20 Friday, July 22, 1983 THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS LARRY FREEDMAN Orchestra and Entertainment 647-2367 New Gi-uber Volume Describes FDR's 'Guests' in 1944 NEW YORK — For most of World War II the emigra- tion to the U.S. of millions of desperate Europeans, Jews Gary R Miller & Associates Photography with a Personal Touch 398-6894 Specializing in Candids and Video 'a 0:0:0 'DANCE SOUNDS UNLIMITED 1 DANCE C PARTIES are our speciality, high quality our performance. Outstanding in music, lighting, teaching and dance performance. For a complete evening of entertainment at your next party, Bar Mitzva, wedding or special occasion call 588.9499 Art and Jan 652,9736 Call early for available open dates invitations in blame • Invitations, Stationery Belts, Jewelry, Purses and much more all at 20% OFF 6080 W. Maple corner of Farmington Rd. 851-5079 and non-Jews, was denied by powerful isolationists, labor-unionists and anti- Semites in Washington, D.C. Deaf to the pleading of the refugees and their sup- porters, these people pointed self-righteously to America's rigid immigra- tion laws, even as trains roared toward Auschwitz. Finally, in June 1944, President Franklin D. Roosevelt circumvented their objections by inviting 1,000 refugees to the U.S. as temporary guests of the government. Ruth Gruber, special assistant to Secre- tary of the Interior Harold Ickes, journeyed to Italy to escort the refugees to their temporary home at Fort On- tario in Oswego, N.Y. In "HAVEN: The Untold Story of 1,000 World War II Refugees" (Coward- McCann), to be published next month, Gruber rec- reates the dramatic series of events which led to Roosevelt's unprecedented invitation. She also cap- tures the spirit of the men, women and children who proved their courage on both sides of the Atlantic — in Europe fighting Nazis and in the U.S. fighting to create new lives. Initially an observer of her charges, Gruber soon became emotionally in- volved in their struggles to adapt to life in the U.S. The friendships she Introducing .. . HANDMADE FRAMES FROM ISRAEL See the Couturier line of Israeli-made frames at cyq. cp IMETQOPOLITnn OPTICAL Lincoln Shopping Center 26102 Greenfield Rd. 968-8811 Men's, Women's & Children's Available Bifocal Special Regular $54.50 $ 3 950 Available with purchase of any frames at Metropolitan Optical formed, still intact today, and her experience as a foreign correspondent provide Gruber with a unique perspective. Gruber's first-hand ac- count opens in June 1944 with Roosevelt's an- nouncement. With the aid of Ickes, Gruber snagged the job of escorting the refugees across the Atlantic. She was given the rank of simulated general in case her eastward-bound plane was shot down and she was taken prisoner. By the time Gruber ar- rived in Italy, several men had already accomplished the heartbreaking task of selecting the chosen few from over 3,000 applicants in the Naples area. Those selected — 982 men, women and children from 18 coun- tries (874 Jews, 73 Roman Catholics, 28 Greek Or- thodox and seven Protes- tants) awaited her on board the Liberty Ship henry Gib- bins. Gruber, an expert lin- , guist, quickly established commications with her charges. Equally impor- tant, she made friends with the ship's other passengers, wounded and battle- shocked soldiers from Anzio and Cassino, who were ter- rified that the presence of the refugees might provoke an enemy attack. It was a very special crossing for the Henry Gibbins; still fearful of gnawing hunger, refu- gees stuffed down enor- mous meals and secreted food in their pockets, and practiced their first halt- ing words of English at deck classes taught by Gruber. Lurking Nazi U-boats and planes pro- voked real fear among refugees and soldiers alike. The high point of the voyage was a refugee talent show featuring the leading baritone of the Yugoslav National Op- era. Gruber came to under- stand the true nature of Hit- ler's intenticnis during the two-week crossing, when she listened to and recorded the refugees' tales of perse- cution, torture, death and flight. Her notes on the ref- ugees' experiences, passed to Ickes and then to Roosevelt, • provided America with eyewitness evidence of the enormity of Hitler's crimes. Arriving at Fort Ontario, a former Army post, the ref- ugees were stunned to dis- cover they were to live in an internment camp fenced with barbed wire. The shock of internment was almost offset by the warm welcome of the native Oswegans. Girls and boys exchanged gifts through the linked fence and tunneled escape holes out of sight of the gate guards. Organizations from nearby cities arrived with donations of shower cur- tains and clothing. The town generously opened the doors of its school system to the chil- Ruth Gruber took this photograph of President Roosevelt's "guests" waving to the Statue of Liberty as they arrived in New York on Aug. 3, 1944. dren, teenagers and young adults deprived of education by the chaos of war. As the months passed, Gruber turned her atten- tion to the fate of the ref- ugees. Each one had signed papers agreeing to return to Europe after the war. Would they be forced to return to their pillaged homelands and confront the ghosts of dead friends, relatives and neighbors? Alongside her inspira- tional account of the refu- gees, Gruber relates a shocking story of State De- partment delay and subter- fuge, of vitally important cables purposely suppressed and buried in governmental red tape. She pieces to- gether the essential contri- butions of Ickes, Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr. and Rabbi Stephen Wise in bringing the 982 to safety. "HAVEN" also details the substantial contribu- tions the refugees made to the communities where they settled. About his adopted homeland, one ref- ugee comments, "Only a foreign-born can under- stand the nature of the trunk of the tree on which he's grafted. Only a foreign-born can truly ap- preciate what America is." Gruber, a foreign corre- spondent, has covered the story of refugees since the end of World War II for the New York Herald Tribune and other publications. She has made 33 trips to the Middle East covering the flight of refugees into Israel from Yemen, Iraq, North Africa, Poland, Romania and the Soviet Union. She is the author of 12 books, six of them on Israel. Her "Raquela: A Woman of Israel" won the National Jewish Book Award as the best book on Israel in 1978, and became a selection of the Reader's Digest Con- densed Books Book Club. Druze Demand Israel Aid Their Brethren in Lebanon JERUSALEM (JTA) — Israel's long standing "blood bond" with its Druze population appeared to be threatened this week con- tinued fighting between Druze and Christians in Lebanon. Young leaders of Israel's Druze community warned that this might happen because of the Israel army's alleged failure to protect Lebanon Druze. The Druze, a non-Arab Moslem group, have always been loyal to the Israeli state, serve in the army and hold positions in govern- ment. But that relationship became strained since Is- rael's invasion of Lebanon in June 1982, and particu- larly since fighting broke out between Israel-backed Christian Phalangist and Druze villagers in the Israel-occupied Shouf mountains. Druze speakers at a press conference said hundreds of Israeli Druze wanted to des- ert to Lebanon to help their brethren who, they said, were facing annihilation. Spokesmen demanded that Israel get the Phalangists out of the Shouf Mountains, open the road to Druze vil- lages, return the villagers' weapons and pay repara- tions for Druze orchards and vehicles damaged in recent weeks. They also demanded an inquiry into the "treat- ment of the Lebanese Druze by various secu- rity branches" of the Is- raeli forces in Lebanon. Reporters were told that Druze officers serving in Lebanon were invited to re- sign two months ago if Is- raeli policies conflicted with their loyalty to their Druze brethren in Lebanon. The officers were reportedly told that Israel was about to or- ganize a Christian Lebanese army headed by Maj. Saad Haddad. New TAU Chair TEL AVIV — The Jaime Constantiner Chair in Jewish Education at Tel Aviv University was inau- gurated recently during the annual meeting of the uni- versity's board. The new chair will focus on improving the quality of Jewish education in both Is- rael and the Diaspora through the evaluation of current techniques and the introduction of new mate- rials and innovations in the teaching process. Barney Ross was born Barney Rasovsky.