PURELY COMMENTARY

Jewish Journalism

Continued from Page 2

munity and Jewish leaders
elsewhere.
"Thus, he was the first
chairman ever of any U.S.
Jewish mission to Israel."
Zaret called Rhodes "one
'of the most distinguished
leaders ever in this
community.
"He was really an ex-
traordinary person, a
magnificent, inspiring
leader. There are not many
people who can have the
kind of impact on a com-
munity that he had."
In fact, said Zaret,
Rhodes was so well-
thought-of that he was
chosen campaign director
for the Milwaukee Jewish
Federation in 1946, 1947
and 1948.
It is important to note that
Irving Rhodes' brother,
Samuel Rhodes, who had a
40-year career as a lawyer
and was a national com-
mander of the Jewish War
Veterans of America, also
pioneered as a journalist. The
first issue of the Detroit
Jewish Chronicle, dated
March 3, 1916, listed Samuel
J. Rhodes as editor and Anton
Kaufman as general
manager. That's how the
Rhodes name acquired
pioneering in the publishing
field.

Joseph Cummins and Jacob
Chackne acquired the
Chronicle in 1920. It was
under my editorship for 16
years after I left the Detroit
News in 1921. Seymour
Tilchin was the Chronicle
publisher for three years un-
til The Jewish News absorb-
ed it in 1953 under my
editorship.
Rhodes' sister Esther Ap-
pleman is now in retirement
from the staff of the Jewish
Welfare Federation. Another
sister, Edith Sauls, at 97, now
resides in San Diego and re-
tains her life interest in
music. She was a founder of
the Detroit Music Study Club.
These are among the many
items worth recording while
dealing with pioneering
Detroiters.
The first Detroit weekly
newspaper was the Jewish
American. The Jewish Review
and Observer of Cleveland
was among the first to spon-
sor it. It came into being in
1901 as the organ of Temple
Beth El under the co-
editorship of Dr. Leo M.
Franklin.
Irving Katz, executive
secretary of Temple Beth El
who authored a history of the
Temple, was truly the first
historian of Detroit Jewry. He
compiled a commendable
historical record of the
Detroit Jewish press and it

42

FRIDAY, JANUARY 12, 1990

gave him added status as the
Beth El archivist, a role in
which he was succeeded by
Miriam Kushner who now
continues it admirably.
Another, albeit regrettable,
note on the recollections. The
Jewish Herald files, the 1926
to 1928 copies of the nearly
forgotten newspaper, have
vanished. My only copy of the
issue of Aug. 24, 1927, total-
ly dedicated to the 50th bir-
thday of Fred M. Butzel, has
fallen apart with age. If there
are oldtimers who have for-
tunately preserved any copies
of that weekly newspaper
they will grant us great
privilege to share them with
us. 0

Romania

Continued from Page 2

politics between the world
wars. The "black shirts" of
the Securitate„ like the
"green shirts" of the Iron
Guard, proclaimed a
sinister "cult of death."
And both murdered the
wounded in their hospitals
and civilians — including
small children — in their
homes.
Ceausescu's adoption of
fascist tactics should not
be surprising. Ceausescu
greatly admired not only
Stalin but also Hitler. He
studied the sources of
Hitler's charisma, and he
carefully analyzed Nazi
films of Hitler's speeches.
And just as the world ig-
nored the aggressive inten-
tions Hitler declared in
Mein Kampf, so it com-
mended Ceausescu for
continuing diplomatic rela-
tions wtih Israel after 1967
while ignoring Ceauses-
cu's close cooperation with
Israel's deadly enemy, the
PLO.
Israel looked aside —
consistently favoring U.S.
extension of most favored
nation status to Romania —
because Ceausescu was
blackmailing Israel, extor-
ting money in return for
permission to Romania's
Jews to emigrate. Almost
all of Ceausescu's personal
fortune — which is in fact
closer to $800 million than
to the much-quoted but out
of date $480 million figure
— was obtained from the
proceeds of the sale of Ger-
man and Jewish emigrants
to West Germany and
Israel.
Notwithstanding the
remarkable courage the
population has recently
demonstrated, Romania
now faces extraordinary
political and economic
problems. The West un-
doubtedly ought to help,

considering the support it
has offered Ceausescu over
the years. This help should
take the form of blood
plasma, anesthetics and
food.
But in addition, the West
should assist the new
Romanian government to
uncover Ceausescu's ties to
the international terrorist
network. Moreover, the
West, especially in light of
its previous un-
sophisticated approach to
Romania, will have to be
careful about embracing
too readily, as members or
even "leaders" of the op-
position, people whose
conversion post-dates
Ceausescu's demise.
The historic record must
not be ignored. The Junior
Jewish Encyclopedia provides
the following important facts:

Jewish history in
Romania goes back to the
fourth century. It is believ-
ed that Jews settled there
in earliest times, even
before the Roman con-
quest of Dacia (today
Transylvania).
In 397, the Roman
emperor issued a decree
granting protection to the
Jewish settlers and their
synagogues in Dacia.
Thereafter, the fate of the
Jews in the region is
unknown until the early
Middle Ages, when, in the
eighth and ninth centuries
the Khazars conquered the
region.
Some 300 years later, the
famous traveler, Benjamin
of Tudela, told of a Jewish
colony in Wallachia. Dur-
ing the Middle Ages, the
country was divided into
small principalities. In
most of them, the Jews suf-
fered bitter persecution.
Yet they were pioneers in
commerce and industry
and were among the first
to settle in the city of
Bucharest .. .
After the tumultuous
Turkish rule, the two pro-
vinces were united to form
an independent state, in
1859. This independence
was recognized by the Con-
gress of Berlin in 1878. Ac-
cording to the treaty sign-
ed at the Congress,
Romania was obligated to
grant full civil and political
rights to all nationalities,
including the Jews. The
government, however, fail-
ed to live up to the treaty.
Economic as well as
educational restrictions
and attacks against the
Jews were frequent. At the
end of the 19th century,
constant persecution forc-
ed many to emigrate to

America. Some also settled
in Palestine where they
founded the colonies of
Rosh Pinah and Zikhron
Yaakov.
Following the First World
War, discrimination and
anti-Semitic riots con-
tinued and spread to large
Jewish communities in
Bessarabia and Bukovina,
which had been annexed
by Romania. A strong anti-
Semitic campaign was car-
ried on by the Iron Guard
party. During the Second
World War, the anti-Jewish
groups cooperated with
the Nazis in the extermina-
tion of Jews. Only about
one-half of Romanian
Jewry survived the
slaughter; some succeeded
in fleeing the country and
settled in Palestine. Over
200,000 Jews remained.
Although now mostly ex-
tant, because it was publish-
ed in 1958, The Dictionary of
Jewish Public Affairs and
Related Matters contains ad-
ditional data:
The present Jewish
population is over 200,000.

Jewish history in
Romania has been
filled with tragedy
for a millenia.

They represent all that is
left of the over 400,000 Jews
who were in Romania at
the time of the liberation,
after the flight in 1947
(about 37,000) and the legal
emigration to Israel since
1948 (about 122,000 in all)
and to other countries.
There is no Jewish
political representative
body; the Jewish
Democratic Committee, the
Jewish Section of the Com-
munist Party, has been
dissolved. Neither do Jews
play any appreciable role
in the government or the
party. There is a Federa-
tion of Jewish Religious
Communities.
There were popular
manifestations of anti-
Semitismin post-war
Romania in 1947, when the
communization of
Romania resulted in
economic and political
hardships. The result was
a flight of Jews across the
borders. Since then these
manifestations have
abated. In 1948, an anti-
Zionist campaign began
which led in 1951 to the ar-
rest of a large number of
Zionist leaders. At the
same time some deporta-
tions to rural places took
place.

Trials resulting in long
prison sentences took
place in 1953 and 1954, and
new arrests were made in
the first part of 1954. In the
second half of 1954
releases began, which
were followed by the
revocation of earlier
sentences and further
releases. In 1957 new ar-
rests took place, involving
about 150 persons.
There is much more to the
responsibility for the rescuing
of Romanian Jews and its con-
tinuity. Numerous religious
groups have been referred to
in new coverage about the
Romanian revolt. Jewish
reference is in this New York
Times story:
American Jews concern-
ed about the security of the
20,000 Jews living in
Romania have been
reassured that the Jews
were safe and had not been
singled out in the revolu-
tion that toppled the
government of Nicolae
Ceausescu.
Like all religious agen-
cies, the Federation of
Romanian Jewish Com-
munities was an arm of the
Ceausescu government.
The head of the federation,
the Chief Rabbi of
Romania, Moses Rosen,
also had a seat in
parliament.
Mr. Ceausescu was
distinct among Com-
musnist leaders in that he
maintained diplomatic ties
with Israel after the 1967
Mideast war. Over the
years, he also allowed hun-
dreds of thousands of Jews
to emigrate to Israel.
Jews who remained in
Romania were sometimes
seen by others as privileg-
ed, since they were the
beneficiaries of American
Jewish relief agencies that
shipped in food, clothing
and fuel subsidies for the
long winters. Most of
Romania's Jews are elder-
ly, many of them survived
the Nazi Holocaust.
While communication
has been difficult, one New
York rabbi, Arthur
Schneier of Park East
Synagogue, received a fax
message from Rabbi
Rosen, written in English
in the Romanian rabbi's
handwriting. The message
said:
"Thanks to the Almighty,
Amalia and myself, all our
friends in the communities
throughout the country
are well and hopeful that
in short time dangers will
no more exist."
This item is more impor-
tant than its brevity. It quotes

