6 Friday, August 12, 1983

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

Gruber's 'Haven' a Tribute to ckes and American Humanists

(Continued from Page 2)

who had the last word and who issued the verdict permitting the refugees to remain. Here
is the Gruber account of it:
The President was asking Britain to open the doors of Palestine to
100,000. But for the 1,000 in Oswego, the doors of America were still not
open.
Weeks were passing, then months, while State, Justice and Interior
fought over them. Joe Smart's committee had 100 prominent leaders, in-
cluding Eleanor Roosevelt and Robert A. Taft, the powerful Senator from
Ohio, all trying to win support to keep the refugees in America.
The dread of spending another fierce winter imprisoned by mountains
of snow threw the camp into gloom. Late in November, Ickes sent me back
to try to bolster morale.
Just past midnight my train pulled into Syracuse. Clyde H. Powers,
who had become the camp director during the summer, drove me to Os-
wego.
"You'll find a lot of changes," he warned me. His warning hardly pre-
pared me for the changes I found the next morning. Some of the men had
aged badly; their eyes were watery, their faces sagged, even their skin
looked weary. Some of the women, heavier than ever, looked nervous and
confused.
The wind howled off Lake Ontario, whistling through the naked
branches of the trees. The parade ground was frozen and deserted.
At lunch Artur Hirt sank into a chair beside me. "The first days when
we came, America worried about us. But now nobody worries. We're forgot-
ten." "Not true," I protested. "You don't know how hard we're fighting for
you." "That's you. And your department. But what about the other govern-
ment agencies?"
"The fight isn't over. We have the American press with us almost 100
percent. Only one or two columnists like Westbrook Pegler are trying to stir
up sentiment to send you back." I showed him some of the articles and
editorials I had brought with me.
"Then you must do something. You know I was a judge. Juridically the
paper we signed in Italy, that we would go back at the end of the war,
doesn't hold. The Poland I would have to go back to is no longer Poland. My
part of it is Russia. I don't want to go to Russia. I hate the Communists. I hate
Stalin. Where should I go? I warn you, we can't hold out much longer."
Hirt was cocky and fighting mad, but others walked with their heads
stooped, as if their lives were anchored by memories of terror and flight.
In the evening, the artists gave a special performance so that the people
could welcome me back — and hear if I had any news to report. The
performance began patriotically as always with the National Anthem, fol-
lowed by the camp's own anthem, "Don't Fence Me In."
Then Otto Presser, looking like a saddened Eddie Cantor, made a little
speech. "Our Mother Ruth is really like Moses. He led the Jews through the
wilderness for 40 years. But he couldn't see the Promised Land. Our Mother
Ruth led us to Oswego — and sometimes it seems we have been here 30, if not
40, years. But that's where her role changes. She goes back and forth, but
her children can't see the Promised Land." It's true, I thought dismally, but
not funny.
Charles Abeles played a tuneful song he had composed for me. Leon
Levitch arranged a haunting piano solo. There were new comic skits. The
Russians put on an amusing circus act. But I was too distressed by the
changes in their faces to laugh, and the laughter around me seemed bitter.
Presser now called on me to speak. I walked slowly to the stage and
looked out. They were all there — Fredi and Jennie, Adam Munz and David
Hendel, Edith Bronner and Edith Semjen, Olga Maurer, Furmanski, Hans
Goldberger of the Pentcho, Ernst Wolff, Steffi, Jetta, Zdenka. I saw them in
the bright theater lights, row upon row. Some smiled up at me
encouragingly. Others sat cold. I too was the enemy.
I began in a low voice. "I wished I might have good news for you. We had
all expected that there would be a final decision by now. But unfortunately
the wheels of government move slowly." Silence.

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or write: 4805 Bantry Dr., W. Bloomfield, MI 48033

"This is how a democracy works. With checks and balances, so that
decisions take longer. If this were a dictatorship, we would have had an
answer right away. I say, 'Thank God it is not a dictatorship!' If it were, none
of us would be here tonight. There would never have been a haven in
Oswego." Applause started slowly, then faded.
"Some of you tell me that you think you are forgotten. That is not true!
Every day conferences are taking place, government officials are meeting,
letters are being written from one branch of the government to another.
Your cause is being defended with all the eloquence and passion which
your friends can command." Magrita Ehrenstamm smiled encouragingly.
"You have an important mission. You are the first DPs who were
brought to this country. You are the vanguard. What the government de-
cides should be done for you may influence what the world will do for
hundreds of thousands of DPs. Your struggle is their struggle, your agony
their agony. Like you, they want the right to live in a land they dream of,
with decency and dignity, without hunger and without fear."
Ernst Wolff in the second row threw me a kiss.
"We must not give up hope."
The applause began.
I went on. "My philosophy is that wherever there is a door, it can be
opened. There are still a few doors."
"Bravo," someone shouted.
"Let me assure you that every one of us who loves you ..ind has faith in
you is working tirelessly, day and night, to do two things: to shut the camp
down so that you can work, move around and live as free human beings
again; and to get you into the country legally under the quota."
Applause burst through the hall. Swelling. In waves.
I put my hand up for silence. I felt tears in my eyes. "That first day, at the
Statue of Liberty, you told me the air of America smells like free air. Believe
me, we want you to breathe it."
I walked off the stage.
"Haven" is a chronicle and a multiple lesson in human relations, in patriotism, in
courage.
It is an admonition to people with a conscience not to yield to bigotry, to survivors
from persecutions not to yield to despair.
This book is a great tribute to President Truman, to people like Earl Harrison and
many others who did not succumb to bigotry; and it is an indictment of the anti-Semitic
elements who intruded in official American departments at a time when fear needed to be
recanted and courage put into action.
Harold Ickes especially merits remembering for the encouragement he gave to Ruth
Gruber and for assigning her on a dangerous mission.
This reviewer located
an impressive file on Ickes
concerning the days when
he was in the FDR Cabinet.
It was a record of liber-
tarianism and humanism.
And to Ruth Gruber
goes a mark of esteem for a
great work and for a noble
achievement in one of the
most important assign-
ments of her life. "Haven" is
certainly among her chief
literary achievements and
as a chapter in world his-
tory, it earns the admira-
tion and appreciation of the
FRANKLIN ROOSEVELT
HARRY TRUMAN
generations.

Detroit Aided Oswego Refugees

Samuel Lerner, executive
director of the Jewish Fam-
ily Service and Resettle-
ment Service, located min-
utes of a meeting of the RS
at which it was decided that
the Detroit agency would
commit itself to help the
Oswego refugees.
The minutes were taken
at a joint meeting of the RS
board and executive com-
mittee of the Jewish Wel-
fare Federation, Sept. 6,
1945. They read in part:
"Mr. Silver reported on
the developments at Os-
wego. It is. likely that the
900 odd internees who were
brought to this country in
August 1944, might be re-
leased soon. Two of the
three government depart-
ments, concerned with the
matter, have given their
consent to this step, and the
third is expected to act
shortly.
"The release will take
place on condition that
private agencies assume
responsibility for sup-
port and adjustment of
the internees. The Na-
tional Refugee Service is

inquiring as to whether
Detroit will be willing to
participate in the reset-
tlement program.
"It is not known at this
point how many will come to
Detroit. On the basis of past
experience as to the number
of people willing to resettle
outside of New York, it is
estimated that between 10
and 20 persons would land
in this community.
"The cost of this program
also cannot be estimated.
The budget for a family of
two adults is about $1,700 a
year, exclusive of medical
care. After discussion and
on a motion made by Mrs.
Glogower, supported by
Miss Heavenrich, it was de-
cided to assume responsibil-
ity for not more than 30 in-
dividuals.
"Mr. Butzel announced
that - he had authorized the
acceptance of a couple who
are being held in an inter-
nees camp in New Orleans
and who were about to be
released by the govern-
ment. Thus far the family
has not yet arrived."
According to Lerner,

the number of refugees
who arrived from Os-
wego is uncertain. He
added that subsequent
minutes referred to a
family from Oswego who
was resettled in Detroit in
January 1946.
The minutes described
the man as a Sabbath ob-
server in his mid 40s, with a
wife and two teen-age chil-
dren. The RS supported'
them until the head of the
family was employed.
George M. Stutz was
President of the RS when
this action was endorsed.

Serving Israel

INDIANAPOLIS — Alon
Ben-Gurion, grandson of
the late Israeli Prime
Minister David Ben-
Gurion, has been named
assistant banqueting man-
ager at the Tel Aviv Hilton
Hotel, the Jewish Post and
Opinion reported.

We mount to heaven
mostly on the ruins of our
cherished schemes, finding
our failures were successes.

—_

A P

