would like to see this happen. The politics of
settlement and for advancement of the great task of the
polarization, in which the left crusades against
There was another side to the issue at that time, as
Keren Kayemet.
the right under the banner of "human rights,"
there may be now. The Knesset and Israel's government
That task continues. It was strengthened by noted could not act officially in condemnation of a country with a
- while the threat from the totalitarian left is al-
leaders, by the pioneers who built the foundation for Is- population of more than a quarter-million Jews. Perhaps
together ignored, appeals to their ideological bias
rael's statehood. It continues. The Awakening" is an inspi- the security of the largest Jewish community in Latin
as well as to their self-righteous passions. One
ration to continuity in JNF tasks. Ira Hirschmann's splen- America had to be taken into consideration.
might almost say it is their secret agenda.
did historic document makes a good contribution towards
This is too serious an accusation to be ignored, espe-
Therefore the caution not to go to extremes in attack-
enhancement of the ideal represented in the symbolized
cially since it relates to the Jewish and Israeli reactions to
ing
Argentina.
What
happens
there
could
affect
another
three-lettered title of a great movement — JNF.
Timerman's role.
Metropolitan Detroit Jewry's role in Keren Kayemet 200,000 Jews in countries neighboring Argentina.
It
is
on
this
score
that
Timerman
and
those
supporting
l'Israel — Jewish National Fund — has always been one of
Tamar deSola Pool: The Great
great devotion. It will be echoed at the annual dinner on his position offer an equating of the role of Argentinian
Lady in Hadassah and Zionism
June 24, marking the 80th anniversary of the movement, Jewry with what was pre-Nazi Germany. They say that
with the David Handlemans as the honorees. It will be an hesitation in criticizing Argentina is like the appeasement
Tamar deSola Pool was one of the very remarkable
in the days immediately preceding Hitler and the first
appropriate way of acclaiming a great movement.
years of Nazi rule when many Jews, believing they would ladies of this and the last generation.
She was a leader in Hadassah and one of the distin-
jeopardize the position of German Jewry, refrained from
guished founders of the women's Zionist organization.
Martyrdom ... When a Community's
attacking Nazism.
As the contemporary of Henrietta Szold she shared in
Is this viewpoint acceptable? Is it applicable?
Security Is Endangered by a 1980s
her glories and pursued them with great dignity. All
The application is doubtful, yet the obligation to con-
The late Dora (Mrs. Joseph) Ehrlich had an impo
Version of Nazi Ideology
demn abuse of human rights and the emergence of anti-
role
in that group of women who created nobly in Zionist
Semitism in the process of vast discrimination as reported
From the moment of his release from house arrest in from Argentina is indisputable.
ranks and enrolled a large following of admirers.
his home in Buenos Aires, his arrival in Israel and the
Mrs. Pool shared with her husband, the late David
The problems that have thus emerged are immense.
publication afterward of his account of his sufferings in his
deSola Pool, the distinction of leadership, co-authorship of
There is a repetition of difficulties in meeting obligations to
book "Prisoner Without a Name, Cell Without a Number"
a number of important books on Jewish cultural and histor-
the basic human needs in the world which all-too-often
(Knopf), Jacobo Timerman was treated as a hero and as a
ical topics and leadership in Jewish ranks.
become major _aspects in the fight against anti-Semitism.
martyr. He became a leader in the movement exposing the
A native of Jerusalem, she mastered Hebrew in addi-
There may never be an end to such tensions, just as an
tyrannical practices of the present regime in Argentina.
tion to other languages, and was a fluent public speaker,
erasing of anti-Semitism becomes increasingly impossible.
On several occasions, however, he was disputed by
often appearing at public functions, including in Detroit,
In the long run, even with some menacing problems for
Argentinian Jewish leaders. He is under challenge on
with her husband.
Jewry, if and when it becomes an offer of silence to bigotries
many of his accusations, and Jewish spokesmen deny that
She spent many years in Israel, for numerous events,
it cannot be adhered to. The voice of freedom demands
the Argentinian regime's attitude toward Jews is tinged
including attendance at the Eichmann trial. Her interest
assertion of the right to speak out against oppression. It is
with anti-Semitism.Noteworthy in connection with this
the difficulty to enroll support for such policies of vigilance was in the welfare of the Sephardic settlers in Israel and
dispute is the discussion of the Timerman role in a syndi-
she conducted a movement for the creation of amity be-
that is most distressing. But the struggles for human rights
cated column by William F. Buckley in which the promi-
tween Jews and Arabs.
and for the liberties of mankind are always difficult.
Tamar deSola Pool was, indeed, one of the great ladies
nent commentator states:
An important comment on the Argentinian situation
of
this
era.
and
the
Timerman
involvement
is
contained
in
the
Wall
Consider, for example, the opinion of Simon
Keren Kayemet — JNF Emphasized as
an 'Awakening' on 80th Anniversary
,