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Friday,- November 9, 1984
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
PURELY COMMENTARY
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Reagan as the Nation's Unifier ... Rejoicing in our Freedom . . . Democracy'
We rejoice in our freedom . . . our
democracy . . ."
What a commendable message of con-
gratulations from Walter Mondale to
Ronald Reagan, from Vanquished to Vic-
tor!
The entire nation joins in this message
to the re-elected President, with an assur-
ance of support for all the aspirations for
peace, for the aim to hoist the banner that
represents the ideals inherent in the
American spirit.
Surely, the President and his party
will also give emphasis to the ideal that if a
new day begins for America it is rooted in
the glory that makes this nation the leader
in assuring the freedoms that negate ev-
erything and anything that may smack of
bigotry or prejudice.
There were many harsh words and
hasty judgments in the heat of a critical
Presidential campaign. There was the un-
fortunate suggestion about "Black Demo-
crats, White Republicans." It is among the
first of the evils to be erased from the mem-
ory of the campaign that has ended in so
much glory for the man who will carry the
banner for freedom for another four years.
The nation will hope and pray that he have
the strength to assure the prevalence of the
ideals espoused in the best interests of the
humanity that is imbedded in the Ameri-
can heritage.
The new era that begins on the day
after the election is really a renewal of the
patriotism that unifies and totally rejects
divisiveness. There can be no defections
from patriotism, the pledge of allegiance to
the flag.
It is this patriotism that also asserts
that Americans, in their common sense as
well as humanity, not only have a right but
also a sacred duty to differ. A loyal Ameri-
can never submitted to • the regrettable
comments made by some who did not con-
tribute to the idealism of President-
Republican Leader Ronald Reagan with
the innuendo that those who differed with
him were idiots. This never was, never will
be a guide line for any or all elements in
this nation. It is the right to differ that
gives strength to the democracy in which
"we rejoice . . .!"
It is in differing that there also must
be a sharing — the striving for the unity
that lends power to our heritage. This
applies especially to the resort to religion
in political treatment. The President has
neither erased nor abandoned adherence to
a great historic ideal called Separation.
Perhaps there also will be an accord on this
theme — in the best interests of the nation
that thrives on it.
So overwhelming a triumph as Ronald
Reagan's may again be described as Vox
populi, vox Dei — the Voice of the People is
the Voice of God. It is in the noblest sense of
this phrase, linked with an assurance
given to Jewry by George Washington that
this nation will live by the principle of to
bigotry no sanction. What has been de-
scribed by Ronald Reagan as "a new era"
will really be a continuity of unity, always
serving as this nation's eternal goal.
This is the spirit of the unified
blessings to President Reagan — that he
have the strength to lead in the years
ahead for the glorification of the ever-
humanized American idealism.
k
Chauvinism in politics:
Does a Jewish candidate
create embarrassment?
A post-election note — and a very- long
one — invites renewed consideration after
the important 1984 election. It is on a sub-
ject seldom discussed and it keeps creating
quandary in political action. Here it is:
Does a Jew vote for a Jew because he is
a Jew? How, indeed, does a person react
when a candidate is a coreligionist, or from
the related ethnic origin?
Consideration of this question was de-
layed for an obvious reason:because a can-
didate for a major legislative post on Tues-
day was a Jew, and because supporting
him was a matter of recognizing his qual-
ifications, his having grown into the im-
portant Senatorial office with devotion and
the loyalty that builds admirable citizen-
ship. Yet, his opponent had strong Jewish
financial support. Voting for Carl Levin, in
this commentator's view, was not a matter
ofJewish chauvinism but of dedication to a
studied conviction of his abilities and of his
having earned re-election.
Repeating, the discussion of the ques-
tion was delayed for that reason until after
the election, although a most interesting
invitation for its consideration was in-
terestingly presented in a politically-
historical article in the Cleveland Jewish
News issue of Aug. 17. It was a bylined
essay entitled "Election Dilemma: How an
Editor Handled 'Passion and Prejudice' "
by Manuel M. Rocker. The author of the
article is the grandson of Samuel Rocker,
who for four decades edited Die Yiddishe
Velt "The Jewish World." That newspaper,
which during its existence was one of nine
most important Yiddish daily newspapers
in this country, carried under the news-
paper's title a definition which read: "Voice
of the East European Jewish Community."
The grandson of the then famous Yiddish
editor related an historic episode. Grandpa
Rocker found it necessary to support a
non-Jewish — Catholic — candidate for
Congress who was opposed by a prominent
Cleveland Jew. The Irish Catholic Charles
A. Mooney was a staunch advocate of free
immigration laws to enable more perse-
cuted Jews to enter the United States. That
was the major Jewish concern at that time,
and the immigration laws restricting ad-
mission of East European Jews — being
the chief sufferers from such legislation —
was major on the agenda ofJewish political
action. Therefore, Editor Samuel Rocker
publicly endorsed the non-Jew and the
Jewish candidate, Harvey Drucker, and
his many supporters were understandably
furious.
"This interesting comment by Manuel
Rocker permits quoting because it reveals,
contrary to prevailing views, that Jews
were not always predominantly' pro-
Democratic in their party allegiance.
There was the pro-Republican period, as
Rocker indicates:
that Jews achieved important pub-
lic office.
With an expression of gratitude to the
Cleveland Jewish News for publishing the
reminiscence about his grandfather, the
grandson proceeded to relate the following:
In addition to Congressman
Mooney's attitude toward immi-
gration, he was considered gener-
ally to be a competent, sincere and
effective representative.
Samuel Rocker, editor,
reached the decision to endorse
Congressman Mooney for re-
election. Mr. Drucker was in-
censed and let the editor know
about his feelings in no uncertain
terms. It was shocking to him and
some others in the Jewish commu-
nity that a Jewish newspaper
would support a Catholic candi-
date over a Jewish one.
Therefore, the dedication to socially
just considerations, the liberalism of an
office-seeker, is what mattered to Samuel
Rocker, who was admired by many and had
the respect of this commentator who
cherished his acquaintance. Apply it to
Carl Levin, and there is less chauvinism
and more American traditionalism in ac-
cepting a candidate with a proven positive
record.
Another Rocker episode:
how he forced N.Y. Sun
to pay for an error
Rocker granddaughter Judy Glickson,
in the Aug. 24 issue of the Cleveland
Jewish News, related another incident in
the journalistic career of Jewish World
Editor Samuel Rocker. Here is the story
related about the Yiddish editor's courage-
ous pursuit of justice for his people and his
journalistic profession:
In 1912, the Jewish World (Die
YiddiShe Velt) found itself at odds
with the famed New York Sun and
its editor, Edward P. Mitchell. In a
series of front page articles, Mr.
Mitchell accused the Republican
Party of "buying" all the foreign
language newspapers to support
their candidate, William Howard
Taft. Named prominently in these
articles was Cleveland's Jewish
World.
Though the World had agreed
to print a paid political advertise-
ment for Mr. Taft, and label it as
such, it editorially (by way of Mr.
Rocker's famed Estabrook pen);
endorsed the candidate of the Bull
Moose Party, Theodore Roosevelt.
Having been editorially slan-
dered, Editor Rocker, with his
editorials translated carefully into
English, went to the offices of the
New York Sun. He demanded and
got a printed retraction of that ac-
cusation.
Not only did he bring back the
personal editorial of Mr. Mitchell,
which was printed the following
day, he also had in his pocket a
contract to run the retraction as a
half-page advertisement in the
Jewish World for 30 days!
.
The endorsement of The Jewish
World was eagerly sought in those
days inasmuch as there were yet
many Jews who read Yiddish with
greater facility than English. It
was not unusual for a Jewish can-
didate to expect favorable treat-
ment.
Mr. Drucker had an additional
reason to believe that he would be
preferred, since he was a Republi c
can. In those days, Jews were most
widely welcomed in the Republi-
can Party and for most of the his-
tory of politics in Cuyahoga
County, it was through that party
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Such is the inerasable glory of a Yid-
dish journalist's courage. All that has just
been related revives interest in and admi-
ration for the Jewish press, even when it
was in Yiddish. Courage has no language
restrictions.
Nobility of a German
anti-Nazi: Boll rescues
dignity of courageous
The Nazi terror will never be forgot-
ten, nor will it ever be forgiven.
Therefore, the few who rejected it
must ever be honored. There must never be
excessive generalizing in condemning the
horrors that led to the Holocaust.
A great German author, a recent
Nobelist, proves the point.
Heinrich Boll (Noell) is the first Ger-
man novelist to have been awarded the
Nobel Prize in Literature since that honor
was given to Thomas Mann in 1929. The
intervening years are in themselves sig-
nificant in consideration of the dominance
of Nazism during that crucial half-century.
Therefore, the importance that attaches to
the small 82-page book by Boll, What's to
Become of the Boy? or: Something to Do
With Books.
Boll's memoir is an autobiographical
note. It relates incidents in the author's
boyhood. It refers to the inhumanity of Hit-
lerism.
It does much more than that. It is an
impressive evidence that not all Germans
were guilty of collaboration with the Nazis.
Even when forced to accept a swastika —
and the Boll family made certain they were
the smallest in size — it was with contempt
and rejection of the views of the govern-
ment that dominated their lives as Ger-
mans.
Boll indicates that his entire family
shared such outrageous feelings, his par-
ents, his brother.
Boll may be merely casual in his reac-
tions to the terror that surrounded him and
the German people in his youth, but the
condemnation is obvious. He commences
with an expose of Hindenberg, Bruening,
von Papen and others and then makes this
comment as an indication that his entire
family was anti-Hitler:
My mother hated Hitler from
the very beginning (unfortunately
she didn't live to see his death); she
dubbed him Rovekopp, "turnip
head," an illusion to the traditional
St. Martin's torches roughly
carved from sugar beets and leav-
ing, wherever possible, something
resembling a moustache.
The many concerns about church reac-
tions to Hitlerism find an echo in What's to
Become of the Boy? Boll recalls:
I went there quite pointedly,
with only occasionally the aim of
offering some slight consolation to
our teacher of religion, since I cer-
tainly didn't hate him: it was just
that sometimes we had violent
arguments. He obviously suffered
from high blood pressure, and
some of the boys in the Hitler
Youth couldn't resist taking ad-
vantage of him: not on their own —
they could have done that before
1933 — but by virtue of their uni-
forms and potential rank (there
was all that braid!).
He was h6lpless and unsus :
petting, had no idea that their atti-
tude was a mark of the "bourgeois"
element's turning against him, that
the boys who, until March 1933,
had been good young Catholics
now were sniffing the "new age"
and intended to make the most of