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THE CANADIAN JEWISH REVIEW
NOVEMBER 18, 1966
My Father: A Veteran Labor Zionist With Lots Of Other Ideas, Too
By Marvin Braiterrrian, whose father, William Braiterman, of Baltimore, Maryland, was honored at the Third Seder of the Baltimore Labor Zionist Movement; in the Jewish Frontier
To rc;illy understand my father you have to appreciate not only his consistent dedication' to the tilings that he is interested in, but also his charming and maddening inconsistency. The I ruth of the matter is that my father has some logical ideas and does many logical tilings; ami I really think that he is a great man. Hut a logical man? That he is not. 1 could give you a hundred illustrations, but I'll confine.myself only to a few.
My brolher, Sheldon, mentions in his letter that my father has .maintained an active involvement with his status as a veteran of the Jewish Legion, ilis house is full of military memorabilia, and you would think that he is one of those people who will never forget the good old Army years, and who will never die hut only fade away.
But all of my father's interest in things military and soldierly is completely confined to the Jewish Legion. Sheldon describes him as a sort of Kentucky colonel of the Jewish Legion. Hut his role as a veteran is not even as logical as that. Actually, he is more analogous to a Hungarian admiral.
My father, old soldier lhat he is, wouldn't let us join the Boy Scouts when we were kids because he felt that with the uniforms, the saluting, and all that, the organ i/at ion was too militaristic. If, after World War II, I had tried to join something like, say, the American Legion � after all, I-ain a veteran, too � my father would have''.been fit to be. tied.'
You should sec my father blush when we. sometimes refer to him as "the Commander." However, even though he might think it is all kind of silly, he works like a Trojan to.keep the Jewish Legion veterans together, because he thinks ..that it is a worthwhile form of Zionist activity.
Von'might say that his attitude is not really so illogical. Even though my father is a Jewish veteran by biography, lie may be a
pacifist by conviction. Not a bit.
In 1932, I was in the second grade, and Our teacher, a sturdy Anglo-Saxon type of grey-haired lady, told us to go home and find out all about the Presidential election that was then going on. The next day, I dutifully re[K)rted to the class that the election was between President Hoover and Norman Thomas, and that Norman Thomas figured to win, because my father was going to vote for him.
(In those days, whenever I needed to know something about the outside world, I asked my fatliei what he was going to do or what he could tell me, and I always went along with what lie said. This is a habit I have long since given up. I cannot even pretend to try to walk in my father's footsteps, because, to do so. would take me to "a lot of interesting places, but I would be getting there in circles.)
Anyhow, none of'the other kids had ever heard of Norman-Thomas in 1932, but that, is nothing compared to nic � as of that morning, I had never heard of Franklin Roosevelt.
Years later, I found out that the reason he was for Norman Thomas in 1932 was -because 'Thomas had been endorsed by � guess who?" � the Poale Zion. By the late 1930 s, both my father and the Poale Zion were strongly in Roosevelt's camp, and Norman 'Thomas had become another cranky isolationist as the Second World War approached. You should have heard what my father, the pacifist who wouldn't let us join the Boy Scouts, used to call isolationists then. You wouldn't believe it.
Some people think you can explain my father in terms of excessive Jewish chauvinism, but he even defies that label. For example, I remember when he gave nic advice about my social life. (Continued on Page Seven)
PLAN FOR RESEARCH CENTER IN NAZISM WHERE NAZIS PLANNED TO WIPE OUT JEWS
' Dr. Xahuni Goldmann, president of the World Jewish Congress, disclosed plans to establish an international research center at the villa in. Wannsee, the West Berlin suburb where Nazi leaders ill -1942 laid their plans to'wipe out Europe's Jews, says the New York Times. Dr. Goldmann. who came to West Berlin to discuss the project, said Mayor Willy Brandt had indicated his willingness to make the building available.
'The center, for which a private founding committee was set up last month, plans to study and collect data not only on Jewish problems but on all aspects of Nazism; Its proposed name is International Document Center for the Research
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of National Socialism and Its Consequences. "If the project finds sufficient support, work at Wannscc could begin next spring.
The villa in Wannscc is-'used as a student dormitory. The rambling house, untouched by ^var destruction, stands, in a large garden on the shores of the lake for which the suburb is named.
On January 20, 1942, Nazi leaders under SS Gen. Rcinliard Hey-, drich and SS Col. Adolf Eichmann convened in the building for a secret conference to lay their plans for a "final solution" for the Jews of Europe, meaning their extermination.
'The Nazi leaders plotted to kill about eleven million Jews in Germany and the European countries then Under German control. At least six million actually died in gas chambers, in concentration camps, and in massacres.
Dr. Goldmann said the use of the building would have a "symbolic character."
Dr. Eugcn Gcrstcnmaicr, President of the West German Bundestag, first suggested that it would be better to tear doun the house and erect a memorial on its site. But he later changed his mind. Dr. CioJdniann said, explaining that Dr. Gcrstcnmaicr had misunderstood the project.
The center is to be financed through funds from individual donors and foundations Dr. Goldmann expects foundations in the United States, West (iermany, and other countries to show interest in the work, says the New York Times. One of the projects to be undertaken at Wannsee is the collection and study of legal files and documents used by West German courts in war-crimes trials.
AMERICAN R.C. CARDINALS, ABOUT 40 ARCHBISHOPS AND BISHOPS JOIN JEWISH LEADERS IN CEREMONY
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In an event believed to be unprecedented in the history of America's religious communities, all five of the American Roman Catholic Cardinals and about 40 Archbishops and Bishops joined in a ceremony with Jewish leaders at a luncheon'reception at the board of directors offices of The Catholic Universitv, in Washington, D.C.
The occasion was the presentation by the American Jewish Committee of commemorative plaques to the five Cardinals and to Archbishop Patrick A. O'Boylc, of Washington, chairman of the National Conference of Catholic Bishops, in "heartfelt appreciation" for the leadership given by American members.of the Roman Catholic hierarchy in behalf of the passage last year by Vatican Council II of the declaration on relations with non-Christian religions, and of its implementation. . 'The five Cardinals honored, all of whom were present, for the event, arc; Richard Cardinal dishing, of Boston; James Francis Cardinal Mclntyrc, of Los Angeles; Joseph Cardinal Ritter, of St. Louis; Lawrence Cardinal Sliclian, of Baltimore; and Francis Cardinal Spellman, of New York. 'The cardinals and bishops were meeting in Washington for the annual Conference of the American Catholic Bishops.
Cardinal Spellman, Dean of the American Bishops, received in be-
half of the Catholic Bishops of the United States, a set of two tablets of the 'Ten Commandments, which bear the following inscription: "The American Jewish Committee presents to The Catholic Bishops of the United States this symbol bf our enduring common moral and spiritual bonds, November 13, 1966; 30 Ilcshvan 5727. 'The tablets of the Ten Commandments, hand-wrought in Hebrew letters made of silver and bronze, quarried from mines in the Holy Land by an Israeli craftsman, will be placed permanently at the headquarters of the Catholic Bishops, at the National Catholic Welfare Conference in Wpshington. Each of the five Cardinals received a commemorative-plaque based on a design of Torah breastplates.
Vice President Hubert II. Humphrey headed a group of national officials who accepted invitations to be present. Archbishop O'Boylc presided as chairman of the ceremonies.
Making the presentations for the American Jewish Committee.at the historic event were: Judge Joseph M. Proskaucr, honorary president; and Charles H. Silver, consultant to the Mayor of the City of New York and former president of the Board of Education of New York City, both of them leaders over many years in efforts to improve Jewish-Christian relations.
Cardinal Spellman, responding in behalf of the American Catholic
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NOVEMBER 18, 1966
Publication Offlc*
VOL. XLTX No. 7
Bishops, presented a scroll to the American Jewish Committee, which in turn was accepted by Morris B. A bra in, AJC president and U.S. Representative on the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
Rabbi Marc II. Tanenbaum, director of the Intcrreligious Affairs Department at the Committee, offered a 15th Century Jewish benediction in honor of Popes and Cardinals with whom Jews have had friendly relations, to conclude the ceremonies.
During the preparatory phase of Vatican Council II, the American Jewish Committee was invited by Vatican officials to submit detailed research data on certain crucial points in Jewish-Christian relations then under consideration by the Catholic Church, and to suggest steps toward better understanding between the two religious communities. Three memoranda to this ef-
fect were thereupon prepared and transmitted to Augustin Cardinal Bca, the president of the Secretariat for . Promoting Christian Unity.
In March, 1963, the American Jewish Committee organized a meeting of leading Orthodox, Conservative, and Reform Jewish scholars and rabbinic leaders, who met with Cardinal Bca in New York at the Institute of Human-Relations, AJC's national headquarters, to explore together the major issues on Jewish-Christian relations that were subsequently dealt with by the Vatican Council Declaration on Non-Christian Religions.
Founded in 1906, the American Jewish Committee is the pioneer human relations agency in America -combating bigotry, protecting the civil and rcligwji^ *o*�i� of Jews, and ad'racing tnN�^,se �f human rights for all.
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