Newspaper Page Text
(Right) NRS relief
checks gave food,
shelter, clothing to
18,000 refugees last
year. Cash assis
tance is a vital need
to the new American
during the first diffi
cult months while he
is finding a footing
In his new home.
Page Six
ThE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, April 25. 194! !
The Southern Israelite
Published weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, Inc.. SuiteiH™**
Palmer Building. Atlanta, Georgia. Walnut 0781-07J12. ^Stephen
publisher; M if. Miller, managing editor. Jntenjd ‘^Mar^a 1878
at the post office at Atlanta, Georgia, under the Act of literary
Yearly subscription. Three Dollars. The Southern, d d as glaring
contributions and correspondence, but is not lvc d by W*d-
the views expressed by writers. All material should be recelvea oy
aesday noon to insure publication In issue of that we*s.
CURACAO JEWRY'
Where Are They?
Somewhere on the suffering continent of Europe are
our relatives—our kinsmen near and distant—and as the
Nazi steam-roller continues its invincible course, crushing
underneath lives and spirit, we wonder about oui family.
Our aged grandparents? Had they strength to flee
from home?
Our sisters and brothers? Could they salvage any
possessions when they had to flee approaching warfare?
Or did they leave home, having nowhere to go and
preferring to starve in familiar surroundings to wander
ing helpless and aimlessly on alien soil?
Perhaps they languish in concentration camps, in
ghettos, in baser prison. Perhaps they have escaped the
living death for the mercies of the end which overtakes
all mankind.
We don’t know.
Thus could come a surging and continuous cry from
home after home in Atlanta, only so stark has become the
realization of the tragedy abroad, so hopeless their out
look, you don’t talk of relatives abroad today.
But in our hearts echo the memories of those loved
ones of those related by blood or neighborlessness.
Where are they today and how are they faring?
We don’t know. Likely we haven’t heard from them
in years or endless months. We can’t forget that but for
an almost stray turn of fate, we might be in that melee
of human misery ourselves.
To the natural geographic barriers separating us has
been added a chasm of suffering and misery we can hope
to bridge solely through the Joint Distribution Commit
tee, one of the agencies for which the Atlanta Jewish
Welfare Fund will make an appeal to us soon.
Perhaps what we give will miraculously find .its way
to assist those very relatives we are concerned over. No,
that is too much to hope for; we have by now been trained
away from hope in such staggering odds.
But there are no odds in the fact that what we give
WILL aid relatives abroad, religious relatives if not blood
relatives, somebody’s relations, sustaining life and health
and retaining the spark of hope they must muture to en
dure their existence.
We do know that what we give will be used for the
<*ood of the suffering and not find its way into the hands
Ot A^jg
will reach £af^u, that because of what we g ive > people
cally, spiritually and mo7al$ refresh themselves physi-
We do know that because of what we give, ^ ^
find transportation to other climates where they can start
life anew.
Yes, these factors challenge us to a new degree of
philanthropy—giving beyond our means, not otopping at
the few odd cents we might otherwise put into items~of
luxury or trifle away but going deep into our resources
and giving until we know that we too are undergoing a
sacrifice.
In its wide-spread service the Welfare Fund goes be
yond the United Jewish Appeal, embracing a total of 86
agencies essential to our communal life. Not all the funds
go abroad; a substantial portion remains at home for vital
agencies and institutions which serve us in America.
Will we respond to the appeal of the Welfare Fund?
In our own way, knowing the sincerity and generosity
of ourselves as members of the community, knowing the
increasing distress abroad, we must decide.
Let us stand ready when the Welfare Fund worker
knocks at our door.
Passover has been concluded by
the Jews on this little Dutch Island
located in the Carribbean close to
the coast of South America. Their
celebration differs from similar
ceremonies in other parts of the
world because it is free from
anxiety.
Unlike other members of the
race, these Jews at Curacao and
the neighboring island of Ariba oc
cupy a unique position in these dif
ficult days. They are the aristo
cracy of the islands, leaders in the
economic, social and political life
of the community.
Jews first came to Curacao from
Portugal by way of Holland in the
seventeenth century to escape one
of the forerunners of Hitler’s anti-
Semitism. They settled on the
island and paved the way for the
unusual commerce that has grown
up in the chief harbor. Willemstad.
In three centuries the Jewish
families with Spanish and Portu
guese names like Maduro, Car-
dozo and Cohen Henriquez have
become for Curacao what May
flower names are for Americans.
Today these Jews occupy the chief
economic role of the island. Their
clubs are considered the most ex
clusive. Many of them hold im-
— ^ ARTHUR W. HEPNER
portant governmental positions.
* * *
Although their island belongs to
the Netherland group which has
defied Hitler, these Jews are not
primarily concerned with the out
come of the war for reasons of ra
cial preservation. They want a
swift British victory for humane
reasons, but for the same reasons
held by all civilized non-Jews.
More important to them than the
Jewish question involved in the
war are the economic consequen
ces of warfare for their island.
Curacao is one of the outstand
ing ports of trade in the western
world. Until the war, it was a
port free from duties. Into it came
goods from all corners of both
hemispheres. Prices were lower
in Curacao than in almost every
other place in the hemisphere.
Tourist boats brought large
groups of tourists every week to
shop for bargains in laces, silks,
liquors and perfumes. Since the
war there has been only one boat
from the states each week. For
merly there were as many as ten.
Curacao’s other great income de
rives from the third largest oil re
finery in the world located at Em-
mastad. Before the war, the re
finery supplied oil to ships of all
nations and sent oil to ports •
both hemispheres. Today with
most ships requisitioned for war
the economy of the oil industry has I
contracted.
Both the contraction of th* 0il
business and the virtual curtail-
ment of tourist trade have effected '
the merchants and shipper^
addition, brokers in import ar.d ex.
port exchange have suffered by
the absence of ships to bring ar.d i
take merchandise.
Because of these economic f ac .
tors, the interest of the Jews of I
Curacao in the ending of the war I
is more based on economics than'
on racial loyalty. They are huma r .
beings. They are aware of and I
sympathetic to the sufferings 0 f
Jews in Europe. But they fi rst
think of the good old days when
every ship meant an increase n
business. As they feast the Pass-
over, the Jews of Curacao pray for I
an early victory for Britain. Rut
their Jewish loyalty, such of it as
there is, springs more from his
tory than from present day ter
rorism.
A donation to the Atlanta Wel
fare Fund is not simply goodwill;
it is a sacred duty.
JERUSALEM (JTA )—Reviving
the old custom of a Passovei ; ).
grimage to Jerusalem, the Agudathj
Israel aranged a large-scale pilgri
mage to the Holy City from all
over the country.
An Editorial in Pictures:
Atlantians, along with the
other communities throug-
out the nation, will soon be
asked to assume their part
in the Jewish Welfare Fund.
An integral portion of the
Fund’s budget is the allot
ment made to the United
More adequately than the
written word, more appeal
ing than a personal encoun
ter, these pictures illustrate
the significant reason why
all of us should permit our
hearts to set the pace for
our giving. . .
The National Refugee Service Has The Task
Of Making New Americans Into Good Americans
Jewish Appeal and the Na
tional Refugee Service. In
this “editorial in pictures,”
The Southern Israelite pre
sents the story of the NRS
in America.
Catholics Aid Paris Rabbi's Escape
NEW \ORK (JTA)—Dr. N. J. Ovadia, Sephardic Chief Rabbi of
Paris, arrived here this week on the Portuguese steamship Serpa Pinto
wjth his wife, who related that their escape from France had been
aided by officials of a Catholic seminary.
They left Paris the day before the German occupation, Mrs.
Ovadia said, and were given sanctuary in a Catholic seminary for
Iout months while Gestapo agents sought the rabbi. The priests and
nuns aided Dr. Ovadia to obtain an identity card so that he could
evade the Nazis.
Another passenger on the Serpa Pinto was Naoum Aronson,
famous Russian-born sculptor, who had lived in France for 50 years
The 67-year-old, white-bearded artist told with tears in his eyes that
he could bring with him only photographs of his works. He had
maintained six galleries in Paris before the Nazi invasion.
(Above) “That's your new home,
Sonny.” This lad is going, with his
family, to resettle outside of New
York. He is only one of the 5,100
refugees who found new homes In
America last year through the
work of NRS and its 900 local com.
mittees throughout the country.
(Left) Retraining the refugee for
a new job is often an essential
prerequisite to employment. In
1941 NRS will give vocational re
training to 1,500 refugees. This
man is at a farm school operated
by the Jewish Agricultural So
ciety which cooperates with NRS.
Bot >J these refugees have trouble
with the word ‘acknowledge” ... but they’ll
^ u,t 88 ***e 7,000 refugees for whom
leamed rra Thi ed En8l, * h in8tructi <>" in 1940
learned. This is one of the services ren-
(Above) Anxious facet, anxious voices question as these
new arrivals come to the intake desk of NRS. NRS re
sponded to 321,000 requests for advice, service and infor
mation in 1940.