128 Friday, September 9, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Dr. Abram L. Sachar Records the Historic Record
of How 'the Unwanted' Attained `the Redemption'
Abram L. Sachar, long-
time president and now
chancellor of Brandeis Uni-
versity, has a distinguished
record as an historian. He is
among the most eloquent
lecturers of this era. In both
capacities he shows great
skill as a storyteller and as
commentator on world af-
fairs, with emphasis on
Jewish history.
With "The Redemption of
the Unwanted" (St. Mar-
tin's Press), he adds im-
mensely to his role as a
scholar whose researched
historical material enriches
the chronicled records of
Jewish experience.
National Jewish redemp-
tion and the rebirth of the
state of Israel is the basic
theme of this impressive
work. It is much more than
that. It is a record of
tragedies and Sachar's is a
summarized recording of
the events that preceded the
emergence of Israel, the
basic resume of the
Holocaust and the struggle
on behalf of the survivors
and the events that led to
the craving for freedom in
the Jewish environment of a
redeemed homeland.
The American in-
volvements are vital in
these recapitulations of
the historic events and
the Franklin-Truman
roles are basic to the is-
sues at hand.
Therefore, much of the
indifference that was in-
volved in the failure to pro-
vide homes for the refugees
are relevant to the incorpo-
rated record. Dr. Sachar
gives an account of the
Jewish demands for Ameri-
can action and the con-
troversies that created
much bitterness in that
process.
Much of it relates to the
activities of David Niles,
who began a career and was
drawn into the White House
inner circle by President
Franklin D. Roosevelt and
- who continued as admin
istrative assistant to
President Harry S Truman.
Dr. Sachar gives much
credit to Niles as having
written many of the impor-
tant statements regarding
. the Jewish demands for an
open door to the then Jewish
community of Palestine for
the refugees escaping
Nazism. Niles was Tru-
man's guide in these delib-
erations and Dr. Sachar
based the numerous pages
in his book devoted to the
subject to giving fullest cre-
dit to Niles for his aid to the
Zionist cause and to the re-
lief efforts for the refugees.
,
While most of what is
*1.
ABRAM L. SACHAR
related on the subject
was fully known to ac-
tivists in behalf of relief
efforts and the. Jewish
claims to Palestine as a
homeland, there are
some details that are
especially revealing.
At one point, Truman was
angered by pressures from
Jewish leaders and in a note
to Niles, revealed in this
volume, wrote: "Imagine
(Nahum) Goldmann,
(Stephen S.) Wise and Com-
pany coming in after a
round with a bandit like
Molotov. on Trieste and
Tyrol Reparations, dis-
placed persons, and hell all
around. Think probably, I'd
tell him (Goldmann) to
jump in the Jordan."
And with regard to the
militant attitude of Abba
Hillel Silver and the mod-
erate position of Stephen S.
Wise, Sachar states that
"Niles solicited letters from
moderate Zionist leaders to
reassure the President of
their opposition to (Abba
Hillel) Silver's views."
Rabbi Stephen Wise, in a
letter Niles passed on to
Truman, wrote: "We should
proceed to counteract the
Silver mischief. I am not
prepared to hurt the inter-
ests of the American and
British people, alike in-
volved in this loan, to spite a
man (Bevin), however hasty
his speech and however
lamenatable his conduct
against Zionism."
The references are to
Silver's warning that he
and his associates would
inaugurate a campaign
opposing a loan to Brit-
ain under the existing
situation of the venom-
ous British attitude
toward Zionism _and the
Jews of Palestine; and to
the anti-Semitic remarks
of British Foreign Secre-
tary Ernst Bevin, espe-
cially his statement at the
Labor Party conference
in Bourenmouth,
England, that Americans
are so enthusiastic about
opening Palestine to the
refugees because "they
did not want to have
many of them in New
York."
Thus, the entire bitter
bitter struggle over the
closed door policy of the
British, barring entry of
Jews to Palestine, is covered
here. It is in relation to
those struggles for justice
for the Jewish position that
the leadership taken by
President Truman in the
demand that 100,000 refu-
gees be admitted to Pales-
tine is given thorough
analysis by Dr. Sachar. It is
here that David Niles' role
is emphasized.
As indicated, this is a
Sachar tribute to Niles, who
was known to his contem-
poraries as Truman's
"Jewish adviser."
In reviewing the events
that preceded the Palestine
partition decision, Sachar
thoroughly reviews the ac-
tivities of the Anglo-
American Commission on
Palestine, recalling the con-
flicts that ensued and the
American protests against
British failures in solving
the many issues.
While the Sachar ac-
count of the dramatic
events that are inerasa-
ble in Jewish, American
and world history are
generally known, the
emphases by Sachar lend
his recapitulation of
them special signifi-
cance.
His "The Redemption of
the Unwanted" gains un-
usual interest in the many
hitherto unknown or unre-
corded episodes in. Jewish
experiences. Exemplary is
his revelation of the anti-
Semitism of General George
S. Patton. There were differ-
ing military views between
General Patton and his
chief, General Dwight D.
Eisenhower, commander of
the Allied forces in Europe.
There is a lengthy expose of
the Patton attitude and it
refers to the role of Earl
Harrison, adviser to the In-
tergovernmental Commit-
tee on Refugees. Dr. Sachar
exposes Patton's anti-
Semitism as follows:
"The case of General
George Patton, while ex-
treme, was not entirely
unique. Patton was a bril-
liant field commander and
had become a legend for the
daring that brought vic- .
tories in North Africa and,
in the final actions of the
war, in Germany and
Czechoslovakia. Eisenhow-
er regarded him as his
`champion end runner,' but
the professional respect had
not been reciprocated.
"With all his Hotspur
courage, Patton was un-
stable and harbored deep
prejudices. Commanding
the Third Army in Europe,
he caused embarrassment
when he publicly ques-
tioned the military useful-
ness of black soldiers. He
had little'understanding of
the evil core of Nazism.
"In a press conference
that centered on de-
nazification, he referred
to 'this Nazi thing' as just
like a Democratic and
Republican election.'
Patton had the ,profes-
sional soldier's attitude
that neither winners nor
losers should 'carry a
grudge.'
"Moreover, he never
bothered to disguise the
anti-Semitism he had im-
bibed in his southern
California childhood. On
Aug. 31, he wrote to his
wife: 'Actually the Germans
are the only decent people
left in Europe. It's a choice
between them and the Rus-
sians. I prefer the Germans.
So do our cousins.'
"He resorted to a double
pejorative when he de-
scribed the wife of a man
prominent in the American
government as 'a very Jewy
Jewess.'
"Patton reluctantly ac-
companied Eisenhower on
the Yom Kippur visit to
Feldafing, and reacted vio-
lently. In his diary there
was a stinging reference to
the Harrison Report:
" 'One of the chief corn-
plaints of (Earl Harrison) is
that the DPs are kept in
camp under guard. Of
course, Harrison is ignor-
ant of the fact that if they
were not kept under guard
they would not stay in the
camps, would spread over
the country like locusts, and
would eventually have to be
rounded up after quite a few
of them had been shot and
quite a few Germans mur-
dered and pillaged .. .
" 'Harrison and his ilk
believe that the. DP is a
human being, which he is
not, and this applies par-
ticularly to the Jews who
are lower than animals.' "
The title of the new Sac-
har book becomes apparent
in the revealing fact of a de-
termined will of the sur-
vivors from the Holocaust to
become established in the
Jewish homeland. It is ap-
parent in the account that
the resistance to anti-
Semitism was a major aim.
It was in an era of mini-
mal efforts to rescue those
doomed by the Nazis and
the struggle for the right to
decide on their own destiny
— in defiance of the con-
tinuing anti-Semitism --
that led to the ultimate goal
of making real "the Rede-
mption," with the "Un-
wanted rising to regained
dignity as attainers of the
aim of re-establishing the
traditional homeland."
It is in this respect that
the new Sachar volume at-
tains importance in the pub-
lished Jewish historical
sphere.
—P.S.
Retrospective on the Problems of Israel:
Will They Be Resolved by the Year 5745?
By CARL ALPERT
HAIFA — The High
Holidays are a time not only
for retrospection, but also
for looking forward. Each
year, at this season, - we con-
template the dozen major
problems which Israel will
be called upon to face during
the coming 12 months. As
we see the situation, the fol-
lowing are Israel's foremost
concerns looming ahead,
presented in respective
order of importance:
debt is getting the economy
into deeper and deeper
trouble. How can economic
disaster be avoided?
RESTIVE LABOR —
No one in Israel is hungry,
but a philosophy of "if
others get it, we want it too"
is agitating labor, and the
problem is to avoid a repeti-
tion, in other professions, of
the catastrophic strike by
physicians which set a ter-
rible precedent on the labor
scene.
EXTRICATION FROM
LEBANON — Major goals
POLITICAL CON-
FRONTATION — The
in the war for peace in the
Galilee having been
achieved, how do we now
withdraw from the
Lebanese mire, and avoid
war with a militant,
Soviet-backed Syria?
INFLATION — The av-
erage Israeli enjoys a high
standard of living, and
there is an air of prosperity,
with minimal unemploy-
ment, but economists warn
that the swollen national
imminence of national elec-
tions is leading to resumed
and unrestrained political
onslaughts as the respective
parties resort to verbal vio-
lence and provocation in the
struggle for control of the
government.
RELIGIOUS INFLU-
ENCE — The need to main-
tain coalition stability con-
tinues to give Orthodox
groups a control over na-
tional policies and purse far
out of proportion to their ac-
tual representation in the
population and govern-
ment.
JUDEA
AND
SAMARIA — Israelis are
in the area to stay, and their
numbers will increase. In
the face of provocative acts,
from both sides, a spirit of
co-existence between Jews
and Arabs must be fostered.
CARL ALPERT
DEATH ON THE
HIGHWAYS — Greater ef-
forts must be made to pre-
vent road accidents which,
in the past year alone, have
taken more Israeli lives
than the war in Lebanon.
IMMIGRATION — Is-
rael looks to Jewish com-
munities abroad for man-
power and brain power to
stimulate the dynamic
process of growth and de-
velopment. Will the doors of
the Soviet Union re-open, or
will new immigrants come
in large numbers from the
free West?
YERIDA — The exodus
of discontented or fortune-
hunting Israelis appears to
be subsiding, and many of
the emigres are beginning
to return home, but a close
eye must be kept on what is
still a serious problem.
ENERGY — Despite a
growing shift from oil to
coal, Israel must still look
overseas for its sources of
energy. Decision with re-
gard to domestic nuclear
power plants is still pend-
ing.
EGYPT — Renewed ef-
forts must be made to revive
the dormant peace with
Egypt, and convert it into a
dynamic process of normali-
zation of relations between
two peace-loving neighbors.
WATER — Israel con-
tinues to consume all its
available water resources
with barely minimal re-
serves. A prolonged drought
could be catastrophic, un-
dermining everything
being done on the defense
and economic fronts.
These are the 12 major
problems of the coming
year. How many will be
close to solution when we
again contemplate the list
on Rosh Hashana 5745?
Sixth President
Chaim Herzog, the Labor
Alignment candidate, was
elected in March Israel's
sixth President by secret
ballot in the Knesset, pro-
viding a stunning political
set-back for Premier
Menahem Begin's coalition
government. Herzoa suc-
ceeded President .Yitzhak
Navon.
.