72 Friday, November 12, 1982

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

New Dawidowicz Work on American Jews, 1881-1981

By ALLEN A. WARSEN

peopled, cultivated and
fructified ... by endless
generations of immig-
rants."
It is well to remember
that in 1877 there were ap-
proximately 250,000 Jews
in America residing in 170
localities, including De-
troit. Until 1840 there were
no ordained rabbis in
America. The first were:

"On Equal Terms: Jews in
America, 1881-1981" (Holt,
Rinehart and Winston),
authored by Lucy S.
Dawidowicz, is a "somewhat
revised and enlarged" edi-
tion of her essay, "A Cen-
tury of Jewish History,
1881-1981: The View from
America" published in vol-
ume 82 of "The American
Jewish Year Book."
Prof. Dawidowicz com-
mences her volume with a
brief survey of the history of
East European Jews since
the partition of Poland
among Russia, Prussia and
Austria at the end of the
18th Century. She concen-
trates on the factors that
brought about the great
immigration of Russian
Jews to the United States
that included czarist perse-
cutions and the mass pog-
roms that followed the as-
LUCY DAWIDOWICZ
sassination of Czar Alexan- Rabbis Abraham Rice (Or-
der II in March 1881.
thodox), Isaac Leeser (Tra-
Profound is this observa- ditionalist) and Isaac Mayer
tion: "Beginning with the Wise (Reform).
wanderings of the Pat-
riarchs and the Exodus from
The author compares the
Egypt, migration had been growth of American Reform
a fundamental Jewish Judaism with American
strategy for survival, the Protestantism. Just as the
escape valve of Jewish his- Protestants "learned to de-
tory .. . Sometimes migra- pend upon themselves" in
tion was an involuntary their encounter with God
flight from violence and _ and nature and did not re-
sometimes a happy delivery quire "a mediating or inter-
from oppression."
preting minister," so "Re-
form's success must be cre-
Incisive too is this dited to the fact that in the
statement: "All human United States there was no
history can be described sufficiently strong bulwark
as a story of migration, of traditional Judaism to
but in the annals of his- withstand Reform's
tory no country has sur- onslaught .. .
passed the United States
"This absence of tradi-
as the quintessential
country of immigration. tional brakes in America
The U.S. was created, facilitated Reform's head-

this and other countries.
long rush into radical ditional sense of responsi
Since there are more ten-
change." bility that Jews felt for each
Even though the other and also in the tradi- tacles to anti-Semitism
author covers almost tional Jewish institution of than there are to a head of
every important facet of let-din,' a court of arbitra- hydra, we will examine only
American Jewish history tion, to which Jews in con- one of these tentacles:
of the last 100 years, this flict brought their disputes Charles Coughlin, the
reviewer will only corn- to be settled by a rabbinical silver- and Jew-hatred ped-
dler. As radio demagogue
ment on certain aspects, judge.
"Incidentally, the indi- and publisher of the hate
such as the emergence of
American Jewish leader- vidual who contributed sheet "Social Justice," the
ship, the growth of most to the "Protocol of Royal Oak priest dissemi-
Jewish unionism, ,mti- Peace" was the great
Semitism, World War II lawyer, Louis Dembitz
and the post-war period. Brandeis, the firstJewish
Remarkably, influential U.S. Supreme Court jus-
American Jewish leader- tice and one ' of the
ship can be traced to those foremost leaders of the
Jewish philanthropists American Zionist move-
known as "our crowd" and ment.
consisting of men like
Anti-Semitism had its
banker Jacob H. Schiff, dip- beginning in America in
lomat Oscar S. Straus, pre-Civil War times. It in-
lawyer Louis Marshall, creased during the war be-
scholar Cyrus Adler and tween the states, intensified
others. They founded the during the Reconstruction
American Jewish Commit- period and the Gilded Age
tee in 1906 that has been and continued to expand
ALLEN WARSEN
active, inter alia, diplomat- during the first three de-
ically, in the field of human cades of this century. In nated Dr. Joseph Goebbels'
rights and in the post-war 1916, the racist Madison deathly poison far and wide.
period on behalf of Israel.
Grant published "The Pass-
Like Henry Ford, he
Early in the century, ing of the Great Race" that
organizations representing advocated the stopping of too had been silenced.
Jewish labor were founded. immigration to the United But unlike Ford, who felt
Foremost were the "Arbeter States of racial groups that "deeply mortified" for
Ring" (the Workmen's Cir- would foster "racial blend- publicizing the "Pro-
cle) and the International ing." He wrote, "The cross tocols," the shepherd of
Ladies Garment Workers between any of the three the Shrine of the Little
Union. The ILGWU's his- European races and a Jew is Flowei- never repented
his sins against the
toric accomplishment, in a Jew."
Jewish people, though
the opinion of this writer,
In 1919, Henry Ford's before his demise he pur-
was the settlement known
notorious weekly, the Dear- chased a couple of
as the "Protocol of Peace"
that followed the strike of born Independent, made its Jewish National Fund
appearance and lasted until trees.
1910 in which 55,000 work-
Thorough is the author's
1927. In addition to the
ers participated. The Pro-
scurrilous "The Interna- analysis of World War II
tocol, instead of strife, un-
derscored the principle of tional Jew" and other pas- and her account of the
economic peace in trade- quils, it published the Jewish dilemma during
anti-Semitic forgery "The those tragic years. The
labor relations.
"The origin of this con- Protocols of the Elders of American Jews, she writes,
ciliation,". states Prof. Zion" that contributed to were anxious to assist their
Dawidowicz, "lay in the tra- the spread of Jew-hatred in European persecuted

brothers, but couldn't be-
cause of their government's
indifference to the plight of
Hitler's victims.
Nevertheless, thanks to
the dedicated work of Henry
Morgenthau, Jr. as Secre-
tary of the Treasury,
President Roosevelt con- .
sented to create the War
Refugee Board, "the first
and only substantial pro-
gram on behalf of the be-
leaguered European Jews to
which the Roosevelt Ad-
ministration committed it-
self."
In the final part of the
book, the author examines
the important occurrences
that transpired since the
end of World War II. They
include the formation of the
Conference of Jewish Mate-
rial Claims Against Ger-
many, the Vatican II state-
ment regarding Catholic-
Jewish relations, the
Israeli-Arab wars, Soviet,
New Left and black anti-
Semitism and the incessant
attacks by many of the UN
members on Israel.
It is worthy of note that
many happenings not re-
corded in the text are in-
cluded in Appendix B:
"Important Events in
American Jewish His-
tory."
This concluding passage
is from the book's epilogue:
"The United States was
the first country in the
world to give the Jews polit-
ical equality and religious
liberty, enabling them, as
no other nation-state had,
fully to exercise their rights
as citizens and, at the same
time, freely to observe their
religion, sustain their tradi-
tions, and perpetuate their
culture."

Max Tau Peace Novel 'Broken Wings' Re-Published

By CHARLES A. MADISON

Max Tau (1897-1976) was
a distinguished editor and
writer in Germany until he
was driven into exile by
Nazi persecution. From his
early literary career he was
dedicated to peace and
amity among nations, and
all his writings tended to
stress these aspirations.
The actions of his main
characters reflected the
idealism of his thinking. A
founder of the International
Library of Peace, he made it
the basic striving in
"Broken Wings." Thus,
when the German Peace
Award was established in
1950, Tau was its first reci-
pient: It has now been re-
published by Fromm Inter-
national.
"Broken Wings," origi-
nally published in Germany
in 1955 under the title "De-
nnuber uns ist der Him-
mel," is, as stated in the
subtitle, "One Voice for

Peace." Though a work of
fiction, it is essentially an
alarm against persecution,
hatred and war.
The chief character,
Jaroslav Swoboda,
dominates the narrative.
A very poor boy and
homeless in a small Car-
pathian village border-
ing Russia, he grows up
among peddlers and
smugglers who take care
of him until he finds work
with a greedy shop-
keeper.
All the while he is most
befriended by a Jewish ped-
dler who manages to be-
come a small-scale farmer
and remains Shmul, Jaros-
lav's closest friend and ad-
viser. Steeped in Jewish
lore, Shmul inspires the boy
with his sagacity and in-
sight. Later the boy is also
befriended by an idealistic
engineer who helps him to
study engineering.
The chaos and suffering

pervasive during World country. JAroslav and
War • I stimulates Jaroslav, the publisher exert them-
now a grown youth, to join selves to the utmost to es-
the rebels against Austrian tablish an International
domination and he joins the Peace Library. They at-
Czech legionnaires who join tract pacifists in several
the Allies in Paris. There he Western countries, and
is attracted to a French girl s Jaroslav visits them to
some years older than him- further the expansion of
self who furthers his the library.
awareness of human sen-
In the meantime, Czech
sitivity and the ideal of Communists gain more and
peace.
more adherents and in 1948
At the end of the war he are able to establish full
returns to his liberated political control — forcing
homeland, settles in the suicide of Jan Masaryk.
Prague, and soon joins err -
idealistic publisher."13:6 is - The navel is not of course
d.edicated to the establish- entirely political. In his
ment of human brotherhood early youth Jaroslav forces
and international peace in a girl to lie with him, and
the guilt of his deed inhibits
Europe.
In that capacity, Jaros- him from expressing his
lav goes to Germany and yearning for her love de-
is confronted by the early spite her obvious affection
bullying of Hitler's fol- for him. It was only after
lowers. Shocked by their many years and the urging
sadism, he intensifies his of Shmul and the publisher
activities against Nazi that he manages to over-
sympathizers in his own come his sense of guilt and
marry his childhood love,
now a woman of great
charm and as dedicated to
peace as he is.
"Broken Wings" is the
work of a writer who has
used the fictional form
largely to further his ideas
and ideals. As a conse-
quence, his main characters
tend to lose some of their fic-
tional reality. One tends to

[1:

L

a dmire their dedication and river of our century.

goodness while missing the "He never loses courage,
impact of their aliveness. for he knows the secret.
Yet the narrative's idealism What secret? That the world
is fully persuasive. contains inexorable law —
Nikos Kazantzakis, the if it did not exist, the world
eminent Greek writer, would have perished
well states the impor- thousands of years ago — a
tance of the author in an law according to which evil
"afterword": begins by triumphing and
"Max Tau is a man who in the end is defeated .. .
has suffered . . . He is a Peace, justice, freedom are
fighter, he swims upstream never given to man — alas
in a downward-rushing — without a price."

Ecuador Will Protect Jewish
Citizens from Anti-Semitism

NEW YORK — Follow- have appeared in the press
ing a wave of unprecedented and anti-Israel demonstra-
anti-Jewish incidents in tions have been held in the
Ecuador, that country's streets.
The director of the Latin
Foreign Minister has as-
sured the World Jewish American Jewish Congress,
Congress of his govern- Manuel -Tenenbaum, met
ment's determination to with the foreign minister
guarantee the safety and last month.
According to Tenenbaum,
well-being of the country's
Dr. Rodriguez informed the
Jewish community.
group of the "firm determi-
The Jewish community of nation of President Hur-
Ecuador numbers about tado's government to
1,000 according to Dr. Luis guarantee the security and
Valencia Rodriguez, tranquility of the Jewish
Ecuador's Foreign Minister. community." Dr. Rodriguez
A bomb recently exploded in also expressed praise for the
front of the Asociacion Is- contribution of the Jewish
raelita. In addition, violent community to the country's
anti-Israel statements with progress, Tenenbaum
anti-Semitic connotations added.

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