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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, November 15, 1940
The Southern Israelite
Published weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprise's, Inc. Suite 217-218
Palmer Building. Atlanta. Georgia. WAlnut 0791-0792 M Stephen SchlfTer,
publisher; M S Miller, managing editor; Nathan Lipton, business manager
Entered as second class matter at the post office at Atlanta. Georgia, under the
Act of March 3. 1879. Yearly subscription, Three Dollars The Southern Israelite
Invites llternry contributions and correspondence, hut Is not to be considered
as sharing the views expressed by writers. All material should be received by
Wednesday noon to Insure publication In Issue of that week.
Education For Tolerance
“In the summer of 1939, the Council Against Intolerance
in America inaugurated its educational program. Members
of the Council realized that while rallies, ceremonies and
other dramatic activities had their place in combating bigotry
and prejudice, they did not go far enough in focusing atten
tion on the dangers to our democracy that such evils bring.
If the principles upon which America was founded and upon
which she has built her greatness are to survive, it was
thought, the children in our schools must have a reaffirmation
of those principles.”
Thus reads the first part of a brochure from this organiza
tion which labels itself as a non-profit, tax-exempt organ
ization “inviting the support of men and women of every
race, creed and color in preserving the American traditions of
tolerance and equality.” George Gordon Battle, W. Warren
Barbour and Arthur Capper art? co-chairmen.
Continuing, the message reads, “Therefore, as first step in
the educational program, the Council, with the cooperation
of a group of distinguished educators, published a Teachers’
Manual for Junior and Senior High Schools, called ‘An
American Answer to Intolerance.’ The authors had two defi
nite objects in mind; first, to give the teacher using it very
specific, very practical suggestions on how to consider the
problem of intolerance in the classroom; and, second, to show
the teacher how to discover and counteract the underlying
cause of prejudice in the school, the home and the individual.
“Distribution of the Manual was the next important step.
In order that the Council could be relatively sure that the
Manual was actually used, it was decided no copies would be
sent except upon request of a teacher, principal, superinten
dent or other administrator.
“Following this policy, the Council distributed during the
school year 1939-40 approximately 30,000 copies to teachers,
colleges, parent-teacher groups, religious organizations, li
braries and state departments of education. The commis
sioner of education at Washington, North and South Caro
lina and Pennsylvania had one sent to every school.
“Requests for the manual continue to arrive and this fall
are expected to exceed last year’s distribution.
“In the spring of 1940, the Council issued a map entitled,
‘America—A Nation of One People from Many Countries.’
Preview copies were sent to key educators and civic leaders
and by August over 7,000 copies had been distributed without
efforts to announce it to the schools. A lesson sheet to show
the teacher how to use it in the classroom accompanies the
map.
“It is a contemporary map showing where Americans live,
what they do, where they come from and what their religion
is. It is a pioneering effort since no such map has ever been
produced showing these facts. While a list of leading Amer
icans in industry, literature, art and science, with their na
tionalities is given, stress is placed on the part that the ordi
nary citizen has played in building America, and on the con
tributions which the descendants of many nations and peoples
have made to the development of our national life.
“In May, 1940, the Council held a successful Regional Conc-
ference on Tolerance in New York City. So successful was
the meeting that a similar assembly has been slated for Chi
cago with others to follow in other parts of the country.”
Using a series of stories about children of various national
ities in America, the Council next plans a manual for ele
mentary school children, soon to be published.
HEIL DER FREEDOM!' b y bressler
THE WANDERING YIVO
By ROMAN SLOBOIJIN
On the second floor of the cavernous Hebrew Immigrant Aid
Society building on Lafayette Street in downtown New York a new
chapter is being written in one of those quiet epics of scholarly re
search which, if one looks for it, has as much excitement as a
melodrama.
The story has to be dug out from behind the restrained wording
of a leaflet headed: “The Yiddish Scientific Institute announces the
opening of the Research Train
ing Division for the academic-
year 1940-1941.”
For those who miss the sig
nificance of these words, it
should be pointed out that the
last time the Yiddish Scientific-
Institute announced the opening
of an academic year, it was in
Wilno, Poland, where it was
founded in 1925.
In these days, when every
felicitous note in the harsh dis
cord of Jewish events is worthy
of amplifying and broadcasting
to cheer our harassed people, it
is surprising that so little atten
tion has been given to the trans
fer of the “YIVO" from Poland
to the United States.
“Transfer” is a sedate word.
“Miraculous rescue" might be
more appropriate. It is largely
due to the happy chance that
when the war broke out some of
the members of the YIVO fac
ulty were scattered in various
parts of Europe on scholarly
missions. Thus they escaped the
Polish cataclysm, and have been
able to reassemble in New York
where they are resuming a work
of major interest to Jews in all
lands.
Many individual Jewish schol
ars have escaped from Europe
and found places in American
institutions of learning, but this
is the only case in which a
learned institution itself has
come across the ocean as a re
fugee. Members of the original
Wilno faculty of the YIVO, now
here, are the director, Max
Weinrich, and Jacob Leczinsky,
Elias Tscherikower. Lehbosch
Lehrer, Jacob Schatzky, Judah
JofTee, Judel Mark, Samuel
Niger, Hen Adir and Abraham
Mennes.
These are some of the great
names in the field of Jewish
social studies. These scholars
are now setting out to do for
American Jewry, what for fif
teen years they did for the Jews
of Eastern Europe,
FRANKLY SPEAKING
By PAT FRANK
Behind the closed doors of the District Grand Jury room here
jurors are listening as the U. S. Attorney and a special attorney
assigned by the Department of Justice submit evidence obtained
against “Manfred Zapp, et al.”
Attorney General Robert Jackson has announced that the Fed
eral Government would seek the
head of the Nazi combination
espionage and propaganda me
dium misnamed Transocean
News Service —■ “and possibly
others.” Presumably the indict
ments sought will be for viola
tion of the McCormack Act in
that the defendants did not
correctly state the nature of
their activities when they reg
istered as agents of foreign
governments.
While in no wise mimimizing
the dangerous potentialities of
Zapp and his Transocean asso
ciates, it must be noted that
they represent only one facet of
the many-sided, yet co-ordi
nated, Nazi “Fifth Column" in
this country. And it certainly
can be no secret, in light of
recent newspaper exposes, that
this arm of the National So
cialist Party of the Third Reich
is created, directed and financed
by the German Government
through its diplomatic corps in
this country.
Therefore a great deal that is
vital to the future of America
hinges on what will be revealed
with clarification of the vague
ness of official pronouncements
on the Zapp case made here
tofore. It can be presumed such
clarification will come with the
public trial if one or more in
dictments can be secured.
In bringing this action the
Federal Government can be do
ing one of two things. It can
be at last launching a drive
against foreign agents in this
country which will show once
ana for all whether the Mc
Cormack Act and other exist
ing legislation is sufficient to
control the same forces that
contributed to the collapse of
many European nations before
the Nazi machine of conquest.
Or it can be going through the
motions in an effort to quiet the
pfre-eleetion effect oif recent
uproar over the brazen af-
indictinent of Zapp—sly, furtive
frontry of Nazi agents enjoy
ing diplomatic status.
If the former is true then
we can look for a group of in
dictments against Zapp and his
associates to be followed by sim
ilar action against Dr. Fried
rich Auhagen, Colin Ross and
the many others who have done
Adolf Hitler’s work in America.
Inevitable result of such a drive
will be the official recording of
German diplomats’ direction of
their activities. Consequently
the State Department will have
at its disposal all the official
evidence necessary to demand
formally that every German
consul or diplomatic attache in
this country be recalled im
mediately.
If the latter potentially ma
terializes, however, the Justice
Department will restrict its
evidence to that involving Zapp
and his associates alone and
carefully skirt the dynamite.
The defendants may or may not
be indicted and found guilty.
If they are they will be remov
ed. the Nazis will replace them
with others equally capable and
equally without the moral and
ethical standards considered
adequate in a “degenerate de
mocracy,” and everything will
go along comfortably as before.
Recently the headlines were
enlivened by a verbal duel be
tween FBI Chief J. Edgar Hoo
ver and Chairman Martin Dies
of the House un-American ac
tivities committee. In news
paper ..rti- i - containing thinly
disguised references to Dies
committee exposes, Hoover crit
icized “publicity seeking legis
lators” whose statements great
ly hampered Federal agents in
their counter-espionage work.
Dies retorted immediately with
a blast in which he accused
these same Federal agencies of
falling down on the job of pro-
“We think we have a mission
here,” said Dr. Weinreich. "It
is to awaken the American Jew
ish public to the fact that re
search is an essential element of
life.
“American Jews don’t know
very much about themselves.
There may be a point of view
that it’s better not to know too
much. But we’re of that group
that thinks that knowing cannot
harm us. Our enemies collect
scattered bits of information to
use against the Jews, and we’re
not able to present accurate
facts to combat them.
“It is true that there are here,
as there are not in Poland, or
ganizations which collect exten
sive data about the American
Jews. We do not intend to du
plicate their work; rather we
hope to be able to use the ma
terial they collect, subjecting it
to the tests of scientific method.”
Notable among the scholarly
projects now getting under way
is a history of the Jewish labor
movement in the United States,
to be compiled by a committee
headed by Dr. Tscherikower.
Other projects include studies
of refugee adjustment, of Amer
ican Jewish youth (to be com
pared with similar studies of
Jewish youth in Poland) and of
discrimination against and op
portunities for Jews.
tecting this country from the
fifth column menace.
As is so often the ease in
arguments, it seems that both
sides are right. If it is to be
the policy of this Government
to tolerate such activities as
those of Zapp in order that we
may avoid losing our consular
privileges in foreign countries
or for any other reason then
Mr. Hoover is absolutely correct
in his estimation of the danger
of release of information pos
sessed by Mr. Dies.
It is solely a matter of policy.
And the responsibility for fixing
this policy lies squarely with
the State Department.
New Yearbook
PHILADELPHIA (JTA)—The
rate of growth of tire Jewish
population of the United States
declined between 1928 and 1937,
according to a comprehensive
survey featured in the newly-
issued forty-second annual vol
ume of the American Jewish
Yearbook, published by the
Jewish Publication Society un
der the editorship of Harry
Sehneiderman, assistant secre
tary of the American Jewish
Committee.
The survey, covering 4,894
cities, villages and rural areas,
was made by Dr. H. S. Linfield,
special agent of the United
States Census Bureau and fin
anced by the American Jewish
Committee.
The total number of Jew's in
the United Statei in 1937 was
4,771,000, or 3.69 per cent of the
population. This represents an
increase of 543.000 in ten years,
including a net increase of 100,-
000 owing to immigration. Dur
ing the previous decade, 1918-
1927, there was an increase of
839,000, including net immigra-
wn of J-20,001— ■ —
The effect on t he European
Jewish population of the polit
ical and territorial changes since
1933 is described in a document-
• ed study by Moses Moskowitz,
staff member of the Library of
Jewish Information. Of the
15,757,000 Jews in the world,
7,428,000 reside in Central Eur
ope, where they constitute 5*6
per cent of the total population.