50 YEARS AGO...
Nazi Murders
Rouse Protests
SY MANELLO SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS
N
ews reports to the Pol-
ish National Council,
acting parliament in ex-
ile, were filled with new
barbarities against the Jews
of Poland. At the same time
came stories of heroism
against the Nazis in Russia
and Palestine. In addition,
hundreds of refugees in Brazil
enlisted in a special volunteer
corps of the Brazilian army to
fight against the Axis.
The State Department is-
sued a warning to people who
might be tempted to give in to
the purchase and sale of exit
permits from Nazi-occupied
countries. It seems that the
money resulted in more per-
secution for the named people
as well as adding much need-
ed foreign exchange to the
German treasury.
On the brighter side of the
picture, Argentina agreed to
admit 1,000 Jewish refugee
children from Nazi-occupied
countries. In Algiers, 9,461
Jews who had been arrested
during the past two years at
the instigation of the Vichy
regime were released.Gen.
Eisenhower granted Ameri-
can citizenship to 28 persons,
most of them Jews, for the aid
they gave American forces at
the time of the landing in
North Africa.
On the loCal scene, all ac-
tivities seemed to be centered
around the Chanukah cele-
bration. A concert was slated
for the Jewish Center at which
Cantor Hyman Cohen would
recite the blessings over the
candles and Julius Chajes
would lead the singing of
songs. The Young Judaeans
were planning a Chanukah
party at the home of Marilyn
Einhorn. The Center's
Chanukah Victory Dance was
set for the main auditorium
there; at midnight the an-
niversary of the Pearl Harbor
attack was observed with the
playing of the transcription of
President Roosevelt's decla-
ration of war.
The Yeshiva Beth Yehudah
Chanukah Concert fund-rais-
er was set at Congregation
B'nai Moshe and featured the
voice of Cantor David Katz-
man. Rabbi Jacob Hoberman
spoke at a Chanukah party at
Congregation Beth Itzchock.
This seemed to be a good
time of year for donor events.
The Zedakah Club held its
luncheon at the Masonic
Temple under the chairman-
ship of Mrs. Joseph Staub.
The B'nai David Ladies Aux-
iliary set their donor event at
the synagogue under the
chairmanship of Mrs. B. Mar-
golis. The Sisters of Zion
Mizrachi held their luncheon
at Shaarey Zedek and vocal
selections were rendered by
Cantor Tolman of Temple Is-
rael.
In addition to regular per-
formances in Yiddish at
Littman's People's Theater,
the Jewish Theater Guild
sponsored some special pro-
ductions. One such was the
performance of The Green
Fields staged free for children
attending Jewish schools in
the Detroit area.
Since the education of the
young was always a priority,
many interested people un-
doubtedly accepted the invi-
tation to attend the bi-annual
examinations of students in
the 11th grade at Yeshiva
Beth Yehudah; at least one
Talmud class was examined
on each of three days.
Several of the area's rabbis
were in the news.Rabbi Max
Wohlgelernter of Congrega-
tion Beth Tefilo Emanuel
marked the completion of five
years of service. Rabbi S.Z.
Fineberg of Congregation
Beth Israel in Flint complet-
ed 10 years with his congre-
gation. The First Hebrew
Congregation of Delray in-
stalled its new spiritual
leader, Rabbi Harry A Green-
field.
Among the many new faces
around the Chanukah can-
dles this year were Richard
Panush, Rona Moskowitz,
Jerry Rossman, Michael Fed-
er and Susan Kramer.
This column will be a
weekly feature during The
Jewish News' anniversary
year, looking at The Jewish
News of today's date 50 years
ago.
JET Tapping Community
For Outside Funding Help
ALAN HITSKY ASSOCIATE EDITOR
T
he Jewish Ensemble
Theatre is trying to
advance from the
. fledgling stage in its
fourth season. In an effort to
ensure its future, JET has
formed an advisory board of
community leaders
dedicated to finding for it
endowment funds and
grants.
"Professional theaters
everywhere in the country
are subvented by some-
body," said James August,
JET's immediate past presi-
dent and a member of
the new advisory board.
"It is not possible for any
theater to survive on ticket
sales alone. Just like the
Detroit Symphony, we need
sponsors from the commun-
ity, corporations and gov-
ernment."
JET, with the equivalent
of three permanent staff
members, has an annual
budget of about $250,000.
Artistic director Evelyn Or-
bach is looking at an en-
dowment goal of up to $1
million to secure JET's
future and fund new pro-
grams.
"We need a basic endow-
ment for the theater," she
said. "Additional funds
would make possible a fes-
tival of new plays, fund one
of our productions each year,
or perhaps a production by
an Israeli playwright."
JET performs at the
Maple-Drake Jewish Com-
munity Center's 200-seat
Aaron DeRoy Theatre. It has
put, on four plays and a
series of staged readings
each year since 1989.
Its current play, The
Queen's Physician, is based
on a fictional romance bet-
ween the Queen of Spain and
her Jewish physician before
the expulsion of the Jews in
1492. It will be performed
through Dec. 27.
Mr. August said the JET
Advisory Board has not es-
tablished specific programs
to help the organization. But
it intends to "reach out to
people and small founda-
tions for endowments.
"We need to create in the
long term an income stream
of $75,000 to $150,000 per
year in order to do the things
we would like to do. This is
over and above the con-
siderable support we get to-
"The Queen's Physician": More help forthcoming?
day. If we're going to sustain
critical cultural activities for
the Jewish community,
we're going to have to sub-
vent those activities," he
said.
Mrs. Orbach credits Mr.
August, JET president Mary
Lou Zieve, advisory board
chair Dorothy Gerson and
George Zeltzer with moving
the idea forward. The group
has had two meetings, and
already has received tangi-
ble results.
Joey Nederlander, of
Detroit's leading theater
family, gave an unsolicited
pledge of $18,000 after the
group's first meeting. The
board has met twice in re-
cent weeks and, while not
scheduled to meet again un-
til March, "are available to
JET now," said Mrs. Orbach.
The group includes
Carolyn Ash, Barbara
Ashley, Mr. August, Beverly -
Beltaire, Peggy Daitch,
Margaret Demant, Mrs.
Gerson, Harvey Grace, Irv-
ing Green, Carolyn Green- -\
berg, Rita Haddow, Mim
Handleman, David
Hermelin, Emery Klein,
Barbara Kux, Mr.
Nederlander, Phyllis
Newman, Mrs. Orbach, Sara
Pitt, Morton Plotnick, Bar-
bara Snyder, Mr. Zeltzer and
Ms. Zieve.
❑
Mercy Play Recalls
German Resistance
ELIZABETH APPLEBAUM ASSISTANT EDITOR
I
n many ways, Robert
Scholl was an ordinary
man.
He was a medic with
the German army during
World War I. Later, he serv-
ed as mayor for several
small towns in Swabia in
southwest Germany. He
married a young nurse nam-
ed Magdalena and settled
down to what he believed
would be a quiet life.
But Robert Scholl, a
Catholic, also was the father
of two extraordinary children,
Sophie and Hans, who never
forgot the Goethe phrase that
served as their father's max-
im: Allen Gewalten. zum Trotz
sich erhalten — "Despite all
the powers closing in, hold
yourself up."
Sophie and Hans Scholl
were leaders of the White
Rose, a small German youth
organization that during
World War II dared to de-
nounce the Nazis. The story
of the group — their de-
fiance, capture, and terrible
deaths — is the focus of The
White Rose, which runs
through Sunday at the Uni-
versity of Detroit-Mercy.
Yolanda Fleischer, artistic
director of the Readers
Theater at the Jewish Com-