The Canadian Jewish News, Friday Mar. 4,1960 - 5
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THE CANADIAN JEWISH NEWS
fUBLIiHED EVERY FRIDAY
Dorofhy G. Nurenberger, Publisher iy\. Ji.Nurer»berger, Editor ' 1402 Eglinton Ave. West., Toronto (10), Ont: Telephone RU. 7-6031
Vol. 1, No. 10 Subscription: $500 Per Year Authorized As Second Class Mail, Post Office Department, OttaWa """" THE ONLY JEWISH NEWSPAPER IN ENGLISH IN THE PROVINCE OF ONTARIO
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German Policy
The appearance of the White Paper just published in Bonn on the swastika and neo-Nazi antisemitic incidents in Western Germany so soon after the events will be welcomed as demonstrating the German Government's efforts to collect and present a true picture of the situation and analyse the causes which led to these events. Wnat the White Paper, however, does not present, and which may still emerge during the debates over it in the Bonn Parliament, is whether the Government Jias decided on any clear policy to prevent a recurrence of these acts of hooliganism.
The analysis presented shows that at least one-fourth of the nearly 700 incidents which occurred between Christmas Eve and the publication of the \Vhite Paper, were imbued by antisemitic or anti-democratic motives. Further, and this is very important, a large percentage of the anti-Jewish outrages were committed by young Germans. If in the case of the older culprits one can explain their acts, as does the White Paper, by drunkenness or dislike of democracy because they have tested another system of Govera-ment. this explanation can -certainly not apply to the young. In their case the root of evil must be looked for in the failure to educate them in the ways of democracy.
Another shortcoming in the White Paper is its failure to explain why this rash of swastika painting should have flared up as suddenly as ft did. If, as the White Paper concludes, there was not' celntral directiori either from the extreme Right or from the Communists, how could it happen that so many incidents should have occurred in so many places in the course of a few weeks? Perhaps this, too, will emerge more clearly in the Parlrament-ary debates ami further evidence which
the Social Democrats claim to have on this grim subject.
While the Bonn Parliament is discussing the White Paper on the antisemitic incidents, the House of Commons has this week paid timely attention to the position of Dr. Oberlaender in Chancellor Adenauer's Cabinet. There have been demands here, as indeed in Germany and in some other countries, for his dismissal, As a result of these demands, due to allegations that Dr. Oberlaender was involved in the notorious Lvov pogrom, the Parliamentary Group of the Christian Democratic Party in Germany appointr ed a committee to investigate his past. But while Dr. Oberlaender's actual connection with this terrible massacre may still be in doubt, his past as an implacable and vehement Nazi is no longer denied. There is ample proof of his role as Liason Officer for the German Military authorities, v.iih the Ukrainian Nationalist gangs wiio were actively engaged in the Lvov executions. Not even Dr. Oberlaender has even been able to deny what he wrote on the eve of the war and later about the German mission in the East, about the purity of Nordic blood, or his justification of the use of Jewish slave labour in Poland.
Having collected and presented an analysis of the antisemitic incidents, the German Government should not draw thie necessary conclusions. One initial step would be to dismiss - from their high posts all those tainted with the Nazi pas^ whose presence tis a ofen-stant insult'to democracy. Quite apart from the findings of the investigation committee of Dr. Oberlaenders' pai-t in the Lvov pogrom, his Nazi past alone condemns him and disqualifies him from holding any office in Dr. Adenauer's Cabinet.
Jerusalem Post
Letter To The Editor
Memo To British Labor Party
Dear Editor:
The decision of the British Labour Party to take measures of reprisal against the Union of South Africa, raises another example of racial persecution which seems never to have bothered Labour leaders. "IFor the last 14 years, the "Arab League" has been carrying on a racial boycott against Jews. At the beginning the anti-Jewish character of the boycott has, for foreign consumption, been sugarcoated with an "anti-Zionist" flavour. But as the world's tolerance towards anti-Semitism became "fashionable" again (with police protiection beifig afforded to its propagators in Washington D.C) this sugarcoating is no more necessary.
Works of art, records and films by Jewish artists along with Jewish tourists are now banned from Arab coimtries as well as Jewish members of the diplomatic corps and miUtary personnel. Firms even partly owned by Jews or having Jews among its staff are "black listed."
"Arab League" countries have
becoine a. hotbed for Nazi criminals. The most wanted Nazi escapees are in the service of Nasser and other Arab countries. The following Is an incomplete list of knowp Nazis serving the ^'Arab cause": ' Jo-hahhes von Lebis, of the Goeb-bles propaganda ministry, Hans Appier, of Julius Streichers men (in charge of Egypt's "psychological warfare"), Leopold Klein, ex-Gestapo commander .of Warsaw, under death sentence by a Polish Gonrti-t^dwg-Heider, a Nazi newspa]Slrman,:inT charge of the Arabic edition of "Mem Kapmp" now a best seller in Egypt, Ludvig Zmd, escaped after being tried by a German Court, Joachim Daemling Gesti apo commander in Dusseldorf, Heinrich Zelmann, Oscar Dirl-wanger, top Himmler aide, instructing Egyptians m guerila warfare. Other SS & SA personages working for UAR are: Wil-helm Voss, Moser, Buble, Bender, Hilthofer, Manz and recruiter Willi Adami.
Adolph Eichmann, who is responsible for the racial extermination plan, too has found
refuge in the Arab League area, waiting for an opportunity to finish off his job, when the "victorious" Arab armies will conquer Israel. Another defector to Egypt is Dr. Eisele, the physician wanted for "medical" crimes.
One of the direct results of the presence of; the above Nazi "advisers" was the despatch of killers ("Fedaiyun"), mostly discharged criminals, into Israel to murder Jewish civilians in theur homes and ambush passers by on the roads;
What was Labour's attitude toward* this bloodstained racia^ Ust campaign? '
-For all we kftow - tacit acquiescence. Moreover, when Su: Anthony Eden, the Godfather of the "Arab League" and the author of the antilsraeli "Guildhall" program, could bear the hurt no longer and decided to take action against the dangerous congestion of Hitlerite virus threatening the peace of the Middle East - Labour sided with those responsible for racial persecution under Nazi instruction. Yours sincerely A. Yerushalmi
Reports On A Global Journey
New Friends Of Our People
When An Arab Tells The Truth
U. S. Congressman George Kassem (a Christian of Lebanese origin) who last month visited the country of his parents, Lebanon, and other Arab States, gave an interview to the Lebanese press, which reported the Congressman's reply to a question On Palestine as follows :
"The establishment of the State cf Israel was for-the purpose of making peace in the Middle Eas.t."
Congressman Kassem was invited to speak before the Lebanese Parliament, He sa'd he was thankful to see the pongress of the country of his fathers. Attending this session of Parliament were only half of the deputies present; the only memiber of the Government who attended was the Prime Minister Mr. RasheedKaramy!
Deputy Munir Abu-Fadel (Moslem Shiite) attacked Congressman Kassem for his statement to the press. He also sent him a cable asking for a confirmation of this statement; The deputy said he/would ask the Government to prevent Kassem from returning to.
or ever! entering Lebanon, "since a person who makes propaganda for Israel should not be allowed to come back," Abu Fadel also said lie would boycott all receptions given in honor of the U. S. Congressman.
(Kassem returned to Beirut after a two^day stay in Baghdad.) The deputy also said he could ask the government to delete; the speech of the Congressman to the Lebanese Parliamient and that he will ask all his colleagues (deputies) to do the same.
The cynical thing about all this is the way an Arab Moslem paper reacted to this wise oral cancel:
"This American . Congressman (Kasisem) v/as working as a spy .for America, and was performing a service for Israel. He was caught during the Palestine Arab War by the Arabs (in Deir Yassin). He had __ a' Jewish hame,^
\some~uncon-firmed information says that , he -was in the terriorist organization of Israel.'^
Our Yeshiva High School
Strictly speaking, the new Africa starts with the North African countries: Tunisia, Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Egypt. Except for Algeria, which is in the throes of cricis and deci. sion ,all have achieved independence. Their relations with Israel range from Egypt's conspiratorial hostility to Tunisia's half-hearted identification with
the Arab front...... ....
In the rest cf the continent, hy.jzvor, lsra:l has been making friends and developing constructive relations. Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria are outstanding examples.............
Israel's first venture in cooperative relationship with a young independent . nation struggling to achieve e:onom-ic viability was Burma. Israeli experts began working there five years ago in agriculture, industry, housing and road-building.
The experience of Israelis in Burma has ben successful for a number of special reasons. Israel's econontic problems in thtr early stages of its own independence and its pattern of government were more akin td-conditions in Burma than in. the U. S. or Britain. Moreover, in an. atmosphere of a cold war it was at times easier to accept advice and help from a small country than from a great power. And there was less red tape involved in deal' ing with Israel than with a big power.
*  * *
The    same considerations
played a part in the rectivi-ty of Ghana, Liberia and Nigeria to Israel's participation, in association with local capital and labor, in their economic development. (It is noteworthy that while in Ghana the work is being done mainly by the Solel Boneh, an arm of Israel's Histadnit labor federation, in Liberia it is being done by an Israeli's private firm. Thus both sectors of Israel's econ:. omy are representetd in . the economic development of the new Africa.)
In Accra, capital of Ghana, Israel's participation is particularly evident in the . ini. pressive. new building which serves as the headquarters of Nkrumah's political party, in' the establishment of the Nau; tical School, and in the development of the Black Star ship-
ping line. Prime Minister Nkrumah's private yacht is officered by Israelis. It was a curious experience to hear modern Hebrew spoken on the Prime Minister's yacht. The new Flying School and the engineering school at Ghana's Technological Institute are also headed by Israelis. Ghana has sent missions to Israel for (raining in agriculture and industry.
Prosidcnt Tubman of Liberia v/as not slow to emulate Ghana's example. The Ducor Palace Hotel, the first luxury hotel in Monrovia ,the capital, and the finest hotel in West Africa, has pust oeen opened. The Israeli firm which built the hotel recently also completed Monrovia's magnificent new City Hall and is currently v.orking on the Presidential Mansion and the Treasury Building.
♦ • * Native workmen are being trained by Israeli managers irid'fbreinan. on :the project* fp Ghana and Liberia' to 'de-^ yelop their own initiative -and xapaeity for becoming managers and foremen
By Dr. Israel Goldstein
his ambitions to create an all-Africa movement which he would control.
MEN OF AUTHORITY
Nehru in India, U Nu in Burma, Nkrumah in Ghana— these are three of the top names in the Afrp-Asian world, three men whose places in the history of their nations are secure by virtue of what they have already-accomplished.
They aroused in their people the passion for political freedom, invested the struggle with moral power, disciplined and directed an aroused nationalism toward political success, and guided the initial years of independent nationhood, af Egypt's Nasser is not included in this company it is because neither he nor his country came within the purview of my observation.)
The primary purpose of my interview with Nehru in New Delhi was to talk about Israel, a subject on which I had been cautioned he might be short-tempered. Instead, I found him friendly and unhurried. My introduction of Israel ihems^iv^ the context^of an obssr-
This is a new experience for people reared in colonialism, and is a factor in accounting for the goodwill toward the Israelis.
The feeling for Israel in Ghana is not limited to government circles in Accra. I found the same feeling of genuine friendship and admiration when I spoke to the king of Ashanti, a province in the north which has its own local government and is often an-tagonistic to Nkrumah. The king was uncommunicative and guarded on most of the questions posed, but when Israel yvas mentioned, his face lighted up with a smile and he ^^esv ed a warm tribute.
In Nigeria, on the threshold of Independence and by far the largest of the West ■states, Israelis are now developing economic contacts similar to those in Ghana and Liberih. In independent Guinea and Sierra Leone there are small beginnings. Other parts of Africa, where the populations look up to Ghana as setting an example, may also call on Israel for assistance—-always provided, of course, that President Nasser does not succees in
vation that agricultural cooper* atives were being hotly debated in India as one of the pillars of the next five-year plan. There are strong views that they cannot succeed on a voluntary basis, and that if they should succeed it would lead to communism. I suggested that Israel's successful experience with voluntarily conducted agricultural cooperatives, without falling into communism, wou!d be worth studying. -
To that the Prime Minister replied that India had a great deal of respect and good will for Israel and was pjanning shortly to send a mission there to study the agricultural co-operatives.
When I raised the point that India had extended recognition
African ^^^^^ ^S**' ^^^'^
had   no diploinatic , relations
with that country, he said in effect that since he was hopeful of playing a helpful role sometime in the future in bringing about peaceful re'a-tions between Israel and the Arab states, he hesitated to take a step which might be regarded by the Arab .world as unfriendly. Nehru's . place in India is
A Curious Tradition
In Saragossa It's After
Tomorrow, Saturday night, the Ner Israel Yeshiva High School will hold a Melavah Malkah with the participation of Rabbi Dr. Moses Burack, of Philadelphia:. The purpose of thisTfestive gathering is to call the attention of the leaders of our/community to the problem of higher ^Jewish education.
The establishment of the Nw Israel Yeshiya High School is cei*tainly a step forward In the direction of the upbuilding a^complete 'Jewish-school system in our city. The Yeshiva High School is a beginning, an important beginning,
in this direction.
We believe that the Melavah Malkah will help consolidate the new Yeshiva High School which commences a new e^a inour community life—that of Jewish High Schools for the youth, boys and girls.
. The next task facing us is the establishment of a High School for girls, as well. For Jewish education certainly is not. limited t9^b(5ys and young merC The Jewish "equation of the woman is not less Wpprtant. : !^
Saragossa Jewry, like other medfeval Jewish communities, used to rely on the king for protection. Whenever the King of Ara-gon visited the' Jewish Quarter (the so-called Jud-eria), the rabbis and day--anim would meet him in procession carrying 36 Torahscrollsr—three each from the twelve synagogues of the city-—in richly ornamental slj^er cases.:::
Onie day, so the goes, the rabbis of SafiE^ gossa held a secret c6h-clave, at which they decided that the use of Torah Scrolls 'for honouring ah image-worshipping kirig of flesh and blood was wrong.
Instead, they resolved to render the customary homage with empty Torah case^. For some years this practice was maintained without any outsider getting to know about it. Ev-
tised Jew called Hayim Shami (who changed his name to Marcus)* betrayed the secret to King Alfonso V, who decided to visit the Juderia. and to meter out severe punishment to the wjiole community if the charge proved correct.
During the night preceding Shevat IT. 1420, the legend cimtinues, all the beadles of the twelve syna-g o g u e s h a d i-dehtical dreams^ in which they were told by the prophet Elijah that they must in-mediately repair to their respective S3nnagogues, and secretly place the Torah Scrolls in the empty cases. Having awoken from their dream, they did a^ they had been bidden. ^
The rabbis and cayaii hastened to meet the king with what they believed to be enipty Torah cases.
entually, however, a bap- > When Alfonso demanded
to be shown the Scrolls in: side the cases, the rabbis almost fainted with fright; but as the cases were opened one by one, the Scrolls were duly discovered in their proper places.
The king thereupon ordered the apostate Marcus to be hanged for calumny aiUd his body to be cast to the dogs.
In memory of this miraculous escape the Jews of Saragossa observed Shev-at 17 (this year February 15), as a kind of local Pur-im festival. The account of the deliverance was committed to writing in the so-called Saragossa Scroll, which was apparently recited on the anniversary of the event.
On the following day, the^^-he Scroll has often been king suddenly made Us[ comd, not always by ex-, appearance at 4he-Juderiav.j)ert/scribes-
_ Avas . writtenxin Ash-y
kenazi script on .brown deer parchment, probably in the late nineteenth or eai'ly twentieth century.
unique. There is ^strong opposition to his exaggerated concept of neutralism in.the face of provocation; there is considerable skepticism: about his plans for solving India's^ internal prcblemf!. \^et no one else oven approx'.nater, the moral authority he wielc's. India re gar^s him ns tht; indispensable man.
*  * •*
Although he was repor.ediy in retiremsnt from polifics at the time, my talk with Burma's U Nu took place at his office in the building of his political party. The subjects discussed were world peace, Israel and the U. S. His visit to Israel had left a deep impression; twice he asked to be cordially remembered to Ben-Gurion.
U Nu's most ..striking re. marks were made in response tc my request for a message to America. "Tell them they should have more faith in democracy." 1 asked him to spell this out. He obliged. The U.S. had the opportunity, when .Chiang, Kai-shek was in control of China,, to bind him to a more democratic, honest, efficient regime, which would have preventetd China from falling into the hands of the Communists.
As for himself, U Nu said, be had proved his faith in democracy when in the early period of Burma's indepen dence he met the threat. of the Communists in his own country by appealing to the people in the name of democracy, explaining to them the meaning of democracy. Without any weapons except ideas, he said, he won the day. Hence
his message to America. *  * *
When I was in Ghana Nkrumah was in Liberia, but Nkrumah is felt even in his absence. His statue in front of the Parliament, his visage on the coins, his name on squares and streets may convey the impression of a "personality cult." His friends, however, say that these are necessary means of impressing upon the people their newly won independence. The opposition complains of suppression. Nkrumah's defenders charged that this is not a loyal opposition.
In any case, Nkrumah's example is stirring would-be nationalist leaders in other African countries. And he has a vision of political independence, economic development and social justice for the entire continent.
Sermon For The Week
Appeal Oversubscribed
The current Sidra opens with a theme only too familiar to twentieth century Jewry, an "Appeal" to contribute , wealth towards a worthy cause, an invitation by God Himself to the Israelites to participate in the building of His symbolic Dwelling Place among our people, the Holy Mishcan.
Most remarkable is the reaction of Moses to the overwhelming response to the invitation. When he was confronted, with the. triemendous offerings far in excess of the requirements of the building, he at once instructed that . the "appeal" be declared closed and that no further donations be accepted. How strange this must sound to those of us accustonied to the high pressure technique of the contemporary world. Is an appeal for communal requirements ever really over-subscribed? Furthermore, were this unlikely contingency to arise, can we so easily imagine our energetic initiators so simply admitting the fact, and issuing a public proclamation that no more contributions be accepted? It is only too likely that ample use for the surplus offerings would be found.
Surely Moses was not so much worried that too much wealth was being expended upon the house of God, but rather he was anxious lest too much energy bb absorbed in its physical construction. The danger lay in the very deep satisfaction that derives from good works. When Moses cried out "Enough!" he had in mind the precious currency of spiritual enthusiasm, which was not to be utterly spent on the first work that caught the imagination of the grateful Israelites. -
Unfortunately our generation lacks leaders with such perspective and courage. Working for the synagogue is too often synonymous with toiling exclusively for' its material welfare. Time, energy, and organization seem to stop short at this point. Comparatively rarely do we have business-like meetings convened to discuss the most effective means to counter ignorance and the laxity of religious observance: .How often do we hear of dynamic campaigns against the profanation of Shabbat, or of a sustained drive to encourage attendance at synagogue, car- :•. ried through with that vigour and efficiency which we normally associate with fund-raising drives?
the sad consequences are all too evident. New edifices spring up on all sides whilst older buildings are modernised and extended. Yet we still await the resultant revival of Torah learning or any perceptible impact upon the religious spirit of congregations. Perhaps, after all, the presence of God was more apparent in the humbler dwellings of our parents and grandparents.
A commentator remarks that despite the pronounced modesty Of this temporary .Mishcan as compared with the splendour of the subsequent magnificent Temples of God, these later edifices did not facilitate the earlier extraordinary spiritual experiences. The truest measure of spiritual potential is not mereiy quantitative, and the secret of the superiority of the humbler effort might well be linked with the deliberate restraint exercised" by the / wise leader.