Newspaper Page Text
J
panic was touched off in Syria, among
Jews there by an attack against
two Jewish youths in which one
was killed and the other seriously
wounded, it was reported here this
week by travelers returning from
Damascus.
The funeral of the victim, Joseph
Chasbani, 17, brought one of the
largest Jewish assemblies Damascus
has seen in many years, as several
hundred Jews accompanied the cof
fin to the local cemetery and laid
wreaths on the tomb. The police
made no effort to interfere with the
funeral procession, which crossed
the city’s Jewish quarter
Tlie assailant, a Moslem, was be
lieved to have a certain immunity
from police attention Despite the fact
that he is notorious for his anti-
Jewish sentiments and for repeated
threats and attacks on Jews in Da
mascus, no police action hpd been
taken against him.
According to the travelers, the
Moslem hooligan attacked Joseph
and Itzhak Chasbani on February
19, as they were entering the Jew-
—turn to page 5
Wave of Panic Grips
Jews in Syria
PARIS (JTA) — A new wave of
oV A °
x o0
‘VV
. 9 hM
i 'VS&ft
The Southern Israelite
A Weekly Newspaper for Southern Jewry — Established 1925
Vol. xxxix
ATLANTA, GEORGIA, FRIDAY, MARCH 13, 1964
NO. 11
Jew ish Women Help Mrs. JFK First Meeting in South
Handle Condolence Letters American Jewish Historical Society
Meets This Weekend in Charleston
WASHINGTON (JTA)—Mrs. John
F. Kennedy attended a tea in Wash
ington this week given by the Prince
George’s county chapter of the Na
tional Council of Jewish Women for
volunteers who helped handle the
more than 800,000 messages of con
dolence received by Mrs. Kennedy
after the assasssination of the Pres
ident last November.
Hie chapter organized by 100 vol-
NEW YORK (JTA)—Francis Car
dinal Spellman called "The Deputy”
a "slanderous and outrageous des
ecration” of the late Pope Pius XH
and expressed the hope this week
that the play would not be allowed
“to drive a wedge” between Cath
olics and Jews in this country. Hie
first American performance opened
an Broadway last week.
The Cardinal did not mention the
play-^which accuses the late Pon
tiff of failing to speak out publicly
against the Nazi wartime slaughter
of European Jewry—by name in a
unteers, most of them members but
also including wives of diplomats
stationed in Washington and of gov
ernment officials. They sorted the
letters, cables and other messages,
according to the type of acknow
ledgement required.
Mrs. Kennedy thanked the volun
teers and gave each of them an
autographed picture of herself and
her late husband.
prepared statement. He conceded he
had not seen nor read the play “but
like most people, I feel I know its
tack—so much has been written and
said about it.”
He said that when Pope Pius died
in the fall of 1958, be was mourned
by people of all faiths "especially
the Jewish people to whom he had
been a loyal friend in the tragic
hours of Nazi persecution.” He de
clared that the play "in effect holds
Pope Pius XII guilty of the Nazi
crimes. Only six years after his
death our Holy Father is being tried
CHARLESTON—This historic Sou
thern community will host the three-
day annual meeting of the Amer
ican Jewish Historical Society, be
ginning March 15.
It will be the first time the 72-
year-old national organization has
and condemned on the stage.”
“I pray that the people of New
York will not allow it to drive a
wedge between Christians and Jews,
with whom we have suffered to
gether, for whom we have the
greatest respect and the friendliest
feelings and for whom also we have
deep and heartfelt sympathy in the
terrible and tragic sorrow which
they have known,” the Cardinal
stated.
Herman Shumlin, producer of the
drama here, said after the Cardinal’s
—turn to page 8
come South for one of its national
meetings.
One highlight of the program will
be a banquet Sunday evening at Con
gregation B’rith Shalom-Beth Israel,
181 Rutledge Avenue.
The “learned” sessions of the pro
gram, according to Abram Kanof,
president of the Historical Society,
will be held Sunday morning, March
15, and on Monday morning and aft
ernoon, March 16, at the College of
Charleston, 66 George Street.
Two other events have been sched
uled in connection with the annual
meeting, AJHS President Kanof an
nounced.
At 3:30 p. m. Sunday, March 15,
the 200th anniversary Rededication
Exercises of the historic Oomkig
Street Cemetery of Congregation
Beth Elohim of Charleston will take
C H A R L ESTON — The restored
Coming Street Cemetery, which
contains more Jewish graves from
colonial times than any other ceme
tery in the South, will be rededi
cated in ceremonies Sunday after
noon at 3:30 p.m.
The rededication services will be
one of the special events taking
place during the American Jewish
Historical Society’s annual meeting
here March 15-17.
Jack Patla, chairman of the re-
dedication service committee, will
act as master of ceremonies for
the service, which will be open to
the public.
Thomas J. Tobias, who stirred
interest in and directed the restora
tion of the historic old cemetery at
189 Coining Street, will be the prin
cipal speaker. Mr. Tobias is ‘also
chairman of (he local arrange
ments committee for the AJHS
meeting here and a member of
that society’s national board.
The program for the services
will open with an invocation by
Rabbi Hersh M. Galinsky, rabbi of
Brith Shalom Beth Israel congre
gation. Hiere will be brief remarks
from Bernard J. Olasov, president
of Beth Elohim which owns the
cemetery; Dr. Abram Kanof, presi
dent of the American Jewish His
torical Society; and Edward Krons-
berg, president of the Saul Alex
ander Foundation, which contri
buted to the cemetery's resoration.
Mr Tobias' talk, "The Cemetery
We Rededicate”, will be followed
by the unveiling of a special me
morial and the laying of wreaths
in memory of some of the 600 dead
who lie buried there.
The Hon. Palmer Gail lard, mayor
of Charleston, will lay a wreath in
memory of citizens of Charleston.
General Mark W. Clark, president,
The Citadel, will lay a wreath in
memory of those who fought in
this country's wars, including nine
veterans of the American Revolu
tion, six of the War of 1812 and
eight soldiers killed in action in
the Civil War. The cemetery in
cludes the graves of many other
place.
This is one of America’s oldest
Jewish congregations.
On Monday evening, March 16, a
reception will be tendered at the
Gibbes Art Gallery by the historic
Hebrew Benev o 1 e n t Society of
Charleston. It will mark the open
ing of an “Exhibit of American Jew
ish Arts and History in the South.”
An additional feature for delegates
will be guided tours conducted of
historic Charleston—induding its his
toric and lovdy houses and gardens
and places of historic Jewish inter
est.
Members of the Annual Meeting
Committee include: Dr. Bertram W.
Korn, chairman; Dr. Selig Adler,
Mrs. Fedora Frank, Rabbi Milton
L. Grafman, Mrs. Mose Hyman,
—tan to page 8
veterans of that war.
Mrs. John Orvdn, president of
the Charleston Federation of Wom
en’s Clubs, will lay a wreath com
memorating Penina Moise, poet
and hymnist who died in 1880, post
humously elected last year to the
Federation’s Hall of Fame.
Four the eleven founders of
the Supreme Council, Scottish Rite
Masonry, formed in Charleston in
1801, are buried in Coming Street
cemetery. They are Abraham Alex
ander, Emanuel de la Motta, Is
rael de lieben and Moses Clava
Levy. A wreath in their memory
will be laid by John Irving Smith,
of GreenVille, Sovereign Grand In
spector General for South Carolina,
Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite
of Free Masonry.
Dr. David de Sola Pool, rabbi
emeritus of Shearith Israel Con
gregation, New York City, will lay
a wreath in memory of the five min
isters of Beth Elohim buried in
Coming Street. They are Moses
Cohen, serving from 1749 to 1762;
Abraham Alexander, 1764-1784; Ab
raham - Azuby, 1785-1806; Jacob
Snares, 1807-1811; and Hartwig
Cohen, 1818-1823. The Rev. Cohen
was the great-grandfather of Ber
nard M Baruch.
After the laying of wreaths Rabbi
Martin Siegel, of Wheeling, W. Va.,
will read the nintieth Psalm, Rabbi
Burton L. Padoll, of Beth Elohim,
will give the rededication prayer
and Cantor Solomon C. Epstein, of
Eknanu-ET, will sing a traditional
melody. The benediction will be
given by Rabbi Allan M. Tarshish,
of Glencoe, Ill.
At the end of the rededication
services special guides will be
available for those who would Uke
to tour the cemetery. The guide
committee includes Mrs. Edwin
Pearlstine, Sr., chairman; Mrs.
Hyman J. Meddin, Mrs. Leon Stein
berg, Mrs Henry Nathans, Mrs.
Arthur V. Williams, Sr., Miss Caro
line Triest, Mrs. Leonard Karesh,
Mrs. Melvin T. Jacobs, Mrs. David
Goldberg, Mrs. Maier Triest and
Miss Pauline Fatman.
[Horror of Horrors
German Jew Describes Death March
Of Nazi Victims at Auschwitz Trial
FRANKFURT (JTA)—A young German Jew, testify
ing here at the trial of 21 former SS men and a trustee
charged with the mass murder of hundreds of thousands
of Jews at the Auschwitz-Birkenau death compound
during World War II, identified two of the defendants
in open court this week as mass murderers.
The witness, Hans Frankenthal, told the court that
25 members of his family were sent to Auschwitz in
1943, and that only he and his young brother survived
because they were used as slave laborers in the camp.
During his two years at Auschwitz, Frankenthal said
on the witness stand, he came often “within inches of
death.”
Every four to six weeks, he said, SS officers would
go through the plant where he worked, picking out for
death those who were too ill to continue at the labor.
Twice, he said, he had become “unproductive” due to
bad feet, and was about to be sent to the gas ovens,
when he was hidden by a political prisoner in the plant.
He also described the death march of the remaining
Auschwitz prisoners who were moved from the camp
by the Nazis, when the Russian army advanced to pos
itions near the camp He said the prisoners were march
ed afoot or placed in roofless freight cars where many
froze to death
When Presiding Justice Hans Hofmeyer asked Frank-
enthal whether he could identify any of the defendants
as participants ir. atrocities he had personally witnessed,
he hesitated at first, saying he was not sure he could
spot the men now wearing civilian clothing instead of
SS uniforms.
Finally, urged by the judge, he walked slowly to the
defendants’ section and identified two men. One was a
medical corps man, Gerhard Neubert, whom Frankenthal
had previously mentioned by name The other is co
defendant Karl Hoecker, camp adjutant. The witness
said be had seen Neubert “select” victims for the
death ovens, while Hoecker had beaten him.
An unusually detailed description of the Ausehwitz-
|
Birkenau camp activities was given the court this week
by another witness, a non-Jewish attorney, Konrad Mor
gen, of Frankfurt. He testified that, as a judge advocate
for the SS in 1943, he had been assigned to investigate
the theft of gold at Ausdrwitz, previously extracted from
the teeth of dead victims.
During that probe, he said, camp officials showed
him everything that was going on in the camp, from
the incoming train platforms to the death ramps and the
insides of the gas ovens. His guide on that tour, he
testified, was the late Rudolph Hoess, the camp com
mandment.
“It was a most shattering experience,” he told the
court. “Thousands were being cremated every day, but
the machinery, ovens and pipes were antiseptic, con
stantly cleaned, everything polished. Cremation squads
were always cleaning and polishing.” He described the
methods used to make the victims believe they w<^e
being led only to disinfection chambers instead of into
death ovens. “It was a nightmare,” he said.
At the opening of this week’s session, one of the
nine judges read pre-trial confession made by one of
the defendants, Oswald Kaduk. In that statement, Kaduk
had admitted participating in he selecion of prisoners
for death, and confessed also that he had beaten and
otherwise mistreated some of the prisoners Among those
he had beaten, he had said, was Josef Cyrankiewicz,
now Prime Minister of Poland.
Kaduk protested, however, that he was “only a little
fish in those days,” insisting that he was "only carrying
out orders ” He demanded to know why “the bigshots,
those really guilty,” were not being prosecuted. He im
plicated several of the present co-defendants in his
crimes One of them, Robert Mulka, shouted in the
court room: “That’s not true." Kaduk yelled back that
his charges against Mulka were true. After a loud ex
change between the two co-defendants, Justice Hofmeyer
rang his bell to restore order in the court room.
Spellman Attacks ‘The Deputy’;
Says Jews Mourned Pope
Notables Will Rededicate
Restored Colonial Cemetery