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PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Editor and Publisher
ALAN HITSKY
News Editor
CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ
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HEIDI PRESS
Associate News Editor
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Sabbath Scriptural Selections
This Sabbath, the 23rd day of Sivan, 5743, the following scriptural selections will be read in our synagogues:
Pentateuchal portion, Numbers 13:1-15:41.
Prophetical portion, Joshua 2:1-24.
Candlelighting, Friday, June 3, 8:45 p.m.
VOL. LXXXIII, No. 14
Page Four
Friday, June 3, 1983
AUSCHWITZ AND ALLIED GUILT
A controversy, gaining special attention in
the Harvard University student body, centers
on the charges that the Allies in World War II
contributed toward prolongation of the
Holocaust by the failure to bomb Auschwitz.
While it was understood that a bombing of the
major crematorium in which millions of Jews
perished would have cost the lives of large num-
bers of incarcerated, it still is maintained that
they were already destined for burning in the
German-created camps. It was maintained, and
survivors of Nazism now keep reminding man-
kind, that bombing of Auschwitz would have
slowed the march of 400,000 Hungarian Jews to
their death.
Dr. Chaim Weizmann was among the
world Jewish leaders who urged the military of
Great Britain to bomb the horror camp and its
ovens. Similarly, there were- such demands
upon the U.S. government and this country's
military. Now there is a reminder in the Har-
vard students' protest against the establish-
ment of a scholarship program in the name of
John McCloy. It is charged that McCloy, as
Assistant Secretary of War during World War II
and as the American military governor of occu-
pied Germany from 1949 to 1952, led in the
campaign against the Auschwitz bombing.
The issue is a serious one and is now widely
debated.
In a Washington Post article by Edward T.
Chase, who is collaborating on a book with
McCloy, defends the Allied action, contending:
"Although the military decided the bomb-
ing matter, McCloy had some discussions with
Harry Hopkins, Sam Rosenman and either Air
Force Gen. Hap Arnold or one of his aides. He
also recalls that Hopkins and Rosenman con-
veyed to him the President's view that we
should not undertake the bombing. These were
tumultuous days, and there is no written
documentation of such encounters. The assis-
tant secretary of war was known for the multip-
licity of tasks he had to look to in those climactic
weeks.
"Undoubtedly, these civilian leaders talked
together about the bombing in meetings, in
daily contact, probably even in encounters in
the corridors. They necessarily acted on the
analyses and discussions with those whose duty
it was to conduct military operations.
"Recrimination in hindsight is one of the
possible penalties borne by durable survivors, of
whom John J. McCloy is the nonpareil. The
`efficacy' of bombing Auschwitz under the con-
ditions of that time remains debatable even to-
day, yet a case can be made that it might have
saved the lives of some Hungarian deportees.
(In the summer of 1944, when the death camps'
existence became known, it was already too late
to save the vast majority of the victims.)
"To take McCloy to task for passing on the
military commander's reluctance to undertake
the mission is anomalous. It is also improper to
malign the actual decision-makers for their dis-
position to concentrate on military targets.
Those familiar with the period and certainly
any real historian would be aware that in July
1944 the Allied offensive hung in the balance,
requiring the use of every available resource,
not least our bombers. It was the profound con-
viction of the military that all would best be
served by the speediest victory possible over
Hitler.
"Would that the Nazi deceptions had not
prevented us from knowing of Auschwitz in
time to destroy it. Would also we had acted on
early intimations of the Pearl Harbor attack or,
indeed, earlier there had been no capitulation at
Munich. But recrimination in hindsight is a
demanding and serious business at best."
Many other opinions are being expressed
on the McCloy issue which has become a matter
of national concern. Also in the Washington
Post, Roswell McClelland, who was associated
with the War Refugee Board in 1944 and 1945,
traced the background of the discussions about
Legend can be a guide to fact. Legend can be and is an inspiration
the bombings, stating:
to study history. Legend defines the mores of the peoplehood.
"While it is difficult to determine where the
Narrating and writing the legendary is a fascination in Jewish
real responsibility for the negative attitude of
cultural spheres. The accumulated legends are among the treasures
of Jewry.
the War Department and John McCloy toward
The voluminous "Legends of the Jews" by Louis Ginsberg con-
the proposal lay, the measure of the abysmal
tinues to be the most extensive in the path-finding efforts of gathering
lack of understanding of what was happening at
the legendary. They are primarily the legends of the Bible and the
Auschwitz on the part of our American military
Talmud, the traditional tales that illuminate Jewish studies, the
authorities is embodied in the letter Mr. McCloy
ingathering of the stories of the rabbis serving as commentaries on
sent Leon Kubowitzki on Aug. 14,_ 1944, when
Scriptures and the MiSlinaic.
he observes.
Legends relating to the Holy Land, to pre-Israel Palestine, to the
" 'There has been considerable opinion to
peoples now residing in the ancient Land of Israel, have elevated the
the effect that such an effort (i.e., the bombing),
name of Zev Vilnay to the highest ranks of storytelling.
even if practicable, might provoke even more
Similar fame attaches to- the name of Dov Noy.
vindictive action by the Germans.' Suffice it to
Now comes another enrichment, a thrilling collection of legends
stories, fairy tales from many quarters, translated from several lan-
note that between mid-May and mid-July of
guages — Hebrew, Yiddish, Aramaic, Arabic — adding an enrich-
1944 over 400,000 Hungarian Jews were gassed
ment of the legendary treasures.
at Auschwitz."
"Elijah's Violin" is the title-charmer for the new volume.
Appearing with the McClelland letter, was
"Elijah's Violin" (Harper and Row) is one of the 36 stories, compiled,
another revealing statement. In it, Stefan Kor-
translated, and edited by Prof. Howard Schwartz of the University of
bonski, the last chief of the Polish underground
St. Louis. .
during World War II, wrote:
Dr. Schwartz is the author of a number of similar collected works,
"In connection with the article 'Why Didn't
including "The Voices Within the Ark," "Modern Jewish Poets,"
We Bomb Auschwitz?' I would like to explain
"Gates to the New City," "A Treasury of Modern Jewish Tales" and a
collection of modern parables.
that the leadership of the Polish underground
The tale about "Elijah's Violin," like a number of other tales in
state as well as the Polish government-in-exile
this volume, is from the Hebrew and was secured from Ilana Zohar
in London demanded strongly and repeatedly
who secured it from her mother, Flora Cohen. Other tales were
from the Allies the bombardment of German
gathered from individuals, and the sources are numerous, from sev-
cities as retaliation for, the Holocaust, and of
eral lands, from archival treasures.
the railroad lines leading to Auschwitz.
A quotation serves to define the title story:
"The answer was negative — namely, that
"Once upon a time-there was a king who had three daughters.
the principle of retaliation was alien to Allied
Now he loved them dearly, but one day he had to leave them to go off to
conduct of war, and the bombardment, of the
war. Before he left, he spoke to his daughters and said: 'If I am
railroad lines to Auschwitz occupied in the
victorious in this war, I will bring each of you a gift. Tell me, what
would you like?'
hierarchy of Allied strategic goals a very low
"Now the youngest daughter was sitting alone on a rock next to
place."
the lake outside the palace, when there appeared before her an old
Meanwhile, the Hungarian Jews who sur-
woman, who asked her: 'What is wrong, child?' And she replied: 'I do
vived the Holocaust now .keep reiterating that
not know what gift to ask of my father, the king.' The old woman said:
many of their relatives might have been rescued
`You must ask your father for Elijah's violin.' So the princess agreed
had it not been for the failure to bomb Au-
that this would be her request."
schwitz, and that at least would have been a
Each of the 36 fairy tales in this fascinating collection is virtually
measure of retaliation and vengeance.
a literary thrill. The sources attest to skillful research, and the multi-
Perhaps the fact that people like Judge
lingual creativity attests to an enriching cultural treasure.
Dr. Schwartz utilized stories from the Babylonian Talmud and
Samuel Rosenman, who was among President
from the Mishna. There are stories from Moroccan sources. Palesti-
Franklin D. Roosevelt's closest advisers (FDR
nian tales are numerous.
called him "Sammy the Rose") and others in the
Spain, Afghanistan, Persia, Libya, Byzantium, Greece, India,
official FDR family shared the viewpoint of
Yemen, Iraqi Kurdistan and Eastern Europe are among the countries
General McCloy and therefore shared the guilt.
whence numerous tales are drawn.
It is all part of a tragic story constantly recon-
Then there are the Yiddish and Hasidic allegories.
structed, always emphasizing that history's re-
All attest to a wealth of material, and they enrich this marvelous
cords must not be erased.
anthology.
`Elijah's Violin' Provides
36 Fairy Tale Thrills in
Harper and Row Volume
.