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Pace Four
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Friday, July 22, 1955
The Southern Israelite
Published Weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, 390 Court-
land St.. N. E., Atlanta 3, Georgia. EL«1n 8249, ELgin 8240. Entered
as second class matter at the post office, Atlanta. Georgia under the
Act of March 3, 1879. Yearly subscription three dollars. The Sou
thern Israelite Invites literary contributions and correspondence but
is not to be considered as sharing the views expressed by writers.
DEADLINE is 12:30 P. M.. TUESDAY, but material received earlier
will have a much better chance of publication.
Member, American Association of English-Jewish Newspapers
ADOLPH ROSENBERG, Editor and Publisher
STAFF MEMBERS
Gustav Oppenheimer, Margaret Merrym-n, Sylvia Kletzky, Karen
Schiftan, Kathleen Nease
WHO BELIEVES RUSSIA ANYMORE?
The joke is on the civilized world, which of course ex
cludes Russia. Decent people everywhere were convinced
that the Soviets were persecuting the Jews. Remember Bi-
ro-Bidjan’s liquidation? Remember the liquidation of Jew
ish cultural institutions? Remember the faked-up trial of
the Jewish doctors? Remember the pogroms in Soviet Po
land, in Russia itself and in other Russian-controlled coun
tries?
Not a word of truth to any of them. Actually Russia loves
her Jewish citizens and they have a wonderful state of re
ligious freedom through that Red Country.
Well anyway, this is the purport of what Russia would like
the decent world to believe now. A statement on Jewish re
ligious life in the Soviet Union issued at the U. N. in New
York vouches for the wonderful life possible in Russia today.
It is as wonderful as the religious freedom under the Span
ish Inquisition and just as bloody.
Nevertheless there is significance that Russia would now
have us believe this halcyon turn-about which they now of
fer, undoubtedly intended to lure more innocents into her
lascivious clutches.
Believe if you will that the Soviets have changed their
color to the true blue of freedom from the livid blood-red of
the crushed and persecuted victims — not only Jews but non-
Jews as well who thirsted for human and religious dignity.
Russia’s statement disgusts us and is about as valid as the
perfidy we may expect from her at Geneva. You may be
sure that whatever concessions turn up as current advant
ages to the West will in time be revealed as lures for future
Soviet cunning and perfidy.
Fair Is Fair;
Market Bulletin Has “New Look”
Georgia’s Farmers Market Bulletin has in recent years
come in for a great deal of deserved censure. Reason was its
misuse by the then Commissioner of Agriculture Tom Lin
der as a vehicle for his personal opinions. These opinions
were not always agricultural in nature. Linder filled the
columns with a species of bias and political obscurantism
which offended the bonds of good taste and the boundaries
prescribed in the realm of the freedom of the press. It was
an anomoly that public taxes were used to support an organ
of such vehement, illogical political diatribes, very often
anti-Semitic. Even such persons as Roosevelt and Eisenhow
er and others whose names did not fit Linder’s particular
line of fancy and fury drew his fire for “ethnic reasons” and
not in the open forum of their public deeds.
Because of his allegedly large political following, Linder
was feared' even by governors and the Bulletin somehow
seemed a sacred cow. Then he resigned the post of Com
missioner of Agriculture to enter the race for governor him
self. The voters administered a resounding defeat at the
polls.
Several capable would-be successors to his agricultural
post ran on an outright ticket of returning the Market Bulle-
in to the purposes for which it was originally designed and
from which it should never have been permitted to deviate.
The victor was Phil Campbell. Since he assumed office,
the publication has been utilized for farming and marketing
information. This past week, the Bulletin took on a “new
look” — typographically. We take this occasion publicly to
acknowledge removal of the Market Bulletin from political
misuse and to commend Mr. Campbell for its rededication
to “agricultural purposes only.”
A Great Champion
GUEST EDITORIAL
Samuel Reshevsky, member of the American team playing
in Moscow for the chess championship, has done very well
on the team. But he has done something for the dignity and
honor of the American sense of freedom of religion, which
is worth far more to America, to the Russion people and to
the world, than a chess championship.
Reshevsky is a strictly observant Jew. Historically, play
ing of chess on the Sabbath was considered a game of mental
skill* not associated with wagers and gambling, and there
fore, not classified as work which violates the tradiional
Sabbath. In fact we have records of special chess sets of
silver or ivory used especially for the Sabbath relaxation.
For Reshevsky, however, chess is not a matter of relaxation.
It is serious work. For him, therefore, to play a champion
ship games deprives him of the Sabbath rest and relaxation,
and he had the moral courage to refuse to participate in the
championship game on the Sabbath.
Such self-respect and courage of one’s convictions would
be praise-worthy anywhere. It is of particular value when
it happened in Moscow. The acceptance of his religious
standards by his fellow Americans on the team was a living
example in the Communist capital of the American spirit of
respect for the religious rights of others. His dignity and
self-respect also brought honor to the Jewish people and hope
to tl^e hundreds of housands of his faith in Russia who are
desperately trying to remember their Sabbaths and festivals.
Samuel Reshevsky may not bring back the chess cham
pionship. He has won for America, for Jewry and for hu
manity a greater victory. Hail, the moral champion!
— AMERICAN JEWISH WORLD
Minneapolis, Minn.
Council for Judaism Granted
Charter for Fund
NEW YORK, (JTA) — The
American Council for Judaism, an
anti-Zionist organization, an
nounced that it has been granted
a charter for its Philanthropic
Fund, the establishment of which
was authorized at the annual con
ference of the organization last
year.
The announcement was made
by Harry Snellenburg, Jr., trea
surer of the Fund, who said that
so far only two of the Fund’s of
ficers have been designated, the
second one being Mrs. William
Illch, of Washington, who has
been named secretary. “It is ex
pected that a president and vice
president will shortly be chosen,
along with additional members of
the Fund’s board of directors,”
Mr. Snellenburg said. He em
phasized that it took a year of le
gal preparation before the Am
erican Council for Judaism Phil
anthropic Fund obtained its char
ter.
“Among organizations whose
needs and eligibility in terms of
the Fund’s principles are being
studied are domestic Jewish and
non-Jewish charitable agencies
and foreign welfare organizations
including selected institutions, in
Israel, and elsewhere abroad,
which receive little or no govern
mental support,” Mr. Snellenburg
declared. “Until this task is com
pleted, it will not be possible to
indicate with certainty which or
ganizations will be approved to
receive grants from the Fund.”
In the interim, however, the
Fund has made a grant of $2,000
to the Bayerisches Hilfswerk, the
welfare activities for Jewish dis
placed persons in Camp Foehren-
wald, near Munich. Late in 1954,
it was announced that, even
though the Fund’s charter had not
yet been granted, gifts could be
made to the Fund through the
American Council for Judaism
and the money would be held in
escrow until the ne^ corporation
had been formed.
Kastner Defends His Roil
In Hungary Under Nazi Regime
TEL AVIV, (JTA) — Dr. Is
rael Kastner, former head of the
Hungarian Jewish Rescue Com
mittee who has been accused of
collaborating with the Nazis dur
ing the war — and whose case
precipitated the dropping of the
General Zionists from the Israel
Cabinet — made a lengthy report
on his role in Hungary during
the Nazi occupation. He said that
he hopes to clear his name when
he appears in court on July 31
to testify on a complaint against
him.
“It was not I who collaborated
with the Germans, but some Ger
mans, particularly the Nazi lead
er Col. Kurt Becher, who collab
orated with me,” he stated. He
insisted that not only had he and
his colleagues "done nothing
against Jewish interests, but (we)
wrote an heroic chapter of devo
tion and sacrifice which deserves
great appreciation.”
Noting that some newspapers
Coop Venture Set
To Write History
Of Cleveland Jewry
CLEVELAND, (JTA) — A co
operative venture for the writing
of the history of the Jewish com
munity of Cleveland is being un
dertaken as the result of an agree
ment between the Jewish Theolog
ical Seminary of America and The
Jewish Community Federation of
Cleveland, according to an an
nouncement by Max Freedman,
Federation president. The Fed
eration recently concluded the
agreement with the American
Jewish History Center, sponsored
by the Seminary.
Originally planning to prepare
its own community history as
part of Cleveland’s Tercentery ob
servance, the Federation author
ized an allocation for the project.
As the Federation’s local commit
tee undertook a search for a di
rector for writing the history, it
was learned that the American
Jewish history Center had al
ready started its own study of the
Cleveland Jewish community, as
one of its nation-wide series of
community histories.
The agreement provides that
the Federation is to receive a
complete set of notes gathered for
the Cleveland study. The Feder
ation will also have the oppor
tunity to determine whether it
wishes to be a joint sponsor or
publisher of the history. The
Federation has undertaken to en
list the cooperation of many
Cleveland Jewish organizations
and agencies in the project and
has authorized an allocation of up
to $5,000 for secretarial and re
search assistance for the local
study.
—chiefly the organs of the Ma-
pam and Communist Parties —
had demanded he be tried as a
Nazi collaborator, he said that he
had planned to write a book on
the Jewish tragedy in Hungary
but had postponed it for ten years
to enable him to have a better
perspective of events and to al
low other people time to develop
a similar perspective. The recent
Gruenwald trial — at which he
was a witness, not a direct party,
although his role in Hungary was
the essence of the case — had
proved that the time was not yet
ripe for such a book, he said.
He declared he was raising
only the “simple question”.
“Could not the Germans exter
minate all the Jews they could
grab?” The Jews who remained
alive at the end of the war in
such camps as Belsen, Terezin and
others, he said, had survived be
cause Col. Becher, Himmler’s de
puty was a “realist” who fore
saw Hitler’s collapse and there
fore intervened because he want
ed an alibi. Nevertheless, Dr.
Kastner credited Col. Becher with
having saved many thousands of
Jews.
Dr. Kastner said that he had
had “great ambitions to save the
Jews,” therefore he had joined
the rescue underground as early
as 1941. This underground, he
noted, had helped Jews in all
parts of Europe to find shelter
somewhere. Many thousands of
Polish, Slovakian and Czech Jews
had been saved by this movement,
he added. It was “natural” that
when the Germans occupied Hun
gary that he — a member of the
Mapai Party — should be added
to the rescue committee which
represented most of the Zionist
parties.
This committee, Dr. Kastner
said, decided to negotiate with
the Germans on the basis of trad
ing Jewish lives for money. This
approach permitted the commit
tee to gain time for its other ac
tivities, such as forging documents
and providing funds for refugees
from other countries.
The situation under the Nazis
in Hungary differed from that in
Poland or Oussia, Dr. Kastner in
sisted. The Hungarians in the ru
ral areas were hostile to Jews and
waited for the'moment when they
could loot the Jews’ property. In
addition, there was no under
ground with which contact could
be maintained.
According to Dr. Kastner the
rescue committee’s activities —
specifically the negotiations with
Becher and Himmler — were re
sponsible for the saving of 15,000
Jews through their transfer to Vi
enna, the saving of 80,000 of Bu
dapest’s 170,000 Jews through
forged documents and sheltered
in friendly homes, and the saving
of 1,600 more on a train neading
for the Belsen camp and the sav
ing of many thousands in various
camps.
.VWAWVW
shipments of Antiques from
Europe and New England
States. “You all come.”
M. RINGEL
ALpine 0939
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