THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
One of Remaining 'Polar Bears'
Recalls Rescue of Russian Jews
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
• New Year
TOBY BRODER
By HEIDI PRESS
Joseph Chafetz of Oak
Park has one fond memory
of his year and nine months'
service in the Polar Bear
unit of the Army. He re-
scued a Russian Jewish
family from persecution.
Chafetz, 88, is one of the
last surviving Jewish mem-
bers of the Polar Bears,
who, during the Russian
Revolution were sent to
Siberia by the U.S. Army in
1918 to join a multinational
force directed by the British
to fight_ the Bolsheviks.
Nearly 5,500 men made up
the force; about 225 of them
were Jewish. Chafetz - said
about 75 percent were from
Michigan.
Wounded in the hand in
the fighting, Chafetz was
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
MRS. BERNARD CHASE
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
MRS. ALEX DORCHEN
1111D11 712.1\1
to all
our friends
and relatives
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
CANTOR & MRS.
.HYMAN J. ADLER
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
to all
ISRAEL JAMES &
PENNY E. MILLER
our friends
and relatives
MR. & MRS. SHLOMO DUBEN,
SARA & DEBBIE
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
MONA, DENNIS,
ROBYN & SETH STERN
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
HERB & PAT BIRCOLL, LARRY, STEVE & ADRIA
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
•
JOSEF & SARAH FEUEREISEN & FAMILY
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
•
ABE
&
BELLA BIENENSTOCK
TiaIt) Mee>
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
HELEN & JOE GOODSTEIN
GAIL, STUART & FRANC! GOODSTEIN
Wishing all our family and
friends a year of
health and happiness
JOSEPH CHAFETZ
treated at the American
Red Cross building at the
port at which the Polar
Bears were stationed. The
Red Cross building also
served as a social center,
and had a piano badly in
need of tuning.
Since, in the general
scheme of things
Chafetz's wound was not
serious, he was sent out
to find a piano tuner. He
recalls going to 10 Pet-
rogradsky Prospect (Pet-
rograd Boulevard),
where he encountered "a
horrible looking Russian.
He looked like a hooli-
gan," Chafetz said, and
remembered the man
called him "Jew" in Rus-
sian.
"BEA" FEALK
117011 112.113
sent soldiers to gather their
belongings. The Red Cross
even arranged to get visas
for them to come to the
United States. When the
Polar Bear unit left Russia,
the Rambams left on the
same ship.
They eventually came to
Detroit, and Chafetz was in
touch with them for many
years. Chafetz recalled that
the girls married and went
to Pittsburgh. The parents
are deceased.
.
Nearby Chafetz noticed a
pretty young girl in a door-
way. Catching his glance,
the Russian called the girl
"Jewish trash." Chafetz
went to check on the situa-
tion and met the Rambam
family, who he learned were
suffering from harassment
from the Russians. As
Chafetz explained, the
mother was crying and said
the "hooligans" forced her
daughter, Sonia, into pros-
titution.
"The mother said that the
Russians told her daughter
that if she didn't go into
prostitution, they'd kill her
mother and father," Chafetz
recalled. He hurried back to
the Red Cross, who in turn,
rescued the family, hid
them from the Russians and
Asked if he kept in
touch with any other
members of the Polar
Bear unit, Chafetz said
that many formed a Polar
Bear Post of Veterans of
Foreign Wars. He esti-
mates about eight or nine
of his fellow members are
still alive.
(Chafetz mentioned an-
other Jewish Detroiter,
Lawrence Bernstein of Oak
Park, who also was in the
Polar Bears. Attempts to
contact him were fruitless.)
After he returned to the
U.S., Chafetz met and mar-
ried the former Ida
Diamond in Sharon, Pa. the
couple had four children,
Alan, Seymour and Natalie
(Frumin), all of Huntington
Woods, and the late Florine
(Ordin). He has 22 grand-
children and nine great-
grandchildren. Mrs.
Chafetz is deceased.
When he came to'Detroit,
Chafetz owned a bar, deli
and confectionery store. He
has been retired 20 years.
After returning from the
war, Chafetz continued his
rescue missions, after a
fashion. He helped bring
other European relatives to
the U.S.
Nazi Revoked
Conrad Schellong, a
former SS officer alleged to
have commanded a unit at
the Dachau and Sachsen-
burg concentration camp
during World War II, had
his American citizenship
revoked last September for
having made "material
misrepresentation" of his
Nazi past when he applied
for U.S. citizenship.
Equity is a roguish thing
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
MILDRED & RALPH FRIEDMAN
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
CARL R. & NITA R.
LICHTENSTEIN
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
MARK & ARLENE MILLMAN
Best wishes for a
happy, health's/
New Year
JOEL & ELLIE SCHAUMBERG,
JENNIFER & MELISSA
Friday, September 9, 1983
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
SHEILAH GOLDBERG
Best wishes for a
happy, healthy
New Year
LILA PLOTKIN
varnri nalz run
• to all
our friends
and relatives
ALEX & SARA KUCZYNSKI
yawn navz mu'
to all
our friends
and relatives
MAYER_& HELENA
LEBOVIC & FAMILY
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
SHERYL & RON SILBERSTEIN
We wish our family and friends a
very healthy, happy and prosperous
New Year
Chafetz is an original
member of the former
Beth Aaron Synagogue
and has been affiliated
with the Allied Jewish
Campaign and Bnai
Brith.
MR. & MRS. IRVING WEINGARDEN
As Joseph Chafetz celeb-
rates Rosh Hashana, he can
feel proud that he has made
it possible for other Jewish
families to celebrate the
Jewish New Year too.
May the coming year be
one filled with health,
happiness and
prosperity for all our
friends and family.
Sounding of the Shofar
Prompts Many Theories
By RABBI SAMUEL FOX
of Jericho (Joshua 6:4).
The shofar on Rosh
The requirement for Hashana could thus
blowing the shofar on Rosh preface the fall of the
Hashana comes from the barriers of our salvation.
(Copyright 1983, JTA, Inc.)
Bible itself, which referred
to the day of Rosh Hashana
as "a day of blowing" (Num-
bers 29:1).
Maimonides expressed
the idea that it is a sum-
mons to those who have fal-
len prey to sin when he
exclaimed "Awake ye sleep-
ers" in explaining the pur-
pose of the shofar.
The shofar in the Bible
was used to announce the
Jubilee year (Leviticus
25:9). This was the year
when slaves were freed. It
might thus be a symbol of
freeing sinners from guilt
on the first of every year.
When the Torah was re-
vealed at Mount Sinai the
sound of the shofar was
heard. The shofar on Rosh
Hashana might then be a
sign of the revelation of
God's. word which comes
back again to the Jew when
he prepares for judgement
and forgiveness on Rosh
Hashana.
King David is said to have
used the shofar when pro-
claiming the return of the
holy ark to its holy place.
Rosh Hashana might indi-
cate that the Jew and the
ark of Torah are reunited on
Joshua used shofars to this solemn day of repen-
precede fall of the walls tence.
115
MR. & MRS. MARTIN H. ROSE & FAMILY
To All Our
Relatives
and Friends,
Our wish for a
year filled with
happiness,
health and prosperity
JEFFREY & JUDY DUNN
JAMIE, JEREMEY & JORDAN