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PAGE 6 THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE June 13, 1986
JEWBK DdZ ilKs nECNVKHK
We announce
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number 6!
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(404) 252-0251
Ciao Salon Buckhead
featuring
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invites you lor a complete facial and hand treatment
A $35.00 value for only $20.00 with this ad
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(off Pharr Road)
By Appointment
262-1185
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CONGREGATION
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^ SHALOM
3147 Chamblee Tucker kd • Atlanta, Georgia 30341 • 404 458 0489
* ANNOUNCES*
'Summer Adult Education Classes*
Beginning June 10th • 8 weeks
Intermediate Conversational Hebrew
Tuesdays 7-8:30 p.m.
Intermediate Hebrew' Reading
Tuesdays 8:30-10 p.m.
Teacher: Sarah A dir
Open To Entire Community
Members: $25 Non Members: $35
To register, call Synagogue office: 489-0489
Rabbi Leonard Lifshen Spiritual Leader
TRADITION
You Can Count On It!
AMERICAN
HOTEL
For personalized assistance call:
DORIS J. PERMAN
Catering Director
688-8600
Fine Kosher Catering Bar Mitzvah
Conventions Bat Mitzvah
Special Events Wedding / Receptions
Theme Parties
Dr. Marvin C. Goldstein, President
SPRING STREET AT INTERNATIONAL
ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30303
k
We Welcome All Organizations,
Meetings and Luncheons.
REDUCED PARKING AVAILABLE.
^
The cutting edge
Th© murder of Chaim Arlosoroff
by Edwin Black
With the last air in his lungs.
Chaim Arlosoroff turned toward
the mayor ol Tel Avi\, Meir Di-
7engoff, looked up and whispered:
“Look what they have done to
me." And then he died.
The man who died that night 53
years ago, June 15, 1933, was the
political secretary of the Jewish
Agency. Who killed him is a mys
tery. Even today, Arlosoroffs life
and death provokes hitter recrim-
nations among Zionist factions.
Indeed, among the first acts oi
Menachem Begin upon entering
the prime minister’s office was
establishing a governmental com
mission to determine who killed
Chaim Arlosoroff. The commis
sion was interrupted by politcal
events and Arlosoroffs murder
remains Israel’s counterpart to the
assassination of JFK.
Much has been written about
the criminality of .Arlosoroff s death
and the crime scene itself. But little
is known about the politics of his
death, that is, why the shot was
fired. The first clue then is not in
Tel Aviv, but in Berlin.
Just after Adolf Hitler rose to
power in January 1933, it became
clear that German Jewry was fac
ing extinction. Rival Zionist fac
tions quickly began negotiations
with the Nazis to arrange a “transfer
agreement” to bring German Jews
and their assets to Palestine. The
Nazis conditioned any agreement
on a Zionist rejection of the anti-
German merchandise boycott being
waged by world Jewry. Ultimately,
this condition was met.
The tense negotiations leading
to the Transfer Agreement revolved
around one man, Chaim Arloso
roff, then a bright, young star of
the Zionist movement.
Arlosoroff was born in 1899 in
the Ukraine, but after the 1905
pogroms his family settled in Ger
many. As a youth. Arlosoroff joined
t'ne labor Zionist movement. In
1924, he emigrated to Palestine
and iater became a central figure in
the formation of the Mapai labor
party. In 1931. he was appointed
Chaim Arlosoroff
political secretary of the Jewish
Agency—that is, foreign minister-
in-waiting of the Jewish nation.
Though he was only 34 in 1933,
Arlosoroff stood out as one of the
Agency’s key leaders.
Negotiating the pact with Ger
many was fraught with problems.
Tw o German currency regulations
blocked any transfer. First, no
one Jew or non-Jew—could leave
the Reich with any assets. Second,
scarce foreign currency in nearly
bankrupt Germany was unavaila
ble for private use. Yet, under Brit
ish Mandate regulations, only Jews
in possession of 1,000 pounds
(about $5,000) could circumvent
rigid Palestine immigration quo
tas. So Arlosoroff went to Berlin to
convince the Nazis to circumvent
both regulations.
At the same time, he undertook
an equally monumental and contro
versial project. He believed that no
one could solve the Jewish prob
lem in Europe until they solved the
Jewish problem in Palestine. This
called for some sort of binational
agreement with Palestinian Arabs.
The British endorsed Arlosoroffs
approach. And without the know
ledge of the Zionist Executive
Committees, Arlosoroff and the
British began extending numerous
feelers to the Arab community,
dangling the promise of massive
economic development should
German Jewry transfer.
Feelers turned to fruition o n
April 8. 1933, when Arlosoroff
convened a much-publicized lun
cheon w'ith Chaim Wei/mann and
key Arab dignitaries at the King
David Hotel in Jerusalem. Infor
mal communiques after the gather
ing spoke in glowing terms of bina-
tional cooperation.
Antagonistic reactions from both
the Arab and Jewish camps came
swiftly. Arab radicals condemned
the Arab moderates who had at
tended the luncheon. The Arab
newspaper A1 Jamia A! Arabia
editorialized that “special reports
and stormy meetings” w'ere no
longer sullicient - and that the bi-
national initiative necessitated a
more “drastic response.” This kind
of language was hardly a veiled
threat; assassination was known to
be the Arab punishment for mod
eration.
Many Jewish groups were equally
irate. Mi/rachi -the major religious
Zionist party demanded Arloso
roffs resignation. Revisionists went
further, declaringat a news confer
ence in Lodz, Poland, that Arloso
roff should he condemned to death.
Another Revisionist leader in
Warsaw allegedly stated that any
Jewish youth who fired at Arloso
roff would become a saint.
Nonetheless, Arlosoroff departed
Palestine for Berlin on April 26.
1933, to negotiate with the Reich.
By June, using Jewish and German
intermediaries, a preliminary one
million reichmark transfer pact had
been secured. Under its terms,
German Jews could exchange their
assets for German exports, such as
steel and machinery, which were
then to be sold for cash in Pales
tine. Yes, this facilitated transfer,
and constructed Israel. But it also
fatally breached the anti-Nazi
boycott.
Meanwhile, Arlosoroffs bi
national efforts in Palestine, with
the active support of Great Britain,
began to bear truit. By the end ol
April, the British had announced
the resettlement of 100 Arab fami
lies evicted when their absentee
Continued next page.
Atlanta Men’s ORT and the
Atlanta Department of Cultural Affairs
Prescn!
An Evening of Modern and
Traditional Cantorial Music
June 17, 1986 8:00 p.m.
Atlanta Civic Center
featuring
Ben/ion Miller, Alberto Mi/rahi, Yaacov MoOen. Isaac Goodfriend, David Gilda.
(iDOd seat ' ™«»Mc day -I show a, .he AUama Civic Ce
for more information call 873-3950
liter
proceeds to , he o/tr scholarship el so a\d the c.
t V7TW.S ASSEUHEY SCHOLARSHIP EUSD
J