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Friday, January 18, 1985

THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS

PURELY COMMENTARY
■

simmo
mi
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ

Teddy Kollek puts Jesse Jackson in the spotlight of national scrutiny

lishment of the Jewish National
Home in Palestine.
Faithfully yours,
Philip Slomovitz, Editor
The message, like so many other im-
portant documents, is missing. The idea
conveyed is here. Fortunately, a concerned
Christian, David Wyman, keeps exposing
the crimes.
Franklin D. Roosevelt was silent! That
was part of the tragedy. As truth sprouts
forth, he was not alone among the guilty.
Congress and State Department were
equally guilty.

Teddy Kollek

Jesse Jackson

Truly, the world is a stage, as Shakes-
peare portrayed the many players.
For a number of months during the
1984 U.S. Presidential campaign, Jesse
Jackson, as a candidate for the Democratic
nomination, created animosities which
caused him to be labeled anti-Semitic.
Now, because of his success in securing the
release of Americans from bondage in
Syria and in Cuba, the popular Jerusalem
Mayor Teddy Kollek found it necessary to
appeal to Jesse Jackson to intervene with
Sudan and others involved in behalf of the
Ethiopian Jews' right to emigrate.
The Kollek-Jackson link should flat-
ter the black leader immensely. Anti-
Semites are usually ignored. Jackson re-
presents a differing matter and personality
on a separate scale. He doesn't want to be
called an anti-Semite, and his desire to be
respected as an idealist in the ranks of his
people justifies such desire. Whatever is
honorable in human relations must be
treated with a determination to solidify
goodwill and the noblest in humanism and
world and personal citizenship duties.
The gesture by Teddy Kollek may not
bring additional succor for Ethiopian
Jewry. If it adds to friendship between
blacks and Jews, let there be recognized
glory in a Jerusalemite's request for help
from the American black leader.

Dr. Wyman's indictments:
FDR did get the message

Prof. David Wyman pursued his in-
dictment of the Franklin D. Roosevelt
Presidential era with charges that the U.S.
Congress shared in the anti-Semitism
rampant at that time by interfering —
even preventing — rescue of Jews from
Nazism.
FDR had the message. He was flooded
with appeals in behalf of the people who
were condemned to their tragic death by
the Nazis.
In the process of sorting 40 years of
correspondence, the following made its ap-
pearance:
March 28, 1944
President Franklin D. Roosevelt
White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President
I have been asked to convey to
you the sentiments of the large as-
sembly of the Ladies' Auxiliary of
the Jewish National Fund on
March 22 and the action taken by
children in all the Jewish schools
on Sunday morning against the
White Paper.
Nearly 5,000 children partici-
pated in assemblies at which reso-
lutions similar to the enclosed
were adopted.
It is our sincere hope that you
will use your best efforts to secure
favorable action against the White
Paper and in favor of the estab-

With a great deal of documenting, the
FDR file should be viewed as much as
possible in its entirety. He was so much the
idol of world Jewry that this editor found it
necessary, 43 years ago, to write him this
letter:
November 25, 1942
Mr. Franklin D. Roosevelt
President of the United States
White House
Washington, D.C.
Dear Mr. President
I have just come across the text
of a historic letter which was writ-
ten by the late President Theodore
Roosevelt to Dr. Stephen S. Wise,
on December 7, 1908. I believe you
may be interested in the text of this
letter which reads:
"May I thru you extend my
hearty good will to the little Jewish
boys and girls who on Sunday eve-
ning are to meet at the Riis Settle-
ment? I wish I could be present, in
view of the fact that it is to take the
form of a Maccabean festival, for
as you know, the fine loyalty and
valiant achievements of the Mac-
cabees have always made them
favorite heroes of mine. It is a good
thing that the Jewish boys and
girls should keep their pride in and
admiration for their own heroes of
early days and such pride and ad-
miration, instead of hindering
them, will help them to the
friendliest and most brotherly re-
lations with all their fellow-
Americans."
Dr. Wise once told me that
President Theodore Roosevelt
once remarked to him personally
on another occasion: "I consider
the Maccabees' defense of their
country one of the most brilliant
feats in the history of mankind."
It has occurred to me that in
view of the significance of the
Chanukah Festival which our
people will begin to observe next
Friday, you may do us the great
honor of writing us a message on
the occasion of this Festival for
publication in our issue of De-
cember 11. We plan to devote that
Chanukah issue to our men in the
Service and to include in it the
names of several thousands of our
boys who are serving in the Armed
Forces of our country.
I hope you will find it possible
to write such a message for which
we shall be deeply indebted to you.
With all good wishes to you
and with the hope that you may be
given the strength you need to
carry on the great tasks that are
yours,
Faithfully and cordially yours,
Philip Slomovitz, Editor
Thus, 1942 can be contrasted with
1944. In the latter year there was an ap-
peal for aid to keep Palestine's doors open
for Jewish settlers. In 1942 a friendly chat
was conducted by mail, calling a latter-day
Roosevelt's attention to a comment on a

Jewish theme by an earlier Roosevelt.
Such are the quirks of history.

Allen Warsen: Scholar,
linguist, historian, reviewer

Allen Warsen

Allen Warsen was a scholar: As a
teacher in the public high schools and the
Jewish religious schools he shared his
knowledge with generations of students.
He was truly a linguist. Of course, he
mastered English. His Yiddish was classic.
He knew Polish and some Russian, and in
his research of Polish historical records he
was able to go to the source. Unquestiona-
bly, his Hebrew was a factor in making him
an authority on all available Yiddish and
Jewish historical documents.
It is as historian that he should be
judged with great appreciation. There was
this important factor in his cultural devo-
tions and yearnings: He demanded accu-
racy and applied such an obligation to him-
self.
Therefore, whenever he wrote a book
review, he drew upon historical data for
relevance, application, historical con-
stancy and completeness.
That is why the establishment of a
Jewish section in the Burton Historical
Collections of the Detroit Public Library
was a cultural passion for him — and he
attained it for the benefit of this state, its
Jewish citizens as well as the national
Jewish historical records.
There is now a void in the Yiddish
ranks with the passing of Allen Warsen.
He remained among the highly qualified in
providing proper translations as well as
commentaries on the Yiddish literaiy
treasures.
Allen Warsen leaves a deep and in-
erasable mark in Jewish cultural records.
His memory will always be blessed by all
who were privileged to appreciate the not-
able contributions he made to Jewish
learning and teaching.

Birobidzhan exaggeration:
`Nothingness' contrasted
with oppressive USSR

Official Soviet aims to lend a status of
significance to the 50th anniversary of the
introduction of the Birobidzhan attempts
at creating a sort of "Jewish statehood"
have not receded.
The Russian claims to glory in a
sphere that was intended to compete with
and to harm the Zionist movement, even-
tually offending Israel, was outlined in this
column (Commentary, Dec. 7, 1984). In

that essay, the actual conditions in
Birobidzhan and the exaggerated claims to
glory were exposed by Allan Kagedan, pol-
icy analyst of.international relations of the
American Jewish. Committee.
Unquestionably the best informed
authority on this question, Mr. Kagedan
indicated how few are the benefits of
Birodizhan, how minimal the claimed
achievements. But the Russian campaign
to glorify the claim of great accom-
plishments in a "Jewish state" (sic!) con-
tinue and emphasis is given in a news re-
lease acclaiming a tour by so-called Jewish
musical entertainers from Birobidzhan. In
a news release from the Soviet embassy in
Washington, these claims to great
musical-cultural achievements appear
under the heading "Frelichs in Moscow."
To avoid providing the impression
that would lead to accusation of prejudicial
judging, the basic theme provided by the
Soviet embassy is provided here. That re-
lease states in essence:
"Lachn izgizunt doktorim
hieshn lachn" (a laugh is good for
you — doctors recommend laugh-
ter) — it was with these words in
Yiddish by Sholem Aleichem that
the Frelichs pop group started off
its recent concert performances in
Moscow. The group comes from
the Soviet city of Birobidzhan, the
capital of the Jewish Autonomous
Region (Soviet Far East). Featured
on the program are dances per-
formed by young girls in festive na-
tional dresses and men in frock-
coats, long waist-coats and yer-
molka (sic) caps. They greet each
other with genuinely national
humor, singing and dancing in a
ring. The orchestra plays fiery
melodies. One of the numbers fea-
tures a Jewish wedding. There are
jokes, and laughter to the accom-
paniment of the strains of the vio-
lin. "Halloo, musicians! Where are
you going?" a badchen (hester) sh-
outs out. "We are going to a wed-
ding. Laughter is particularly good
at weddings and en route!"
This is the second time that the
Frelichs group has brought its fes-
tive program to the Soviet Capital.
New numbers consist of Jewish
national music in rock style, mod-
ern songs and various short plays.
The program was devoted to two
jubilees — the 50th anniversary of
the birth of Sholem Aleichem, a
classic of Jewish literature.
"We are very pleased with our
guest performances," says Ilya
Lerner, 43, the leader of the
ensemble, as well as one of its ac-
tors. "Despite the fact that we are a
relatively small group, all our con-
certs in Moscow were sold out.
About 30,000 people saw us per-
form at concert halls all over the
city." The Frelichs pop group,
. r
which was only set up in 1981, is
going from strong to stronger...

Frelichs performances are in-
teresting to people of different
nationalities. They always become
a notable event in the country's
cultural life. "Our group tours a
lot," says Lerner. "We've been to
many cities in Siberia and the Far
East, in Central Asia and the
Caucasus."
"Of late Yiddish culture has
made noticeable progress in the
USSR. There are different interest-
ing artistic groups in many cities,"
says Ilya Lerner. "Among them are
such popular groups as the Jewish

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