Newspaper Page Text
SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
lor SOUTHERN JEWRY
VOLUME VIII December. 1933 NUMBER 13
9 here Are Our Hunkers?
Hjalmar Schacht, head of the Reichsbank and foremost financial ex-
j M *rt of the Nazi Government, recently admitted that the Jewish anti-
Nazi boycott is having “some” effect on German commerce. But not
j,.ng ago Harold Laski, the eminent British Jewish economist, said in
iii interview that the anti-Nazi boycott will never make any real
hailway as long as tin* bankers. Jewish and non-Jewish, friendly t<»
r Jewish cause will remain on the sidelines. We are inclined to
,ee|>t Mr. Laski’s view. It is an open secret that our own financiers
mid, if they wanted to, apply a good deal of pressure on Germany
. throwing the German securities and bonds under their control on
•he market at almost any price. In order to do this our bankers would
ive to make up their minds that their German investments are scraps
papers. It would require not so much of a sacrifice (many financial
ithorities consider these bonds and securities dead wood anyhow),
it rather a different state of mind. Our bankers would have to come
•> the conclusion that the time has come to play all our trump cards
gainst Hitler. Our bankers would have to come to the conclusion that
the Hitler war against the Jews is as much their concern as that of
the Jewish masses. When Cotv attacked the Jewish bankers
international conspirators, the Jewish masses did not disassociate
themselves from this calumny and fought these attacks till they were
withdrawn. But today—let us be frank—Jewish high finance has
maintained a strange aloofness in the Hitler issue. Some of our Jew
ish hanker-leaders are contributing more or less substantial sums to
German-Jewish relief, but in the light of what they could do, their
assistance is indeed hypocrisy. What would Herr Schacht and his
•llcagues say if they knew that the 1 ntermyers and Wises have the
sicking of our great Jewish financiers who can actually influence the
world market? But the Jewish bankers remain silent, as if German
securities and bonds in foreign countries were of no importance in
the situation. And we continue to acclaim these same bystanders as
leaders.
Biro Hidjan for German Jens
There should be more than theoretical interest in and discussion of
th.* recent invitation by Peter Smidovich, vice-president of the Soviet
I’nion, to German Jews to settle in Biro Bidjan. Far Eastern Republic,
in view of the rigid immigration policy of Palestine and the United
Mates and the as yet unsolved problem of German-Jewish refugees.
Responsible Jewish leaders should address themselves to the Soviet
Government to determine once anti for all to what extent Biro Bidjan
'•an he made available for Jewish immigration, how far the Soviet
I’nion is prepared to go in financing such an immigration and what
ar** the economic prospects for a major and stable Jewish settlement
th»*re. Lord Marley, vice-president of the British House of Lords,
has just returned from Biro Bidjan, where he made a first hand sur-
'•<*} of conditions. He reports that Biro Bidjan can absorb substantial
numbers of new Jewish settlers who would be able to find real oppor-
ties for social, political and economic rehabilitation. From the
r, ‘ v ilts thus far achieved in Biro Bidjan it is sate to say that it is an
■lie uiraging undertaking. Despite great difficulties real progress has
’i made and if the above questions can be answered authoritatively
*n< with finality it is more than possible that Biro Bidjan offers a
Partial solution to the problem of the German-Jewish refugees and
u > he tens of thousands of other Jews in Eastern and Central Europe
"h 1 must emigrate.
Jeicisli \obel Prize tlinners
The international celebration of the 100th anniversary of the birth
of Alfred B. Nobel, founder of the Nobel Prizes, on December 18 re
called the great number of Jews who have won these coveted honors
in medicine, chemistry, physics, literature and peace. Of the 134 men
and women who have received these prizes since 1008, 18, or 13 per
cent, have been Jews. Ten of these Jewish Nobel Prize winners have
been German Jews. Jews have won the Nobel Prize in each of its
five divisions; six have won it in physics, five in medicine, four in
chemistry, two in peace and one in lterature. This is a record of which
Jews are justly proud, because the Jewish Nobel Prize winners have
not only done honor to the Jewish people but have enhanced tin* fame
of their native lands Germany, Austria, France, Holland, Russia and
the Pnited States.
Fascism Means Anti-Semitism
In every country where Fascism has reared its ugly head except
Italy, anti-Semitism has been an inevitable concomitant. The spread
of dictatorships has encouraged militant Jew-haiting. In recent weeks
tin* emergence of the Fascist virus in lands where democracy is a tra
dition, has also been accompanied by the development of anti-Semitic
movements. Holland, Belgium, Fngland, Canada, South Africa and the
Scandinavian countries now have flourishing Fascist parties and all
of them are preaching anti-Semitism. Within the past week Fascism
scored notable victories in Ksthonia, Lithuania and Poland, and in
tin* Pnited States the Silver Shirts have passed the jesting stage.
Jewish organizations will, if they are realistic, join forces with tin*
anti-Faseist organizations, for it must be obvious to all that Fascism,
with the exception of the Italian brand, has become synonymous with
anti-Semitism.
The Pageant On Tour
One of the most valuable by-products of “The Romance of a
People,” the spectacular pageant of six thousand years of Jewish his
tory, which was viewed by more than 6(H),000 people in New York and
Chicago, was the tremendous amount of good-will it engendered. New
York and Chicago learned that apart from raising substantial sums
for settling German-Jewish refugees in Palestine, the pageant could
serve as an important offset to the forces of bigotry. Now the pageant
is going on a tour of the United States and Canada, with performances
already scheduled for Philadelphia, Cleveland, Detroit, St. Louis, Los
Angeles and Toronto. Other cities may be added to the itinerary. We
believe that the pageant will yet prove that it is not only an effective
fund-raising instrumentality but an important agent of good-will.
Dtiring Hut Successful
An example of striking courage in the realm of the printed word
is Scripts Mathematics, the scientific quarterly now in its second year,
published by a small group associated with Yeshiva College. This
journal, launched during the worst of the depression, has shown a
visabilitv nothing short of amazing. Limited in appeals to readers
with a more than elementary knowledge of mathematics. Scripts
Mathematica has kept its head above water through the perilous first
year, and now, with the first issue of its second volume, promises to
remain a permanent institution. Its most recent addition, Adolf
Fraenkel, has suggested another phase of the valuable function of
Scripts Mathematica—the opening of a new forum for German-Jewish
mathematical scientists now prevented by political developments from
publishing their findings in the scientific periodicals of their own
country.
Ute „ *ecood-cUu matter at the Poetoffice at Atlanta. Ga.. under the Act of March 3. 1879. Published moothly by the Southern Ne*«>aper Enterprise*. Im Subvtripoon rate* 8? 0U per year m advance.
tV i authern Iaraelite invite* correspondence and literary contribution*, but the editor i* not to be coo*idered a* iharin* tbe view* eipreoed by th* writer* eicept thoee enunciated in th* editorial column*. Eatabliahod
1925 M. S. Miller Editor- XL Stephen Schifier. Publither; Nathan Liptoc, Bu»ine*» Manner; A. E. Lewi*. Adverti*in« Manager. Esecutivc office*. 301 Glenn Building, Atlanta .Ga. All cnenanaicMMM for
publicatioo should reach thi* office not later than tbe I Ota and 25 th of each month.