THE JEWISH NEWS , LISPS 275-5201 Incorporating The Detroit Jewish Chronicle commencing with the issue of July 20, 1951 Copyright Ce) The Jewish NeWs Publishing Co. Member of American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers, National Editorial Association and National Newspaper Association and its Capital Club. Published every Friday by The Jewish News Publishing Co., 17515 W. Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Postmaster: Send address changes to The Jewish News, 17515 WI Nine Mile, Suite 865, Southfield, Mich. 48075 Second-Class Postage Paid at Southfield, Michigan and Additional Mailing Offices. Subscription $15 a year. PHILIP SLOMOVITZ Editor and Publisher ALAN HITSKY News Editor CARMI M. SLOMOVITZ Business Manager HEIDI PRESS Associate News Editor DREW LIEBERWITZ Advertising Manager 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 .