Periodicals Dept.,
provincial Library,
m » oracmL ORGlin BRITKH COLUmBIR jeuiRv
i^Qiitrolled and Publ^h^d^b^ Vancouver Jewish Administrative Coiincil
VOL. XIII, N6;^
Eleventh Aye, and Oak St. VANCOUVER, B.G., FRIIXAy, OCTOBER 12,1945
lOic Per Copy; $2.50 Per Year
ffpmCanadia^ by the Canadian Jewish
• WASmNGTONJWNS).--The Senate floor Ihis week ,;^ran^(W^fi;^pee^^# bj^-D^ocl'^ic ^lid ^Repul^ll^n Senators'^d'emattiding spefedy and effective action'by th6.British Labor Goyeminent in opening the doors of Palestine to the 100,000 displaced Jews being held ih camps iii ;tiiet Anglo-American occupation zones in Germany.
The Senators were in unison in censuriiig the British liabor Government for continuin the restrictions on Jewish immigration into Palestine and in urging President ; Truman to exercise his influence toward the red^ion of the White Paper.
Senator James E. Murray • of
Montana, describing policy in Pal-estinia as/'a^blaefc chapter in English history, full of evasion aind duplicity," said, "there was hardly another instance in the memory of our generation, where promises •have been so lavishly made and so consistently brokai."
Demands Fulfillment of Declaration
S«iator Taft of Ohio praised the President's proposal, contained in Siis letter to Prime Mmister Attlee, that 100,000 Palestine immigration certificates pe issued to the. displaced Jews in Germany and Austria. He said the, proposal provides "relief for many of"those Jews who survived the hbrriple persecution and tortures of the Nazis" and makes "some atonement for what
we have failed to do during the war."
Asserting that the "belated . emergency measure was by no means a solution of the fimda-mental problem, Senator Taft stressed that "we should continue to exercise our influence, as President Truman began to do, toward .securing from Great Britain a pledge to carry out the Balfour .Declaration.''
Johnson Denounces ^Football' Tactics
Senator Edwin C. Johnson accused Britain of making the Jew a "political football." He charged Britain with retarding the development of Palestine, by a policy of "evasion and political Ijock^ing", and added that, "unbelievable as it is, the United States has actually acquiesced in policy of detarda-
tion."
Expressing "astonishment" at the rejection by the British Labour Government of Resident Trvmian's proposal, he charged that the State Department had never officially protested or "raised its voice" a-gainst Britain's violation of treaty obligations.
In Favor Of Palestine Resolution
Senator Joseph Guffey of Pennsylvania, denouncing the refusal of the British Government to abide by its pledges to the Jews with regard to Palestine,, urged that the Senate Foreign Relations Committee reconsider the Palestine resolution which it previously abandoned at the suggestion of the State Department. He said he felt such a resolution wotdd receive
NOTE: It would be very much appreciated if organizations would notify the Conununity Centre onlce of any anaiis held outside the bciilding, so thai there will be no clashing of bookings.
the fullhearted support of the Senate and of the American people.
Senator Brien McMahon of Connecticut blvmtly ascribed the loss of five million Jews in Europe to the British White Paper. Asserting that the White Paper was part of the Chamberlain appeasement pol-. icy, he said the Arab masses are • fuUy aware of the improved living conditions in Palestine established by the Jews, and that Arab i>oli-ticians were inspired by the British to opppse Jewish demands.
■ -Similar sentiments,were express-ed by Senators'•'Owen Brewster, Leverett Saltonstall, Homer Ferguson and H. Alexander Smith.
Back Up Britain
• WASHINGTON (WNS)—A . -flat denial that he ever issued, or authorized the issuance in his :name, of a statement to the effect that President Truman had written a personal letter to the British Prime Minister requesting the admission to Palestme of 100,000 displaced Jews, was reported to have been made here by former Senator Guy M. Gilette, president of the America League for' a Free Pales-. tine.
Mr. Gilette was reported to have said that he neither' "issued oe •'authorized" such a statement and ''that the report was "absolutely unfoimded."
Famous Jewish Poet Dies
•NEW YORK (WNS)—Dr. Richard Beer - Ho£mann, famous Austrian Jewish poet and playwright, died here at the age of 79.
Forced into exile by the Nazis, Dr. Beer-Hofmann lived in this coxmtry as a refugee since 1939.
In 1938, after the Anschluss, Dr. Beer-Hofmann's home was confiscated by the Nazis when he was unable to meet the exorbitant taxes which had been imposed on Jews. With forty firancs in his pocket he and his wife Paula left for Zurich, Switzerland. There his wife became ill and died. When he arrived in the United States, alone and minus his vast art collection, he declared, "Now I am alone, and I feel that my freedom from the Nazis is almost v/orthless." His v.dfe, he told reporters, had sheltered him "froni all the bad things in this life."
Last March he became an American citizen, and a month later he received the Award of the Academy of Arts and Letters for distinguished achievement.
Two of his Biblical plays, in verse, '"Jacob's Dream" and "The Yotmg David", are considered great classics by literary critics. His "Jacob's Dream" was performed in Hebrew by the Habima Art Theatre.
Siurviving are two daughters, • Mirs;. Mirian Lens and Miss Naomi Beer-Hofmann, and a son Gabriel, in London. The services were held at the Free Synagogue, with Rabbi Stephen S. Wise officiating.
REPORT SAYS ATTLEE ASKED
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^PJiine Minister Attlee is to confer this week with a delegation of
J Zionist leaders on the Palestine political crisis, it: was disclosed here by an-informed ofScial who asked .that his identity be hot di^^^ time. ; . -
...^......-. . .,; .....'. . The inform^t said that.the suggestion of such a con-
ference; came from, the BritishPrime Minister himself, who is said to realize the full seriousness of the situation.. Neither the composition of the delegation nor the date of the meeting can be reyealed at this time. But it is believed that Dr. Chaim
Weizmann wiU head the delegation.
jn the meantime reports are cif-
Visit Vancouver
•^1 MR; SAUL HAYES, Na^
V tidhal JkecutivetJDire of theCanadian Jewish -gresgwill tour Western; Canada-this fall,.'and will: be in Varicouvier-arid Victoria^ b^ twe^n October ;30tli and No-vember 2rid,' in the ihtere;5t of |he combmed/campaign of the;; Ganadian:.J;e,wish .lG.on-'gr(^ss and the-United Je wish Ri^fugee £^ \Reilef A.gencies.
. ibr,.Hayes does'not need arijj: in-irpduction to the Jewisli'iiu^ Westem^Canada.' ile holds "fhe . tihctiph of havirig been chbsen. as the iirst spokesman of world Jew-rjrrbgfore Ae coimcils 'of .ihe^ United jCations when"the leading Jew-ish|qf^hiz9tibns of the world del-. egM^'iuiiajto rep^ case Ibefere^^ TOJ^^ sessions ■ of ills coiincil "in Mohtrelal last faU. M^^JHSyes ,'was.^^^ one of the foi^yriepr^entative^^ of .the Can-- ac^yii/^ JeWis^ 'tot.,the«^h-v Francisco conference.of the United Nations.
Mrs. Hayes who will accompany Mr. Hayes on his toxu- to the various cities in the West, is also an outstanding social worker and remarkable speaker.
Mr. and ]\&s. Hayes wiU have irnportant messages to deliver to -the Jewish communities'of British Columbia.
WHEN; THE Vancouver Little' . Theatre: presents ^'My Sister Eileen'-' beginning. October Mth,. Maick A. Stark, a prominehi member of the Jewish Conununity, and ' one of VancoiiveFs niost iaiehted (amateur actors will play the lead-ing-Tnale rqle. , . . , .j.
Biiai Brith See Jewish Legion Receive
Flags
• PRESENTATION of colors was carried out in a formal
ceremony by the Fairview Branch No. 178 Canadian Legion, BESL, on Tuesday, October 2nd, 1945 in joint session with the B'nai B'rith Lodge which tendered the flags to the Jewish Veterans group.
The ceremony was exceptionally well attended by the Jewish com-mxmity. A. M. Freedman, president of B. JB. Lodge No. 668 was chairman, and the colors were formally, received by C. L. Gor-vich, president of the Legion Branch.
Following the ceremony an address on rehabilitation was given by Charles M. DeFieux, retiring director and editor of the Vancouver Sun's Veterans Bureau.
Tha speaker was introduced by I. S. Finkleman and the vote of thanks moved by E. Goodman.
Refreshments were served by the B.B. Ladiss Auxiliary.
Mass Suicides In Prague
• BERNE (WNS)—Thousands of Jewish repatriates have committed suicide in Prague, Czechoslovakia, since last May, according to reliable reports reaching here.
Jewish leaders here are ificlined to describe the alarming situation to the fact that the victims were unable to see any possibilities of earning a living imder the economic conditions of the country. Most of the suicides were r^rted to have been without homes, without jobs, and without any hops for 5he future.
Woman Doctor Identifies Butcher Of Belsen Camp
• LUii^ERG'(WNS)-IW. Ada Bimko, a Polish Jewess, testified that 4,500 put of a shipment of 5,000 Jews^were moved into the Oswiecim gas chambers and crematorium on the day of their arrival at that Nazi concentration ciamp. She said that her parents, her brother, her husband and her 6-year-old son were among the victims. A physician, she was among the 250 women and 250 men who were spared.
She appeared as a witness at the trial of Josef Kramer and forty-four SS Guards on a charge of conspiracy to commit mmrder at the notorious Belsen camp. Kramer, called the B^ast of Belsen, and eleven others had been stationed at Oswiecim before being transferred to Belsen.
Sophia Litwinska, 28-year-old
Jewess from Lublin, told of her
almost incredible escape from a
Nazi gas chamber, coming "back from the dead" after being ordered into the infamous shower room at Oswiecim.
Dr. Bimko testified that German doctors designated the weakest of the Jews to be gassed on hospital inspections in which the prisoners were forced to line up naked.
^'Do you know the names of any SS doctors who. took paii; in the selection?" she was asked.
Dr. Bimko named five, including one of the defendants, Dr. Fritz P. Klein. Klein was tightlipped as she pointed him out.
Harold Osmond le Druillenec, a schoolmaster from the Isle of Jersey, who was interned at Belsen, described the revolting conditions there. He told of men eating the flesh of other men's blackened corpses, of a procession .of the living dragging tiieir dead ;to mass graves, and of other appalling conditions. Films showing the conditions in the camp v/ere flashed on a screen for twenty minutes.
dilating here that President Tru-■ man had sent another letter to Mr.
Attlee with regard to the admis^ . sion to Palestine of the. approxir mately 'ici0,000 displaced Jews in the Anglo - American occupation : zones in -Germany.. Attempts to secure official confirmation of this report brought .a. "no. comment^' . reply. These isources', however, indicated that Attlee's reply to President .Truman's letter .• is. in the . hands, of the Secretary of State Byrnes, who will bring it with him to the White House when he re-' ports to the President on the r^ 'sijlts of the Foreign'Minister's conference.in Lpndon, . .
A warning .that Jews will defend their '.'right, to entry into Palestine, • and will resist if this is opposed," ■ was issued here by Moshe Shertok, .diief of' the political!, departinent of the Jewish Agency,,at.a mass rally of.the Zionist.Youth Council. "We" are prepared to go into Palestine," SKeiiok sti-essed, "come . what xnay/- npt:jHJy becaiise-iwe rigio^jr^^^ «is -ojns^^aad
our need is great, but because we know that there; is ho basic difference between Jewish and Arab interests in Palestine."
A Cairo report received here, this week says that British warships - are cruising- the .poast of. Falestihe . aiid air force'units are patrolling the sky to prevent the illegal entry of Jews into Palestine. Gbyem-. nient ..official^'.Jiowever, ..denied there Was any confirmation of the alleged illegal.landings.
At the same time it was disclosed that the government of Iraq had sent a note to the United States assertmg that "any support given Zionism is deemed an act directed against Iraq in particular and the Arab peoples in general." Palestine Arabs, the note said, "have the right to determine theb fate without the intervention of other nations."
MAJOR M. NACHT
• MAJOR M. NACHT, D.D.S., who has just retiuned to Canada after four years service overseas has left for a short visit to California. He was accompanied
by his mother, Mrs. Z. Nacht, of
867 West 28th Avenue.
« « * •
CFL. SATyI SKNITKA, eldest son of Mr. and Mrs. B. Shnitka, 2497 West 7th • Ave., has returned to Canada, after 3% years service overseas.
CPL. SAM GORDON, elder son of Mr. and Mrs. C. A. Gordon, 1926 W. 14th ffve., has just returned after serving 4% years overseas.