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Friday, May 31, 1985
u THE
DETROlfiEWISH NEWS
PURELY simmos
COMMENTARY
■ E
PHILIP SLOMOVITZ
Bernard Ginsburg: Jewish Auto Pioneer Who Enriched Detroit History
Bernard Ginsburg
Jewish personalities in this community
and in many respects far superior to
most.
He might also have been called a
philanthropist in the present stage of
Jewish community judging. He was
much more than that. A Detroit library
branch has been named for him. He
served on this city's most important
commissions. He was a leader in Detroit
Jewry. He was among the first to serve
on the national board of the Zionist
Organization of America.
Why mess around with mere details
when the whole story is very important?
Here is the Bernard Ginsburg biographi-
cal note provided this commentator by
Miriam Kushner from the files of the
Leo M. Franklin Archives of Temple
Beth El:
Bernard Ginsburg, son of
Samuel N. and Rachel Leah
(Hoelfman) Ginsburg and father
of Mrs-. Julian H. Kroklik, was
born in Columbus, Ind., Aug. 14,
1864. He was educated in the De-
troit public schools and
graduated from the Old Detroit
High School. He was married, in
1899, to Edna Esther Goldman of
Syracuse, N.Y.
An outstanding leader of the
Detroit community and a gener-
ous contributor to numerous
Jewish and general causes,
Ginsburg served as president of
Temple Beth El, United Jewish
Charities, Detroit Kehillah, He-
brew Free Loan Association, Pis-
gah Lodge, District Grand Lodge
No. 6 of B'nai B'rith, and as vice
president of the National Confer-
ence of Jewish Charities. He also
served as an officer of the Detroit
Board of Commerce, Detroit
Community Union, Council of
Social Agencies, Detroit Public
Lighting Commission, Cleveland
Jewish Orphan Home, National
Jewish Hospital, National Execu-
tive of American Jewish Con-
gress, National Executive of the
Zionist Organization of America,
National Farm School, Associ-
ated Charities Association, Pro-
vident Home Society.
Ginsburg was in the iron and
steel business, manufacturing
early auto and truck parts. He
died June 6, 1931.
Two more notes are appended to
these facts:
First, it should be noted that in the
Beth El Franklin Archives there is an
additional item related to the quoted
biography, serving as proof that most of
what has just been quoted was written
by Dr. Franklin himself. A handwritten
note by Rabbi Franklin is the proof of it.
Then there is the dedicatory service
of Miriam Kushner, who is to be credited
with the services she provides like that
of retaining and producing historical
data, which includes the Bernard
Ginsburg record. The late Irving Katz
established the foundation for the Beth
El Franklin Archives — Miriam Kush-
ner keeps the service active. More power
to her and to Temple Beth El for assur-
ing the existence of such an important
service.
Glory For Wallenberg and the University of Michigan
Rabbi Franklin
A Thomas Carlyle guideline for his-
torians, in his phrase "the history of the
world is the history of great men," has
an application for every community. It is
especially applicable to a specific chapter
in Detroit Jewish community roots that
could be simply labeled "Bernard
Ginsburg."
The passing on two weeks ago of his
famous daughter, Golda Krolik, revived
recollections about his interesting per-
sonality of the earliest years of this cen-
tury.
Mentioning applicability, perhaps it
is relevant to indicate the following: the
gathering of historic material,
tombstones, and therefore the cemetery,
has been and remains the means of trac-
ing valuable historical data. This is
especially true of Jewish historiography.
As a sideline to the subject, it is in-
teresting to note that for a century the
London Times was known as the
"Obituary Newspaper." It is because it
provided most valuable information
about all the important personalities
whose lives are reviewed in that great
newspaper's columns. The Detroit Jewish
News could have boasted a similar appel-
lation.
This is mentioned to emphasize that
Golda Krolik's obituary was a reminder
about her famous father.
Bernard Ginsburg was among the
earliest automobile creators of this
industrial century.An available biog-
raphical note about Bernard Ginsburg
has this brief factual reference: "Mr.
Ginsburg was in the iron and steel busi-
ness, manufacturing early auto and
truck parts."
The truth, is that he actually man-
ufactured a small truck. He did not suc-
ceed. But his name is inerasable from
the automobile's history.
There is much more to the
Ginsburg record. He was a remarkable
citizen. He was one of the earliest
Raoul Wallenberg was second only
to Winston Churchill - as a selectee for
honorary U.S. citizenship. Initial recog-
nition came some 20 years ago from his
alma mater, the University of Michigan.
Such recognition gains new significance
in the exhibition of his life and work to
be on display June 10-July 13 in the
Alumni Center of the U-M, 200 Fletcher
Street, Ann Arbor.
In the two dozen framed panels,
Wallenberg's life will be chronicled, por-
traying his youth, his years at the uni-
versity, his other experiences before
1944. Then there will be the factual re-
collections of the era of July 9, 1944-Jan
17, 1945, when he was in Budapest,
Hungary, rescuing tens of thousands of
victims of Nazism and the Hungarian
beasts in the Iron Guard.
His courageous career as an emis-
sary of justice and compassion during
which he rescued some 100,000 Jews
from the Nazi crematoria, his puzzling
arrest- by the Russians for unexplainable
reasons, and his daring in confronting
the barbarians will be emphasized in the
exhibition.
It is especially proper that this im-
portant exhibition should be sponsored
by the U-M Alumni Association and the
College of Architecture and Urban Plan-
ning from which Wallenberg earned his
degree.
This exhibit is a reminder of the
earliest honor accorded Raoul Wallen-
berg, when the Wallenberg Lectures in
Architecture were established at U-M. It
is gratifying that in announcing the ex-
hibit the College of Architecture recalls
the pioneering efforts in that effort of
Wallenberg's classmate, Sol King, who
retired several years ago from Albert
Kahn Associates. Sol King and a few
associates asked for a $100,000 sum to
assure the deserved honors for the U-M
graduate who devoted himself to the re-
scue task in one of the most tragic eras
in history. While only $29,000 was sub-
scribed, the College of Architecture con-
tinued to honor its eminent graduate. A
leader in that effort in association with
the King-initiated committee was Urban
Planning Dean Robert T. Metcalf, who
has made these comments about Wallen-
berg and the exhibit in his honor:
Long before the story of
Raoul Wallenberg's humanitarian
Raoul Wallenberg
man of commitment, compassion,
and immense courage. He cared
about people enough to risk his
life on a daily basis. We are
humbled and inspired.
Sol King's and Dr. Metcalf's initial
efforts in honor of Wallenberg merit re-
calling. It is heartening also to indicate
that some 500 graduates of the Class of
1935 will have an Ann Arbor reunion,
for induction into the Emeritus Club,
and will preview the exhibit.
The University of Michigan, with its
important role in the framing of Wallen-
berg's career, appropriately honors Wal-
lenberg. The entire nation had already
set an example for recognition of the
heroic tasks of the man who will always
be among the most righteous humans
who would not submit to the tyrannies
that degraded so many in his generation.
Old 'Time' Biases
Surface In Trial
During the Ariel Sharon court pro- H-
cedures, in the Israeli leader's libel suit
againt Time magazine, there were allu-
sions to alleged prejudices.
J
Time's early record, especially dur-
ing the years when Adolf Hitler was
seeking power over the German nation,
represented a prejudicial role in the
media, as the following, from Time, Jan
12, 1931, specifically indicates:
GERMANY
Power of Jews,
of Press: What did Herr Adolf Hit-
ler's Fascist flash-in-the-pan
(Time, Aug. 25) cost Germany?
This question Teuton economists
answered last week with a tenta-
tive, staggering figure:
1,600,000,000 marks ($380,800,000).
They estimated that the "Fascist
scare" drove this sum out of
Germany, and that it has not re-
turned. Short-term foreign cre-
dits have been withdrawn. Ger-
mans themselves have sent their
capital abroad.
Part of the Hitler fireworks
was a gesture of menace at the
Jews. Instantly this remarkable
people took steps. Dine with a
leading German-Jewish banker
today and you will note that: 1)
—
Sol King
work was well known, our Col-
lege worked to perpetuate the
memory of his deeds. A campaign
led by his classmate Sol king,
who later became president of
the Detroit architectural firm of
Albert Kahn Associates, resulted
in the establishment of the an-
nual Raoul Wallenberg Lecture
series in 1972.
Raoul Wallenberg's life is an
affirmation of humanitarian
ideals in the face of what was
truly the force of evil. We in
architecture at Michigfp are
proud that, a half-century ago,
such a person studied among our
predecessors. Wallenberg was a
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