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The Southern Israelite
Friday, January 11, 1935
The
Southern Israelite
ESTABLISHED i»t
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Entered aa Moono-class matter nt the
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The Southern Israelite Invites corres
pondence snd literary contributions,
W the editor Is not to be considered
as sharing the views expressed by the
writers except, those enunciated in the
editorial columns.
THE AGENCY CONFERENCE
Without controversy, bombastic
speeches and heated discussion,
all too frequent concomitants of
Jewish meetings, the Administra
tive Committee of the Jewish
Agency for Palestine, in Its first
meeting In this country, accomp
lished much that will be of value
and importance for the further
ance of Jewish reconstruction In
Palestine. The first achievement
was the preservation of peace be
tween Zionists and non-Zionists
and the creation of a closer and
more intimate bond between the
two. In the political sphere the
Committee's deliberations placed
significant emphasis on coopera
tion with the Mandatory Power
and thereby administered a set
back to those interfering with the
orderly development of the Jew
ish Homeland by unnecessary pro
testing and demonstrating against
Great Britain. Of special impor
tance to the United States was
the decision to create a special
body of supporters of Palestine
for the non-Zionists. The signif
icance of this step cannot be too
greatly stressed, for the motivat
ing factor in holding the meet
ing in this country was to devise
measures for strengthening the
non-Zionist section of the Agency
in the United States. The Agency
meeting also gave concrete evi
dence to the practical gains made
in Palestine and of the role of
the Agency in achieving them.
In appraising the results of the
meeting it is not too much to
say that it revitalised the pres
tige of the Jewish Agency in the
United States and demonstrated
by its achievements that the
founders of the Agency were com
pletely justified in their optimist
ical hopes.
Dickstein Proposes
Permanent Committee
To Probe Activities
Waaington, D. C. (WN8)—A per
manent Congressional committee
to investigate Nasi, Fascist, Com
munist and other subversive move
ments in the United States would
be established by the terms of a
bill introduced in the House of Re
presentatives b y Representative
Samuel Dickstein. The proposed
committee would be known as the
Committee for Preservation of Am
erican Democracy, and would be a
permanent committee of the House
empowered to Investigate subversive
powered to Investigate subversive
movements whenever it received
complaints. It would succeed the
present Committee on Un-Ameri
can Activities which went out of
existence with the opening of Con-
POGROMS OVER THE SAAR
What Will Happen After the January 13th
Plebiscite
By BERNARDlPOSTAL
The eyes of the world will be
turned to the Saar on January
13th when the people of that
territory go to the polls under
the protection of the bayonets of
an International army to decide
whether they want to return to
Germany or to continue the rule
of the League of Nations. Mr.
Postal presents an authoritative
picture of conditions In the Saar
on the eve of the plebiscite and
a forecast of the fate that awaits
the Jews and other anti-Nazis
in the event that the plebiscite
goes in Germany’s favor.— THE
EDITOR.
While an international army of
troops struggles to maintain peace
and order amid Nazi rioting and
hooliganism, 800,000 residents of the
Saar, Including 32,000 Jews and
thousands of refugees from Germ
any, are being swept by an uncon
trollable panic of fear and terror
as the hour approaches for the
holding of the plebiscite which Is
to decide not only the future of the
Saar district, but the fate of thous
ands of men and women who have
good cause to be alarmed as to the
morrow. With violence and provo
cation by thfe Nazis growing in in
tensity, and the united forces of
the out-numbered anti-Nazis grim
ly determined to resist the Hitlerite
tide to the bitter end, the eve of
the plebiscite to be held on Sun
day, January 13th, finds the Saar
living In a frenzied state of alarm
and tension, expecting the worst
and hoping for a miracle. Today the
Saar Basin, a small state on the
frontier of Lorraine and Germany,
Is like a city just before a siege.
Those who can leave are utilizing
every conceivable means of trans
portation to quit the territory
doomed to be overrun by Hitler's
legions.
A mass exodus of those who know
what to expect If the plebiscite fuv-
ors Germany is already In full
swing. Every road leading to Alsace-
Lorraine and Luxembourg Is jam
med with long lines of cars, trucks,
and people on foot. All trains cross
ing the frontier are filled to ca
pacity. The Jews in particular are
feverishly and frantically packing
their belongings and preparing for
Immediate flight. Every Informed
Saarlander knows that the day af
ter the referendum will mark the
beginning of a wave of terror, re
taliation and persecution against
those who have resisted the Nazis.
Every anti-Nazi, every Jew is a
marked man, doomed to feel the
brutal hand of the brown-shlrted
hordes as soon as the results of the
plebiscite are known.
Ever since the rise of Hitler to
power. January 13th has loomed as
a nightmare to the statesmen of
Europe who saw in this plebiscite
all the combustive material for a
sensational political explosion that
might catapult Europe into a catas
trophic war. By the terms of the
Treaty of Versailles, that hated
document whose provisions did so
much to create Nazism and bring
it to power, the Saar’s valuable
mines were given to France as com
pensation for those destroyed by the
German armies in northern France
during the World War, and the
territory itself was converted into
an Independent political unit under
the administration of the League
of Nations for fifteen years. At the
end of that period a plebiscite was
to be held to determine whether the
Saarlanders wished to maintain the
status quo, to return to Germany or
be annexed to France. Until the ad
vent of Hitlerism there was no doubt
as to the outcome of the plebiscite.
Hie Saar was German, its people
would have voted almost unani
mously to return to Germany, des
pite the fact that economically the
Saar’s interests are more French
than German.
When Hitlerism was enthroned In
Germany not quite two years ago
the entire picture changed radically.
The Saar became the last remain
ing bit of German Boil where men
lstspolitical shrdlu cmfwyp cmfwyp
might still enjoy the blessing of po
litical liberty. Thousands of Social
ists, Jews and other refugees from
the Reich found asylum In the
Saar. And the natives of the Saar,
overwhelmingly Catholic workers,
began to doubt the wisdom of re
turning to German rule under Hit
lerism.
But the recovery of the Saar was
the first objective of German di
plomacy under the Third Reich.
Under the direction of Propaganda
Minister Goebbels, a terrific cam
paign was launched to regain the
Saar by fair means or foul. No time
was lost in preparing the Saar for
absorption into the Nazi Reich by
the same methods of "persuasion”
used so successfully in Germany.
Secretly and illegally, several thous
and storm troops were organized
in the Saar. These bands of brown
shirts intimidated and harassed the
population by threats of vengeance
against “traitors,” by boycotts, se
cret denunciations and persecutions
of Jews and by setting up in the
Saar a clandestine administration
functioning side by side with the
legal government of the League of
Nations. Propaganda, terror, force,
economic pressure and every other
weapon employed In Germany were
ruthlessly used. Demonstrations,
street fights, abductions, and even
murder were the Nazis’ means of
winning the Saar. Open war was
waged by the German (Nazi) Front
against all anti-Nazis. In every
European chancellory there were
well-grounded fears that Nazi hot
heads, encouraged by their govern
ment, might anticipate the plebis
cite and take the Saar by a daring
putsch. The anti-Nazis, led by mili
tant workers and Catholics, as well
as the refugees from Germany,
have been fighting desperately
against terrific odds to maintain the
status quo, since both the League
of Nations and France assured the
Saarlanders that if the status quo
is retained, they will have an op
portunity to vote again for return
to Germany when and If Hitler and
his gang are gone.
Early In December, however,
France and Germany, the two most
interested parties, reached an agree
ment which not only completely al
tered the situation, but removed
most of the dynamite from the
plebiscite by robbing It of all po
litical importance. By the terms of
this Franco-German agreement,
which received the blessing of the
League of Nations, France aban
doned her effort to maintain the
status quo In the Saar. In return,
she received Germany’s promise to
pay 900,000,000 francs in cash and
coal for the Saar’s mines, which
were the crux of the Saar contro
versy. Since France had been fin
ancing and otherwise supporting the
anti-Nazi movement in the Saar,
the agreement eliminated all doubt
as to the outcome of the plebiscite.
Only a political upset of the first
magnitude can prevent the
from being returned to Germany
after January 13th, since even the
Vatican has given its consent.
According to the terms of the
Franco-German agreement, Germ
any agrees to take no reprisals or
proceedings of any kind against any
inhabitants of the Saar, regardless
of race, religion or political belief
for one year after the plebiscite. Al
though even this concession was
wrung from Germany only after
protracted negotiations, the value
of this guarantee to the refugees
from Germany, those whom it was
intended to protect, is completely
vitiated by another provision de
fining inhabitants as any persons
who have lived in the Saar for at
least three years prior to January
13, 1935. Obviously, that specifically
excludes the refugees of the Nazi
terror from protection, since none
of the refugees arrived in the Saar
until March 1933. The agreement
further provides that Jewish and
other inhabitants with cause to fear
the Nazis will be free to leave the
Saar with all their property within
one year after the plebiscite. Those
who do not come within the defini
tion of "inhabitants,” as laid down
in the agreement, will be at the
mercy of the Nazi regime, once the
plebiscite, as is expected, restores
the Saar to Germany. In other
words, some ten thousand Jews and
perhaps thrice that number of other
anti-Nazis in the Saar are to be
handed over to whatever fate the
Nazis choose to provide.
Even those who will be protected
by international treaty after the
plebiscite, however, place little con
fidence In the promises of the Nazis.
The worth of Nazi pledges is known
from bitter experience, and the
Saarlanders cannot believe that vic
tory in the plebiscite will transform
Hitlerite rulers into fair-minded,
tolerant rulers. As for the political
emigrants and refugees who fled
from Germany, they will be turned
over to the state’s attorney, if they
are found within the borders of the
Saar after the plebiscite.
Today unrestrained panic reigns
in the Saar among those who have
no hope for the future under a Nazi
regime. While there is no way of
knowing how many people have left
the Saar in the past week, unofficial
estimates indicate that at least 50,-
000 Saarlanders are prepared to
find safety In France and Luxem
bourg on January 14th. The Jews
of the Saar have been ready for a
mass exodus since November. Al
though thousands of them have
been settled in the Saar for gene
rations, they are all ready to flee.
In all the business sections of Saar-
bruecken, Burbach, Dillingen, Fried-
richstal and other towns, there are
hundreds of empty stores whose
proprietors almost without exception
had been Jews. The anti-Nazi news
papers are crammed with advertise
ments announcing forced sales:
"Owner going out of business." All
of these advertisements refer to
Jewish stores. For months the Jews
have been subjected to terroriza
tion, boycott and actual physical
violence. G. G. Knox, chairman of
the League’s Governing Commission
warned the League of Nations as
early as last January against the
“insidious boycotting and persecu
tion of the Jews.” Jew-baiting has
been a daily thing throughout the
Saar, and the Jewish Saarlanders
have been hardly better off than
their co-religionists in Germany.
Because of Nazi persecution, the
League Commission has been forced
to open special schools for Jewish
children. Dr. Abraham Reulf, chief
rabbi of the Saar, who has been one
of the leaders of the anti-Nazi
movement, has already left the ter
ritory because he is one of those
marked for death after the plebis
cite. Hundreds of Jews are seeking
French citizenship. Others are try
ing vainly to obtain American visas.
What is in store for the Jews of
the Saar after January 13th is no
secret. Nazi leaders have openly
proclaimed that they have a list of
all ‘traitors’’, that is, of all who
won’t vote for Nazi Germany. It is
common knowledge in the Saar that
Nazi leaders have promised their
followers in the Saar twenty-four
hours in which to even up scores
Dr. Goebbels, referring to the anti-
Naas in the Saar, said last May
that it is insolent provocation that
they should be allowed to speak if
they can work, make speeches and
agitate under the protection of the
^ague of Nations ... For the time
.being the German Government has
no means of preventing this state
of affairs.” Joseph Buerckel, Nazi
th^T^ f ° r the Saar - declared
that after the plebiscite only Jews
anti_social speculation and
cultural practices” will be allowed
S^Tha? ^ He has prom -
h*d that after re-incorporation the
S“ elemrat5 “ wm «-*» our
un^ gl L n0W ifc is a race tor time,
with thousands of anti-Nazis try-
f 8 to ^Pe from the Saar be
fore that territory falls into the
Steingut Named Speaker
Of New York Assembly
Albany, N. Y. (WNS) —
Steingut, assemblyman from Brook-
lyn and Democratic minority lead-
er of the lower house of the legis
lature for the past four years, be
came the first Democratic speaker
of the assembly since Alfred E.
Smith held that office in 1913
when he was named presiding offi
cer of that body at the first meet
ing of the 148th session of the New
York State Legislature.
Jerusalem (WNS — Palcor Agen
cy) — Harry Holzman, American
citizen, who was extradited here
from Beirut, Syria, where he was
arrested while boarding a boat for
America, on a charge of kidnap
ping his young child, was acquitted
in the Jerusalem courts of the
charge of stealing his wife’s prop
erty, since a previous court decision
had awarded temporary custody of
the child to Mrs. Holzman. Holz
man is now free to leave Palestine
for the United States, but without
his child.
THE COMMITTEE MEETS
The 28th annual meeting of the
American Jewish Committee, the
largest and best-attended in its
history, unquestionably dealt a body
blow to the proposal for a world
Jewish congress. Information laid
before the metting by Neville Laski,
president of the Board of Deputies
of British Jews, served as a strik
ing setback. In view of the action
of the Committee, which went on
record as unequivocally opposed to
a world congress, the present status
of the world congress is the fol
lowing: the important, if not the
most important, Jewish organiza
tions In America — the American
Jewish Committee, the B’nai B'rith,
the Council of Jewish Women, the
Jewish Labor Committee—have re
fused to participate: the responsible
organizations of Great Britain,
France, Holland and Belgium will
not take part; German Jewry can
not participate, and, when it last
spoke out officially, refused to par
ticipate; Russian Jewry will not
and cannot take part; the Ruman
ian Jews have expressed opposition;
the Mizrachi half-heartedly end-
dorsed the proposal with reserva
tions; the Canadian Jewish Con
gress will only send an observer,
also with limitations.
Under these circumstances, die
hard advocates of a world Jewish
congress may continue to call for
It and may even hold a rump con
gress; but unprejudiced observers
will agree that they have forfeited
every right to call it representative
of the Jews of the world or expres
sive of general Jewish opinion.
Although the Committee’s offi
cial rejection of the world Jewish
congress overshadowed other phas
es of the meeting in public interest,
the most notable feature of the
meeting was the annual report of
Dr. Cyrus Adler, president of the
Committee. The bulk of this il
luminating report was naturally de
voted to the German - J ewish situa
tion and its repercussions in other
parts of the world, especially the
United States, but two other points
raised by Dr. Adler merit special
attention. The first was his reaf
firmation of faith in the program
of cooperation with Catholics and
Protestants in defense of religious
freedom as the best means of con
vincing non-Jewish Americans that
the rights Jews demand for their
co-religionists abroad “are those el
emental human rights which con
stitute the basis of American civil*
ization.” The other signified 1
point was a plea to the United
States Government “to impress up*
on the Soviet Government that the
American people of all creeds would
cordially welcome a more humane
attitude toward religious fuction-
aries and a more liberal policy to* |
ward religious education.”
hands of the Nazis. For the J
there are two alternatives—the
certainties of a new life abroac
refugees or degradation, persecu
and concentration camps in
Saar when the plebiscite is ove
(Copywright 1935, for The Soutl
Israelite).