Newspaper Page Text
Page Four
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, December 11, 1942
The Southern Israelite
Published weekly by Southern Newspaper EalcSBtUM, lac.. Suite Uf*lll
Palmer Building, Atlanta. Georgia Walnut OffUrOdM M. Steghen SeMOer.
publisher; Willy Pels, business manager; Entered as saeond <2ass saeMae at
the post office at Atlanta. Georgia, under the A at of Marsh 3, 1MB. Yaeety
subscription. Three Dollars. The Southern leaeahte Invites literary cam tel -
buttons and correspondence, but Is not to be eonstdered ss shaetng the
views expressed by writers. All material should be resolved by Wednes
day noon to insure publication In Issue of that week.
The Diary Of A Monster
The eminent Russian writer and war correspondent, Ilya Ehren-
burg, writes the following to his paper in Moscow:
> “I have before me the diary of Friedrich Schmidt, secretary of the
secret field police attached to 620th group of the 1st German Tank
army.
Friedrich Schmidt kept his diary while being stationed in Nazi-oc
cupied Budennovka, a small community near Marioupol, on the much
contested Rostov front. Permit me to reproduce several excerpts from
this notable document:
Feb. 25th. Communist Catherine
Skoroedova expressed her scorn
of the Russians who are cooperat
ing with us. She was shot at noon.
An old man, Savely Stepanenko,
and his wife, from Samsonovkl,
has also been shot. At 4 p. m.
they brought to my office four
18-year-old girls. These Russian
girls had crossed the frozen river
from Yeisk . . . Later in the after
noon my men brought six young
men and one girl. The young men
are quite docile. Four of them are
students, very handsome too . . .
Although they were beaten most
frightfully, they would not talk.
The girl did not whimper, did not
shed a single tear • . . Three kilo
meters north of Budennovka the
gendarmes caught five 17-year-old
boys. These were brought before
me. I beat them with my whip.
The handle of the whip was brok
en in two. Another man helped
me. My hands has been sore all
dny.
March 1st. Was summoned to
appear before General Von Fer-
ter . . .
Evening, March 3rd. Another
group of five people were brought
in from Yeisk. Like the rest, these
were also very young. Resorted to
body punishment again. The
weather got a little warmer.
March 7th, Our life here is
pleasant. We receive butter, eggs,
chickens and milk every day. I
change my menu daily.
March 8th. Two non-commis
sioned officers, Springwr)ld and
Reidman, had returned from Ma
rioupol. They brought the mail
and a written order for executions
. . . Have this day already executed
six people. v
March 9th. Today I am con
fronted with the task of shooting
30 captured young men. At 10 a
m. two more girls and six boys
were brought up . . . Had to beat
them again. Then began a mass
execution- Yesterday there were
six, today—thirty three. 1 am not
able to enjoy mv meals. Should
they catch me. it would bo too ba i
for me. I feel unsafe here in Bu
dennovka. The gutter is full of
corpse. How heroically they die,
these Bolshevik boys . . . Some
of them, especially the young
girls, don’t cry at all. This is real
bravery. They were ordered to
undress (we sell their clothes).
On account of having so much
to do, I have not written home for
a long time. To tell the truth, I
have no desire to write. Today I
ordered the 17-year-old Ludmila
Chukanova to be shot. I am com
pelled to kill these people and
therefore 1 am afraid 1 am de
veloping a little heart trouble.
March 17th. The day began with
my ordering a Russian parachu
tist out of the hospital and execut
ing him on the spot near his grave.
After dinner took a walk.
March 19th. Ate fine pork
chops. Ordered some sausage.
March 21st. We never Imd such
a terrible day before in Buden
novka. Yesterday evening there
appeared a Russian plane, drop
ping star shells and 12 bombs. I
felt frightfully worried.
March 22nd. Questioned two
Russian youths who tried to cross
the frozen river to Rostov. They
were shot.
April 10th. Again beat several
boys and girls for a failure to reg
ister with our authorities. Among
them was a daughter of the village
mayor. At night my mind is
troubled with the thoughts of an
other possible attack by the Rus
sian bombers. *
April 12th. Every morning we
have omelet and milk for break
fast. There is a little less work
now. The usual punishment—
severe lashing or shooting.
April 16th. A quiet day. Served
as a peacemaker between the vil
lage mayor and the head of mili
tia and afterwards whipped three
men and one woman The woman
' was middle-aged. She confessed
to being n medical nurse. At long
last Groshek has conferred on me
a military cross of the second
[grade for my conspicuous services.
April 17th. Whipped two girls in
my office. They were beaten while
naked.
April 18th. A rainy, cloudy day.
Had a few women called to my
office and had them whipped with
their clothes off. They had been
complaining about our field police. (
“It’s been a frightful ordeal for'
me to read these lines,’’ writes
Ilya Ehrenburg,” and I think that
the world literature had never
portrayed such a terrible, con
temptible criminal. He calmly,
without a quiver, murders de
fenseless boys and girls in their
’teens and at the same time he
cowers at a mere thought of the
Russian bombers. He fully de
served his military cross, for he
has often displayed courage in
torturing the Russian girls. He
even bravely killed a four-year
-old child.
He does not even possess a
semblance of human feelings. He
does not even feel kindly toward
his own relatives. He has not a
kind word for his own accursed |
fatherland. Indeed, this is not the}
first diary of a German soldier
containing references to tortures
and executions. But others were
merely formal documents. Here
the Nazi reveals his real face in
the true light.”
Mr. Ehrenburg asked newspa
pers of all free countries to publish
this diary.
JEWISH CALENDAR
Capitol Spotlight
PITRIM,
Sunday, March 21.
PASSOVER (First 2 Days),
Tues., Wed., Apr. 20. 21.
PASSOVER (Last 2 Days),
Mon., Tues., Apr. 26. 27.
LAG B’OMER,
Sunday, May 23.
SHEVUOTH (Feast of Weeks),
Wed-, Thurs., June 9, 10.
TISHA B’AB (9th of Ab),
Tuesday. August 10.
than ever interested in not antago
nizing the Arab world since the
North African population is pre
dominantly Arab ... On the other
hand, it is obvious that the Amer
ican landing in North Africa has
convinced even the Arabs in Pal
estine that flirting with the Nazis
is no longer profitable . . . From
Jerusalem comes a demand to
Zionist leaders in America to press
the Allied Governments to permit
the immigration to Palestine of
llie thousands of Jewish refugees
from Germany who were interned
j in North Africa by the Vichy re
gime for forced labor on the desert
! railroad there ... It is pointed out
j that at least 150.000 additional
j workers are needed at present for
| Palestine’s war industries and
j that the refugees from North Afri
By CARL 1
Admittedly the temptation is a
powerful one. Suppose you had a
husband or a father or a son in
France, and had been hoping fear
fully to bring him to safety. And
then an “agent*’ explained to you
that there wax some difficulty
about the issuance of an exit visa.
What sort of difficulty? Just a
difficulty. A difficulty of, say $25,-
000. But you haven’t got $25,000:
Well, you can raise it, can’t you?
Possibly, by selling here and mort
gaging there and begging some
where else—but is it necessary?
Is it? Would you like to get your
next European letter from Da
chau?
Thousands of well-to-do refu
gees, forced to leave friends and
relatives behind in Nazi-occupied
Europe, have faced the same “dif
ficulty" and been ofiered the same
solution. Many of them, realizing
only too well the terrors they
themselves escaped, have made
the necessary sacrifices, scraped
together the money, and managed
to buy the freedom of those dear
to them.
They have handed the agent a
roll of large bills, or arranged to
have the money deposited in the
, name of a respectable lawyer in
But many private persons lacked
the fortitude of the Dutch cabinet.
So the British, Netherlands and
United States governments decided
that something must be done.
They announced that anyone un
der their jurisdiction who attemp
ted to ramson a victim out of the
hands of the Nazis would face the
usual penalties for trading with
the enemy. Neutrals who acted as
intermediaries would go the black
list. They explained these harsh
measures in this way:
1. The Nazis have organized the
collection of blood-money on a
scale that threatens the effective
ness of the United States’ financial
blockade. Millions of dollars in
foreign exchange extorted from
the friends of refugees have en
abled the Nazis to finance their
propaganda and espionage cam
paigns abroad. to purchase vitally
needed supplies there and to run
them through the blockade for the
benefit of the German war effort.
The payment of ransom money to
the Germans seriously threatened
to prolong the war.
2. Each Nazi success in collect-
" - r; • m for a "refugee encour-
-r mt for : dditional vie-
BETWEEN YOU AND ME
By BARIS SMOL.AR
The Zionist Front: Zionist lead
ers in America seem to be worried
over the fact that the negotiations
between the Zionists and the non-
Zionists in this country for the
creation of a united front have
suddenly taken a bad turn . .
The new development was discuss
ed at a session of the American
Emergency Council for Palestine
at which Dr. Weizmann was prei-
ent ... It is understood that Dr.
Weizmann is now exploring the
possibilities of continuing nego
tiations with non-Zionists along
the same lines as hitherto . . . All
Indications, however, point to the
fact that persons among the non-
Zionists who favor an all-embrac
ing understanding with the Zion
ists are becoming a minority in
their own ranks . . . Max Warburg,
one of the non-Zionists who •would
like to see a united front with the 1
Zionists, is consulting some of his
colleagues with a view to reaching
a compromise which would satisfy
all parties involved . . . The new
turn in the negotiations between 1
the non-Zionists and the Zionists
is especially embarrasing for the
latter since it has already been j
announced in Palestine that there
is a definite understanding among
all Jewish groups in America on:
post-war Palestine. . .
* * *
The North African Front: Active
again after recuperating from his j
illness, Dr Weizmann is now en
gaged in studying the possible ef
fects of the new situation in North
Africa on the Jewish demands
with regard to Palestine . . . On
one hand it is known that the Al
lied Governments are now more
ca would, to a certain extent, alle
viate this shortage in man power
. . . Meanwhile, many of the Jew
ish refugees in North Africa,, after
being released from the desert
camps, are reported to be volun
teering in the forces fighting the
Axis armies under the direction of
American military authorities . . .
* * *
The Russian Front: The Soviet
press has more than once empha
sized the rule which Jews play in
the partisan groups which harras
the Nazis in occupied Russian ter
ritory . . . Now* we have a power
ful novel describing the tactics and
daring activities of the Russian
guerrillas and giving a concrete
idea of W’hat it means to be 9 par
tisan . . . The novel entitled “All
Night Long” i written by Erskine
Caldwell, noted American waiter
who spent some time in Russia
during the present war and visited
Russian towmships regained by the
Red Army from the Nazis . . .
(Continued on page 5)
snos Aires or in Berne—where
I id not remain long. And mira-
ously, hundreds or thousands
miles away, the “difficulty”
ulu be surmounted and the vie-1
i 1
be freed Almc
w’ays.
The Nazis, of course, would do j
iheir best to carry out their part
of tile bargain. Victims w’ere
plentiful—one would not be miss
ed. Foreign exchange was a highly
valuable prize and it was not
1 worth while to douhle-cross a
ransomer. Others might not co
operate so readily afterwards, if
, it became known that the bargains
wore risky.
The Nazis even had the impu
dence to approach Netherlands
Govcmment-in-Exile with a pro
posal Tor freeing 500 Dutchmen
for 5.000,000 Swriss francs (about
$1,100,000). But they failed. The
“indomitable Dutch” replied that
their cabinet “reluctantly conclud
ed that they could not yield to
German fttempts at extortion.”
‘ ">• T Slate Department warn
ing qu<-t< ! •’ s account of the Nazi
method, from the report of one of
our missions abroad:
"In the hostage and ramsom sys
tem the ims are subjected to
terroriz ;tion whereby their desire
to find r< ugc in one of the United
Nations or 1 neutral country is
immeas::'ably increased. First,
they arc made the victims of un
bearable - frictions designed to
make lire not worth living, usually
under confinement in vile concen
tration camps; and, second, they
ire faced w ith the threat of de
portation to domains in Eastern
Europe, with the prospect of an
unknown and possibly horrible
fate awaiting them there.”
For each refugee freed from the
threat of such a fate, the Nazis can
find a dozen more with whom to
appeal to the generous and hu
manitarian feelings of others on
neutral and United Nations soiL
It is an old trick of theirs to use
;our best impulses against us.