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S E as _cs 22 2 — 12 Mile Rd. 696 MEET THE MEDICAL STAFF Dr. Donald Beser 42 FRIDAY, JULY 24, 1987 Dr. Robert Beitman Dr. Robert Clark Dr. Amy Eston prisons that he wrote Letters From the Tombs, which was published by the Schappes Defense Committee. That's where he also edited An Epis- tle to the Hebrews by Emma Lazarus. This volume has assumed historical American Jewish significance. It has been reprinted in a revised centennial edition and an- notated by Schappes. While he has defined himself as a Marxist scholar, Schappes will always be con- sidered an historian as well as an editor of note. His academic career continues since his exoneration. His literary record is especially enhanced by A Documentary History of the Jews in the U.S., 1654 to 1875. 'Freiheit' Addendum Metropolitan Eye Surgeons Metropolitan Eye Editor Schappes Continued from Page 2 BANDS - DJ's CEREMONY MUSIC - COCKTAIL MUSIC Dr. Lawrence L. Stocker. P.C. There is an addendum to the Schappes story that should be labeled "Freiheit." Schappes was and remains a supporter of the Morning Freiheit which had a direct lineage to the Jewish Com- munists in the Soviet Union. The Encyclopedia Judaica has a direct reference to that period in the history of Yid- dish journalism in America. It is an indictment not.to be ignored. The Encyclopedia Judaica statement reads: Morning Freiheit — U.S. daily Yiddish newspaper. Founded in 1922 by the Jewish section of the American Communist Par- ty, the Freiheit managed for several years under the editorship of Moissay Olgin to maintain high journalistic standards and to assemble a staff that in- cluded such first-rate writers as H. Leivick, Moshe Leib Halpern, David Ignatoff, and Moshe Katz. By the late 1920s, however, the Freiheit had become an unanswering party organ, as was demonstrated by its total support for the Arabs dur- ing the 1929 Palestine riots. This position alienated many of its readers and caused its circulation to slip sharply from its peak of 14,000. Subsequently, the Freiheit remained loyal to the Moscow line through the Hitler-Stalin pact and the Cold War, regaining a measure of independence only in the 1950s, with the onset of de-Stalinization in Russia. In 1970 it was ap- pearing five times a week and had an estimated 8,000 circulation. As stated, this is an item of interest in the Jewish jour- nalism story. The reference to Olgin has some importance. He was an outstanding par- ticipant in Yiddish literary tasks. Then there is the question of circulation. The American Jewish Committee's research department secured for me the present circulation figure of 4,650. This is not such a bad retention of reader in- terest. This is not such a bad retention of reader interest. With its far leftist background, Freiheit retains some power, compared with the Jewish Forward's current 20,000 circulation. This has some merit also in a situation when the Freiheit is denied recognition in general Jewish circles and a copy of it is unavailable on a Jewish newspaper stand. Both the Freihert and For- ward keep pleading for finan- cial support and for contribu- tions "to survive." The Freiheit editor had a Communist tinge and his paper lost respect during the _ Stalin-Hitler pact. That's when the widespread con- demnation of the Freiheit and its editor, Paul Novick, took shape. Morris Schappes has just written to me a defense of Novick and the Freiheit. The contention is that Freiheit is no longer anti-Israel: It is on- ly following a leftist and critical policy. Schappes' defense, in his letter to me, states: "Novick was expelled from the Communist Party from 10 to 15 years ago. Once then he has been viciously attacked by Aron Vergelis, editor of Soviet Heimland . . . The Frieiheit. and Jewish Cur- rents have been attacked by Communist Party publica- tions in this country . . ." Nevertheless, the Freiheit remains ostracized by the rest of the Jewish press and by the Peretz Farein, the organiza- tion of Jewish authors and journalists. IMEN1111111111111111M I NEWS I 1•11=1111111•11111MI $4.1 Million Raised By UJA Chicago — The United Jewish Appeal's Missions Department has taken almost 1,200 Jewish community leaders to Israel on 29 customized trips in the first five months of 1987. The par- ticipants, caucusing at the end of each Mission, raised $4.1 million to support humanitarian programs and social services for Jews at home, in Israel and in 33 countries around the world.