64 Friday, June 26, 1981 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS History of a Great Cause in a Tragic Era Yehuda Bauer's Record of JDC's Rescue Tasks, Philanthropic Goals Daring Holocaust Years Any phase in the history of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Commit- tee assumes an important role historically. The period of activities during the Nazi era is especially significant. Therefore "American Jewry and the Holocaust" which deals with the JDC services and struggles for relief of the victims of Hitlerism during the years 1939 to 1945, by Prof. Yehuda Bauer, is a volume of major significance. Wayne State University Press has just issued, this volume as one of its current Judaica publications. Made possible by the Morris and Emma Schaver Publication Fund for Jew- ish Studies, this immense- ly encyclopedic volume is much more than a history of philanthropy. It is history itself. It is a record of cour- age as well as sacrifice, of the -dedication of a great cause to the rescue efforts that enveloped the many lands which were affected by the Nazi terror during the six years under review in a study that was fortu- nately conducted by a mas- ter who has a background of dedication to the many is- sues which are covered in the JDC historical record. Dr. Bauer, who is the Jonah M. Machover Pro- fessor of Holocaust Studies and former head of the Institute of Con- temporary. Jewry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, is the author of many books devoted to studies of the Holocaust and the era of the Nazi horrors. Already having enriched the Holocaust bookshelves with his ear- lier works, the current WSU Press volume fills a great need with the fac- tual about the financial aid of the JDC that enabled a continuing re- scue process. Brother's "My In Keeper," published by the Jewish Publication Society in 1974, Dr. Bauer com- menced the JDC story which continues in the pre- sent volume. Here he covers the role of the great philan- thropic agency in Poland, Hungary, Romania and the other portions of the Euro- pean continent where the Nazis were bent upon de- stroying the Jewish people. The difficult tasks of rescu- ing those who could be saved was conducted by the JDC. Describing the theme of the book as "Jewish self- help, whether American based or initiated locally under JDC's name," Dr. Bauer delved into the JDC records for the accumula- tion of the many experi- enced in the rescue tasks. The many personalities involved, the scores of hitherto unpublished inci- dents, the historical account of associating with the endangered and whoever could assist i _ n the rescue work, all are accounted for in this brilliant anthologi- cal and historical chronicle. In the first years it was a matter of providing re- lief, of assuring that the • hungry were fed. Then came the years of terror when the Nazis inaugu- rated the policy of de- struction, their Genocide threat to all Jews. ,At the root of the story are the activities of per- sonalities like Saly Mayer who was JDC's unofficial representative in Switzer- land. Throughout World War II Mayer was the most important individual con- tact person. There is the story of Raoul Wallenberg, retold here in some detail, to indicate how some of the Swedish hero's efforts were partially made possible with JDC's finan- cial aid. Germany proper be- fore the last calamitous years, Shanghai, the Soviet Union, North Af- rica events are detailed here.. There is the record of ac- tivities in behalf of trans- portingome of the rescued into what was then the Jewish settlement in pre- Israel Palestine. difficulties The encountered by the JDC emphasize the dramatic fac- tors in this impressive story of the great philanthropic movement. JDC sought the participation of European Jews. It was a difficult task. It needed cooperation from communities and their leaders. A concluding por- tion of the descriptive intro- duction to this book 'em- phasizes- these difficulties. Describing "European Jewry on the Eve of War," this portion of the introduc- tion offers these revela- tions: "The outlook in 1939 was bleak. JDC tried to get local communities to raise money from their richer members. While it is true that some communities could have done much more, and some in fact did do quite a lot, in most communities there were simply no reserves available for social and wel- fare work. "There were excep- tions. In Switzerland, for- instance, the head of the Jewish community, Saly Mayer, heard what was termed a 'pep talk' from Morris C. Troper, JDC's European director, who claimed that "It was hardly fair that American money should be used until he was con- vinced that the maximum amount possible had been raised in his own community.' Mayer did in fact obtain increased sums from members of this community (which numbered only 18,000). "On the other hand, there were many extremely weal- thy Jews in Hungary, but the community leadership there had degenerated to a frightening degree. There were internecine quarrels, a lack of public and commu- nity spirit, and mass con- versions. Little help was forthcoming for the many Hungarian Jews who needed it, especially those in the territories annexed from Czechoslovakia in early 1939. "It is evident that the many complicated problems could not possibly be hand- led from New York, given the relatively slow means of transporation and corn- munication. Ever since the early twenties, JDC had tried to remedy this situa- tion by having a central office responsible for the whole of Europe. Until the Vise of the Nazis, this office was located in Berlin, and the New York leadership delegated some authority to it. "In 1939, however, the center of JDC activity in Europe was in Paris, where JDC's European Executive Council was located, with Morris C. Troper as chair- man or European director. The other members of the council were relatively junior staff, and in the cru- cial summer of 1939, it was Troper who was JDC in Europe, just as Bernhard Kahn had been until late in 1938. "Troper emerges from JDC correspondence as a warm human being with compassion and a sense of humor, but he appar- ently never became very popular either in Europe or with his own people in America. "He had become involved in JDC affairs by being head of the firm that JDC used for all its accounting business — obviously a very impor- tant aspect of the work of a public philanthropic organ- ization. But he never quite shook off the image of a `mere' accountant, and while his letters and memoranda reflect quick intelligence, .broad vision, and seemingly considerable powers of decision, that is not the impression one gathers from later tes- timonies of people with whom he worked. "In late August 1939, JDC and HICEM called an Yg HUD A BAUER emergency conference in Paris of their main repre- sentatives, who discussed arrangements to be made in case war broke out. A rare and interesting motion pic- ture taken on that occasion shows Troper, Joseph C. Hyman, who had come from New York to participate in the proceedings, Saly Mayer from Switzerland, Gertrude van Tijn of Hol- land, Max- Gottschalk of Belgium, Isaac Giterman of Poland, Marie Schmolka of . Prague, Otto Hirsch of Be- ' rlin, and others. "The main decision taken by JDC in the wake of that conference was to transfer large amounts of money to Poland for the second half of 1939 and to keep its cash re- serves in European banks as low as possible. "In the midst of the conference, Giterman rushed back to Warsaw to be at his post when hostilities began. That was the last time his col- leagues saw him. On,Sep- tember 1, German soldiers crossed the Polish border. Night de- scended over the Jewish people in Europe." While the Nazis were per- secuting other peoples, Dr. Bauer points out that "only in the case of the Jews did the Nazis intend the total physical annihilation of a people whom in their im- agination they had iden- tified with a demonic force. Their anti-Jewish attitude resulted from the combina- tion of an age-old hatred fos- tered by other monotheistic religions against the father religion and those who adhered to it and the sec- ularist rebellion of a technologically oriented nationalistic civilization against the Judeo- Christian ethical tradition. It was that deadly pseudo- religious combination that produced Nazism and the Holocaust." There is a summary in. the Bauer story which reveals that not enough funds were provided for the JDC activi- ties, that there were dedi- cated people who labored without such sustenance. Without listing the activi- ties of the individuals in the cast of devoted characters, the following analyses de- serve quoting as an encouragement to those who respond to the call of philanthropy that their ef- forts are urgent as fulfill- ment of the great needs for services: "Generally, one can di- vide JDC activities into three main types: direct in- volvement of American emissaries in local activi- ties; direct involvement of local JDC groups in aid, re- scue and .sometimes politi- cal activities; and funding of local initiatives. "We have seen examples of the first of these. with Moses Beckelman's work in Lithuania and Laura Mar- golis' work in Shanghai. The second type is exemplified in Warsaw and in Jules Jefroykin's group in France. The third we have seen in Slovakia, Romania, Zagreb, Italy, Belgium, and Holland. "The involvement of Americans was necessarily transitory; with America's entry into the war, this kind of activity had to cease. " 'It is'hard to assess the relative effectiveness of the other two kinds of JDC in- volvement. No planning -of these activities was possi- ble; they arose out of des- perate necessities and were adjusted to the concrete situation. "The link between JDC- Lisbon and the Jewish communities in most of Europe and . Shanghai after 1942 was Saly Mayer in Switzerland. Our inquiry has shown the unique im- portance of this man in the JDC story. A more flexible, less complicated individual might have been a better choice, but Mayer did sur- prisingly well, his oppo- nents' claims notwith- standing. Above all, he grasped the situation better than many others, manag- ing to supply, with the little money he had to give, not merely help but hope. hope. "The terrible question is often asked whether more could have been done to save lives. Michael Weissmandel wrote that the Jews of the West were asked to shed not blood — dam in He- brew — but money — damim. If all the money in the world had bought the life of just one child, it would have been cheaply bought. _ "American Jewry gave JDC very little.money until 1944 ($37,909,323 in 1939- 1943) and somewhat 'more in 1944 and 1945 ••• 1 ($35,551,365). $194,332,033 it raist. 1945-1948 showed how late the reaction to the disaster of the Holocaust was. "Some of the expendi- tures of scarce JDC dollars were, to judge with the benefit of hindsight, less than judicious. Hundreds of thousands were poured in to the fiasco that was the Sosua venture in the Dominican Republic. Hun- dreds of thousands of dollars were given to the Russians, in addition to the millions that the American people as a whole gave. Had they been allocated to Gize Fleisch- mann or Reszoe Kasztner, they might have made a real difference. "Yet the bulk of JDC's limited funds went where it was needed most. The re- sults achieved were in many areas and cases just what had been hoped for. Without JDC funds, the hiding of the children in France, the re:- scue from starvation in the Transnistrian ghettos, the feeding of the Jews be- leaguered in the Swiss and Swedish houses in Budapest — these and many more ventures would have been impossible. "JDC's limitations lay in its very legalistic ap- proach to rescue, its limited funds, and an Al- lied policy that aimed ex- clusively at military vik tory rather than at both victory and the saving of lives. "Within those limita- tions, JDC did a great deal of good. It was basically an organization of volunteer's. Its workers, from the lay leadership in New York who gave of their time with- out hesitation and often without limit, to the heroes of the Holocaust — Gizi Fleischmann, Emmanuel Ringelblum. Isaac Giter- man, and all the others — were united in a typically Jewish endeavor. "It was perhaps best ex- pressed by Saly Mayer in one of his notebooks: 'Stop this Rezach!"Rezac' • n Hebrew, means crnu.____,z. Jewish tradition says that he who saves one soul is likened to on'e who has saved the whole world." prof. Bauer's review of the JDC role adds a valu- able chapter to American and world Jewish history. WSU Press enriches its pub- lishing goals with this im- portant work. —P.S.