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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, July 18, 1947
The Southern Israelite
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New Life In DP Bills
The Stratton Bill was marked as a still-birth the day
hearings on it began before a House sub-committee. Things
however have changed in the past two weeks. The pur
ported still-birth has given out with lusty yells. The Fed
eration of Women’s Clubs, of no negligible influence on the
American scene, has reversed itself and voted for the Strat
ton Bill. Now there is Catholic support for the bill. A fine
illustration for interfaith cooperation was when the repre
sentative of the Catholic War Veterans testified in favor of
the bill, both in behalf of his own organization and of the
Jewish War Veterans. The CIO and AFL are in back of
this bill. So are the Justice Department and the Labor
Department.
And thank goodness, there is no State Department
lobby here to dampen President Truman’s interest which
has been equally keen regarding the admission of one
hundred thousand Jews into Palestine.
We don’t sec why the six senators who have introduced
a bi-partisan bill of their own calling for the admission
of DP’s could not have used the verbatim text of the excel
lent Straltnn'Bill. Their’s as a matter of fact is so much
inferior to the Stratton Bill- No doubt the senators meant
no harm. However, the clause in their bill that the DP’s be
selected on the basis of their skills, cultural and religious
backgrounds should bo considered, has opened a loophole
for bigoted consular officials whose past record in granting
immigrant or even tourist visas has not always been good.
Thanks to them, die-hard totalitarians of all kinds managed
to come into this country while small voiced liberals — and
the non-political eternal victims of politics — have been
kept out.
Planning Help For Overseas
Organization of an Institute on Overseas Studies by the
Council of Jewish Federations and Welfare Funds was
announced recently by II. L. Lurie, executive director. The
Institute will provide American Jewish communities and
voluntary agencies with data essential for their guidance
in determining long range financial and functional respon
sibilities.
Dr. Isadore Lubin, former U. S. Commissioner of Labor
Statistics, has accepted the chairmanship of a Technical
Advisory Committee which has been organized to assist
and guide the Institute's program. Dr. Mordecai Ezekial
will act as special consultant. A full-time director for the
project is still to be selected. The major aspects of the
Institute’s research program were announced by Mr. Lurie
as follows:
1. Jewish needs will be analyzed and appraised in re
lation to the general economic and political setting of the
various countries in which Jews live.
2. The role of American Jewish voluntary programs
will be studied in relation to governmental and inter
governmental programs, local resources, non-sectarian,
voluntary agencies, Jewish voluntary agencies in other
countries, and the re-establishment and stability of Jewish
communities in the European countries where American
programs are now operating.
3. The Institute will study both the existing work of
the Jewish voluntary agencies an dtheir plans for future
programs of rehabilitation and reconstruction.
. 4. The Institute will not duplicate research work al
ready being done by operating agencies. In addition to
its own direct studies, it will obtain basic data through
the staff resources of those agencies as stimulated and di
rected by the Institute. The Institute will emphasize the
coordination of such data, its analysis, and presentation
so that the material can be used as the basis for arriving
at judgment concerning agency programs and activities.
5. On-the-spot studies will be undertaken in Europe
and Palestine as required, in order to obtain information
not available in this country and as conditions make such
surveys possible.
6. The Institute will conduct a continuing program
rather than a one-time survey. It will make periodic
appraisals of the material gathered and it will issue peri
odic reports. These will be available for use by local com
munity leaders and by the operating overseas Jewish
agencies.
The Institute will examine the overall situation of
Jewish needs, particularly an appraisal of current situa
tions and prospects of Jewish populations for adjustment
and for immigration.
In Europe it will analyze basic political and economic
factors affecting Jewish needs on a country basis. This
will include analysis of activities and expenditures for
relief, medical aid, emigration, vocational training and
rehabilitation, welfare institutions, cultural and religious
reconstruction.
In Palestine the factors to be studied include political
and economic developments affecting immediate and long
The Jewish A?igle on Best Sellers
By HAROLD U. RIBALOW
(Copyright. 1947, Jewish Tele
graphic Agency, Inc.)
For the first time in many years,
books by Jewish authors have gar
nered wide public and critical ac
claim and have attained tremen
dous sales during the past book
season.
Of course, Jewish writers have
always made an impact on Ameri
can literature, but most often the
writers were read and admired
within small cliques and coteries.
Few American Jewish writers
readied "best sellerdom.” Except
for Sholem Asch, most Jewish
writers have made their money
tl rough writing books of general
American interest. Thus Fannie
Hurst, Edna Ferbcr. Howard Fast,
to mention a few, are known for
books which are fairly distin
guished but hardly deal with their
fellow Jews.
This past year, however, things
were different. At one time both
tne fiction and non-fiction best
sellers were written by Jewish au
thors who used their Jewish back
grounds in their books. The fiction
leader was Aseh’s "East River"
and the non-fiction list was headed
by Rabbi Joshua Loth Liebman's
"Peace of Mind,” a brief volume
which has made publishing history
by its spectacular success. When
Aseh’s novel left tire top rung,
Laura Z Hobson’s "Gentleman's
Agreement," which deals with
anti-Semitism in America, zoomed
to the top and remains there at
this writing.
These are the more obvious
books. But if one is to study the
best-seUer lists, there are othe..'
books by Jews which have sold
well: Arthur Koestlci s novel on
Palestine, "Thieves in the Night";
Joe Sinclair s "Wasteland" and Ar-
j thur Miller's "Focus," both deal-
[ ing with tlie effect of Jew-hatlng
in America. Books by non-Jews
which deal with Jews include Pro
fessor Mason's gargantuan bio
graphy of Justice Brandeis; "Earth
Could Be Fair" by Pierre Van
Paassen, which contains wonderful
passages about the Jews of Hol
land; "David the King" by Gladys
Schmitt, which is in essence a Jew
ish book.
In many other books of general
I interest Jews played major roles.
I In Fred Wakeman's “The Huck
sters" there are many passages
referring to Jews and in countless
novels which appeared this year
and which dealt with the Ameri
can scene, the author felt impelled
I to write of the Jews. This was
[ especially true of those books
j which are now appearing about
| $ te war. Ex-soldiers, whose ex-
I periences are crystallizing, find
' the Jew as a symbol is a potent
i part of American life. In effect,
the Jew has "arrived" in Ameri-
■ can literature.
The image of the Jew as he ap-
i pears to non-Jews is a subject
j apart. What has the Jewish writ-
e- in America written this year
• which has so greatly appealed to
! non-Jewish American readers? In
a word, what books by Jews have
j bren influencing non-Jewish read
ers in this country?
Koestler's "Thieves in the Night"
described Palestine in all its cul-
; tural, political and social aspects,
j (That Palestine remained the
i number one subject on the Jewish
j angle was later further substan-
i tiated by the selling qualities of
Bai tlev Crum's "Behind tlie Silken
Curtain" and Richard Crossman’s
"Palestine Mission,” both of which
told the "inside" story of the
Anglo-American Commission of
Inquiry by two of its members.)
Koestler’s novel won front-page
and feature reviews all over the
land. Life magazine ran an 8-page
spread on Palestine and quoted
I heavily from this book. The New
j York Times chose it as one of the
1 best novels of the year.
Sholem Aseh’s "East River,"
I which is another story praising
, inter-faith, also did well. Within
j three weeks of its publication it
II tsold every other book in Amer-
| ica. Aseh’s name is so solid in
; America that an improbable plot,
j a poor translation and other faults
I did not stop its rocketing spurt to
. the forefron of sellers. Although
: the Yiddish press scoffed at its
| errors and its improbabilities, the
non-Jewish press called it a "no
ble” book.
I Laura Hobson's "Gentleman's
I Agreement" sold over 100,000 cop
ies within a month of publication
I (Continued on Page Eight)
Capitol
Spotlight
By Beatrice Hciman
WASHINGTON.
If it is any comfort to the dis
placed persons of Europe, activ
ity on their behalf is proceed
ing on three-fronts in Washing
ton.
In Congress, the Senate and
the House have under considera
tion bills to admit a number of
DP's to the United States. From
the White House, President Ti n
man sent a special message to
the Congress, urging swift pas
sage of legislation to admit "a
substantial," but unspecified,
number of refugees.
In a parallel, but unpublicized
step, it is understood that the
President has assigned a special
study on refugees and possibili
ties to the Vatican. Mr. Taylor,
who has been in New York since
early this year, is believed to
well into his complex survey. His
experience in the subject dates
back to 1938 when, as special
ambassador of President Roose
velt, he was made chairman of
the Evian Conference on politi
cal refugees, and later beer me
vice-chairman of the Intergov
ernmental Committee on Refu
gees.
A tremendous archive of ma
terials already gathered, under
the initiative of Roosevelt, lies
ready to hand. Foreseeing the
upheaval of people which would
result from the war, Roosevelt
in 1942 called in a group of
geographers, economists, and
population experts', and put
them to work on the so-e: I’cd
M-project (M—for migration).
The scope of the inquiry was
vast. The question of Jewish
refugees was a part of the w hole.
In pursuit of potential resc fle-
ment areas, Palestine was f' -en
a careful once-over. Accor ing
to those familiar with th? in
quiry, the examiners concluded
that the Negev desert area—-
which comprises 45 per cent of
Palestine, and four to five per
cent of the total population—
could be developed to accommo
date a considerably larger num
ber of inhabitants. And an in
ternational settlement authority
was proposed, with an approxi
mately one billion dollar yearly
budget, to cany out a unified
scheme.
To what extent the findings of
the migration project are being
actively considered for eventual
use is not. at this time, clear.
Officials in the State Depart
ment who were connected with
it in one way or another will
say nothing, for reasons of “pol
icy formation.” A logical deduc
tion isi therefore, that despite
the layers of dust which have
accumulated on the “M" flies,
they are not completely forgot
ten; that, in the current search
for homes for those lacking
them, the three-year labors and
hundreds of documents ma” lie
imbued with lire.
Dr. Isaiah Bowman, p.esiu
of Johns Hopkins University and
one of the most eminent living
geographers, was a guiding spirit
of the project. It has been sug
gested that the United Nations
could put the materials to good
use, and that Dr. Bowman would
be the appropriate person to
funnel them to the International
Refugee Organization, the ob
vious agency to deal with the
problem.
range Jewish needs and programs, analysis of activities
and expenditures for land purchase, reception and care of
immigrants, health and welfare programs, housing, agri
cultural and industrial development, cultural and religious
programs, analysis of requirements of new immigrants,
and progress achieved in making them self-supporting;
relationship of American aid to local resources and assist
ance received from other countries.*
Studies will also be made of settlement possibilities
in Latin America, the United Kingdom, Australia, Asia
and other areas. These will include an analysis of the
: readiness of tfyosp areas to absorb refugees in general and
Jewish’ refugees in particular; of efforts !to facilitate such
movements, and of steps that might be taken to enlarge
immigration opportunities. ,’
Envy and wrath shorten a man s
days and care brings old age be-'‘
fore its time.—Ben Sira 30:24.
JFWISH CALENDAR
5707
TISHA BOV
Sunday. July 27
5708
EREV ROSH HOSHONAH
Sunday. September 14.
ROSH HOSHONAH
Monday, September 15.
EREV YOM KIPPUR
Tuesday. September 23
YOM KIPPUR
Wednesday September 24