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Jewish Affairs - South African Jewish Board of Deputies

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JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Africa and the first in Namibia. Lucian alsobecame a lawyer, practicing first in Windhoekand then in Swakopmund. In the early years hewas great fun, a fine sportsman and in later yearswhat a dancer! He took life too seriously as hematured.When war broke out in 1939, quite a lot <strong>of</strong>local Germans were interned, and some by thenhad even returned to Germany. The flags withswastikas were very obvious in Kaiser Street, andthere was a very active Nazi party in the town. Aswe were young and had many German friends wewere not aware <strong>of</strong> certain activities, except thatmany young men and boys fought up “North”.Some did not come back. In our home we had thewireless blaring forth day and night, even gettingnews from Germany (Zeesen was the name <strong>of</strong> thestation).After school, I studied at the Michaelis School<strong>of</strong> Art in Cape Town and had singing lessons withAl Bini Bini a well-known Italian musician. Itwas a sad time in many ways as the war was onand we lost quite a few friends. But I learnt somuch – going to lectures, concerts etc. Duringthis time, I met Larry Jacobson, a medical student.We married in early January 1947 and decided togo back to Windhoek. The country had excitedLarry on two previous visits so, after three daysand three nights on the train, we arrived “Home”.<strong>South</strong> West Africa, now Namibia, is a mostfascinating country, large but not over-populated.The ethnic groups comprised <strong>of</strong> Bushmen,Hereros, Damaras, Namas and Ovambo peoples.I was very interested in these people, whosecustoms, dress and physiques were so diverse,and started a lot <strong>of</strong> my speciality portraituredepicting them.We were extremely lucky to be surrounded bypeople <strong>of</strong> such diverse backgrounds, allcontributing to the excitement <strong>of</strong> a young country.As a family, we took full part in all that was goingon. After World War I, by which time SWA wasunder <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> control, Windhoek and somesmaller towns built sports fields, establishedorchestras and a range <strong>of</strong> other culturalorganisations, all quite amazing for a countrywhere there were then only a few thousand whitepeople and one million blacks.After our arrival in 1947, Larry began lookingfor a practice and we landed up in Lüderitzbucht.I hated it. As my husband said, the wind blew onlytwice during the five years we were there - oncefor two years and once for three years. There wereno trees, just Skeleton Coast desert, no freshwater and no fresh milk or vegetables. Sanitationwas the bucket system up amongst the rocks.When my mother came to see me she cried –imagine a nice <strong>Jewish</strong> girl in a place like this! Ouressentials were brought down by lorry. Our twochildren, Janine and David, were born there.The author in Windhoek next to one <strong>of</strong> her sculptures, circa. 1970.4


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Lüderitz was a very German town, as could beseen in the local architecture, the most beautifulGerman China glass on sale in the shops, theclothing people wore and so many other touches.There were only about 1500 white people and3000 blacks. Our good friends were Wilfred andMolly Lubowski, whose son, Anton, was laterassassinated by the government because <strong>of</strong> hispolitical activities.Luckily, I spoke German. I started the ArtsAssociation, dabbled in clay and plaster <strong>of</strong> Parisand gave lessons in English, Scandinavianembroidering and drawing. I loved the colours <strong>of</strong>the sand dunes, the sunsets and the semi-preciousstones along the beach, called Agate Beach. Today,Namibia is a great tourist destination. I understandthat it has a harsh climate, but there is so much tosee. There are no words to describe the desert, therocks, the mountains and the sheer openness <strong>of</strong>the country.I cannot say that I was sorry to leaveLüderitzbucht. Being so high spirited and excitedabout life in general, I had been stagnating at astill young age. A short spell followed in Umtata,Eastern Cape, where Larry went for a refreshercourse. It was heaven, moving from a very Germanto a very English environment. Certainly, it is one<strong>of</strong> the most beautiful parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>South</strong> Africa. It wasthere that my inspiration began to return. I joinedthe opera group and started sculpting and painting,sculpture being my main interest. Umtata was asmall town, but very much alive. There was awide array <strong>of</strong> different ethnic groups, whose artand craftwork were so colourful.On my return to Windhoek, I fixed up a studioand started sculpting in earnest. As I have saidpeople, all people, interested me. One can take aphoto, but working in clay or plaster in threedimensions is really to get to the inside <strong>of</strong> theperson. It also enables the artist to spend timewith those they are portraying, conversing withand learning all about them. One becomes a kind<strong>of</strong> psychologist after a while. You would bestaggered to learn some <strong>of</strong> the things that sittershave confided to me!Larry was a modest, humble human being,quite opposite to me in many ways. He wascompletely devoted to his patients, expending adegree <strong>of</strong> time and effort on their behalf thatcontrasts strongly with the way the medicalpr<strong>of</strong>ession operates today. Often, he would sendme patients who were depressed, bringing theminto my art classes where we helped them toregain some confidence in themselves. I also usedto help people who had been ill or injured get backthe use <strong>of</strong> their hands by using clay. After ourmove to Johannesburg in 1973, Larry was incharge <strong>of</strong> looking after political detainees. It wasa trying, <strong>of</strong>ten heart breaking time, but thankgoodness they were so well treated by him. Hewrote his own memoirs before his passing someseven years ago.When we moved to Johannesburg, I neverdreamt that I would be accepted into the GoldenCity art scene, but with the friendship <strong>of</strong> CecilSkotnes, Larry Scully and one or two others, mycareer soon took <strong>of</strong>f. I knew that it was not goingto be easy, but I really wanted to be a portraitsculptor. I was given an exhibition by NormaWolfewitz, who had opened a gallery, andexhibited with an English painter. To myastonishment, I sold all fourteen <strong>of</strong> my Namibianethnic heads. I now began getting regularcommissions and never needed another exhibition.I had some wonderful exciting times, travellingto many parts in <strong>South</strong> Africa to do my subjects.After doing a portrait, I would always put down inwriting my feelings about the work just done andthe characters <strong>of</strong> the people depicted.The materials with which sculptors work vary.I was introduced to clay plaster <strong>of</strong> cement fondue,a metallic cement (it has a high aluminium content)from France, by Frank McWilliam in England.One <strong>of</strong> the top sculptors <strong>of</strong> the day, he wascommissioned to do the head <strong>of</strong> the Herero ChiefHosea, to be placed in the United Nations buildingin New York. I was introduced to him by myfather, and he became my mentor and great friend.He taught me so much and I met many interestingpeople through him. When I got home, I could notstop working. One <strong>of</strong> my main subjects was theBushmen people, without whose art we wouldhave no history <strong>of</strong> our forebears <strong>of</strong> tens <strong>of</strong>thousands <strong>of</strong> years ago. I learnt so much and hadsome glorious experiences with them.Anthropology is magical to me. I could easilyhave become an anthropologist, and also apalaeontologist. I read whatever I could lay myhands on regarding this, and as it turned out cameto do the heads <strong>of</strong> Philip Tobias and RaymondDart, two great world authorities in the field.These heads are now at the Medical School atWits University. Philip and I remained dear friendsuntil his passing earlier this year.Portraiture is the orphan <strong>of</strong> the art world butmake no mistake, it is exciting and exhilarating.I did my work because I loved the interaction withthe subjects, not for financial gain. I honoured thepeople I felt were <strong>of</strong> historical importance, andmoney could not buy that.I began receiving commissions from far andwide. When I was approached by MangosuthuButhelezi <strong>of</strong> the Zulu nation to do King Shaka, Iwas overjoyed. King Goodwill Zwelethini,members <strong>of</strong> the family and Buthelezi himselfwere constant visitors. The unveiling took placein 1979, the centenary <strong>of</strong> the Anglo Zulu War.There were many guests from the UK, and myheart was full being part <strong>of</strong> that historical event.I was then commissioned to do Lieutenant-Colonel Arthur Johnstone, Chief Scout <strong>of</strong> <strong>South</strong>Africa. This commission lead to a friendship Iwas extremely proud <strong>of</strong>. He was the Prior <strong>of</strong> StJohns, Lt-Col <strong>of</strong> the Transvaal Scottish Regimentand head <strong>of</strong> various mining companies. His wife,Irene, became one <strong>of</strong> my very dearest friends. The5


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012unveiling was a very rewarding experience, andas a result <strong>of</strong> that commission I went on to dobusts <strong>of</strong> Lord and Lady Baden-Powell. Lady BPdid not want to have herself sculpted, but waseventually inveigled to my home, and I did her asshe was taping her life story. I did Lord BP fromphotographs. The busts were unveiled at the CapeAnglican Cathedral in a very solemn and emotionalceremony.whereupon he laughed, picked up the chair andreleased a turtle that had got jammed underneathit. So much for ghosts!The Bank <strong>of</strong> England commissioned a head <strong>of</strong>King Sobhuza <strong>of</strong> Swaziland from me. I can writea book about that experience. He spoke goodEnglish and when it was completed he suggestedwe unveil it privately one evening. This tookplace on his sweeping lawn, with just the king andI present.The author with her King Sobhuza headLord Baden-PowellA rather fun commission was <strong>of</strong> Sir RichardLuyt, Principal <strong>of</strong> the University <strong>of</strong> Cape Town.During the sitting, he related his wartimeexperiences and those from when he was Governor<strong>of</strong> Kenya. I had been told that Glenava, thePrincipal’s house, was haunted. While working, Isaw a chair move. I looked up every so <strong>of</strong>ten, andthe damn chair kept moving. I told Sir Richardthat I knew the story about the house being haunted,Lady Baden-Powell and HeadOne day, I was contacted by Peter Haskins <strong>of</strong>Citicom wanting to know if I would please do theheads <strong>of</strong> Nelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu andOliver Tambo. My shock and surprise can hardlybe imagined. You cannot believe how lucky thiscountry was to have been served by men <strong>of</strong> thiscalibre. There were others as well, but these threewere true giants and they were now in my hands.The wonderful openness and memorableconversations we had as I worked are beyondwords. Walter Sisulu, in my opinion, was thegreat man behind all that happened in <strong>South</strong>Africa. He was a happy, loving family man, and Iknew his wife very well – we were friends. I alsoshared a very personal hour with Adelaide Tambowhen Oliver died, and we cried together. He hadwritten such a beautiful love letter to her beforehis death.Then came the larger-than-life statue <strong>of</strong> SteveBiko, commissioned by Donald Woods. The latter,a gregarious and genial man, was one <strong>of</strong> the mostremarkable <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong>s <strong>of</strong> his time. He wasthe editor <strong>of</strong> the East London Daily Dispatch, andafter Biko’s murder, became the first privatecitizen to address the UN Security Council. Heeventually fled <strong>South</strong> Africa and settled in theUK. Donald and the Biko family helped meenormously to make a sculpture worthy <strong>of</strong> SteveBiko’s stature. The statue is now in the main‘piazza’ <strong>of</strong> East London and was unveiled byNelson Mandela.Besides portraiture, I loved doing large birds– flamingos, cranes etc. – as well as buck. I wasbusy eight hours a day creating, listening to my6


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Press report on unveiling <strong>of</strong> Steve Biko statueOliver Tambo, by Naomi Jacobsonmusic and eating Mars bars when I got hungry.Everything beautiful fascinated me. I becameinterested in other arts and crafts, like beadingart, needlework, went to lectures on antiques,read histories and travelled overseas to learnabout different cultures. I had an abundance <strong>of</strong>energy and really drove my husband to distraction.As you will have gathered, I have alwayslooked for ways and means to honour, teach andhelp others through ART. After a long day’swork, I would try and relax, listening to musicwhile sewing, beading, reading and learning. Icould not stop working and now, 87 years-old butstill 21 in spirit, am as eager as ever to continue.There has never been a tomorrow in my life – ithas always been today that counts.With my husband, Larry, working on the BikostatueAPPENDIX: Select works by NaomiJacobsonPortraitureAlan Paton – University <strong>of</strong> PietermaritzburgSir Richard Luyt – University <strong>of</strong> Cape TownPresident Sam Nujoma <strong>of</strong> NamibiaHarry Oppenheimer – De Beers, KimberleyPresident Museweni <strong>of</strong> Uganda14 heads <strong>of</strong> the Randlords – ErnestOppenheimer Recreation HallColonel A Johnstone – head <strong>of</strong> Boy Scouts1973Lord and Lady Baden Powell – Boy ScoutHeadquartersSir Percy Fitzpatrick – The Johannesburg ZooChief Hosea Kutako – Chief <strong>of</strong> the Herero,NamibiaPr<strong>of</strong>essor Raymond Dart – University <strong>of</strong>WitwatersrandPr<strong>of</strong>essor Philip Tobias – University <strong>of</strong>WitwatersrandIan Player – Wilderness and WildlifeKing Sobhuza – SwazilandSir Seretse Khama – BotswanaChief Jonathan – LesothoChief Mangosuthu Buthelezi – for the ZuluNationNelson Mandela, Walter Sisulu, Oliver Tambo– Robben IslandNelson Mandela – a gift to Parliament by theGuy Martin TrustLife-Size StatuesShaka Zulu for the Zulu Nation – UlundiCetshwayo for the Zulu NationMakontwani for Lesotho – General <strong>of</strong>MoshoeshoeSteve Biko – City <strong>of</strong> East LondonChief Phatudi for LebowaSan Bushman – Windhoek MuseumA tribute to women: ‘The Contessa’, a threemetre-high sculpture, and “Gabriella’, a lifesizenude study in bronze – MichelangeloHotel, Johannesburg.7


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012DAVID GOLDBLATT:PHOTOGRAPHER EXTRAORDINAIRE*Frank StartzDavid Goldblatt has spent much <strong>of</strong> his life asa photographer recording and chronicling manyaspects <strong>of</strong> <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> history as it unfolded,especially but not exclusively during the apartheidyears. His objectivity, honesty and passion as anobserver have been unswerving, his work hasattained major recognition in several countriesand, as the Appendix shows, has been recognisedvia numerous awards. Without doubt, he is one <strong>of</strong>this country’s accomplished and influential sons.Yet he remains humble and totally unaffected bythis mountainous public acclaim.I met with David earlier this year in order togain some personal and biographical insightpreparatory to writing this piece. I had known himfor many years but found that my knowledge <strong>of</strong>him was embarrassingly scant. I came away fromour discussions refreshed by both his candour andhis humility.Frank Startz is a Johannesburg-based artist,with a lengthy record in the field <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> civilrights activism. The interview with DavidGoldblatt featured in this article was conductedby him in May 2012.When I remarked that his pr<strong>of</strong>essionalbiography might be too extensive to be includedin this article, he furnished me with the following,abridged version:I was born in Randfontein in 1930, the third son<strong>of</strong> Eli and Olga Goldblatt who came to <strong>South</strong>Africa as children with their parents to escapeconditions in Eastern Europe.After matriculating at Krugersdorp High in 1948,I attempted to become a magazine photographer,a field then almost unknown in <strong>South</strong> Africa. Ifailed and went to work for my father, who hadestablished a men’s outfitting store inRandfontein. While working in the shop, I tooka B Comm. degree at the University <strong>of</strong> theWitwatersrand and maintained my interest inphotography.My father died in 1962. I sold the business in1963 and decided to become a photographer.Gradually I built up a pr<strong>of</strong>essional practice,mainly in the field <strong>of</strong> photo journalism,specialising in work outside the studiophotographing for magazines, corporations,advertising agencies and institutions.“Zulu women salvaging bricks for a white contractor from Indians’houses demolished under the Group Areas Act,Fietas, 3 June 1982” (David Goldblatt Fifty-One Years, Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2001, p226)8


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Queen, which was publishing very strong fashionwork. Town was mostly <strong>of</strong> men’s interests andthey employed very fine writers, designers andphotographers. So I sent some work across andthen got a letter back from the assistant editorsaying that they would like me to do some workaround the Anglo-American Corporation, onwhich they were going to do a big story. I submittedmy work, which they published. Then theirassistant editor, Sally Angwin, came to <strong>South</strong>Africa. By that time, I had sold my father’sbusiness in Randfontein. It was in 1963 and I wasnow a full time photographer, with no ties tospeak <strong>of</strong>. I had two Leicas and a lot <strong>of</strong> hope.FS: How did you exist?DG: Well, I took enough out <strong>of</strong> the business tokeep us going for about a year. Anyway, SallyAngwin was a <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> and she came outhere to get married. She contacted me and she wasthen commissioned by a man called DesmondNiven (the grandson <strong>of</strong> Percy Fitzpatrick). Hehad bought the <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> Tatler, which wasa real social rag, and he commissioned Sally toturn it into a sort <strong>of</strong> Queen & Town. He wanted tomake an avant-garde magazine for the <strong>South</strong><strong>African</strong> market, and she became its editor. Shewas a very fine magazine editor, veryaccomplished. She recruited me to do a lot <strong>of</strong>work. So that was for me a major breakthrough,because then my work became known. I did someinteresting stuff and she was very receptive. Andso that’s more or less how I started.FS: I recall that a few years ago the SABCTV,“Going to work: 3:30 am, Wolwekraal-Marabastadbus, standing passengers have slumped to the floor,1983” (David Goldblatt Fifty-One Years, Museu d’ArtContemporani de Barcelona, 2001, p283)used or in this case abused, one <strong>of</strong> yourphotographs to misrepresent an event. Wolf(Weinek) and I got involved in an attempt to getthem to set the record straight. But I think by thenyou had already received the benefit <strong>of</strong> legalaction against them and got the matter sorted out.DG: Yes, <strong>of</strong> course, I remember. Whathappened was that Lily and I were out for thenight. When we got home Steven, our eldest son,said that he had seen a piece on the eight o’clocktelevision news where they had used a photograph<strong>of</strong> mine <strong>of</strong> an ouderling in the N.G. Kerk. It wasa mission church, the coloured church. They’dused a photograph <strong>of</strong> mine which showed theouderling and his wife and daughter walkinghome from church – I think it was in Carnarvon –anyway it was a totally innocuous photographand the SABC used it to illustrate some ANCinsurgents who had been shot on the Swazi border.I phoned them up the next day and gave them helland told them I was taking it further. I then got onto my lawyer, Raymond Tucker, who was a realtiger. Raymond got them to broadcast an apologyon the same news programme.FS: What are some <strong>of</strong> the processes thatguide your work? How much is by design,composition, editing and so on?DG: I don’t walk about with a camera all thetime. I only pick up a camera when I have a fairidea about what I’m interested in - a certain aspect<strong>of</strong> the country initially, black/white interaction orconfrontation or any other subject. Then I instilthe needed visual qualities. I always do a littlepreliminary research and afterwards, if thephotograph is <strong>of</strong> interest, I will research further orcommission someone else to do research. I <strong>of</strong>tengive context or information to my photographs. Idon’t regard my pictures as pristine objects butrather as part <strong>of</strong> the matrix <strong>of</strong> life here, hence theresearch and information.FS: When you were photographing your nowfamous series “Some Afrikaners” and “SomeAfrikaners Revisited”, did you ever encounterany hostility?DG: Very little among Afrikaners themselves.FS: What are you currently working on?DG: Post-Apartheid public sculptures in ourcity, landscapes in the Karoo and ex-<strong>of</strong>fenders atthe scene <strong>of</strong> a crime.FS: What do you see as the standout momentsin your career?DG: I don’t think in those terms, I reallydon’t. At the moment, I’m thinking about aphotograph I’m going to be doing on Mondaymorning.FS: How do you handle all the worldwideacclaim and attention? It is, after all, more thanmost <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> artists have managed to attain.DG: Well first <strong>of</strong> all, I don’t regard myself asan artist. The word ‘art’ is not in my vocabulary.FS: In the world that I come from, you areregarded as an artist, one <strong>of</strong> the great socialpainters. 112


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012DG: I’m not an artist, but let’s not argue aboutterminology. You ask me how I handle it. I don’tknow. I just deal with people when they come tome. It could be nice to have the ego massaged, butI really don’t have an ego. It’s not <strong>of</strong> great or anyimportance to me.APPENDIXDAVID GOLDBLATT – SELECT AWARDS,PUBLIC COLLECTIONS, EXHIBITIONS ANDBOOKSPrizes and AwardsCamera Austria Prize 1995; Honorary Doctorate <strong>of</strong>Fine Arts, University <strong>of</strong> Cape Town 2001; HasselbladFoundational Award in Photography 2006; HonoraryDoctorate <strong>of</strong> Literature, University <strong>of</strong> theWitwatersrand, 2008; Henri Cartier-Bresson Award,2009; Lifetime Achievement Award, Arts and CultureTrust, 2009; Lucie Lifetime Achievement Award, 2010;Kraszna-Krausz Photography Book Award (with IvanVladislavic), 2011; Honorary Doctorate San FranciscoArt Institute, 2011.Principal public collections<strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> National Gallery, Cape Town;Johannesburg Art Gallery; University <strong>of</strong> theWitwatersrand; Museum Kunst Palast, Düsseldorf;Bibliotheque Nationale. Paris; Museum <strong>of</strong> ModernArt, New York; National Gallery <strong>of</strong> Victoria,Melbourne; Victoria and Albert Museum, London;The French National Art Collection; The Art Gallery<strong>of</strong> Western Australia; Ludwig Museum, Vienna; HuisMarseille, Amsterdam; Fotomuseum, Winterthur,Switzerland; San Francisco Museum <strong>of</strong> Modern ArtPrincipal Exhibitions:Photographers’ Gallery, London, 1974, 1986; SideGallery, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, 1985; National Gallery<strong>of</strong> Victoria, Melbourne, 1975; <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> NationalGallery, Cape Town, 1983; Various exhibitions since1978 at the Market Theatre Galleries, Johannesburg;Museum <strong>of</strong> Modern Art, New York, 1998; NetherlandsArchitecture Institute, Rotterdam, 1998-9; <strong>South</strong><strong>African</strong> National Gallery, Cape Town, 1999; AxaGallery, New York, 2001;Museu d’Art Contemporani de Barcelona, 2002;Witte de With, Rotterdam, 2002; Centro Cultural deBelem-Fundacao, Lisbon, 2002; Modern Art, Oxford,2003; Pala’s des Beaux Arts, Brussels, 2003;Lenbachhaus, Munich, 2003; Museum Kunst Palast,Duesseldorf, 2005;Johannesburg Art Gallery 2005; Arles Rencontres,2006; Fotomuseuin Winterthur, Switzerland, 2007;Fluis Marseilles, Amsterdam, 2007; Berkeley ArtMuseum, 2007; Serralves Museum, Porto, Portugal,2008; Konsthal, Malmo, Sweden, 2009; New Museum,New York, 2009; <strong>Jewish</strong> Museum, New York, 2010;<strong>Jewish</strong> Museum, Cape Town, 2010; Amherst ArtMuseum, Massachusetts, 2010;Various group shows including: “<strong>South</strong> Africa: theCordoned Heart”, <strong>South</strong> Africa and the LTSA, 1986;In/Sight, <strong>African</strong> Photographers, 1940 to the Present”,Guggenheim Museum, New York, 1996; “BlankArchitecture, apartheid and after”, Rotterdam andBerlin, 1998-99; “Home”, Art Gallery <strong>of</strong> WesternAustralia, Perth, 2000; “The Short Century”, MuseumVilla Stuck, Munich, 2001; “Documenta 11”, Kassel,Germany, 2002; “Africa Remix”, Museum KunstPalast, Duesseldorf 2003; “History, Memory, Society”,with Henri Cartier Bresson and Lee Friedlander, TateModem, London, 2004; “Faces in the Crowd”,Whitechapel, London, 2005; “Documenta 12”, Kassel.Germany, 2007; “Figure & Fictions” V&A London,2011;Venice Biennale, 2011.BooksOn The Mines with Nadine Gordimer, Struik, CapeTown, 1973Some Afrikaners Photographed, Murray CrawfordJohannesburg, 1975In Boksburg, Gallery Press, Cape Town, 1982Lifetimes: Under Apartheid, with Nadine Gordimer,Knopf, New York, 1986The Transported <strong>of</strong> KwaNdebele with BrendaGoldblatt and Phillip van Niekerk, Aperture and DukeUniversity, New York, 1989.<strong>South</strong> Africa: The Structure <strong>of</strong> Things Then, OxfordUniversity Press. Cape Town, and Monacelli Press,New York, 1988David Goldblatt 55 (one <strong>of</strong> a series aboutphotographers) Phaidon Press, London, 2001David Goldblatt Fifty-One Years, Museu d’ArtContemporani de Barcelona, 2001Particulars, Goodman Gallery Editions, JHB, 2003[Awarded Arles Book Prize for 2004]Intersections, Prestel, Munich, 2005David Goldblatt Photographs, Contrasto, Rome,2006David Goldblatt HasselbladAwad 2006 HatjeCantz, Ostfildeni and F-Jasselblad CenterSome Afrikaners Revisited, Umuzi, Cape Town,2007Intersections Intersected, Museum Serralves, Porto,2008Kith, Kin and Khaya, Goodman Gallery,Johannesburg, 2010NOTES1In this regard, the following independent observations are<strong>of</strong> interest: “Goldblatt’s rigorous, almost rigorous attentionto detail - whether it be in a seemingly innocuous commaor the Coca Cola sign in the window <strong>of</strong> the corner cafe, isone <strong>of</strong> the things that makes him the artist today” (AlexDodd, Mail & Guardian, 3 July 1998) ; “Precise indescription, Goldblatt’s photographs are also acute inhistorical and political perception. They provide a sense <strong>of</strong>the texture <strong>of</strong> daily life and an important piece <strong>of</strong> missinginformation regarding life in Apartheid <strong>South</strong> Africa”Susan Kismaric, Associate Curator Museum <strong>of</strong> ModernArt, New York.13


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Pottery in Mozambique. 1975This rather primitive pottery studio was situated in Mozambique, North <strong>of</strong> Maputo. They made hugepots using local clay.Basutho Ponies 1966Done during a trip to Lesotho. Oil on <strong>Board</strong>15


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012efforts on my behalf that this complex situationwas facilitated. Thereafter, Phillip was my mentor,as he <strong>of</strong> course was to some 10 000 medicalstudents. His tutelage was a turning point in mylife and also to those many students whose nameshe was able to recall due to his amazingly retentiveand photographic memory. He was able to hold anaudience <strong>of</strong> academics, students and the publicspellbound by his powerful oratory, delivered inthe most eloquent language.Phillip’s academic career spanned sixty yearsand never really ended. He was never in denialabout this. In one <strong>of</strong> his last letters to me, hementioned that he had to give up using hiscomputer. This must have been a painful step inthe inevitable ageing process for one who was soprolific.One <strong>of</strong> Phillip’s most distinguished studentswas Dr Robert Simmons, educated at St Vincent’sSchool for the Deaf. Despite his handicap, heachieved academic success and was appointed asa Senior Lecturer in the Department <strong>of</strong> Anatomy.Phillip’s interest in Makapansgat first arosewhen, as a Wits student in 1945, he participated ina third year science class initiative under thetutelage <strong>of</strong> Raymond Dart. The requirement forthird year students to participate in the Julyexpedition to the Makapan caves was continuedwhen Phillip became head <strong>of</strong> the Department <strong>of</strong>Anatomy. For him it was the highlight <strong>of</strong> histeaching year. For many <strong>of</strong> us ‘city dwellers’, itbecame a feat <strong>of</strong> endurance as Tobias’ staminaand feats <strong>of</strong> athleticism in scaling rock faces inorder to explore the caves, left us far behind. Itwas equally difficult to accustom ourselves to thesharp reality <strong>of</strong> bitterly cold nights spent campingon the open Highveld.Another memory <strong>of</strong> my student days is <strong>of</strong> myassignment to write an essay for the <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong>Journal <strong>of</strong> Science on the facial features <strong>of</strong> theOvambo Bushman. Phillip was preparing for ajourney to England at that time, but very kindly<strong>of</strong>fered to meet me on the cruise liner prior todeparture in order to edit my rough draft. Fromthis experience, I learned that Phillip was a master<strong>of</strong> the English language. He was a stickler forgrammatical perfection and we stayed up until theearly hours <strong>of</strong> the morning as he guided methrough the intricacies <strong>of</strong> my first scientific pages.It was largely due to his editing efforts that theeditors <strong>of</strong> the Journal expressed admiration forthe final result.After my appointment as Wits UniversityLibrarian in January 1975, I recall that during one<strong>of</strong> my visits to his then apartment at 602 MarbleArch, Hillbrow, he showed me a small hardcoverednote books giving an inventory <strong>of</strong> no lessthan thirty-six publications in progresssimultaneously. I was later to feel the effect <strong>of</strong>this extraordinary productivity when some yearsafter being appointed , I arranged for theUniversity Library’s fine craftsman binder andrestorer, Arthur Budd, to bind in a special bindingall <strong>of</strong> Phillip’s copies <strong>of</strong> his own publications aswell as cuttings about himself. The project had tobe abandoned, partly because <strong>of</strong> financialconstraints but mostly because it provedimpossible to keep up with his prolific output.I was delighted to discover that Phillip sharedmy passion for bibliography and was a dedicatedbibliophile. He was a relative <strong>of</strong> the renowned<strong>Jewish</strong> <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> author, Sarah GertrudeMillin, and possessed a complete collection <strong>of</strong> allher works, in full edition and variants, and inperfect condition.Phillip was a man <strong>of</strong> incredible vision andforesight. In my own half century career as auniversity librarian, I found him to be the onlydistinguished academic and researcher topersonally collate and organize everythingauthored by himself during his lifetime, foreventual deposit in the University’s Archives andnot to entrust this arduous, but hugely importanttask to the custodians <strong>of</strong> his collection.What was to be a most significant event andcrowning achievement <strong>of</strong> his career was thediscovery, by one <strong>of</strong> his former students, Pr<strong>of</strong>essorLee Berger, <strong>of</strong> the hominid fossilsAustralopitchecus sediba at the Malapa Caves.This discovery vindicated earlier research byRaymond Dart and Tobias on earlyaustralopithecines and early members <strong>of</strong> the genusHomo.During his later years, Phillip produced for hislegion <strong>of</strong> friends and associates seventeen annualnewsletters, each averaging twenty pages andchronicling the highlights <strong>of</strong> the year. These madefascinating reading and were by no means limitedto good news e.g. an ever expanding necrologysection!Phillip was certainly not a reclusive hermit. Aclassic example <strong>of</strong> his extroverted, outgoing natureis a party invitation <strong>of</strong> some twenty-five yearsago, which is one <strong>of</strong> my treasured possessions.It became a thrilling experience for me and agreat honour to be the recipient <strong>of</strong> many <strong>of</strong> hispublications, personally inscribed for me. Anexample is when Stella Stricke completed herbibliography (225 items) <strong>of</strong> the Published Works<strong>of</strong> Phillip V. Tobias, 1945-1969. Phillip warmedthe cockles <strong>of</strong> my heart in these words: “ToReuben Musiker - my former student, loyal friendand now cherished colleague. AffectionatelyPhillip Tobias.”Phillip Tobias was a great credit to <strong>South</strong>Africa, to Jewry (in general and <strong>South</strong> Africa inparticular), to the worlds <strong>of</strong> science and medicineand specifically palaeo-anthropology andanatomical genetics. He deserves to beremembered as unique a person as it is possiblefor a human being to be.18


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012A BRIEF JOURNEY THROUGH TURKISHJEWISH HISTORY*Bernard KatzThe <strong>Jewish</strong> connection with Turkey dates toBiblical times. Abraham settled in Haran, whereTerah died, on the way from Ur Kasdim beforecontinuing his journey to Canaan. 1 Haran is almostuniversally identified with Harran, in presentdayTurkey.In June 2010, a team <strong>of</strong> archaeologists fromthe Hebrew University discovered intact bee hivesdating back to 900 BCE and concluded that thesebees were imported to Israel from Turkey wherethe bees produced more honey and were lessaggressive than the local variety. 2Jews have lived in Turkey since ancient timesas evidenced by numerous references in the NewTestament. Iconium (now Konya) and Ephesusare mentioned as having synagogues. 3 EmperorConstantine (312–337) was responsible forrelocating the capital <strong>of</strong> the Roman Empire fromRome to Constantinople (now Istanbul), which henamed after himself. This eastern part <strong>of</strong> theRoman Empire became known as Byzantium.In 1168 Benjamin <strong>of</strong> Tudela, a Spanish <strong>Jewish</strong>traveller visited Constantinople, then the largestcity on the world. He wrote a book <strong>of</strong> his travels,described by Paul Johnson as “the most sensible,objective and reliable <strong>of</strong> all travel books writtenin the Middle Ages.” 4 Benjamin <strong>of</strong> Tudela wasparticularly impressed by Constantinople,commenting, “…there is none like it in the worldexcept Baghdad….Wealth like that <strong>of</strong>Constantinople is not to be found in the wholeworld.” 5 At the time, some 2000 Jews were livingin Constantinople. About their condition, he wasless impressed:No Jew there is permitted to ride horseback. Theone exception is … the king’s physician, andthrough whom the Jews enjoy considerablealleviation <strong>of</strong> their oppression. For their conditionis very low, and there is much hatred againstthem, which is fostered by the tanners, whothrow out their dirty water in the streets beforethe doors <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Jewish</strong> houses and defile theJews’ quarters. So the Greeks hate the Jews …and subject them to great oppression, and beatthem in the streets, and in every way treat themBernard Katz, a frequent contributor to <strong>Jewish</strong><strong>Affairs</strong>, is a chartered accountant inJohannesburg. His previous articles have focusedon the <strong>Jewish</strong> communities <strong>of</strong> Spain, Italy,Lithuania, Russia and Prague.with rigour. Yet the Jews are rich and good,kindly and charitable, and bear their lot withcheerfulness. 6The Osmanli dynasty, known to Europeans asthe Ottomans, was established by Sultan Osmanwho began the Ottoman conquest <strong>of</strong> Asia Minorin 1299. Sultan Orhan (1326-60) added the greaterpart <strong>of</strong> Asia Minor and gained a foothold inEurope at Gallipoli. Murad I (1360-89) capturedthe eastern half <strong>of</strong> the Balkan Peninsula andSultan Murad II (1421-1451) captured Salonikain 1430. The Ottomans kept making inroads intothe Byzantine Empire until it ceased to exist in1453 when Mehmet II (1451-1481) conqueredConstantinople. Selim I (1512-20) doubled thesize <strong>of</strong> the Ottoman Empire by defeating theMamelukes in 1517 and adding Egypt, Palestine(which remained under Ottoman control for 400years), Syria and the Arabian Peninsula. Duringthe reign <strong>of</strong> Suleiman the Magnificent (1520-66),regarded as the greatest <strong>of</strong> the Ottoman sultans,the Ottoman Empire reached its greatest powerand extent with conquests <strong>of</strong> Hungary, Tripolitania(Libya), Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Belgrade, Rhodes,Cyprus and Yemen.Jews in the Ottoman Empire were well treatedalthough subject to dhimmi (lit. ‘protected’, butdesignating discrimination against non-Muslims)regulations. Ottoman rule was tolerant andconditions for the Jews under them weresignificantly better than under the Christian GreekByzantines. As a result, as the Ottomans conqueredByzantine cities, the <strong>Jewish</strong> communitieswelcomed and supported them. Bursa, where Jewshad been living for over 500 years, and whichbecame the Ottoman Empire’s first capital, wascaptured in 1326. Its <strong>Jewish</strong> community becamethe first <strong>Jewish</strong> community to come under Ottomanrule and this marks the beginning <strong>of</strong> a common<strong>Jewish</strong> Ottoman history. According to onetradition, the <strong>Jewish</strong> community actively helpedthe Ottomans capture the city. Another assertsthat the city’s <strong>Jewish</strong> and Greek inhabitants fledas the Turks approached and that subsequent to itscapture the Jews but not the Greeks were invitedback. 7After the conquest <strong>of</strong> Constantinople in 1453the city was devastated and needed to berevitalized. The Turks were good warriors andfarmers but not administrators or businessmen.Sultan Mehmet II did not trust the native Greekpopulation so the Jews became the logical solution19


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012to generate a commercial revival. 8 Soon after thecity’s capture, therefore, he ordered the Jews inthe empire to relocate there. At the time the Jewsresented this forced relocation and to pacify themMehmet II, according to tradition, issued thefollowing proclamation using phrases from thebooks <strong>of</strong> Genesis and Ezra:Who among you <strong>of</strong> all my people that is with me,may his God be with him, let him ascend toConstantinople, the site <strong>of</strong> my royal throne. Lethim dwell in the best <strong>of</strong> the land, each beneathhis vine and beneath his fig tree, with silver andwith gold, with wealth and with cattle. Let himdwell in the land, trade in it, and take possession<strong>of</strong> it. 9As a result <strong>of</strong> this proclamation many Jewscame to Constantinople, which became the capital<strong>of</strong> the Ottoman Empire. Whenever the sultancaptured a town, he transferred its Jews to there.The Jews’ economic and religious situationimproved greatly by comparison with theircondition during the Byzantine era: “There cameinto being in Constantinople splendidcommunities; Torah, wealth and glory increasedin the congregation.” 10The original Jews who lived in Turkey fromByzantine times are known as Romaniot – GreekspeakingJews. Although some had been residents<strong>of</strong> Constantinople prior to the Ottoman conquest,most were settled there subsequently. Whilst theyplayed an important role in the <strong>Jewish</strong> communityduring the early years <strong>of</strong> Ottoman rule theirposition <strong>of</strong> influence was gradually eroded by theinflux <strong>of</strong> new <strong>Jewish</strong> communities. 11Rabbi Isaac Tzarfati moved to the OttomanEmpire from Europe and became the chief rabbi.He wrote a letter (dated by Heinrich Graetz to1456) 12 to the Jews <strong>of</strong> Germany, who at the timewere subject to cruel persecution, encouragingthem to settle in Turkey:I Isaac Tzarfati…proclaim to you that Turkey isa land wherein nothing is lacking….Is it notbetter for you to live under Muslims than underChristians? Here every man may dwell at peaceunder his own vine and fig-tree…. Arise! Andleave this accursed land for ever! 13This letter stimulated an influx <strong>of</strong> AshkenaziJews, who established communities in manyTurkish towns. 14 By 1478, Constantinople’s Jewsnumbered 10 000, comprising some 10% <strong>of</strong> thecity’s population. 15In 1492, more than 160 000 Jews were expelledfrom Spain, 16 and <strong>of</strong> these approximately 100000 17 ultimately settled in Turkey. Sultan BayazidII (1481-1512) not only permitted these Jews tosettle in the Ottoman Empire but according toBernard Lewis they were “encouraged, assistedand sometimes compelled.” 18 Bayazid II is reputedto have said about King Ferdinand <strong>of</strong> Spain “Canyou call such a king wise and intelligent? He isimpoverishing his country and enriching mykingdom.” 19The migration <strong>of</strong> Sephardi Jews did not stopafter the Spanish and subsequent Portugueseexpulsion. It continued into the 15 th and 16 thCenturies as Marranos left Spain and Portugaland settled in various countries before ultimatelyestablishing themselves in Turkey, which provedto be the safest place to return to Judaism. 20Among the Sephardi Jews expelled from Portugalwere Ephraim Caro and his young son JosephCaro, who later settled in Safed and wrote theShulchan Aruch.The arrival <strong>of</strong> Sephardi Jews significantlychanged the composition <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Jewish</strong>community. According to certain calculations, 40000 Jews migrated to Constantinople and 20 000to Salonika. 21 Constantinople soon became thelargest <strong>Jewish</strong> settlement in Europe. In time, itwas rivalled and then outstripped by Salonika(now part <strong>of</strong> Greece) which became apredominantly <strong>Jewish</strong> city and remained so forfour centuries.The Jews were a heterogeneous communityand the Romaniots, Ashkenazim and Sephardimkept separate congregations. The Sephardim evenkept separate sub-communities, withcongregations from different Iberian townsfunctioning separately. The Sephardicommunities, writes Zimmels, exhibited twospecial features, viz. an inclination to domineerover others and to quarrel amongst themselves.The former characteristic led to the absorption <strong>of</strong>many non-Sephardi communities by theSephardim, and the latter frequently led tosecession from an existing congregation and theformation <strong>of</strong> a rival one. 22Sephardi immigrants made an importantcontribution from the mercantile perspective andinternational trade in the eastern Mediterraneanwas largely <strong>Jewish</strong> controlled. They also providedthe Turks with armaments and gunpowder, whichaccording to Graetz thereby suppliedChristendom’s arch enemy with the weapons thatenabled them to inflict on the Christians “defeatafter defeat” and “humiliation on humiliation.” 23Sephardi Jews were conversant with Europeanpolitics and had knowledge <strong>of</strong> Europeanlanguages. Turkey was the most powerful state inEurope and for the first time since Hasdai ibnShaprut in 10 th Century Cordoba, Jews played aprominent role in international politics.No case was more striking than that <strong>of</strong> DonJoseph Nasi (1524-79), who became one <strong>of</strong> themost influential individuals in the Turkish Empire.His aunt and mother-in-law Dona Gracia Nasi(1510-69) was the most benevolent and adored<strong>Jewish</strong> woman <strong>of</strong> her day. They were PortugueseMarranos whose significant business interestswere managed by Gracia Nasi after the death <strong>of</strong>her husband with Don Joseph’s assistance.Together, they built and expanded the House <strong>of</strong>20


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Nasi into one <strong>of</strong> the richest merchant houses inEurope. After leaving Portugal, they were unableto find a secure place to practice their Judaismand eventually sought refuge in Turkey. It wouldbe three centuries before another <strong>Jewish</strong> dynasty,the Rothschild’s, would make a similar impact oninternational affairs.Perhaps Dona Gracia and Don Joseph’s mostmemorable legacy was in relation to Palestine.Dona Gracia provided substantial funding forlearning and for the first time in centuries Palestinebecame a truly great centre <strong>of</strong> rabbinic learning. 24Don Joseph obtained a grant <strong>of</strong> the ruined city <strong>of</strong>Tiberius, which he rebuilt to be a place not only <strong>of</strong>refuge for persecuted Jews but as the kernel <strong>of</strong> a<strong>Jewish</strong> state. 25 Cecil Roth observed, however,that although not a failure, the Tiberius experimentcertainly did not live up to its enthusiastic hopes. 26The Ottoman Empire and its <strong>Jewish</strong> citizensboth reached their high point during the reign <strong>of</strong>Suleiman (1520-1566). Although the situationfor the Jews was generally favourable even underthe relatively sympathetic sultans as Bayazid II,Suleiman, Selim I and Selim II, Jews wereperiodically reminded <strong>of</strong> their dhimmi status. ButJews were invariably grateful and thankful fortheir circumstances. 27By the close <strong>of</strong> the 16 th Century, the 300 years<strong>of</strong> Turkish vitality began to show signs <strong>of</strong>deterioration and the shift in the historic traderoutes from the Mediterranean to the Atlantic hada major negative consequence. The decline in theempire coincided with the decline <strong>of</strong> the goldenage <strong>of</strong> the Jews in Turkey, who no longer producedrepresentatives <strong>of</strong> outstanding quality. Thedeterioration <strong>of</strong> the Jews’ economic and politicalcircumstances ultimately reflected in theircommunal and cultural life. 28The 1648 Chmielnicki pogroms in EasternEurope unleashed messianic expectations.Gershom Scholem observed that in the mid-17 thCentury, the belief that the world was on the brink<strong>of</strong> great events was universally accepted. 29 Theperiod produced a number <strong>of</strong> aspirant messiahs,<strong>of</strong> whom Shabbetai Tzvi (1626-1676) was themost significant. Shabbetai Tzvi was born inSmyrna (now Izmir) in Turkey. He came underthe influence <strong>of</strong> the kabbalah and exhibited signs<strong>of</strong> what today would probably be diagnosed asmanic depressive. Amongst other acts, heproclaimed 18 June 1666 to be the Day <strong>of</strong>Redemption. He violated <strong>Jewish</strong> law, includingpronouncing the name <strong>of</strong> God, but his undoingwas his announcement that the Turkish sultanwas about to be deposed. The sultan had himarrested and given the choice between theconverting to Islam and death he chose conversion.The majority <strong>of</strong> rabbis were taken in by Tzvi.Later, when the charade was exposed, manyinsisted that they had been opposed to him, but asScholem points out, the documents tell a differentstory. 30 Some <strong>of</strong> Tzvi’s followers also convertedto Islam but retained their <strong>Jewish</strong> identity insecret. Their descendants have survived to thisday as a recognised group known as Donmeh andplayed a significant political and economic rolein Turkey. The Donmeh are referred to by some as“<strong>Jewish</strong> Muslims” and follow certain <strong>Jewish</strong>practices such as lighting candles for Shabbat. 31Only in Istanbul does a remnant still survive.Estimates <strong>of</strong> their numbers vary between 20 000and 50 000, such is the veil <strong>of</strong> secrecy thatsurrounds this group. 32Rabbi Berel Wein is <strong>of</strong> the view that this failedmovement had long term tragic consequences forthe <strong>Jewish</strong> people. He considers that “ShabbetaiTzvi was a factor in setting in motion those forces<strong>of</strong> history that introduced the onset <strong>of</strong> ReformJudaism, secularization, and assimilation <strong>of</strong>European Jewry.” 33The history <strong>of</strong> the Jews in Turkey in the 17 th ,18 th and 19 th Centuries is principally a chronicle<strong>of</strong> decline <strong>of</strong> influence and power exacerbated byincreasing competition from the Greek andArmenian communities.Until the Damascus Blood Libel in 1840,accusations <strong>of</strong> ritual murder were very rare in theOttoman Empire, and where they did briefly appearthe sources were blood libels in Christiancountries. 34 There are a number <strong>of</strong> instances wherethe sultan himself intervened to clamp down firmlyand put a stop to the baseless allegations. 35 In the19 th Century, Turkey introduced reforms whichextended equal rights to non-Muslims, includingto Jews. These reforms, which are known inTurkish history as Tanzimat, initiated in the late19 th and early 20 th Centuries a period <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong>cultural and economic revival. 36 Over time,however, Turkey had been gradually losing much<strong>of</strong> the territories it had conquered. By thecommencement <strong>of</strong> the 20 th Century, it had becomeknown as the “Sick Man <strong>of</strong> Europe.”The diaries <strong>of</strong> Theodor Herzl contain afascinating account <strong>of</strong> Herzl’s effort to meet withSultan Abdul Hamid II (1876-1909) in order topromote the case for a <strong>Jewish</strong> homeland inPalestine. Herzl’s first attempt to meet the sultanin 1896, a year before the First Zionist Conference,ended in failure. He was already in Constantinoplein anticipation <strong>of</strong> the meeting when Nevlinski(his go between) “returned from Yildiz Kioskwith a long face and bad news” reporting “It’s all<strong>of</strong>f! The great lord will not hear <strong>of</strong> it! ....TheSultan told me: if Mr Herzl is your friend … thenadvise him not to go a single step further in thismatter. I cannot sell even a foot <strong>of</strong> land, for it doesnot belong to me but to my people. They have wonthis Empire and fertilized it with their blood….Ican dispose no part <strong>of</strong> it. The Jews may spare theirmillions. When my Empire is divided, perhapsthey will get Palestine for nothing. But only ourcorpse can be divided. I will never consent tovivisection.” 37Herzl recorded, “I was touched and moved bythe truly l<strong>of</strong>ty words <strong>of</strong> the Sultan, although forthe time being they put an end to all my hopes.21


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Turkey was constituted as a republic in 1923.There is a tragic beauty in this fatalism whichfrom the defeated Ottoman Empire. 46 residential neighbourhoods. This incident causedforesees death and dismemberment, yet fights tothe last breath, if only through passiveresistance.” 38In 1901, Herzl returned to Constantinople andmet with the sultan at his palace at Yildiz Kiosk.The remarkable conversation he had with him isrecorded in his diary. 39Turkey could not, however, be persuaded togrant a national home to the Jews. Herzl’s effortsto persuade the German Kaiser to use his influenceIts founder, Mustafa Kemal (better known asAtaturk), had been part <strong>of</strong> the Young Turk uprisingand had distinguished himself as the commanderin the successful Turkish defence <strong>of</strong> Gallipoli.Ataturk’s declared objective was to stamp out allsigns <strong>of</strong> the religious–institutional influence <strong>of</strong>Islam and create a secular state. His assault onreligion also impacted on the Jews and included aprohibition on teaching Hebrew in schools. InAtaturk’s Turkey Jews found communalwith the sultan also ended unsuccessfully, with institutions subject to “slow culturalGermany dropping this idea in the interests <strong>of</strong>pursuing an alliance with Turkey. So Herzl turnedhis attention to Britain, efforts that ultimatelyculminated in Britain issuing the November 1917Balfour Declaration stating that the Britishstrangulation” 47 and there was a dramatic declinein interest in Judaism, exacerbated by the absence<strong>of</strong> a spiritual leader. 48 After Ataturk’s death in1938, many <strong>of</strong> these prohibitions were eased. 49Sachar’s view is that it is doubtful that Ataturkgovernment “viewed with favour the himself was antisemitic, but his regime’s militantestablishment <strong>of</strong> a <strong>Jewish</strong> Home” in Palestine.In 1908, a group <strong>of</strong> army <strong>of</strong>ficers known as“Young Turks” overthrew Abdul Hamid II andrestored the constitution which granted Jews equalrights. The story that the revolution was a “<strong>Jewish</strong>-Masonic plot” received wide circulation, butaccording to Bernard Lewis, there would seem tobe “no evidence at all, in the voluminous Turkishliterature on the Young Turks, that Jews played apart <strong>of</strong> any significance in their councils, eitherbefore or after the Revolution…” 40Turkey entered World War I in October 1914as an ally <strong>of</strong> Germany. Now commenced a difficulttime for the Jews <strong>of</strong> Palestine, who were harshlytreated by the Turks. Max Raisin observes that“The Turkish government whose <strong>Jewish</strong> policy intimes <strong>of</strong> peace had nearly always been liberal andconciliatory, now became despotic…” 41 Severalthousand Jews in Palestine were taken captiveand forced to work as labourers for the Turkishwar effort. More than 10 000 Jews fled Palestineto the security <strong>of</strong> British- controlled Egypt. 42Vladimir Jabotinsky established, under Britishnationalism would not spare any minority. 50Turkey remained neutral during World War IIand was thus able to protect its Jews. 51 Accordingto Stanford Shaw, some 15000 Turkish Jews fromFrance, and even 100 000 Jews from EasternEurope were saved because <strong>of</strong> Turkish efforts. 52But Turkey’s record in World War II is notwithout blemish. In December 1941 the S.S.Struma, which had departed from Romania enroute to Palestine, docked in Istanbul with itsengine malfunctioning and hull leaking. Britainwould not permit entry to Palestine and Turkeywould not permit the passengers to disembark.Eventually, in February 1942, Turkey ordered theboat to leave. Five miles out at sea in theBosphorus, the ship sank with its 767 passengers.During World War II, a punitive property taxknown as Varlik Vergisi was imposed on non-Muslims. Described as a “savagely vindictive”tax, it had a particularly harsh impact on TurkishJewry, pauperizing fully a third <strong>of</strong> them. 53 It waseventually abolished under pressure from theAllies in 1944.command, a <strong>Jewish</strong> regiment comprising theserefugees known as the Zion Mule Corps. This Turkish Jewry in the Post-War EraCorps fought in the campaign against Turkey atGallipoli and their valour is attested to by ColonelPatterson in his book With the Zionists inGallipoli. 43 At the same time, 18 000 Jews servedin the Ottoman army, <strong>of</strong> whom 1000 made theultimate sacrifice. 44 British forces under thecommand <strong>of</strong> General Allenby liberated Jerusalemfrom Turkish rule in December 1917.During the war, Arab armies rebelled againstTurkish rule. Their fight was led by Emir Feisal,son <strong>of</strong> Emir Hussein, Grand Sharif <strong>of</strong> Mecca andleader <strong>of</strong> the Arabs <strong>of</strong> Hejaz and Colonel T.E.Lawrence (aka Lawrence <strong>of</strong> Arabia). Feisal wasexpecting to be given the throne <strong>of</strong> Syria and wassupportive <strong>of</strong> the Zionist program. In 1921, heinformed the British government that in return forthe throne <strong>of</strong> Syria, he would “abandon all claims<strong>of</strong> his father to Palestine.” 45 But the French wouldnot give up control <strong>of</strong> Syria, which they had wonThe population <strong>of</strong> Turkey today exceeds 70million, <strong>of</strong> whom 13 million live in Istanbul. The<strong>Jewish</strong> population (<strong>of</strong> whom Sephardim make up96%) is estimated at around 20 000, with 18 000in Istanbul and about 1500 in Izmir. 54 TurkishJewry today tends to be a fractionally more affluentgroup than their predecessors and, except forperhaps a thousand pr<strong>of</strong>essionals, arebusinessmen. 55 The community is an aging oneand numbers have steadily declined from a peak<strong>of</strong> over 100 000 in the early 20 th Century. 56 Sacharclaims that the Varlik Vergisi was as decisive afactor as Zionist idealism for the initial massexodus <strong>of</strong> Jews to Israel after 1949. 57 In 1956, anoutburst <strong>of</strong> violence provoked by the Cypruscrisis led to attacks on Greek shops and homeswhich then spilled over to the Armenian quarterand finally to the <strong>Jewish</strong> commercial and22


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012a further <strong>Jewish</strong> emigration.The 1915 Armenian genocide remains a highlyemotive issue and still provokes considerabledebate. Turkey denies the notion <strong>of</strong> genocide,invoking arguments <strong>of</strong> Turkish self-defence and<strong>of</strong> extensive killings on both sides. 58 Sachar addsthat these claims are “imaginatively buttressed”by a number <strong>of</strong> eminent <strong>Jewish</strong> scholars, includingBernard Lewis <strong>of</strong> Princeton and Stanford Shaw <strong>of</strong>UCLA (who issued a statement objecting to theuse <strong>of</strong> the term ‘genocide’ and asserting that the1915 tragedy was the “inevitable consequence”<strong>of</strong> wartime conditions). 59 According to Sachar,<strong>Jewish</strong> members <strong>of</strong> the Holocaust Commissionhad assured their Armenian colleague that theArmenian tragedy would be ‘substantially’integrated into the exhibits <strong>of</strong> the HolocaustMuseum in Washington, but that pledge failed tomaterialise. At an ‘educational’ briefing in 1983,the Turkish ambassador in Washington reputedlythreatened Holocaust Commission staff that “Ifthe Armenians are so much as mentioned in yourHolocaust Museum, it will go badly for the Jewsin Turkey.” 60In the early 19 th Century nearly 40 activesynagogues served the more than 60,000 <strong>Jewish</strong>residents <strong>of</strong> Istanbul. 61 Today some 10 synagogueshold daily services. 62 A weekly <strong>Jewish</strong> newspaper,Shalom, is published in Istanbul and one page isreserved for Ladino and every month a supplementin Ladino is also published. These days, TurkishJews speak Turkish as their native language butfor those in the over 80 year generation many aremore comfortable in Ladino or French. 63The Ahrida Synagogue in Balat is Istanbul’soldest synagogue and possibly it’s mostoutstanding. Built in the 15 th Century prior to theOttoman conquest <strong>of</strong> Istanbul, it was named afterthe Macedonian city from where its initialcongregants originated. Its most noteworthyfeature is its bimah – designed in the shape <strong>of</strong> aship. Some historians say this represents Noah’sArk while others claim it is the ships bringing theSpanish Jews to Turkey. 64 Still others are <strong>of</strong> theview that the possibility <strong>of</strong> the bimah being addedto the synagogue during the restorations <strong>of</strong> 1694(after it was destroyed by fire) makes both theoriesaccurate. 65 Shabbetai Tzvi preached in thissynagogue.The Neve Shalom Synagogue in Galataunfortunately became well known due to thetragedy in 1986 when Palestinian terrorists enteredthe synagogue and opened fire on the worshippers,killing 21. 66 The bullet marks on the Aron Kodeshhave been retained as a memory. Under the seats,hard hats can be found in case <strong>of</strong> another incident.The Etz Haim Synagogue in Ortakoy is in animpressive complex up the Bosphorus and next toit can be found a church and a mosque.The <strong>Jewish</strong> Museum was opened as one <strong>of</strong> thefestivities commemorating 500 years since theSephardi immigration. One custom on displaythat is unfamiliar to Ashkenazi Jews is theFashadura. At a gathering the sheet on which thenew born was conceived is cut into a dress for thenew born and symbolizes the wish for its longlife.Istanbul’s Archaeological Museum’scollection on Syria and Palestine contains atreasure trove <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> interest collected duringTurkey’s occupation <strong>of</strong> Palestine.The Siloam Inscription is a passage <strong>of</strong> inscribedtext found in a tunnel cut by King Hezekiah in the8 th Century BCE. Hezekiah’s preparations for asiege <strong>of</strong> Jerusalem by Assyria included cutting a533 meter long tunnel through the rock linkingthe Gihon Spring (located outside the walls <strong>of</strong>Jerusalem) to the Siloam Pool (located within thethen city walls <strong>of</strong> Jerusalem). When the twoteams, tunneling from each end met, theycelebrated their achievement by carving aninscription in the rock.The inscription was discovered in 1880 byJacob Eliahu, a 16 year-old son <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> convertsto Christianity. He was fascinated with the biblicalstory <strong>of</strong> Kings II: 20.20, which motivated him toswim the length <strong>of</strong> the tunnel. A Greek traderheard about the find and roughly cut out theinscription, breaking it. He was arrested by theOttoman police, who confiscated the inscriptionand sent it to Istanbul. 67The Gezer Calendar dates to the 10 th centuryBCE and is one <strong>of</strong> the oldest Hebrew inscriptions,poetically describes the names <strong>of</strong> the months andthe harvest periods.Between1885-1910 a large number <strong>of</strong>excavations were carried out in Palestine,including Gezer and Megiddo and many itemsfrom those digs are on display.Topkapi Palace contained the royal harem.Ester Kyra was a <strong>Jewish</strong> broker who sold jewels,cosmetics and clothes to the ladies <strong>of</strong> the haremand won the favour <strong>of</strong> Sultan Murad III’s motherand preferred concubine. She exercisedconsiderable influence and was involved inpolitical affairs. Her power and wealth spawnedjealousy and she was murdered. Many gems inTopkapi palace must have been cut by Jews sincethey were the gem cutters in the sultan’s day.The Hagia Sophia is supposedly among theworld’s greatest architectural achievements andis more than 1400 years old. It was built byEmperor Justinian and inaugurated in 537 duringByzantine times as a church. After the churchbuilding was completed Justinian was reputed tohave bragged “Solomon, I have surpassed you.”Benjamin <strong>of</strong> Tudela refers to the Hagia Sophia inhis travelogue. 68 After the Ottoman conquest, theHagia Sophia became a mosque and is now amuseum. The architectural design is said to haveserved as the inspiration for many mosques andeven for synagogues including that <strong>of</strong> Florence,San Francisco’s Temple Emanuel 69 and the GreatPark Synagogue in Johannesburg.23


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Turkey and the State <strong>of</strong> IsraelAlthough Turkey voted against the 1947 UnitedNations resolution to establish a <strong>Jewish</strong> state, itbecame, in 1949, the first Muslim state to recogniseIsrael. A new era in Turkish-Israeli relationsbegan after the 1991 Madrid peace conference,which led to the upgrading <strong>of</strong> the diplomaticrelationship to a full ambassadorial status. The1993 Oslo Declaration <strong>of</strong> Principles furtherimproved the relationship. It was followed bymilitary and economic agreements between thetwo countries and a significant volume <strong>of</strong> Israelitourism to Turkey. By the end <strong>of</strong> the 1990s,Turkish public sympathy towards Israel hadreached its peak. 70 For Israel, the intimacy <strong>of</strong> itsrelationship with Turkey ranked second only toits relations with America. 71In November 2002 the AKP [Justice andDevelopment Party], an Islamist party under theleadership <strong>of</strong> Recep Tayyip Erdogan, was electedto <strong>of</strong>fice and Kemalist rule came to an end. One <strong>of</strong>the first indications <strong>of</strong> Turkey’s new foreign policywas its rejection <strong>of</strong> an American request in 2003to use Turkish territory for opening a northernfront against Iraq. Not long afterwards, Erdoganbegan describing Israeli policy towards thePalestinians as “state terrorism.” 72In September 2007, Israeli aircraft attackedSyria (rumoured to be its nuclear facility) and ontheir return were accused by Turkey <strong>of</strong> violatingits airspace. Notwithstanding all this, at the timeand continuing into 2008, Turkey was mediatingbetween Israel and Syria and progress in thesenegotiations was taking place.The December 2008 Israeli attack on Gaza -Operation Cast Lead - was criticized by Turkey,bringing about an immediate collapse in theSyrian-Israeli initiative and resulting in a majordeterioration in the Turkish-Israeli friendship. AtDavos in January 2009, Erdogan walked <strong>of</strong>f thestage he was sharing with President Shimon Peres,accusing Israel <strong>of</strong> committing infanticide in Gaza.This “one-minute incident,” as it is called inTurkey, resulted in a further downward spiral inthe deteriorating relationship.In June 2010 the Mavi Marmara, a Turkishship sailing from a Turkish port, attempted tobreak the Gaza blockade. Israeli soldiers borderedthe ship and in the ensuing clash nine Turkishcitizens were killed. A United Nations report heldthat the Israeli blockade <strong>of</strong> Gaza was legal in view<strong>of</strong> missile attacks launched on Israel from Gazaand the report further held that on boarding theMavi Marmara Israeli troops “faced significant,organised and violent resistance…requiring themto use force for their own protection.” The reportdid, however, urge Israel to express regret andpay compensation calling the manner <strong>of</strong> theboarding “excessive and unreasonable” and theloss <strong>of</strong> life, including some people shot at closerange, “unacceptable.” Israel refused to apologisedespite some opinion within Israel being in favour<strong>of</strong> an apology, most notably Defence MinisterEhud Barak who advocated expressing regret“for problems that occurred during the Marmaraoperation.” 73 Turkey retaliated by expellingIsrael’s ambassador and suspending military ties.Traditionally, Turkey has pursued a low pr<strong>of</strong>ilein the Middle East but more recently is becominga more influential participant. Soon after Erdogancame to power a marked improvement took placein Turkey’s relations with Syria and Iran (althoughthe Syrian relationship has subsequently implodedwith Turkey calling for Assad’s resignation). InAugust 2008, Iranian President MahmoudAhmadinejad paid a state visit to Turkey andTurkey has refused to participate in sanctionsagainst Iran aimed at preventing it from acquiringnuclear capability. 74 In September 2011, Erdogantoured many <strong>of</strong> the Arab countries where uprisingshave taken place promoting the Turkishdemocratic model and enhancing his popularity,pr<strong>of</strong>ile and influence. He has declareddemocratisation a foreign policy objective andstressed the need for Muslim countries “to puttheir houses in order.” 75 It is the first time in thehistory <strong>of</strong> the Turkish republic that Turkey hasattempted to position itself as a “model” for otherMuslim countries. 76Under Kemalist government relations with itsMuslim neighbours was seen as a burden onTurkey’s quest to part <strong>of</strong> the West, both politicallyand culturally. Now the AKP views improvingrelations with its Muslim neighbours asimportant. 77 Some commentators believe the AKPleadership harbours a genuine dislike <strong>of</strong> Israeland Jews. In October 2009 Erdogan, speaking atIstanbul University made some antisemiticremarks. 78Relations between Turkey and Israel havereached an all-time low and most commentatorsare pessimistic about the possibility <strong>of</strong> a short tomedium term improvement. While some Israelisare unconcerned about the deterioration otherssuch as Alon Liel, a former Israeli ambassador to<strong>South</strong> Africa who previously held a diplomaticpost in Turkey, argues that for Israel to loseTurkey’s friendship could have devastatingregional consequences for Israel and evenAmerica. 79Jews have lived in the area now known asTurkey since antiquity and the common <strong>Jewish</strong>-Turkish history goes back almost 700 years.Turkey welcomed and gave refuge to SephardiJews who in turn contributed significantly to thecountry. On the whole the Turks have treated theJews sympathetically, especially when comparedto their treatment in Europe and in Arab countries.Hopefully, in time the rift between Turkey andIsrael will be healed and the cordial relations <strong>of</strong>previous years restored.Notes1 Genesis 11: 31-3224


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 20122 Siegel-Itzkovich, Judy, Biblical Buzz, Jerusalem Post, 24June 20103 Acts 14:1 and 18:194 Johnson, Paul, A History <strong>of</strong> the Jews, Weidenfeld &Nicolson, 1987, p1695 Tudela, Benjamin, The Itinerary <strong>of</strong> Benjamin <strong>of</strong> Tudela,Travels in the Middle Ages, Joseph Simon /Pangloss Press,Third Printing, 1993, pp70-726 Tudela, op cit, p727 Gilbert, Martin, In Ishmael’s House, A History <strong>of</strong> Jews inMuslim Lands, Yale Univ. Press, 2010, p758 Encyclopaedia Judaica (hereafter ‘EJ’), 1972, 16:1532,quoting M Lattes, Likkutim de-Vei Eliyahu.9 Ibid10 Ibid11 Karmi, Ilan, <strong>Jewish</strong> Sites <strong>of</strong> Istanbul, A Guide Book, TheIsis Press, First Edition, 1992, p2412 Graetz, Heinrich, History <strong>of</strong> the Jews, <strong>Jewish</strong> PublicationSociety <strong>of</strong> America, 1946, Vol. IV, p27213 Kobler, Franz, A Treasury <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> Letters, <strong>Jewish</strong>Publication Society <strong>of</strong> America, Second Edition, 1953,pp283-514 Zimmels, H.J., Ashkenazim and Sephardim: Their Relations,Differences and Problems as Reflected in the RabbinicalResponsa, KTAV Publishing House, Inc., 1976, p4115 Gilbert, op cit, p7916 Gilbert, Martin, Letters to Auntie Fori, Weidenfeld &Nicolson, 2002, p13217 Dubnov, Simon, History <strong>of</strong> the Jews, From the LaterMiddle Ages to the Renaissance, Volume III, Translated byMoshe Spiegel, A.S. Barnes and Co. Inc., 1968, p47218 Lewis, Bernard, The Jews <strong>of</strong> Islam, Princeton UniversityPress, 1984, p13819 EJ 16:153320 Zimmels, op cit, p3921 Dubnov, op cit, p47222 Zimmels, op cit, p4323 Graetz, op cit, p40124 Roth, Cecil, The House <strong>of</strong> Nasi, The Duke <strong>of</strong> Naxos, The<strong>Jewish</strong> Publication Society <strong>of</strong> America, 1948, pp 97, 10025 Ibid, p11026 Ibid, p13327 Sachar, H., Farewell Espana, The World <strong>of</strong> the SephardimRemembered, Vintage Books,1994, p9128 Ibid, p9429 Johnson, op cit, p26730 Ibid, p26931 Funke, P, Istanbul, The <strong>Jewish</strong> Traveller, Edited by AllanM. Tigay, Jason Aronson Inc.,1994, p22632 Karmi. Op cit, p3033 Wein, Rabbi Berel, Triumph <strong>of</strong> Survival, The Story <strong>of</strong> theJews in the Modern Era 1650-1990, Shaar Press, 1997, p2734 EJ 16: 154335 Guleryuz, Naim Avigdor, The Turkish Jews, 700 Years <strong>of</strong>Togetherness, Gozlem, 2009, p23-2436 Karmi, op cit, p737 Herzl, Theodor, The Diaries <strong>of</strong> Theodor Herzl, Edited andtranslated by Marvin Lowenthal, Victor Gollancz Ltd,1958, p15238 Ibid39 Ibid, pp338-9. After the meeting Herzl recorded hisimpressions: “The Sultan impressed me as a weak, craven,but thoroughly good-natured man. I believe him to beneither clever nor cruel, but a pr<strong>of</strong>oundly unhappy prisonerin whose name a thieving, infamous, scoundrelly camarillaperpetuate the vilest abominations….The indecent clutchingfor hand-outs, which begins at the palace gate and endsonly at the foot <strong>of</strong> the throne, is probably far from the worst<strong>of</strong> it. Everything is done for what there is in it, and every<strong>of</strong>ficial or functionary is a swindler.”40 Lewis, Bernard, The Emergence <strong>of</strong> Modern Turkey, OxfordUniversity Press, Reprinted 1965, p 20741 Raisin, Max, Popular History <strong>of</strong> the Jews, Translated byRabbi A.B. Rhine, Hebrew Publishing Company, RevisedEdition, 1949, Volume 6, p42842 Gilbert, op cit, p14443 Raisin, op cit, p43044 Gilbert, op cit, pp145 - 14645 Ibid, p148, quoting letter <strong>of</strong> 17 January 1921, T.E. Lawrence(Arab <strong>Affairs</strong> Adviser) to Winston S. Churchill (ColonialSecretary): Churchill papers46 Ibid, p15547 Sachar, H, The Course <strong>of</strong> Modern <strong>Jewish</strong> History, NewRevised Edition, Vintage Books, 1990, p644 referred to as“The Course <strong>of</strong> Modern <strong>Jewish</strong> History”48 EJ 15: 146049 EJ15 145750 Sachar, op cit, p10351 The Course <strong>of</strong> Modern <strong>Jewish</strong> History, op cit,, p64452 Shaw, Stanford, Turkey and the Jews <strong>of</strong> Europe duringWorld War II, http://www.sefarad.org/publication/lm/043/6.html53 Sachar, op cit, pp105-10654 Guleryuz, op cit, p3355 Ibid56 Sachar, op cit, p11657 Ibid58 Ibid, p11059 Ibid, p10960 Sachar, op cit, p11061 Karmi, op cit, p762 Ibid, p1163 Guleryuz, op cit, p3364 Funke, op cit, p22565 Magriso, Sami, http://www.jewishtoursistanbul.com/index.html66 Karmi, op cit, p7067 Montefiore, Simon Sebag, Jerusalem, The Biography,Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2011, p3768 Tudela, op cit, p7069 Funke, op cit, p224; Rose Norwich, ‘Early Synagogues inJohannesburg and the Men Who Built Them’, <strong>Jewish</strong><strong>Affairs</strong>, Pesach 200370 Liel, Alon, Israeli-Turkish Relations under Strain, IsraelJournal <strong>of</strong> Foreign <strong>Affairs</strong> IV: 1 (2010), p2371 Inbar, Efraim, ‘Israel-Turkish Tensions and Beyond’, IsraelJournal <strong>of</strong> Foreign <strong>Affairs</strong> IV: 1 (2010)72 Liel, op cit, p2473 Financial Times 3/4 September 201174 Inbar, op cit, p2975 East’, Israel Journal <strong>of</strong> Foreign <strong>Affairs</strong>, II: 2 (2008), p7376 Ozturk, op cit, p7677 Inbar, op cit, p3178 Ibid, p3279 Liel, op cit, p2625


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012OBSERVATIONS ON SERBS, JEWS ANDISRAELIS: A PLEA FOR UNDERSTANDING*Richard BurnsThe geo-historical zone <strong>of</strong> the Balkans isnotoriously full <strong>of</strong> contradictions. Yet, a fullerunderstanding <strong>of</strong> current and recent attitudes andpolicies in each <strong>of</strong> the Balkan nations vis-à-visboth Jews and Israel is called for. In order tocreate an intelligible composite picture, it isnecessary to develop a series <strong>of</strong> studies <strong>of</strong> each <strong>of</strong>the Balkan nations, including and most importantthe newly independent political entities thatemerged during the 1990s on the ruins <strong>of</strong>Yugoslavia.As if anyone needed reminding, theparadigmatic relevance <strong>of</strong> the Balkans to globalpolitics is indelibly marked by the fact that theWorld War I was triggered in 1914 by theassassination <strong>of</strong> the Austrian Archduke FranzFerdinand by the Yugoslav nationalist GavriloPrincip on a Sarajevo street corner. In whatfollows, however complex the issues, it is arguedthat the Balkans needs to remain a key region forIsrael-watchers to watch, especially bearing inmind the expansion <strong>of</strong> strict Wahabi and extremistIslam in Bosnia-Hercegovina since the 1990s.When it comes to the Balkans, there has neverbeen much value in making sweepinggeneralisations. For example, truths that apply tothe contemporary (Former Yugoslav Republic<strong>of</strong>) Macedonia are evidently irrelevant tocontemporary Bosnia. Details, even if not exactlypossessors <strong>of</strong> proverbial devils, are vitallyimportant both historically and in thecontemporary context and should never beunderestimated or dismissed as ‘merely local’phenomena. The Balkans have always been apatchwork quilt, and therefore notoriouslydifficult to understand in terms <strong>of</strong> languages,religions, cultures and politics. And never moreso than today, for the evident reason that, sincethe collapse <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia in the 1990s, theBalkans have been systematically re-balkanised,both by their indigenous political leaders and bythe strenuous efforts <strong>of</strong> the determiners <strong>of</strong> NATOpolicies.I believe that to build up such an understanding,Richard Burns is a UK-based writer, editor, poetand lecturer, who has lived and worked for asignificant period in the Balkans. His first book <strong>of</strong>poetry, The Easter Rising, was published in 1967.He was educated at University College – Londonand lectured at Cambridgeshire College <strong>of</strong> Artsand Technology (now Anglia Ruskin University).state-by-state, is <strong>of</strong> crucial importance not onlybecause <strong>of</strong> the geographical proximity <strong>of</strong> theBalkan Peninsula to Israel, but because each one<strong>of</strong> the various independent political entities andcorresponding nationalisms that have emergedsince the fall <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia impinges in a slightlydifferent way both on Israel and on Jewsthroughout the world. The situation is made allthe more complex by the rapid and almostsynchronous collapse, in the early 1990s, <strong>of</strong> allCommunist regimes throughout the region,especially the fall <strong>of</strong> NicolaeinRomania in December 1990. Hence the need toexamine changes in attitude and policy in bothRumania and Bulgaria too.Various current Western myths also needquestioning and exploding, and complex situationsthat have been oversimplified in a facile manner,possibly for ephemeral political convenience, needto be accurately restated with proper recognition<strong>of</strong> their intricacies. Aside from the deliberateconstruction <strong>of</strong> myths for ideological purposes,even dialectical thinking that is honourablymotivated by the search for truth all too easilygets distorted by simplification. What followscan be no more than a set <strong>of</strong> preliminary forayswith these factors in mind.Since the early 1990s, when several <strong>of</strong> theleading NATO powers were actively fosteringthe dissolution <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia, notably the USAand Germany – culminating in the RambouilletAgreement in 1999 – Serbia has tended to bemisunderstood and maligned in the Westernmedia; and an antipathetic, even evil stereotypehas been fostered in the popular European andAmerican imagination, with Slobodanfiguring as the prime bogey, and the Bosnian Serbmassacre <strong>of</strong> Bosnian Moslems at Srebrenica asthe main emotive trigger. Since ’s deathin 2006, this bugbear-figure has been replaced byanother, also a prisoner <strong>of</strong> the International Courtin The Hague, the Bosnian Serb leader Radovan. Atrocities committed by Serbs inKosovo and Bosnia are undeniable. However,their opponents in the various conflicts <strong>of</strong> the1990s have also been responsible for war crimesranging from rapes, murders and beheadings (inBosnia-Hercegovina), to desecration <strong>of</strong> religioussites (in Bosnia and Kosovo) and forced migration<strong>of</strong> entire communities (in the Krajina). However,for reasons that in retrospect appear no lessirrational, prejudiced and hard to explain than the26


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012psycho-political nexus <strong>of</strong> antisemitism itself,negative prejudice against Serbs has becomestandard in the West. Consonant with this closedcircuit <strong>of</strong> belief arousing suspicion, suspicionfeeding accusation, and accusation creating morebelief, far less attention has been paid in the Westto atrocities committed by Croats, BosnianMoslems and Albanian-speaking Kosovars againstSerbs. Moreover, Serbs have been said bynumerous influential Western political analystsand journalists to have a ‘persecution complex’,an accusation likely to be quite familiar topolitically astute Israelis, and liable to raisesceptical eyebrows among such observers. 1For these complex and circuitous reasons, inrecent years many Serbs have grown increasinglysympathetic towards Jews and Israel, to the extentthat they have tended actually to identify theirown country’s ostracisation, vilification and even‘demonisation’ – by Western politicians, mediaand political theorists – with traditionalantisemitism. Non-coincidentally, during thisentire period, to the best <strong>of</strong> my knowledge, Serbiahas striven to foster a philosemitic and pro-Israelpolicy.By contrast, the first President <strong>of</strong> independentCroatia, Franjo Tudjman, who was never directlyopposed by Western regimes, was an explicitantisemite and Holocaust denier and ran agovernment that was no more democratic thanthat <strong>of</strong> . His supporters included previousUstaše members in exile in Canada, Australia,Argentina and other countries, and their families,some <strong>of</strong> whom returned to fight against Serbsduring the collapse <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia and haveremained in Croatia since.As for Bosnia-Hercegovina, an internationalMujahedin regiment was assiduously assembledto fight in the Bosnian war, which lasted from1992 to 1995. Their presence was welcomed byBosnian president Alija Izetbegoviæ and there areplentiful records <strong>of</strong> his meetings with Mujahedin,including members <strong>of</strong> al-Qaeda. Those Mujahedinwho rallied to Bosnia included radicalised Moslemstudents born and educated in various Europeancountries and bearing passports <strong>of</strong> EU memberstates, including the UK. Al-Qaeda leaders wereclear in their policy towards the Bosnian war:they treated it as a preparation ground forinternational Jihad. Ayman al-Zawahiri, OsamaBin Laden’s second-in-command, is reputed tohave co-ordinated several Mujahedin operationsin Bosnia-Hercegovina through the fronts <strong>of</strong>charity organisations, and to have visited Sarajevo.His brother Zaiman al-Zawahiri is thought tohave worked for the CIA against the Serbs inKosovo. The most superficial browsing <strong>of</strong> theInternet indicates accumulated evidence <strong>of</strong> thiskind, even bearing in mind the necessity forcaution about the reliability <strong>of</strong> such material. Thefinancing for ’s overall war effort andin particular for Moslem extremists in Bosniaalso needs further investigation and identification.Fairly reliable western investigations point tobanks and NGOs operating in Bosnia, with fundingsources in Islamic countries including Saudi-Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt, Algeria, Iran andSudan, and with links ranging from al-Qaeda,Hamas, Hezbollah, the Egyptian terrorist groupAl-Gama’a al-Islamiyya and other Moslemorganisations identified in the USA as ‘suspected<strong>of</strong> terrorism’, to the Saudi royal family and theIranian Ministry <strong>of</strong> Intelligence & Security. 2Since the end <strong>of</strong> the Bosnian war, largeinvestments have been made in Bosnia-Hercegovina by Saudi-Arabia, for example in thebuilding <strong>of</strong> the large King Fahd Mosque inSarajevo. The previously ‘European’, easy-going,urbane Bosnian version <strong>of</strong> Islam has beenprogressively radicalised by far stricter Wahabieducational programmes and conversioncampaigns, sponsored primarily by investmentfrom Saudi-Arabia and the Gulf States. 3Because the relevance <strong>of</strong> these indicators toIsrael cannot be underestimated, especially thosethat reflect the rise <strong>of</strong> Islamic extremism, it wouldbe salient in a series <strong>of</strong> studies such as those Ipropose, to explore the histories <strong>of</strong> the treatments<strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> communities in each <strong>of</strong> the Balkannations, with respect to patterns <strong>of</strong> bothantisemitism and philosemitism.In this context, the period <strong>of</strong> the occupation <strong>of</strong>Greece and former Yugoslavia during the SecondWorld War by the Nazis and their Fascist Italianand Bulgarian allies needs special and careful reexaminationand re-analysis. This applies likewiseto the persecution <strong>of</strong> Jews, Serbs, Roma andCommunists by the Ustaša regime in wartimeCroatia, not to mention the enlistment anddeployment <strong>of</strong> Bosnian, Albanian and volunteerArab (Moslem) soldiers in Croatia in the 13thWaffen Mountain Division <strong>of</strong> the SS Handschar(1943-44), and the key role in its formation byHitler’s trusted ally, the Grand Mufti <strong>of</strong> JerusalemHaj Amin el-Hussein, who visited Bosnia onHitler’s instructions in 1943. Properlycontextualised analysis <strong>of</strong> all these historical factsand their underlying patterns should inform andunderpin current Israeli policies.Here follow some relevant notes on wartimepersecution <strong>of</strong> Jews in Croatia and Serbia.In the immediate wake <strong>of</strong> the Nazi invasionand dismemberment <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia in April 1941,the ‘Independent State <strong>of</strong> Croatia’ was establishedas a pro-Nazi government. Its ideology wasconcocted from a mixture <strong>of</strong> Nazism, ItalianFascism and an extremist local form <strong>of</strong> RomanCatholic fanaticism. The Ustaša dictatorshipinaugurated its racial policies as soon as it cameinto power. Between August 1941 and April 1945,the systematic annihilation <strong>of</strong> all Serbs, Jews andRoma living within the Croatian borders, as wellas <strong>of</strong> anti-Fascists <strong>of</strong> many ethnicities, took placeat the death camp known as Jasenovac, a complex<strong>of</strong> five major and three smaller ‘special’ camps,spread out over 240km² in south-central Croatia.27


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012The word jasen means ‘ash tree’.Estimates <strong>of</strong> the total numbers <strong>of</strong> men, womenand children killed at Jasenovac range from 70000 to 700 000. It will never be possible toestablish accurate figures. The Jasenovac regimeso far exceeded that <strong>of</strong> the Nazi camps in itsbarbarism and savagery that even German <strong>of</strong>ficialsclaimed to be shocked. Whereas an almostpredictable, factory-like, organised monotonyprevailed in the camps run by Germans, theJasenovac authorities specialised in vengefulunpredictability and ‘artistic’ variation andinventiveness in the application <strong>of</strong> torture andmurder. It might even be argued that in theirconcentration camps across Europe, the Nazisperfected a perversion <strong>of</strong> Taylorism in their preciseand impersonal organization <strong>of</strong> their ‘productionlines’ – the principal ‘end-product’ being the‘commodity’: death. In contrast, the Ustaše<strong>of</strong>ficers and guards who ran Jasenovac vied torefine their methods <strong>of</strong> barbaric torture andinfliction <strong>of</strong> horrendous deaths with an enthusiasmtantamount to relish. One might even go so far asto suggest that they perfected a refinement <strong>of</strong>‘cruelty for cruelty’s sake’: that is to say, a kind<strong>of</strong> extreme sadistic perversion <strong>of</strong> ‘art for art’ssake’. Thus General von Horstenau, Hitler’srepresentative in Zagreb, wrote in his personaldiary for 1942 that the Ustaša camps in Croatiawere “the epitome <strong>of</strong> horror” and Arthur Hefner,a German transport <strong>of</strong>ficer for work forces in theReich, wrote on November 11, 1942: “The concept<strong>of</strong> the Jasenovac camp should actually beunderstood as several camps which are severalkilometres apart, grouped around Jasenovac.Regardless <strong>of</strong> the propaganda, this is one <strong>of</strong> themost horrible <strong>of</strong> camps, which can only becompared to Dante’s Inferno.” 4The Ustaše worked in active collaborationwith Catholic priests and deployed BosnianMoslem guards as well as Croat Catholics Thosesystematically exterminated were Jews, Roma,Communists and Orthodox Christian Serbs. 5 Thefull story <strong>of</strong> the crimes committed at the Ustašaconcentration camp <strong>of</strong> Jasenovac is unlikely everto be told because <strong>of</strong> the razing <strong>of</strong> the siteimmediately after the war by Tito’s Partisans, aquestionable act whose spurious and hiddenpolitical motivation has been debated ever since.Nor has the scale <strong>of</strong> Jasenovac ever been fullyadmitted by successive government authorities,let alone systematically investigated, either duringthe post-war Tito era (1945-1980) or during thepost-Tito period when Croatia was still part <strong>of</strong>Yugoslavia (1980-1991). After the break-up <strong>of</strong>the Yugoslav Federation, obfuscation continuedunder the presidency <strong>of</strong> Croatian president FranjoTudjman (1991-2000), who was notorious for hisantisemitism, statements <strong>of</strong> Holocaust denial andrevisionism. Thus, deliberate and systematicattempts to shroud or whitewash truth, destroyevidence and make the site unreadable have beenmade by successive authorities and regimes.However since 2000, thanks in large part topressure on Croatia from the European Union,under the presidency <strong>of</strong> Stipe (2000-2009),a former Communist and the final president <strong>of</strong> theSocialist Federation <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia, some progresshas been made in the direction <strong>of</strong> admitting thatthe crimes did take place.While, during World War II in Croatia, thepersecutors <strong>of</strong> Jews were Catholic Croats andBosnian and Albanian Moslems, in Serbia thesituation was entirely different. The persecutors,terrorisers and murderers were the Nazi occupiers,and in the south Bulgarian forces. There weremany Nazi mass executions <strong>of</strong> Serbs, Jews, Romaand Communists, for example nearly 3000 men,women and boys in and around the town <strong>of</strong>Kragujevac in central Serbia between 19-21October, 1941. 66 A brilliantly informative andsympathetic monograph on the way <strong>of</strong> life <strong>of</strong> theJews <strong>of</strong> Kragujevac.The extermination <strong>of</strong> prisoners by gassing,which was later applied in Auschwitz and otherNazi concentration camps in Eastern Europe, wasfirst tried out experimentally in Serbia. SerbianJews, many <strong>of</strong> them, women and children, weremurdered by Nazi military drivers on Serbianroads in specially designed transportation lorries.The detailed histories <strong>of</strong> the two concentrationcamps run in Serbia by the Nazis, Sajmište andBanjica, still need to be fully researched anddocumented, that is, if it is not by now too late todo so. 7The majority <strong>of</strong> Serbs, <strong>of</strong> widely varied andeven opposed political persuasions, ranging fromroyalist to Communists, detested the Nazioccupation and opposed it whether actively orpassively. Resistance by patriotic groupsbegan in July 1941, very soon after the Naziinvasion in April 1941 and before any Communistactions. The situation was extremely complicated,however and a relatively small sector <strong>of</strong> theSerbian population was involved in activecollaboration with the Nazis, including the rightwingnationalist followers <strong>of</strong> Dimitrije , theSrpski dobrovolja ki odred [‘Serbian VolunteerDetachment’].In 1989, a major exhibition entitled Jews inYugoslavia, toured the state capitals <strong>of</strong> Zagreb,Sarajevo and Belgrade. According to its catalogue,before the 1941 Nazi invasion 75 000 Jews livedin Yugoslavia. Of these, only 15000 survived,over half <strong>of</strong> whom later immigrated to Israel. But5000 Jews either fought as partisans or weremembers <strong>of</strong> resistance organisations, that is, 6-7% <strong>of</strong> the pre-war population, a marginally higherproportion than for the country as a whole. Thesefigures help not only to explain the high regardaccorded to Yugoslavia’s <strong>Jewish</strong> community from1945 until the collapse <strong>of</strong> the Yugoslav Federation(1989-1992), but also to give the lie to the myththat Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe simply wentlike lambs to the slaughter. Some Yugoslav Jewslater rose to high positions <strong>of</strong> power under Tito,28


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012for example Moše Pijade from Serbia and theSlovenian Edvard Kardelj. Conversely, I havenever come across evidence to suggest that Jewssuffered more repression or violation <strong>of</strong> humanrights under Communism than anyone else,especially in Tito’s early years before the breakwith Stalin in 1948 and Yugoslavia’s expulsionfrom the Cominform.Facts that are not known, however, and remainto be researched, are the precise fates and numbers<strong>of</strong> non-Communists <strong>of</strong> all ethnic and religiousgroups who, though in no way collaborators orsupporters <strong>of</strong> either Fascism or Nazism, perishedat the end <strong>of</strong> the war during the period <strong>of</strong>‘liberation’ by Russians and Titoist partisans(1945). It is suspected that many thousands wereeliminated in this way. In Serbia, to my directpersonal knowledge, it has only recently becomeacceptable even to talk with any degree <strong>of</strong>openness about this insidious and largely invisiblepurge <strong>of</strong> all possible and potential opponents toCommunism.I believe that a proper understanding <strong>of</strong> therelations between Jews and speakers <strong>of</strong> Slavoniclanguages is unlikely to be achieved withoutdetailed deconstruction <strong>of</strong> the etymology andconcepts underlying the complex nexus <strong>of</strong> ideasembraced in the pan-Slavic word narod. 8 Thisword is interpreted as ‘people’, ‘race’ and ‘nation’.Such an analysis would need to include theenormously complex ways that Serbo-Croatian(i.e. Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian) words suchas narod and narodnost (meaning not simply‘nationality’ but also something approximatingto ‘ethnicity’, ‘ethno-religious group’ and ‘ethnoreligiousaffiliation’) have been socialized andinstitutionalised in individual consciousnessbefore, during, and after Communism. 9 In theformer Federal Republic <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia, the termsnarod and narodnost appeared in various legaldecrees, in attempts to delineate citizens’ rightsfor what we might now call ‘ethnic minorities’.Exploration <strong>of</strong> terms like these would presentinsights into the conceptual and linguisticunderpinning <strong>of</strong> attitudes about race in generaland anti- and philosemitism in particularIn post-Titoist Yugoslavia, where I lived from1987 to 1990, I never once experienced theslightest hint <strong>of</strong> antisemitism from anybody Icame in contact with. In that time, I lived mainlyin Belgrade, but visited all the Republics and thetwo autonomous provinces <strong>of</strong> Vojvodina andKosovo. At that time, Jews were fully integratedinto all aspects <strong>of</strong> civic, cultural and political life.Leading Serbian-<strong>Jewish</strong> intellectuals like the poetOskar (1909-1989), the scholar and actorEugen Verber (1923-1996), and novelists DaniloKiš (1935-1989) and Filip David (b. 1940) were(and still are) honoured and admired. 10 This kind<strong>of</strong> information is <strong>of</strong> more than incidental relevance.However, attitudes to Yugoslavia’s own Jewswere not necessarily consonant with those towardsIsrael. Along with other leaders like Sukarno(Indonesia), Nehru (India), and Nasser (Egypt),Tito had been a founder <strong>of</strong> the Non-AlignedMovement, whose first meeting took place inBelgrade in 1961. This movement was by-andlargesympathetic to the PLO. However, in the1980s, I believe that subtle and gradual shiftsoccurred in Yugoslav foreign policy. The firsttime I visited Yugoslavia in 1981, as a lecturer ona British Council summer course for teachers <strong>of</strong>English, I witnessed a large and noisy pro-PLOdemonstration in Marx and Engels Square in thecentre <strong>of</strong> Belgrade, following Israel’s response torocket attacks on northern Israeli settlements bybombing PLO positions in southern Lebanon. Inthe following years, as a British poet, I became aregular guest at the International October Writers’Meeting in Belgrade. In 1987, for the first timesince the foundation <strong>of</strong> that event in 1964, anIsraeli writer, Jakov Orland, was on the guest-list.In the following October, I met two more Israeliwriters, Abraham Hus and Aviv Ekroni. When itcomes to international relations, culturalfriendship-visits <strong>of</strong>ten precede politicalrapprochements. I am not knowledgeable enoughto comment on Israel’s accords with other Balkancountries, but believe that Israel would do well tocontinue fostering cordial relations with Serbia,as with other Balkan nations.Notes1 As a typical example, see the BBC report (consulted 26/8/2001): http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/from_our_ own_correspondent/117628.stm2010.2 http://www.sina.ba/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=115:daily-reports-on-role-<strong>of</strong>-b-h-banks-in-terrorist-financing-&catid=39:archive-&Itemid=57, consulted August 26, 2010.3 Gradual Islamisation, with funds being poured in fromthe Middle East, is not <strong>of</strong> course confined to Bosnia. Ithas been happening for years all over Europe, not leastin the UK.4 See the website <strong>of</strong> the Jasenovac Research Institute,accessed August 2007.5 The testament <strong>of</strong> Braco Danon (2000), a prisoner whoescaped in 1941 at the age <strong>of</strong> eighteen, and then joinedthe partisans, is among the most sickening (and moving)accounts <strong>of</strong> the Holocaust I have come across (The Smell<strong>of</strong> Human Flesh, a Witness <strong>of</strong> the Holocaust – Memories<strong>of</strong> Jasenovac, tr. Vidisava Jankovi , published in bothEnglish and Serbian versions, Belgrade, 2000). Danon,the last known <strong>Jewish</strong> survivor <strong>of</strong> Jasenovac in Serbia,died in 2009. I was privileged to meet him in Belgradein 2007.6 A brilliantly informative and sympathetic monographon the way <strong>of</strong> life <strong>of</strong> the Jews <strong>of</strong> Kragujevac, which alsodeals with that community’s destruction in 1941, hasbeen written by Staniša and Millomir (Jevrejiu Kragujevacu [The Jews <strong>of</strong> Kragujevac], 2011). Seealso Richard Berengarten, The Blue Butterfly, SaltPublishing, Cambridge, 2008, especially pp. 114f7 A book entitled The Crimes <strong>of</strong> the Fascist Occupantsand Their Collaborators against Jews in Yugoslaviawas published in 1957 by the Federation <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong>29


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Communities <strong>of</strong> the Federative People’s Republic <strong>of</strong>Yugoslavia, Belgrade. This volume, the so-called ‘BlackBook’, documents Second World War atrocitiesthroughout former Yugoslavia, and includes manygraphic photographs. This book, which is a monumentto patient and difficult research and a great achievementfor its time, is presented from within the perspectives <strong>of</strong>Titoism. Since the demise <strong>of</strong> the Titoist regime, with allits paraphernalia <strong>of</strong> ideology and mythology, someaspects <strong>of</strong> it clearly need to be deconstructed and reexamined.8 While I propose the value <strong>of</strong> such an analysis primarilyvis-à-vis the development <strong>of</strong> an accurate historicalunderstanding <strong>of</strong> ‘psycho-politics’ within the territories<strong>of</strong> former Yugoslavia, that is to say, within the linguisticzones <strong>of</strong> Serbo-Croat, Macedonian and Slovenian,discussion <strong>of</strong> this kind would certainly be equally relevantto all other Slavonic languages, from Russian, Belarusian,Ukrainian and Bulgarian to Polish, Slovakian, and Czech.Apart from the Baltic countries (Latvia, Lithuania andEstonia), and Hungary and Romania, the mere naming<strong>of</strong> these languages itself delineates more or less all thezones <strong>of</strong> East Europe in which Jews lived before theShoah.9 Since the demise <strong>of</strong> Yugoslavia, the expression ‘Serbo-Croat’ is no longer ‘politically correct’ in any sense <strong>of</strong>that term. I use it here non-controversially in stricthistorical context. Its usage has been systematicallysuspended and necessarily superseded by the separatelinguistic designations ‘ Serbian’, ‘Bosnian’ and‘Croatian’, each <strong>of</strong> which claims and has its own identity,despite more points in common than differences from astrictly linguistic point <strong>of</strong> view.10 See Richard Burns, ‘Belgrade <strong>Jewish</strong> writers flourish’,<strong>Jewish</strong> Chronicle, London, 25 Nov 1988. For acomprehensive and detailed critical study <strong>of</strong> thecontribution <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> writers to Serbian life, see PredragPalavestra, <strong>Jewish</strong> Writers in Serbian Literature, tr.George Nikolic, Association <strong>of</strong> Serbian Writers Abroad(ASWA) & PEN, London, 2003.30


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012EUGENIO PACELLI (POPE PIUS XII): WAS HECOMPLICIT IN THE HOLOCAUST (Part I)?*Leon ReichMy motivation in penning this paper was themuch-publicized debate regarding the proposedbeatification <strong>of</strong> Eugenio Pacelli, who becamePope Pius XII.As a Jew, I have been fascinated by thedevelopment <strong>of</strong> the Christian religion as an<strong>of</strong>fshoot <strong>of</strong> Judaism. If one deducts monotheism,the Ten Commandments and what Christians callthe Old Testament, from the Christian ethos, whatreally is left <strong>of</strong> Christianity? What is left <strong>of</strong> theconcept <strong>of</strong> Jesus Christ as the Messiah withoutthe Prophesy <strong>of</strong> Isaiah? An isolated concept <strong>of</strong>Christ as the Messiah without the <strong>Jewish</strong> contentsupporting it, cannot stand. I have been equallyfascinated by the pivotal role which the Churchplayed on the canvas <strong>of</strong> history over its twomillennia existence.Running parallel with the teaching orders <strong>of</strong>the Church and the contribution to knowledgeand education are the medical services throughthe nursing orders, particularly during the DarkAges from the 4 th to 11 th Centuries CE. Alongsidethese achievements, however, has been thepersecution <strong>of</strong>, amongst others, the <strong>Jewish</strong> people,upon whose philosophy rests Christianity’s veryfoundations.Throughout this process <strong>of</strong> impressivecontribution to humanity on the one hand and thehorrific persecution <strong>of</strong> non-believers on the otherthere have been immensely courageous individualdissidents standing out above the crowd.Throughout the ages, these unsung heroes riskedexclusion for themselves and their families fromtheir communities, even enduring suffering ordeath. For them the pursuit <strong>of</strong> justice, truth andtheir own integrity was more precious than lifeitself.This fierce intellectual honesty and powerfuldedication to their own integrity is what hasdriven the hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> RomanCatholics and others who have saved Jews, <strong>of</strong>tenat the risk <strong>of</strong> their own lives. High upon thisladder <strong>of</strong> distinction is the scholar and writer JohnCornwell, author <strong>of</strong> the book Hitler’s Pope: TheSecret History <strong>of</strong> Pius XII (1999). It is from thisstudy <strong>of</strong> Pope Pius XII, born Eugenio Pacelli, thatLeon Reich is a Johannesburg businessman witha long record <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> communal service. Apopular speaker on <strong>Jewish</strong> communal platforms,he has served on the Executive <strong>of</strong> the SA ZionistFederation and was for many years President <strong>of</strong>the Grahamstown Hebrew Congregation.I have sourced the bulk <strong>of</strong> my information for thispaper. Other sources used include SolomonGrayzel’s A History <strong>of</strong> the Jews, The MoralReckoning (Daniel Jonah Goldhagen, 2002), TheRighteous (Martin Gilbert, 2002), Italians andthe Holocaust (Susan Zuccotti, 1987), History <strong>of</strong>the Holocaust (Yehuda Bauer, 2002) and TheMyth <strong>of</strong> Hitler’s Pope: How Pope Pius XII RescuedJews from the Nazis (Rabbi David G. Dalin,2005).The Roman Catholic Church is comparable toSodom and Gomorrah for the <strong>Jewish</strong> people. Thecourageous Catholics, who risked their lives tosave Jews, represent the Ten Holy Men who (hadthey been found) would have saved those cities.Over the centuries, the individual Catholic heroeswho swam against the stream <strong>of</strong> the majorityredeemed the good name and the integrity <strong>of</strong> theRoman Catholic Church.Under normal circumstances, I would neverconcern myself with whom the Vatican chose tobeatify. These however, are abnormalcircumstances. The reason, as will be argued, isthat Eugenio Pacelli personally bore a great deal<strong>of</strong> responsibility for the commencement <strong>of</strong> WorldWar I. He also bore responsibility for the demise<strong>of</strong> the Centre Party in Germany and the crushing<strong>of</strong> its media which influenced German attitudes,resulting in Germany becoming a dictatorship. 1Pacelli figuratively moved heaven and earth tosecure Hitler’s accession, even while knowingthat once he became a dictator, he would pursuehis antisemitic policy as reflected in Mein Kampf.For that reason alone, he shared responsibility forthe Holocaust, and it is important for all who seekthe truth about his role to clearly understand this.Pacelli is consistently accused <strong>of</strong> not tryinghard enough to save <strong>Jewish</strong> lives during WorldWar II. My belief is that this is so, but I would g<strong>of</strong>urther and assert that without Pacelli’sinterventions, in the face <strong>of</strong> advice to actdifferently, both World Wars would not havetaken place at all.If the Catholic Church were to beatify Pacelli,it would signify its association with his nefariouscontribution to human suffering. To my mind,both he and Hitler (himself Catholic-born) werepsychopaths. Both manipulated millions <strong>of</strong> people,which led to untold suffering, in pursuance <strong>of</strong>their objectives. There is one difference however:Hitler was far cleverer than Pacelli - a smarterpsychopath. He waited until the back <strong>of</strong> theCatholic Church was completely broken before31


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012he utilized the full force <strong>of</strong> his power against hisenemies. Pacelli was naïve enough to believe thatthe Reichskonkordat <strong>of</strong> 1933, a signature on asheet <strong>of</strong> paper, was enough to discipline Hitler.He was naïve enough to believe that as a Catholic,he would respect the Holy See.Eugenio Pacelli was crowned Pope Pius XIIon 12 March, 1939. Hitler became Chancellor <strong>of</strong>Germany on 21 March, 1933. Confusion ariseswhen studying Pacelli’s role whilst he was thePope regarding his qualification for beatification.It must be remembered that Pacelli set Hitler upfor dictatorship whilst he was Cardinal Secretary<strong>of</strong> State, which was years before he becamePontiff. After Pacelli was crowned and Hitler wascarrying out his policy <strong>of</strong> mass murder, Pacelliwas compliant because his compliance was hiscontribution in return for the control <strong>of</strong> schools. 2This was “part <strong>of</strong> the deal”.Whilst the Church makes haste to honor thosewho are protagonists <strong>of</strong> their philosophy, i.e. theChristianization <strong>of</strong> planet earth, it never seeks topunish their sons with blood on their hands. Hitlerwas never excommunicated. Contrariwise, aspecial requiem was held for him on the day <strong>of</strong> hisdeath. The antisemitic teachings <strong>of</strong> the RomanCatholic Church over the 2000 years <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Jewish</strong>dispersion, laid the foundations for the Holocaust.Pacelli was a worthy bearer <strong>of</strong> these teachings.It is interesting to note that Hitler, Mussolini,Franco, Portugal’s António de Oliveira Salazarand the Slovakian priest Josef Tiso (who headedthe Slovak People’s Party, a Nazi satellite) wereall Fascists and all Roman Catholics. However,neither Franco nor Mussolini was antisemitic.Franco is even strongly suspected <strong>of</strong> having beena Marrano.In Pope Benedict XVI’s closing speech beforehis departure from Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport inMay 2009, he spoke <strong>of</strong> Auschwitz “where somany Jews – mothers, fathers, husbands, wives,sons, daughters, brothers, sisters, and friends werebrutally exterminated under a Godless regimethat propagated an ideology <strong>of</strong> antisemitism andhatred. That appalling chapter <strong>of</strong> history mustnever be forgotten nor denied.” He goes on to say“Let it be universally recognized that the State <strong>of</strong>Israel has the right to exist, and to enjoy peace andsecurity within internationally agreed borders.” 3In a meeting with Menachem Begin, PresidentCarter expressed his affirmation <strong>of</strong> Israel’s rightto exist. In reply, the Israeli Prime Minister saidthat he appreciated the President’s affirmation.However, “the Hebrew Bible established our rightover our land, millennia ago. That right was neverabandoned or forfeited. I shall not negotiate myexistence with anybody and I need nobody’saffirmation <strong>of</strong> it.” 4 The same may be said <strong>of</strong> PopeBenedict’s closing speech.Pope Benedict’s statement is a huge departurefrom the position <strong>of</strong> a Church that believed thatChrist, the Messiah, will only return to earthwhen all the Jews have been either exterminatedor converted. It certainly is a positive movetowards peace on earth by a Pope that wascompelled as a youth to first join the HitlerJugend and then forced to graduate to theWehrmacht. I do believe that “the winds <strong>of</strong>change”, in the words <strong>of</strong> former British PrimeMinister Harold Macmillan, are blowing throughthe corridors <strong>of</strong> the Vatican.Down the generations, all Jews <strong>of</strong> everygeneration were wrongfully held responsible forthe crucifixion. Latterly, the opinion <strong>of</strong> Jews isbeing taken into consideration during the process<strong>of</strong> beatification. If not for <strong>Jewish</strong> pressure, Pacelliwould have been beatified decades ago. Hopefully,this “wind <strong>of</strong> change” will assist in honoring thenames <strong>of</strong> those who perished in the two terribleWorld Wars, rather than disgracefully insultingtheir memory.Factors Influencing PacelliChristian hatred <strong>of</strong> Jews dating from the earlyChristian Church was borne out <strong>of</strong> the belief thatthe Jews had murdered Christ. They believed thatthe Jews had murdered G-d (one can only wonderhow this might be possible). The early Fathers <strong>of</strong>the Church, the great Christian writers <strong>of</strong> the firstsix centuries <strong>of</strong> Christianity, showed strikingevidence <strong>of</strong> antisemitism. Examples are theopinions <strong>of</strong> Origen who wrote that “the blood <strong>of</strong>Jesus falls not only on the Jews <strong>of</strong> that time, buton all generations <strong>of</strong> Jews up to the end <strong>of</strong> theworld”. 5 St John Chrysostom wrote, “Thesynagogue is a brothel, a hiding place for uncleanbeasts… Never has any Jew prayed to G-d….They are possessed by demons.” 6 The Gospel <strong>of</strong>St Mark speaks about “the hypocrites in thesynagogues” to this very day.The Emperor Constantine passed a series <strong>of</strong>imperial laws such as special taxes on Jews, a banon new synagogues, outlawing intermarriagebetween Christians and Jews. During the 5 thCentury, Jews were regularly attacked duringHoly Week; they were excluded from public <strong>of</strong>ficeand synagogues were put to the torch. The reasonthat the Jews were not exterminated wasepitomized in the early 13 th Century by PopeInnocent III, which reflected the view <strong>of</strong> thePopes <strong>of</strong> the 1 st millennium: “Their words – ‘mayhis blood be on us and our children’ - havebrought inherited guilt upon the entire nation,which follows them as a curse where they live andwork, when they are born and when they die.” 7It was during the Fourth Lateran Councilconvened by Pope Innocent III in 1215, that therequirements were laid down compelling Jews towear distinguishing headgear. They were deniedsocial equality, banned from owning land andexcluded from public <strong>of</strong>fice and most forms <strong>of</strong>trade. As a result, they had no alternative but toengage in money-lending to earn a living, anoccupation forbidden to Christians under Churchlaw. They were licensed to lend at strictly defined32


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012rates and became cursed as ‘bloodsuckers’ and‘usurers’ living <strong>of</strong>f the debts <strong>of</strong> Christians.Persecution <strong>of</strong> Jews during the Middle Ageswas unprecedented. The Holy Crusades wereunholy for the Jews. For Crusaders it was part <strong>of</strong>their mission to torment and kill Jews. There wereenforced baptisms and conversions, particularly<strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> boys. There was a dispute between theFranciscans and Dominicans over their ‘right’ t<strong>of</strong>orcibly baptize <strong>Jewish</strong> children as an extension<strong>of</strong> their lordship over slaves within their domains.During the 12 th Century, the belief took root inEngland that the Jews abducted and sacrificedChristian children, using their blood for matzo atPassover. This was the infamous “blood libel”.The execution <strong>of</strong> Jews accused <strong>of</strong> such ritualmurders was accompanied by the destruction <strong>of</strong>entire communities.In the 16 th Century, Pope Paul IV instituted theghetto and the wearing <strong>of</strong> the yellow badge.Empress Catherine <strong>of</strong> Russia instituted the <strong>Jewish</strong>Pale <strong>of</strong> Settlement within the Russian Empire,locking Jews into a restricted area within whichthey were permitted to live. The Reformation sawthe reduction <strong>of</strong> repressive laws in areas not underPapal control, such as Holland and England andProtestant areas in North America. The PapalStates persisted in the ghetto system until theunification <strong>of</strong> Italy in 1848. The ghetto as aresidential area <strong>of</strong> choice survived until thebeginning <strong>of</strong> World War II.The Spanish InquisitionDuring the rule <strong>of</strong> Ferdinand and Isabella <strong>of</strong>Spain, the Spanish Inquisition under the guidance<strong>of</strong> a Jesuit monk Tomas de Torquemada, theGrand Inquisitor, Jews were given the choice <strong>of</strong>losing most <strong>of</strong> their possessions and expulsion orconversion. This was a most difficult decisionsince the Jews had been in the Iberian Peninsulafor centuries. The aged and the very young haddifficulty in traveling, particularly in those days.They frequently had nowhere to go and theconditions <strong>of</strong> the Inquisition had impoverishedthem. Many were too ill to travel. The mereprospect <strong>of</strong> leaving Spain forever was anunmitigated tragedy. It was far worse for themthan mere poverty.A delegation consisting <strong>of</strong> Abraham Seniorand Isaac Abrabanel went to see Ferdinand andIsabella to plead their case, accompanied by a bag<strong>of</strong> gold. Torquemada, eyes ablaze with anger, across in hand, placed the Crucifix near the bag <strong>of</strong>gold pointing to the figure <strong>of</strong> Jesus on the cross hesaid “here he is, sell him”Their quest failed. Senior and his familyconverted and Abrabanel and his family went intoexile. The last day to leave Spain was 1 August1492. The last boats leaving with the SpanishJews departed the following day, which coincidedwith Tisha B’Av.The Portuguese were unaffected by theInquisition in 1492. The King <strong>of</strong> Portugal wasprepared to admit the Jews temporarily and some100 000 went there, at a very high price foradmittance. Those who had nowhere to go, andwho could not afford the admission price toPortugal had to choose between being sold intoslavery or conversion to Christianity.In 1495, a new king <strong>of</strong> Portugal, Manoel,ascended the throne. He wished to marry thedaughter <strong>of</strong> Ferdinand and Isabella <strong>of</strong> Spain. Thisheld out the possibility <strong>of</strong> his also inheriting thethrone <strong>of</strong> Spain upon the demise <strong>of</strong> the Spanishroyal couple, who had no sons. The Spanishmonarchy would agree to the match conditionalupon Manoel expelling all non-Christians fromPortugal. Manoel recognized that the <strong>Jewish</strong>subjects were important to the country’s economicprosperity. He thus tried to forcibly retain themwhilst ridding the country <strong>of</strong> all other non-Christians.On the first night <strong>of</strong> Passover in 1497, allPortuguese <strong>Jewish</strong> children were forcibly draggedout <strong>of</strong> their homes from the seder tables. Afterbeing kept without food or water for several days,they were forcibly converted. Now that they wereChristians, the King denied them permission toleave the country. Their parents were left with thechoice <strong>of</strong> either leaving the country without themor likewise ‘converting’.The numbers are uncertain, but a community<strong>of</strong> at least 250 000 Jews was destroyed in theIberian Peninsula. 8 Of those who remained underforced conversion, a small percentage managedto escape to other lands in Europe and theAmericas. The name ‘Marranos’ given to thesesecret Jews means ‘swine’. The attempt todehumanize Jews is not new. Once a person is nolonger fully human and is equated to an animalsuch as a baboon then one is entitled to kill him asa “sub-human”. This was practiced in the earlydays <strong>of</strong> Berlin, where a tax was payable foranimals entering the city. The only national grouprequired to pay the same tax as an animal enteringthe city, were Jews. In Germany, even beforeHitler got into power, there were signs on parkbenches and public buildings “Juden unt hundeverboten” - No Jews or dogs allowed. “Once,however, the victim became completely devoid<strong>of</strong> humanity in the perpetrator’s eye, he could bekilled. Annihilation followed.” 9 Moslemextremists today speak <strong>of</strong> Jews as pigs andmonkeys.The series <strong>of</strong> events leading to the expulsionfrom Spain commenced in 1391, although thefinal expulsion took place in 1492, there werealready a large number <strong>of</strong> “New Christians” whowere secretly Marranos by 1480. A number <strong>of</strong>prominent new Christians at the time were caughthaving a Seder during Passover. Thus wereestablished the torture chambers in whichthousands <strong>of</strong> Jews were beaten, tortured, terrorizedand starved to death. The fires were kindled toburn down the centuries, right until the end <strong>of</strong> the33


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 201218 th century, for Jews who were burned alive.The name <strong>of</strong> the Public Execution was knownas the Auto-da-Fe or Act <strong>of</strong> Faith. It was theoccasion for a popular holiday, with spectatorscrowded from every ro<strong>of</strong> and window <strong>of</strong> a publicsquare, decorated appropriately. Those whoconfessed to practicing Judaism secretly, but nowrecognized the error <strong>of</strong> their ways were firststrangled by the executioners. A prominentdignitary or perhaps the king himself, would setfire to the pyre. This took place in front <strong>of</strong> theother prisoners who were already bound awaitingtheir fate. The tolling <strong>of</strong> the bells mingled withthe shrieks <strong>of</strong> the dying and the cheers <strong>of</strong> thepopulace and the cries <strong>of</strong> Shema Yisrael floatedabove the tumult.In the whole <strong>of</strong> the Inquisition’s 350 yearexistence, victims numbered 341 000. 10 Of these,in excess <strong>of</strong> 32 000 were burned alive, 18 000were burned after execution and 291 000 sufferedlesser punishments such as penance, lashes,confiscation, imprisonment or a combination <strong>of</strong>these. Benzion Netanyahu, the late father <strong>of</strong> thecurrent Israeli Prime Minister, argues that theInquisition was instituted against the Marranos,as a result <strong>of</strong> growing economic power <strong>of</strong> theconversos (Jews forcibly converted toCatholicism), who numbered just over 7% <strong>of</strong> theSpanish population.The historian Cecil Roth comments thatalthough the great age <strong>of</strong> Spain came about afterits establishment, the Inquisition “was pressingslowly on the vital arteries <strong>of</strong> Spanish intellectuallife and the cumulative effect was felt at last… Bythe middle <strong>of</strong> the 18 th Century, it was possible tosee the result – a country drained <strong>of</strong> its inspiration,<strong>of</strong> its genius, <strong>of</strong> its wealth, in fact <strong>of</strong> everythingbut its orthodoxy and its pride”.Anti-Judaism survived right into the reign <strong>of</strong>Pope Leo XIII (1878 -1903). The main thrust <strong>of</strong>this was the concept that the Jews were obstinateand failed to see the error <strong>of</strong> their ways. For thisreason they rejected Christianity.Pacelli’s schoolmaster, Signore GiuseppeMarchi, constantly harped on this theme whilstPacelli was at school. In the very street in whichPacelli was born, Via Monte Gordiano, it was thecustom over many centuries for a newly electedPope in a procession en route to the Basilica <strong>of</strong> StJohn Lateran to perform an anti-<strong>Jewish</strong> ceremony.The Pontiff would halt the procession to receivea copy <strong>of</strong> the Pentateuch from the Chief Rabbi <strong>of</strong>Rome in the presence <strong>of</strong> the procession. The Popereturned the Pentateuch to the Chief Rabbi withthe text upside down together with 20 pieces <strong>of</strong>gold. This was intended to indicate that despitethe fact that the Pope respected the Law <strong>of</strong> Moses,it was the stubbornness <strong>of</strong> the Jews that preventedthem from opening their hearts to see the error <strong>of</strong>their ways and convert. The concept was includedin Catholic rituals performed on Good Friday,when the congregants prayed that the “perfidiousJews” would acknowledge “our Lord JesusChrist”. This was only abolished by Pope JohnXXIII at the second Vatican Council in 1962.This culture <strong>of</strong> antisemitism over the centuriesmade it easy for fascists like Salazar, Tiso, Francoand Hitler, to foster the belief that <strong>Jewish</strong>stubbornness made the Jews responsible for, andthus deserving <strong>of</strong>, their own misfortunes.Eugenio Pacelli was born in 1876. In the years1881-2, Giuseppe Oreglia de San Stefano wrote aseries <strong>of</strong> articles in Civilià Cattolica, a leadingJesuit journal, claiming that the killing <strong>of</strong> childrenfor the Paschal Feast was “all too common”. Theuse <strong>of</strong> blood <strong>of</strong> a Christian child was a general law“binding on the conscience <strong>of</strong> all Hebrews”. Everyyear the Jews “crucify a child”. In order that theblood be effective, “the child must die in torment”.He further asserted that “by their cunning”, theJews had instigated the French Revolution inorder to achieve equality. This would assist themto gain key positions in most economies enablingthem to control and to establish “virulentcampaigns against Christianity”. The Jews were“the race that nauseates”, and “an idle people whoneither work nor produce anything; who live <strong>of</strong>fthe sweat <strong>of</strong> others.”The journal reflected the <strong>of</strong>ficial stance <strong>of</strong> theRoman Catholic Church and called for theabolition <strong>of</strong> “civic equality” for Jews, whichcommenced with the Reformation and for thesegregation <strong>of</strong> Jews from the rest <strong>of</strong> the population.Small wonder indeed that Pacelli, who grew up insuch an atmosphere, found comfort in later yearsas Cardinal Secretary <strong>of</strong> State in assisting Hitlerto crush Catholic liberal opinion in the form <strong>of</strong> itsmedia, its many courageous enlightened Bishopsand Chancellor Brüning and his Centre Party.In the autumn <strong>of</strong> 1964, Pope Paul VI announcedat a meeting <strong>of</strong> the progressive fathers <strong>of</strong> Vatican IIthat the Congregation for Saints was to commenceformal beatification processes for both Pope PiusXII and Pope John XXIII. Father Paul Molinari andFather Peter Gumpel from the Jesuit order weretasked in 1965 with the particular responsibility forthe process regarding Pope Pius XII.A huge volume <strong>of</strong> documentation has beenassembled and scrutinized; hundreds <strong>of</strong> peoplehave been asked to give evidence. The key figure,Father Peter Gumpel, is described as a man <strong>of</strong>great intelligence and very knowledgeableregarding Pacelli. However, the material that hefavors is very selective and ignores scholars likeKlaus Schulder, as well as Robert Katz, GuenterLewy and Saul Friedlander who, he assets, should“realize that they are trampling on the sensibilities<strong>of</strong> Catholics and in doing so they hinder efforts tobuild better relations between the Catholics andthe Jews”.Cornwell regards Gumpel as a Pacelliapologist.Pacelli’s Personal Background“Thou art Peter and upon this rock shall myChurch be built. Whatsoever shall be bound by34


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012thee on earth shall be bound in Heaven.Whatsoever shall be loosed by thee on earth shallbe loosed in Heaven.”This is the exhortation <strong>of</strong> Jesus <strong>of</strong> Nazareth tohis disciple, Peter. He and his successors areforever to be the successors <strong>of</strong> the Master onearth. The successors <strong>of</strong> St Peter are the Popes <strong>of</strong>Rome. By their cession <strong>of</strong> their powers to theCardinals, Bishops and Priests down the line <strong>of</strong>command, “whatsoever shall be bound by themon earth shall be bound in heaven and whatsoevershall be loosed by them on earth shall be loosed inheaven” inherited these rights and titles. This isthe credo <strong>of</strong> the Roman Catholic Church. ThePope and his representatives, namely the clergy,had ultimate power over the lives <strong>of</strong> their adherentsand this power was endorsed in heaven.Eugenio Pacelli’s grandfather, MarcantonioPacelli, was a Vatican lawyer. He was a key<strong>of</strong>ficial in the service <strong>of</strong> Giovanni Maria Mastou-Ferretti who was crowned Pope Pius IX - PioNino - in 1846. In 1861, Marcantonio helped t<strong>of</strong>ound the Vatican daily newspaper, L’ OsservatoreRomano. It exists to this day and is publisheddaily in seven languages.Marcantonio, was loyal to Pio Nino when ThePapal Territories were temporarily lost during the1848 revolution in Italy. He fled with him to theseaside fortress <strong>of</strong> Gaeta in the neighboringkingdom <strong>of</strong> Naples in November <strong>of</strong> that year andreturned with him to Rome the following July.The help <strong>of</strong> French bayonets and a loan from thewell-known, <strong>Jewish</strong> Rothschild family facilitatedPope Pius IX’s return. He repaid the <strong>Jewish</strong>community for their assistance by forcing themback into the ghetto; compelling them to wear theinfamous yellow badge (later taken over by Hitler,)and made them pay for having supported therevolution. He also became involved in thekidnapping by Papal Police <strong>of</strong> a six year-old<strong>Jewish</strong> child, Edgardo Mortara, in 1858. Thechild was forcibly baptized. Despite world outrage(including no less than twenty editorials in theNew York Times), the pleas <strong>of</strong> the parents and theentreaties <strong>of</strong> both Emperor Franz Josef <strong>of</strong> Austriaand Napoleon III <strong>of</strong> France, the child was neverreturned. Instead, he was forcibly cloistered in amonastery and eventually ordained as a priest.During the period <strong>of</strong> the First Vatican Council,was convened by Pio Nino in late 1869 andlasting until 20 October 1870, the decree <strong>of</strong> PapalInfallibility was passed (18 July, 1870). Initiallyonly half the Bishops supported the decree.Eventually, it was passed in the presence <strong>of</strong> 433Bishops with two dissensions. An additionaldecree announcing the Pope’s supremejurisdiction over his Bishops, both individuallyand collectively, was also accepted. The Popewas anti-democratic as a result <strong>of</strong> the loss <strong>of</strong> hisPapal lands during the unification anddemocratization <strong>of</strong> Italy. In 1868, he had forbiddenItalian Catholics from taking part in democraticpolitics.Pacelli’s parents were married in 1871. Hismother Virginia Graziosi, one <strong>of</strong> thirteen children,hailed from Rome and was “a pious daughter <strong>of</strong>the Church”. Two <strong>of</strong> her siblings became priestsand two became nuns. His father, Fillippo,performed pastoral work in the parishes <strong>of</strong> Rome.The family considered themselves a part <strong>of</strong> theBlack Nobility, 11 who opposed and rejected the‘usurpation’ <strong>of</strong> King Vittorio Emanuel. Themeager remuneration earned by both Marcantonioand Fillipo, was indicative <strong>of</strong> their loyalty to thepapal cause rather than <strong>of</strong> an aristocratic lifestyle.Eugenio Pacelli was born on 2 March, 1876,two years before the death <strong>of</strong> Pio Nino. He wasborn into a culture where the Pope was regardedas infallible and as G-d’s Vicar on earth andwhose decisions were automatically endorsed inheaven. Jews were seen as being deserving <strong>of</strong> anycruelty or punishment meted out to them due totheir stubbornness in refusing to accept Christ asthe Messiah. They were no less than slaves and itwas quite in order to kidnap their children andconvert them against their parents’ will. Therewas no clash <strong>of</strong> integrity in utilizing any financialbenefit that they were able to <strong>of</strong>fer, whetherthrough loans or confiscation <strong>of</strong> assets, andimmediately thereafter betraying them.A person raised in this type <strong>of</strong> morality, whichwas extremely anti-democratic and where Jewswere thus regarded, was indeed a candidate to bean ally <strong>of</strong> fellow Catholic Fascists such as Tiso,Franco, Salazar, Mussolini or indeed Adolf Hitler.As will be shown, there was in addition a greatcommonality <strong>of</strong> attitude in their joint hatred andfear <strong>of</strong> Communism. How much more did oneneed to bind together the Catholics and the Fascistsin an allegiance? Both hated Jews, democracyand Communism.In 1901, Pacelli was recruited by MonsignorPietro Gaspari, the undersecretary in theDepartment <strong>of</strong> Extraordinary <strong>Affairs</strong> (theequivalent to the Foreign Office in the Secretariat<strong>of</strong> State). A few days after his recruitment, he wasappointed an ‘apprendista’ (apprentice) in theDepartment. He rose rapidly from part timelecturer in Canon Law in 1902 to a part timelecturer in the Academy for Nobles andEcclesiastes, where he taught civil and Canonlaw. In 1904, he obtained his doctorate. His thesisdealt with the nature <strong>of</strong> Concordats, the term forspecial treaties between the Vatican and nationstates, monarchies and empires, and the function<strong>of</strong> Canon Law, when a Concordat falls intoabeyance. The importance <strong>of</strong> this qualificationwill be seen later in discussions regarding theFirst World War and the rise <strong>of</strong> Hitler.That same year, Pacelli was promoted to thepost <strong>of</strong> minutante, which involved writing digests<strong>of</strong> reports dispatched to the Secretariat from allover the world. He was also awarded the title <strong>of</strong>Monsignor, with the rank <strong>of</strong> Papal Chamberlain.In 1905 he was awarded the title <strong>of</strong> DomesticPrelate and two years later he was selected to35


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012accompany the Cardinal Secretary <strong>of</strong> State to aEucharistic Congress in London.Anti-Democracy and Papal DiplomacyPope Leo XIII reigned from 1878-1903. Hebelieved that the Papal Diplomatic Service had acrucial role to play in the implementation <strong>of</strong>internal Church discipline and the conduct <strong>of</strong>Church/State relations, and had himself beentrained in diplomacy. The permanent mission <strong>of</strong>the Vatican increased from eighteen to twentysevendiplomats, during his watch. On his death,he was succeeded by Pope Pius X. Thisinaugurated an era known as anti-Modernism,also called anti-Americanism. The moderniststried to bring the Catholic Church in line withdemocracy, and the movement was primarilydriven by a disparate modernizing group in NorthAmerica. ‘Americanism’ experienced almostimmediate demise after the Papal denunciation.The ‘poison’ <strong>of</strong> European Modernismspreading throughout the Church was identifiedas early as 1870 by Pr<strong>of</strong>essor Louis Duchesne atthe Institut Catholique in Paris. The man appointedto eradicate it by Pope Pius X was UmbertoBenigni. He worked in the mornings in the Vaticanin the same <strong>of</strong>fice <strong>of</strong> Pacelli. During the afternoons,evenings and weekends, he conducted the SecretService known as the Sodalitiums Pianum(Sodality <strong>of</strong> Pius). Experienced in running aCatholic newspaper and news service, he used themost modern and up-to-date skills in running aninternal espionage service to find ‘culprits’ whomight be suspected <strong>of</strong> being Modernist or <strong>of</strong>having Modernist or democratic views.Without recourse to the audi alterem partem(hearing the other view) rule, numerousseminarians, curates, priests, teachers, bishopsand even princes <strong>of</strong> the Church were ‘delated’ orreported. The Cardinal Archbishops <strong>of</strong> Viennaand Paris and the entire Dominican Community<strong>of</strong> Fribourg University in Switzerland wereaffected and sentenced without an opportunity todefend themselves.A comment made en passant in a refectory,being seen in the company <strong>of</strong> a suspectedmodernist, a sermon with unorthodox undertoneswere enough to result in destruction <strong>of</strong> a career,and banishment to a remote region. No one couldbe trusted and even students and old friendssecretly reported each other. Pope Pius X, himselfapproved, blessed and encouraged this intellectualconstriction, which spied on the hierarchy itself.In July, 1907 he published the decree Lamentabilicondemning 65 modernist Propositions (meaning‘viewpoints’). Two months later, he publishedPascendi, an encyclical on Modernism. Thisestablishes for all time that intellectual questionsare not a matter for scholarly or intellectualdiscussion but must be resolved by Papal authority.One accepted not only what the Pope proposed,but also how he interpreted it. This is contrary toall Catholic teaching <strong>of</strong> conscience and is a form<strong>of</strong> thought control that was unrivalled even byCommunist and Fascist regimes.Thirty years after the Lamentabili, Pius Xpublished a directive known as the “Anti-Modernist” oath. This required acquiescence toall papal teachings. All ordinands and all priestsin administrative teaching posts must to this daytake an oath in a modified form, denouncingModernism and supporting the Lamentabili. Theoath also includes Pascendi. This fear <strong>of</strong> themodern world and the fear <strong>of</strong> loss <strong>of</strong> total papalcontrol were approved <strong>of</strong> by Pacelli, even thoughhis mentor Gaspari vehemently disapproved.It was Pacelli who canonized Pope Pius X on29 May 1954, describing him as a “glowing flame<strong>of</strong> charity and shining splendor <strong>of</strong> sanctity”.Clearly, he adopted the anti-Modernist philosophy<strong>of</strong> his predecessor. This made it easier for him toassociate himself with the principle <strong>of</strong> “Ein weld,ein volk, ein führer” (one world, one nation, oneleader) <strong>of</strong> Adolf Hitler.In 1904, in strictest secrecy, the Codification<strong>of</strong> Canon Law was begun. The project took fortyyears to commence from the inception by PioNino in 1864, and was to be applied universallywithout local discretion or opinion. It waseventually published in 1917 and is probably themost important event in the history <strong>of</strong> the RomanCatholic Church in modern times. It finallycemented total power control, unequal andunprecedented to the Papacy <strong>of</strong> the Church. Theprinciple architects and team leaders were Gaspariand Pacelli.According to a distinguished Protestant canonlawyer, Ulrich Stutz, the Code gave “supremeand most complete jurisdiction” <strong>of</strong> the Church bythe Pope, unlike anything that the Church hadpossessed in its 2000-year existence. 12 It was inmany ways a unilateral declaration <strong>of</strong> total power,since there were many concordats between theVatican and various governments over thecenturies. Points <strong>of</strong> dissension between the Codeand the Concordats had to be ironed out. It wasPacelli’s principle task to eradicate obstacles,starting with Germany, the most powerful Catholicpopulation in the world.Pius X was opposed to co-operating withpolitical parties. He did not care for them since hewas unable to control their thought processes.This was the case particularly in France where, asa result <strong>of</strong> successive revolutions commencing in1789, the monarchy had been replaced by arepublican form <strong>of</strong> government, whilst the Vaticanfavored a more monarchist, anti-democraticapproach. When the <strong>Jewish</strong> <strong>of</strong>ficer, Captain AlfredDreyfus, was found guilty <strong>of</strong> selling nationalsecrets in 1895, the Jesuit monthly CiviliaCatholica proclaimed that “the Jew was createdby G-d to act as a traitor everywhere.” WhenDreyfus was later exonerated, the Vatican cameunder attack by the anti-clerical Socialist Party inFrance because <strong>of</strong> the article.36


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012Influenced by Pope Pius X and political eventswhich occurred in both France and Italy, Pacellibelieved in the infallibility <strong>of</strong> leadership in thecase <strong>of</strong> the Church as well as in the Fascist form<strong>of</strong> Government. According to Carlo Falconi: “Firsthe believed the mixture <strong>of</strong> politics and religion tobe the most dangerous possible for the Church,secondly because at that time the Catholic Partiesfostered the participation <strong>of</strong> priests in politics,and lastly because he thought them useless, forCatholics could always seek support for theirreligious claims from lay parties favorable to theChurch or at least not hostile to it.” 13Pacelli espoused the same view when, asCardinal Secretary <strong>of</strong> State, he collaborated onbehalf <strong>of</strong> a docile, quiescent church with the NaziParty. He preferred to help to crush the CatholicCentre Party, which consisted <strong>of</strong> loyal Catholicsbut was the final obstacle on Hitler’s path todictatorship. In order to achieve control, he choseHitler as a Chancellor, rather than Brüning whowas both a Catholic and a democrat.The Cause <strong>of</strong> World War IFather Denis Cardon, as described byCornwell, was “a corpulent bustling, meddlesomecleric skilled in several languages including Serbo-Croatian. 14 One evening in Belgrade, he met aminister <strong>of</strong> the Serbian government to whom hesuggested that a concordat between the Vaticanand Serbia would be mutually beneficial. Theminister expressed his doubts that the RomanCatholic Church would welcome the concept, dueto the expected resistance <strong>of</strong> the Austriangovernment. Cardon assured the minister that he(Cardon) could introduce him to the correctpersonality in the Church who would welcomethe concept and indeed steer it to fruition.The minister was so impressed with thisrelatively unknown priest that he forthwithproceeded to appoint him as Serbian Special Agentto the Holy See. Thus it was that Cardon went tothe Vatican and put the proposal to Pacelli. Neverbefore had there been any question <strong>of</strong> the Vaticanhaving such discussions with Serbia.During the Colonial era, it was a familiarfeature for a Catholic country to act as a Protector<strong>of</strong> Catholics in a non-Catholic country. TheCatholic Austro-Hungarian Empire was thereforethe protector <strong>of</strong> Catholics in non-Catholic Serbia,which numbered only 7000 at the time <strong>of</strong> the 1 stBalkan War in 1912. As a result <strong>of</strong> Serbia’smilitary success in that war, the Serbian Empirenow encompassed 40 000 Catholics within itsnewly extended borders.Pacelli’s proposal in essence was that control<strong>of</strong> the Catholic Church in Serbia be moved fromVienna to Rome. In terms <strong>of</strong> the treaty, Romewould nominate Bishops and educate priests inthe Latin rite, a right previously held by Austria.The negotiations between Serbia and the Vaticanwere conducted in the greatest <strong>of</strong> secrecy for awhole year, despite Austrian representations andseveral approaches to the Vatican. On 15 February1913 Archbishop Rafaele Scapinelli, the Vatican’snuncio in Vienna, wrote to Pacelli:“Austria….appears determined to deal harshlywith Serbia and it is widely believed that therecould be a war with that country in the spring,further complicating matters in the extreme.Would it not be better to leave the concordatnegotiations for now, rather than take risks in anuncertain and perilous set <strong>of</strong> circumstances, thatcan only lead to military humiliation for Serbia?” 15Pacelli, however, was determined to end theprotectorate status <strong>of</strong> the Austrians in the interests<strong>of</strong> Rome. His drive for control was the overridingfactor which caused him to ignore all warningsand pleas and his initiative led to increased tensionbetween Austria and Serbian which escalatedinto World War I. On 7 June, 1914, a final meeting<strong>of</strong> cardinals was held in the Secretariat <strong>of</strong> Statewhere Gaspari re-echoed Archbishop RafaeleScapinelli’s warnings. Gaspari understood thatthe Church had been led into the trap by Pacelli’sdesire to exercise direct control over Catholics atthe local level and thus had become involved inthe complexities <strong>of</strong> local Balkan politics.It may be argued that Pacelli could never haveforeseen the implications <strong>of</strong> the papacy becominga player on the world stage. However, the pressurecooker which was initiated and escalated by hisirresponsible and self-serving conduct wassufficient indication <strong>of</strong> the price that Europe andthe world paid for the meddling <strong>of</strong> amateurs inworld affairs.On 24 June 1914, the concordat with theVatican and the Serbian government was signed.Only four days later, Austria’s Archduke FranzFerdinand was assassinated at Sarajevo. Theuncompromising position <strong>of</strong> Serbia and Rome,the volatile emotions, the Austrian outrage andthe assassination made war inevitable.Pope Pius X died on 20 August, it was said <strong>of</strong>a broken heart after realizing the role that hisbeing manipulated by Pacelli had played in thecommencement <strong>of</strong> the war. Pacelli remained alivewith his heart intact. The new pope, Benedict XV,was elected on 3 September. He immediatelydismissed the Secretary <strong>of</strong> State, Merry del Val,and replaced him with Gaspari. Pacelli waspromoted to Secretary in the Department <strong>of</strong>Extraordinary <strong>Affairs</strong>.Pacelli, Between the World WarsPacelli was tasked with dealing with the vastpopulations <strong>of</strong> prisoners <strong>of</strong> war, on both sides and“<strong>of</strong> all religions”. He is recorded as having donean outstanding job wherein, inter alia, 65 000prisoners were liberated and generous parcelscontaining food and medication were distributedamongst many <strong>of</strong> the hapless prisoners awaitingrelease. He also provided religious solace, workingtirelessly for three years without a day’s vacation.37


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012He assisted in searching for news <strong>of</strong> the missingand the dead and managed funds for the reliefwork provided by the Holy See.Pacelli’s concern for the POWs certainly atteststo his humanity and compassion. In his regularreports to Gaspari, however, he never neglectedto reflect his activities in the best possible light(in which regard he was eminently skilled andexperienced). His skill in taking care <strong>of</strong> his owninterests extended to his arrangements when heleft Rome’s Stazione Termini en route to Munichto commence his term <strong>of</strong> duty in Germany in theinterests <strong>of</strong> the POWs. He commandeered hisown railway compartment plus an additionalsealed carriage containing sixty cases <strong>of</strong> groceriespressing four ministries into service at a cost <strong>of</strong>80 000 lire to the Holy See. This contained anenormous quantity <strong>of</strong> embargoed goods and allstation masters were placed on alert from Rome tothe Swiss border to ensure the safe and unhinderedprogress <strong>of</strong> his war rations.Following the sudden death <strong>of</strong> ArchbishopAversa <strong>of</strong> Munich in May 1917, Pacelli wasconsecrated as Archbishop <strong>of</strong> Sardi by BenedictXV in the Sistine Chapel. It was a privateceremony, attended by, amongst others, AchilleRatti, the Vatican Diplomat and librarian whowould become Pius XI five years later. DuringPacelli’s time in Germany, he vigorously setabout promoting Benedict XV’s peace plan. TheHoly Father was indeed tormented by Christianswaging war against each other and by Catholicskilling Catholics.On 30 June 1920, Pacelli presented hiscredentials to the Reich, as ambassador <strong>of</strong> theHoly See. He was the first diplomat to do so underthe Weimar Republican Government andperformed his duties with both charm anddistinction.Pacelli came to a Germany shamed andembarrassed by military defeat and whoseeconomy was on the brink <strong>of</strong> collapse. It wasinflation ridden and leaderless, and vulnerable torevolution and civil war. Here was an opportunityfor a cunning strategist to wring out a benefit forthe Vatican. It could appeal for moderate demands,lower compensation rates and lower interestcharges. It could encourage re-establishment <strong>of</strong>diplomatic links between former enemies andrecommend more agreeable borders for Germany.Before the war, Germany had donated morefunds to the Holy See than all the other Catholiccommunities <strong>of</strong> the world put together. The soonerGermany re-established its economy, the greaterthe fiscal benefit would be to the Church. TheCatholic population in Germany had reached 23million by 1930. This was approximately 35% <strong>of</strong>the nation, and was despite the fact that Germanyhad lost a considerable portion <strong>of</strong> its territory asa result <strong>of</strong> the war that had been heavily populatedby Catholics. The German Catholic communitywas energetic and creative. During the 1920s, forexample, monastic foundations increased from366 to 640, members <strong>of</strong> religious orders from7000 to 14 000 and members <strong>of</strong> women’s religiousorders from 60 000 to 77 000. There were some400 daily Catholic newspapers and 420periodicals. Two Catholic news and featureservices syndicated material nationwide and aCatholic cinema review Film-Rundschau. Rallies<strong>of</strong> Catholic workers, scouts and other groupswere frequently held. Catholicism was by far thelargest single social group in the country. TheCatholic Centre Party had much to do with thestrength and unprecedented growth <strong>of</strong> Catholicismin Germany, and during the 1920s, provided fiveout <strong>of</strong> the country’s ten Chancellors.Adolf Hitler recognized at an early stage thepotential for Catholic resistance to NationalSocialism. In Mein Kampf, he stated that aconfrontation with the Catholic Church would bedisastrous, and knew he could never succeedwithout the Church’s cooperation.There was considerable antagonism towardsthe Nazis. How was it, then, that the much-fearedconfrontation between the Church and Nazismnever materialized? Hitler was cunning enough torealize that what the Catholic Church had incommon with the Nazi philosophy <strong>of</strong> dictatorshipwas its Code <strong>of</strong> Canon Law. Skillfully structuredby Gaspari and Pacelli in the years 1904-1917, iteffectively accorded the Pope total control, withthe power to make decisions over the heads <strong>of</strong>both clergy and laity without consultation. Thetrick was to establish common cause with thePapacy; this would create co-operation andeliminate resistance.Pacelli’s Role in Hitler’s Rise to PowerPacelli took up his position as CardinalSecretary <strong>of</strong> State on 7 February 1930. The power<strong>of</strong> decision in the Church then rested with PopePius XI. However, the Pope was plagued byillness and increasingly entrusted more and more<strong>of</strong> his major decisions to the Cardinal Secretary <strong>of</strong>State in matters concerning international relations.This was perfectly natural as the portfolio <strong>of</strong>Cardinal Secretary <strong>of</strong> State is equivalent to that <strong>of</strong>a Minister <strong>of</strong> Foreign <strong>Affairs</strong>.The crux <strong>of</strong> the whole discussion was whatwould be benefit to the Church. What, in otherwords, was to be the price <strong>of</strong> the latter’s silence?The terms <strong>of</strong> Article 21 <strong>of</strong> the Reichskonkordatsigned between the Roman Catholic Church andthe National Socialist Party on 20 July 1933included the concordat’s provision on Catholiceducation. This was the most important area <strong>of</strong>the treaty for the Church. Hitler was to protectand underwrite the cost <strong>of</strong> educating Catholicpupils and students in every kind <strong>of</strong> institutionfrom the commencement <strong>of</strong> primary level to theend <strong>of</strong> the secondary level. The Catholic diocesanauthorities were granted the right to examinereligious instruction in schools and to appoint anddismiss teachers. The Church therefore gained38


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012control <strong>of</strong> education and the taxpayers, whoconstituted two-thirds Protestants and one-thirdCatholic, picked up the tab. The concordat wassigned by Franz von Papen on behalf <strong>of</strong> the Nazisand by Pacelli representing the Church.It should be borne in mind how Pacelli hadmaneuvered control <strong>of</strong> the Serbian Church, withthe tab being picked up by the government <strong>of</strong>Serbia. Now he had maneuvered control <strong>of</strong>education for the whole <strong>of</strong> Germany, at the expense<strong>of</strong> the German taxpayer. In both cases the CatholicChurch gained control free <strong>of</strong> charge.According to Article 23 - and this was evenmore important - Catholic parents could demandthe provision <strong>of</strong> Catholic schooling where it didnot exist, depending on local conditions. Thisdemand for Catholic schooling did not only applyto Catholic pupils, but to those <strong>of</strong> any religiouspersuasion.It is for these supposed benefits that CardinalEugenio Pacelli sold the reputation <strong>of</strong> a mightyChurch, with all its dedicated pastors, thinkers,academics and fighters for justice and democracy,by acquiescing in the program <strong>of</strong> a fascistmurderer,On 25 July 1933, five days after the signing <strong>of</strong>the concordat, the Law Against Overcrowding <strong>of</strong>German Schools and universities aimed atreducing the number <strong>of</strong> Jews studying at theseinstitutions was passed. The law - known as theNumerus Clausus Act - laid down a strict quotafor Jews <strong>of</strong> 1½% <strong>of</strong> school and universityenrolments. Pacelli, as Cardinal Secretary <strong>of</strong> State,had negotiated favorable rights for Catholics withthe self-same government that was simultaneouslytrampling on the rights <strong>of</strong> the <strong>Jewish</strong> minority.The Holy See and the German Catholic Churchwere thus drawn into complicity with a racist,antisemitic government. Three months before thesigning <strong>of</strong> the concordat, thousands <strong>of</strong> priestsacross Germany had already begun supplyingdetails <strong>of</strong> blood purity through marriage andbaptism registries for purposes <strong>of</strong> the NumerusClausus Act. The information was later used toenforce the Nuremberg Laws and ultimately forsending Jews to the death camps.The Protestant Churches also co-operated insupplying this information. However, in the case<strong>of</strong> the Catholic Church, the culpability was fargreater because <strong>of</strong> the centralized application <strong>of</strong>Canon Law, so skillfully crafted and enforced byPacelli. The excuse <strong>of</strong> not believing in activepolitics as Catholics, but using concordats withpolitical parties to advance their cause seemedthe perfect excuse. Just as Cardinal Tomas deTorquemada acted to ensure that the punishmentin the Spanish Inquisition were performed by theCivic Authority, so too did Eugenio Pacelli actduring the Holocaust. The history <strong>of</strong> the Churchenjoys a distinction for its macabre consistency.The Church is the manipulator, whilst the civicauthority, either Ferdinand and Isabella or AdolfHitler are the murderers.There were indeed courageous priests whotried to thwart the Nazis. One had to be extremelybrave to do so and they were in the minority. Thestory <strong>of</strong> how the mighty Catholic Church wassilenced and instead helped in catapulting Hitlerto power with Pacelli’s assistance will be told inthe second part <strong>of</strong> this paper.Notes1 Cornwell, J, Hitler’s Pope: The Secret History <strong>of</strong> Pius XII(Penguin, 1999), pp 131-9, 142-72 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reichskonkordat. Cornwell,p146.3 http://www.vatican.va/holy_father/benedict_xvi/speeches/2009/may/documents/hf_benxvi_spe_20010515_farewell-tel-aviv_en.html4 www.yourish.com/2006/06/14/14335 Rosen, D, ‘The Legacy <strong>of</strong> Pope John Paul II’, American<strong>Jewish</strong> Committee, 2 February 2004, http://www.ajc.org/site/apps/nlnet/content3.aspx?c=ijITI2PHKoG&b=6390861&ct=10840136 http://www.nobeliefs.com/ChurchesWWII.htm7 catholicinsight.com/online/reviews/films/article_45.shtml8 Grayzel, S, A History <strong>of</strong> the Jews, p3669 Bauer, Y, A History <strong>of</strong> the Holocaust, Institute <strong>of</strong>Contemporary Jewry Hebrew, University <strong>of</strong> Jerusalem,with the assistance <strong>of</strong> Nili Keren, New York: FranklinWatts, c1982, 2001, p9210 Sources “Inquisition” Encyclopedia Judaica. “The SpanishInquisition Gates to <strong>Jewish</strong> Heritage”11 The Black Nobles were a small group <strong>of</strong> self-electedaristocrats who had continued to support the Pope, followingthe loss <strong>of</strong> their extensive lands in the struggle for the state<strong>of</strong> Italy12 Quoted by Cornwell, p4213 Quoted in C. Falconi, Popes in the Twentieth Century,English translation, London 1967, p76; Cornwell, p47.14 Cornwell, p5115 Ibid, p5339


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012SOME HOLOCAUST AND JUDAICA ARTEFACTSAND THE STORIES BEHIND THEM*Jeff FineThose who saw them, commented theanonymous SA <strong>Jewish</strong> <strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Deputies</strong>representative, would “become conscious <strong>of</strong> theimmense tragedy hidden behind every single itemwhich tells <strong>of</strong> the biggest robbery ever committedin history. Visitors will see the blood drippingfrom silver candelabra. They will see eyes openedwidely with horror; they will hear the cries <strong>of</strong>agony <strong>of</strong> death, with which the silver will beconnected for them.”The above-mentioned representative had justcleared from Customs <strong>Jewish</strong> artefacts stolen bythe Nazis from synagogues and homes throughoutEurope. The items were distributed after the warby the <strong>Jewish</strong> Cultural Reconstruction (JCR)programme to <strong>Jewish</strong> communities round theworld.This, too, is my response when I look at theprecious articles left behind by the namelessvictims <strong>of</strong> the Holocaust, killed solely becausethey were <strong>Jewish</strong>. As a Judaica valuator andcollector, I have a keen interest in such items.This article features the stories about those thathave come into my possession.In November 2009, I gave a lecture on ‘Artand Artefacts <strong>of</strong> the Holocaust as a LearningTool’ to a group <strong>of</strong> educators who were going ona two-week course at Yad Vashem the followingmonth. Afterwards, I was invited to join them,and grabbed the opportunity with both hands. Itwould give me the opportunity to learn moreabout the Holocaust, information I could use infuture lectures. I would also be able to visit some<strong>of</strong> my contacts in Jerusalem from whom I purchaseHolocaust artefacts and antique Judaica.Little did I realize how intense this two-weekcourse would be, and that it would leave little orno time for collecting expeditions. We were onlyfree on a few evenings, but after an intensiveeight-hour day <strong>of</strong> lectures, were too tired to goexploring.On the first Wednesday, we had an amazinglecture on Theresienstadt. This was the camp thatwas housed in an 18 th Century fortress and turnedJeff Fine is a Judaica valuator and collector <strong>of</strong>many years standing. In addition to lecturingwidely on aspects <strong>of</strong> Judaica and the Holocaust,he has curated exhibitions in Johannesburg andCape Town, working closely with the SA <strong>Jewish</strong><strong>Board</strong> <strong>of</strong> <strong>Deputies</strong> in researching anddocumenting their collections.into a model ghetto to deceive the outside worldinto believing that the rumours <strong>of</strong> European Jewsbeing deported to death camps were false. To itwere sent privileged Jews from Germany,Czechoslovakia, and Austria: prominent artists,writers, scientists, jurists, diplomats, musiciansand scholars. In this ghetto, there were four concertorchestras, chamber groups and jazz ensembles.For the children, there were daily classes andsports activities; art teacher Friedl Dicker-Brandeis ran drawing classes for them.Leo HaasAmong the artists was the CzechoslovakianLeo Haas, a portrait painter and lithographer whoarrived on 30 December, 1942, and was employedin the Drawing Office <strong>of</strong> the Technical Departmentunder fellow Czech artist, Bedrich Fritta. Otherwell-known artists were Karel Fleishmann, OttoUngar, and Felix Bloch. Haas drew portraits <strong>of</strong>his colleagues and taught painting to the children,for which he received a little food. In secret, hemade drawings documenting ghetto life – peoplesearching for food, waiting to be transported, thetransfer <strong>of</strong> internees from one place to another,the buildings, portraits <strong>of</strong> inmates, sketches <strong>of</strong> theelderly, the sick, the dying and the dead. Hisfriend Fritta drew a book as a birthday gift for hisson Thomas showing him what a normal birthdaywould be like had they not been in the ghetto, witha party, cakes, presents, and a clown, with parks,trees, flowers and birds – all things Thomas couldnot see in the ghetto. We were shown the bookTommy, which was published by Yad Vashem inHebrew in 1999, in both adult and children’sversions.Haas, Fritta and Ungar would <strong>of</strong>ten meet inthe evening to work on their drawings and managedto smuggle out some <strong>of</strong> their work through an artdealer, Leo Strauss. The latter used his ‘Aryan’family and close connections with the ghetto’sCzech police in the hope that this might rousepublic opinion. It was seen by the Danish RedCross, who asked to visit the ghetto. A carefullyplanned propaganda visit was prepared - buildingswere painted, shops were filled with food andJews were deported to empty the streets. Severaldays before the visit, the artists were warned by aco-worker in the technical department (a member<strong>of</strong> the Council <strong>of</strong> Elders), that they would becalled in for interrogation. Fritta buried his pictures40


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012in the ground inside a metal box, Ungar hid hispaintings in a depression in a wall and Haas hidhis works in an attic. Immediately after the RedCross had left, the Nazis began to search throughthe tools <strong>of</strong> the people in the technical department,searching for pictures. Ungar, Fritta, Haas andBloch were arrested in July 1944, accused <strong>of</strong>distributing atrocity propaganda to outsidecountries and, along with Strauss who had beenimprisoned several days earlier, interrogated byAdolf Eichmann. Their families were also arrested,including three-year old Thomas. In October theywere sent to Auschwitz, where Haas was forcedto produce portraits for the ‘Angel <strong>of</strong> Death’,Josef Mengele.Haas was then sent to Sachsenhausen, wherehe was put to work in the forgery commando,counterfeiting English 5, 10, 20 and 50-poundnotes. I have managed to acquire one <strong>of</strong> eachvalue as well as different signatory examples.designed movie sets for the DEFA Company andfor East German television. He exhibited hisworks in Israel, East Germany, France, Italy,Austria, China and the United States.The Brown EnvelopeFive <strong>of</strong> Haas’s sketches had been on <strong>of</strong>fer at aSotheby’s auction in Tel Aviv, held 12 October1995. I knew about this because as a collector, Irely for much <strong>of</strong> my information on old auctioncatalogues, and being as pedantic as I am, hadbought all the back auction catalogues which Istudy and use for research and identificationpurposes. At that time, I had not been interested inthese because I had not yet started collectingHolocaust art, nor had my interest been particularlyroused by the above lecture.I had arranged that evening to visit one <strong>of</strong> mydealer friends. On the way to his apartment inMea Shearim we discussed the course at YadVashem, his family and mine. When we arrived,I met his parents. His father, now very ill andwheelchair-bound, had been, as his son now was,one <strong>of</strong> the foremost Judaica dealers in Israel.I was searching through the Judaica on <strong>of</strong>ferwhen he said to himself, “Holocaust, wait”, andleft the room, reappearing with a large, grubby,tattered brown envelope. “I once had to buy thisalong with a Judaica collection in Europe. Maybeyou could use it?” He removed a piece <strong>of</strong> paperfrom this envelope and handed it to me to me toperuse, asking if it could be <strong>of</strong> use in my teachingabout the Holocaust through my Art and Artefactscollection. My hands trembled as I gazed uponthe sketch The Roll Call done by Leo Haas inMauthausen concentration camp. Could I use it?What a question!From Sachsenhausen, Haas was sent toEbensee before being liberated at Mauthausen.Fortunately his wife, Erna, had survived as hadFrida Ungar and her daughter, but most <strong>of</strong> hisfriends and family had perished. Ungar had diedduring the Death March to Buchenwald, Blochhad been beaten to death in Theresienstadt, Frittahad died in Auschwitz and his wife inTheresienstadt. However, little Thomas Fritta hadsurvived, although was in very poor health; theHaases adopted him and settled in Prague.Haas returned to Theresienstadt, where hefound his entire art collection. He also foundmany works produced by Fritta, including themanuscript <strong>of</strong> Tommy. These had been buried inpottery containers made by the adjoining potteryclass. After his wife’s death, Haas moved to EastBerlin, where he worked as the editor <strong>of</strong> acaricature journal called Eulenspiegel andMy friend’s mother entered at this point. Whenshe saw the sketch she said to me, “I am a survivorfrom Warsaw Ghetto.” She left to return shortlyafterwards clutching a flat manila file. “This wasfrom my friend”. Inside the file were seven pencilsketches on small scraps <strong>of</strong> paper protected bytissue paper. At my request, she proceeded to tellme the story <strong>of</strong> her friend and the sketches. As ayoung girl she had lived with her parents in a flatin Warsaw. Next door lived her best friend; they41


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012attended the same school and played togetherevery day. In 1938, things began to change. Shewas no longer allowed to go to school with herfriend, nor was she allowed to play with heranymore: She was a Jew! She could not understandthis. Before, they had just been two Polishschoolgirls who were friends.Next, the family had to move from their flatinto the Warsaw Ghetto. Her old flat overlookedthe entrance to the ghetto, their new home.Standing near the gate, she could see her old flatand sometimes catch a glimpse <strong>of</strong> her old friend.The ghetto became smaller and smaller and moreand more cramped. Soon she could no longer seeher old flat.She did not elaborate on what happened to herduring her confinement in the Warsaw Ghetto andafterwards, only saying that when she was finallyliberated, she made her way to New York. Becausethey were Belzer Chassidim, she said, they weretaken care <strong>of</strong>. One day in the market in Brooklyn,she felt a tap on her shoulder. She turned aroundand looked into the face <strong>of</strong> her old friend. Theyembraced and cried, and then they went hand inhand to find a place to sit and talk. Her friendstayed near the market, so they made their way toher home. They spoke for hours about the goodold days before the war. The time <strong>of</strong> the ghettowas not discussed at all. Then her friend got upand went to a cupboard under the steps, returningwith a flat file.“This is for you. I drew pictures <strong>of</strong> what Icould see from my flat. I now know why I kept it.You must take it to prove what happened”.My friend’s mother wiped away her tears andasked me, “Could you use these drawings to teachwith, so no one would ever forget what reallyhappened?”When his mother left to take care <strong>of</strong> herhusband, her son gave me a mezuzah parchmentin a strange holder. It was made <strong>of</strong> a tin <strong>of</strong> sorts,the writing still visible, and was revealed to be thetop <strong>of</strong> a Canadian sardine can. It came from aDisplaced Persons camp, he told me. Could ithave belonged to his mother? I did not ask and hedid not enlighten me.Further research indicated that the Allies andthe Rabbis that helped in the DP camps broughtreligious items for the survivors - books, Tefillin,Talleisim and mezuzah parchments. When thesurvivors received the latter, there were no holders,so medical tubing was used to hold the parchmentand tin lids were shaped into holders.When I eventually arrived back at the hotel, itwas so late, I had to wake the guard to let me intothe reception, and my whole group was fast asleep.I hardly slept for the rest <strong>of</strong> those few earlymorning hours, so much was I looking forward tosharing this amazing story and show the threeprecious artefacts I had acquired.42


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012The Ghetto DollIn 2007, the Sotheby’s receptionist contactedme to say that they had been <strong>of</strong>fered ‘A HolocaustDoll’ for their next auction, but had told thewould-be seller, a Mrs Müller, that they did notdeal with Holocaust items. Would I be interested?I promptly phoned Mrs Müller and then, armedwith her address, set <strong>of</strong>f south to buy a ‘Doll’. Thedrive was long but distance has never been aproblem to a collector and after several wrongturns I arrived at her town house and was showninto the sitting room. There, in a framed glassbox, stood ‘The Ghetto Doll’. It had a handpaintedwooden carved head, hands and feet, witha body <strong>of</strong> stuffed coyer, used for stuffingmattresses. The doll’s clothes were handmadeand could have been made by any <strong>of</strong> our granniesor bobbas.What was the story?Mrs Müller and her younger brother were bornin Munich, a few years after the war. She marriedand moved to <strong>South</strong> Africa. Her brother remainedin Germany and bought the doll at a Munichauction. The story was that this doll was one <strong>of</strong>many found in an orphanage when alterationswere being done. They had belonged to little<strong>Jewish</strong> girls who had been sent to the orphanageduring the Shoah.The story <strong>of</strong> Janusz Korczak and his orphans- how the children set <strong>of</strong>f for their destined place<strong>of</strong> extermination neatly dressed in their bestclothes, each carrying a blue knapsack and afavourite book or toy with Korczak at their head- is well-known. Extermination was the fate <strong>of</strong> allthe <strong>Jewish</strong> children in the orphanages in areasunder Nazi control. Most had to leave their toysbehind.I paid what I felt this doll was worth to MrsMüller, knowing full well that I could not losethis sale, as the doll was worth so much to me, asa Jew, than it could ever be to a German who hadbought it on auction knowing full well the fate <strong>of</strong>the child who had played with it previously.One day when the new JohannesburgHolocaust Centre comes to fruition, the theme isintended to focus on the one and a half million<strong>Jewish</strong> children murdered Al Kiddush Hashem. Itis hoped that this Ghetto Doll, a mute survivor <strong>of</strong>the martyred children, will be part <strong>of</strong> the exhibit.The woman who lived in a carI have worked for a number <strong>of</strong> years with myfriend Gwynne Robins [who, as Gwynne Schrire,is a frequent contributor to <strong>Jewish</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong>] in thestoreroom with items from Cape Town’s old<strong>Jewish</strong> Museum not needed by the new <strong>South</strong><strong>African</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> Museum. Whatever we could hasnow been put on display in new cabinets in theCape Town <strong>Jewish</strong> Centre <strong>of</strong>fices across roadfrom the new museum.One day, Gwynne told me that a woman hadcontacted the Cape <strong>Jewish</strong> Chronicle in connectionwith selling a painting <strong>of</strong> a rabbi. She had fallenon hard times and was living with her youngdaughter in a car on the street. She was not <strong>Jewish</strong>but owned this painting, acquired by her fathercirca. 1975 at a liquidation auction at a house inHoughton, Johannesburg. On moving to CapeTown from Johannesburg, she had brought thepainting with her as her parents no longer wantedit and hung it in her flat. Now jobless and homeless,she wanted to sell it to buy food.The image <strong>of</strong> the work was scanned and sent tome. Yad Vashem then identified it as having beenpainted by Adolf (Ari) Adler, and gave her avalue. The auctioneer who was helping her to sellthe painting promised me that if I bought it, hewould, after deducting his handling fee, pay herrent for as many months as possible.Adler was born in Satu-Mare, Rumania in1917 and started painting as a child. In 1942, hewas sent to a labour camp in the Ukraine, butmanaged to escape two years later. He made hisway to Israel in 1963 and lived in Rishon Le Ziontill his death in 1996. An exhibition <strong>of</strong> his workswas held at the Yad Vashem Museum in January1986.This painting represents the <strong>Jewish</strong> artistswho survived the Shoah, and continued to paint,either what they saw during this dark period or the<strong>Jewish</strong> Eastern European past they remembered,43


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012<strong>of</strong> scholarship and tradition that was destroyedalong with the communities and their scholars.The painting, which is oil on canvas, nowgraces the wall in the entrance to my house. Icontact the former owner sometimes when I am inCape Town. She is now happily settled with herdaughter in an apartment and is working.The Galician RabbiOn 29 October 2006, my very good friendAdam Goldsmith, one <strong>of</strong> <strong>South</strong> Africa’s expertson Russian silver, phoned me from Shangri LaHouse in Killarney. The house and its contentswere being auctioned <strong>of</strong>f. In the art section, hehad seen a portrait called ‘Galician Rabbi’ andthought I needed to see and bid for it. I hastenedto the house and made my way through the throngs<strong>of</strong> people to the back garden where the auctioneerwas selling the lots. When the portrait come upfor sale, the merest glimpse was enough toconvince me that I just had to have it for mycollection. There was a lot <strong>of</strong> interest and thebidding was brisk, but eventually it was knockeddown to me.Why had I been so possessed to buy thispainting? The portrait was life size and superblywrought; the artist had captured in the Rabbi’seyes, a look <strong>of</strong> pure saintliness. I judge how gooda portrait artist is from the way he portrays theeyes and hands <strong>of</strong> the sitter, and this artist hadbeen greatly accomplished in that regard. Thatmuch I knew. What I did not know was who hewas, nor who the rabbi he had painted had been.The Galician Rabbi was soon hanging on thewall in my lounge where he could conductTalmudic debates with the other three rabbishanging there, two facing left and two facingright. All that was left to do was to find out whohe was so that an <strong>of</strong>ficial introduction could bemade.The artist’s signature looked like BenPurukawa and was dated 1935. The letters aredifferent to how we would write them today. Asyet, I have not been able to identify this artist whoI am sure is Eastern European and know is verygood.The sitter came next. I looked through booksin my library, in the Encyclopaedia Judaica andthrough books in the Kollel Bookshop. I asked theRosh Beis Din Dayan Kurtstag. No luck! Someonesuggested my painting was <strong>of</strong> the Gere Rebbe.They were similar but he was not my man. Theyears went by, lots more art came and went, but hewas still the unknown Galician Rabbi, and itworried me.In 2011, Shwekey fever hit Johannesburg. Ihad never heard <strong>of</strong> this entertainer, but he was dueto perform in two concerts at Monte Casino. Myfriends Stan and Ingrid Seeff invited me to lunchon the Shabbat before the concert with Shwekey,his wife and their musical director Yochi. Thelatter, a Judaica collector, had heard <strong>of</strong> mycollection and passion for Holocaust art andartefacts, so we arranged for him to visit myhouse. In the course <strong>of</strong> that visit, Yochiphotographed the Galician Rabbi and promisedto send me whatever information he could find onit after his return to New York.He was true to his word. Soon after, theinformation arrived along with a picture <strong>of</strong> theRabbi. The Galician Rabbi now had a name:Rabbi Yeshaye (Shaya) Halberstam <strong>of</strong> Tchchoiv(Czchow), 1864-1944. He was the youngest <strong>of</strong>seven sons <strong>of</strong> Rabbi Chaim <strong>of</strong> Sanz, the DivreiChaim. My Galician Rabbi had been murdered bythe Nazis Al Kiddush Hashem somewhere inEurope.Yad Vashem runs a programme called UntoEvery Person There is a Name. This comes froma poem by Israeli Zelda Schneersohn-Mishkovsky,a Ukrainian-born Orthodox Poet who belonged toa lineage <strong>of</strong> illustrious rabbis. Her father was theuncle <strong>of</strong> the late Lubavitch Rabbi MenahemMendel Schneersohn.Unto every person there is a nameBestowed upon him by HashemAnd given him by his father and motherUnto every person there is a nameAccorded him by his statureAnd the manner <strong>of</strong> his smileAnd given him by his style <strong>of</strong> dress…Unto every person there is a nameBestowed on him by the seaAnd given him by his death.Now my Rabbi, too, had a name and aHolocaust victim has an identity and isremembered. I now understood why I had feltsuch a strong need to purchase this portrait fiveyears earlier for my Holocaust art collection.Maybe one day I will find information about theartist as well as where Rabbi Shaya perished; thenmy research on this piece <strong>of</strong> art will be complete.44


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012RIFKA*Bernard LevinsonThe snow is falling. Heavy indolentsnowflakes. Rivers <strong>of</strong> snow slowly form betweenthe dark wooden houses. The village <strong>of</strong> Soligalichis covered in a blanket <strong>of</strong> snow. Berel Chaitovichis a tailor. He is a small man. He has a tight crispbeard. An elaborate skull cap. Wired rimmedglasses cling to the tip <strong>of</strong> his nose. His wifeBrocha is a large woman. An imposing monobosom.Solid oak thighs. Her long hair crushedinto an enormous bun. They have ten children.Rifka is the sixth child. She lives in her ownworld. Each day she wanders between the housesin the village. In response to a command in hersecret world, Rifka takes <strong>of</strong>f her clothes. Themarket square is her stage. Neighbours bringRifka home smiling. Vacant. Everyone in thevillage knows Rifka.The silent snow is falling. The few treessurrounding the village have become whitegrotesque ghosts.On the other side <strong>of</strong> the world the city <strong>of</strong> Leedsexerts a magnetic tug on men and their familiesfrom all over Eastern Europe. The English loomsare busy. England is the home <strong>of</strong> the new boomingtextile world. Leeds is the seething centre drawingtailors from the old world. Lithuanian tailors.Polish tailors. Russian tailors. It is snowing thenight Berel Chaitovich and his wife Brocha vanishfrom the village <strong>of</strong> Soligalich with their tenchildren. He is able to pay for their passage andthey arrive in the city <strong>of</strong> Leeds.Count Boris Ignatievich Mironov is thelandlord <strong>of</strong> the large Vlodavky province.Soligalich is one <strong>of</strong> the villages in his serfdom. Ashe passes in his elaborate sled accompanied byhis soldiers it is imperative for everyone to lookdown. Eye contact is an aggressive act and couldprovoke a highly aggressive response. CountMironov owns everything. He has all the power.He is feared by everyone.It is snowing when his sled overturns. Turningsharply the horses stumble. The sled lurches andfalls over. The sled is filled with men. Fur coats.Bernard Levinson is a distinguished <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong>poet whose work has appeared in numerousscholarly publications and anthologies.Pr<strong>of</strong>essionally, he is a psychiatrist, based inJohannesburg.Fur hats. Enormous fur blankets. They are drunkand roar with joy as they spill into the snow. Themoon dances on the bells and glass beaded harness<strong>of</strong> the horses freed from the sled. In minutes thesled is lifted. The horses re harnessed andcontained. The men climb into the sled singing.The falling snow muffles the singing and shoutingas the sled dissolves into the cold darkness.The snow is falling. A frozen sun tumbles overthe snow covered ro<strong>of</strong>s. And then the cold moon.A single candle burns in the small cottage. BerelChaitovich, his wife Brocha and all the childrenare asleep. There is a banging on the door. Berelwakes and goes to the door. Four soldiers enterthe dark room. Berel is a small man. He is minutenext to the soldiers. They carry long rifles. Thefamily are all awake. They are hidden in theshadows. Berel Chaitovich stands at the doorsurrounded by soldiers. The spokesman stepsforward.“Last night,” he shouts, “the Count lost hiswallet! Someone in this village must have thiswallet! The Count had an accident in his sled.”Berel Chaitovich nods. He is totally accepting.If the soldier had said that the Count was at thismoment standing on the ro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> their home, BerelChaitovich would have nodded his head. Yes,everything is possible. And so....“The count has lost his wallet. There was a lot<strong>of</strong> money in the wallet. It is most important to findthe wallet. Has anyone here found the wallet?”The soldiers look menacing. They stare intothe shadows. Silence. It is so still they can hearthe candle splintering light on the dark walls.Rifka steps out <strong>of</strong> the darkness.“I found the wallet.”All eyes are on Rifka. No one is breathing. Thesoldiers grip their rifles. Rifka begins to undress.She has layer upon layer <strong>of</strong> clothing. Finally sheis naked from the waist up. Large pendulousbreasts. There is a roar <strong>of</strong> approval from thesoldiers. They nudge each other. They slap theirsides. They know Rifka. They have witnessedthis undressing many times. They throw up theirhands laughing. They slowly leave. They arelaughing in the street.Rifka continues to undress. The wallet is inher voluminous underpants.The snow is falling over Soligalich.45


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012MY RIGHT HAND’S CUNNING: AJERUSALEM STORY*Tamar SaksThe well-known <strong>South</strong> <strong>African</strong> journalist andZionist activist Michael Belling has written anovel which is, according to the blurb, “both atender love story and a story <strong>of</strong> Israel in its earlyyears”. It’s called My Right Hand’s Cunning, alovely title, derived from the biblical verse “If Iforget you, oh Jerusalem, may my right handforget its cunning”. This is most fitting, not onlyin that it is a story about Jerusalem, but in that one<strong>of</strong> its major themes is in fact remembrance.The story is dominated by Meir Rosen, aHolocaust survivor who protects himself from thehorror <strong>of</strong> his own memories by building andmaintaining a solid wall <strong>of</strong> silence around himself.His is an “airless, secluded, insulated soul”,taciturn, acerbic, blunt to the point <strong>of</strong> rudenessand, with good reason, altogether a miserablebeggar. Meir is the sole survivor <strong>of</strong> his family(barring his niece, Tamar, who managed to getout <strong>of</strong> Europe before the war). The only patches <strong>of</strong>color in a life <strong>of</strong> rigidly enforced greyness are hisvolunteer work at the Talpiot refugee camp, Tamarand her husband Avi and the only friend whosurvived like him, Yehuda Rabinowitz. The basicstoryline <strong>of</strong> the book is how his relationship withRachel Levy breaks the wall and releases him.Just one more Holocaust story, one might think,but this book is more than anything a story <strong>of</strong>Israel, in the years when the idealism andcommitment that launched it was still fresh andvigorous.The hope is tangible, but so is the fear. Thepeople struggle with the paradox <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong>survival. History both buoys them up and weighsthem down. The awareness <strong>of</strong> the world’s hatredis inevitable - not only are the wounds <strong>of</strong> theTamar Saks matriculated at Beth Yaakov Schoolin Johannesburg. She is currently studying atAteres Bnos Yerushalayim girls’ seminary inJerusalem.Holocaust still fresh, with the hooded, carefullyblank eyes <strong>of</strong> the survivors visible on the verystreets, but the evidence <strong>of</strong> past attempts at <strong>Jewish</strong>extermination are all around. This is the land,remember, where the bones <strong>of</strong> Jews can be foundcrushed under Roman ballistae. There are also therefugees, living pro<strong>of</strong> <strong>of</strong> present hardship.The atmosphere thrums with the magic <strong>of</strong>Israel, the layers and layers <strong>of</strong> history, the politicalquagmires, the heroism <strong>of</strong> the army, the curiousmixture <strong>of</strong> hope and cynicism that is so peculiarly<strong>Jewish</strong>. Hebrew catch-phrases and sayings - manyderived from the Bible – abound: Taharathaneshek - purity <strong>of</strong> arms, Mah yiheyeh? - Whatis going to happen? Ein breira - There is nochoice. The whole is punctuated by discussionsand debates that reveal the state <strong>of</strong> mind, not only<strong>of</strong> the main protagonists, but <strong>of</strong> the people inIsrael’s formative years. The young are steeped inhistory, because “in this country, history was allround them, Biblical names were not just part <strong>of</strong>the fabric <strong>of</strong> history and legend, but interwoven intheir daily lives.”Another theme <strong>of</strong> My Right Hand’s Cunningis a kind <strong>of</strong> dialogue that takes place betweenhope and the awareness <strong>of</strong> past horrors. Hope ispersonified by the youth, by Avi and the pregnantTamar. Awareness <strong>of</strong> the past is personified byMeir and Yehuda. Yet the roles are exchangedduring the course <strong>of</strong> the story. Avi and Tamar are,by the very fact that they live in Israel, more thanaware <strong>of</strong> the past and the hatred that the nationsbear Am Yisroel. And Meir’s despair is eventuallyovercome by Rachel and their mutual love. Thereis a strong sense <strong>of</strong> history, and <strong>of</strong> place,throughout, and a fascination with politics (veryIsraeli!) that gives the book weight andauthenticity. Added to this, the story and itscompelling characters make for an absorbing read.My Right Hand’s Cunning: A Jerusalem Story byMichael Belling, Tange: Johannesburg, 2012, 297pp.46


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012DRASTIC DISLOCATIONS*Roy RobinsDrastic Dislocations is a selection <strong>of</strong> poetryfrom Barry Wallenstein’s six previous collections– from Beast is a Wolf with Brown Fire (1977) toTony’s World (2009) – and includes more thansixty new poems. The selection is a shrewd one,exhibiting the poet’s peculiarly skewed andentirely unpredictable vision <strong>of</strong> contemporarylife.From poem to poem, stanza to stanza,Wallenstein’s tone shifts smoothly from robust torestrained, jubilant to jaundiced. He is a master <strong>of</strong>the almost invisible transition, the seeminglyeffortless metamorphosis <strong>of</strong> meaning and mood.He writes as vividly about the simple splendour<strong>of</strong> a summer day as he does when evoking whatDelmore Schwartz described as ‘the famousunfathomable abyss.’If existence is an abyss, it can best be fathomed,for Wallenstein, with family, good company,sensual experience, and, <strong>of</strong> course, the poet’sbeloved jazz. (Many <strong>of</strong> these poems have beenperformed publicly, with live jazzaccompaniment.) With its elastic inflections,Wallenstein’s verse is full <strong>of</strong> grace notes and bluestreaks and surprising sideways turns into dreams<strong>of</strong> despair and cold-eyed self-assessment. Heportrays pain authentically – which is to say,painfully – but also writes movingly about thatmost artistically unfashionable entity: humanhappiness.Many <strong>of</strong> the poems in this volume areaffirmative, full <strong>of</strong> an optimism that feels equalpartsEuropean and American, simultaneouslymeasured and carefree, open to every sensation,made buoyant by the bliss <strong>of</strong> infinite possibility.Whereas in his early work, one gets a sense <strong>of</strong> apoet who does not love quite enough, in his mostrecent verse Wallenstein seems to possess withinhim inexhaustible affection.He writes most tenderly about his family.‘Ballad,’ a conversation between the poet and hisdeceased mother, is especially accomplished:What are you doing my darling son?I’m sitting in this boat, dear mother.And where is your boat my son, pray tell?At sea in the distance my mother.Roy Robins was a 2010-11 Gordon Institute <strong>of</strong>Performing and Creative Arts fellow. He wasformerly the online editor for Granta magazine.He holds an MA degree in English Literature.The poem, with its melancholic reverie, itsintermingling <strong>of</strong> past and present, child and adult,memory and dream, is simple and savagelystirring. The nursery-rhyme form carries the readera long way, but the underlying sense <strong>of</strong> loss andanguish takes one further still.‘Father at 85’ is similarly poignant and probing.The poem’s final line – ‘He still wants more’ –registers like a jolt <strong>of</strong> electricity. It is as powerfula refrain as Philip Levine’s ‘You can have it’ orRobert Frost’s ‘Provide, provide!’ or the wordsthat close out Delmore Schwartz’s ‘America,America!’: ‘more: more and more: always more.’It seems fitting to follow Wallenstein’s family,his children, their history, from inception toadulthood, through the inter-leading rooms thatform the house <strong>of</strong> this book. Here is Wallensteinin ‘Four Weeks to Birth’:Our genes are hiding in the belly <strong>of</strong> a fishin the skin <strong>of</strong> a bellyin the belly <strong>of</strong> a fishfloating glyphsmicro-hints <strong>of</strong> dancing ghosts.In ‘Jessie Beforehand,’ he describes hisdaughter’s foetus, which ‘swims in the famouslucidity / <strong>of</strong> mother’s love and our confusion.’Wallenstein’s verse veers, too, betweenadmirable lucidity and not always artful confusion.There are times – most frequently in Tony’s World– where he exhibits a tendency towardsunnecessary abstraction. In these instances, hisjazz métier begins to feel less like an asset andmore like camouflage for cryptic sentiment. Butit is possible to be both jazzy and precise; bothcryptic and exacting.The titular protagonist <strong>of</strong> Tony’s World is anelusive alter ego, reminiscent <strong>of</strong> the Henry <strong>of</strong>John Berryman’s The Dream Songs. At onceurban prophet and holy fool, Tony is deliciouslydefiant and defiantly himself – he is Wallenstein’smost memorable lyrical conceit.Perhaps surprisingly for a poet who has spentmost <strong>of</strong> his life in Manhattan, some <strong>of</strong> the finestpoems in this collection concentrate on the countryrather than the city. Wallenstein rarelyromanticizes nature, nor does he attempt todesensitize or demolish it. He is attentive in anunpretentious manner, aspiring towardsunderstated Impressionism and gentle selfexpression.The marvellously meditative earlypoem, ‘A House in the Mountains,’ celebratessimple pleasure and a lovely calm, as its speaker47


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012spends hours ‘watching a valley / move throughcolours and into the dark.’ The naturalism in laterpoems is poised between classical evocation anda mordant, modern wit.Elsewhere in the collection, Wallensteinframes his verse within the Brownean dramaticmonologue, subverts fairy tales and simple rhyme,and re-makes myth. Memorable poems includethe wonderfully wild ‘Roller Coaster Kid’, and‘A Turn <strong>of</strong> Events’, which feels like Robert Frostby way <strong>of</strong> Sam Peckinpah.Wallenstein writes deftly about ‘the gatheringgrace <strong>of</strong> – / going on.’ He excels at interrogatingthe intersection between the earthly and theoutward-bound. Whereas many poets becomeweary with age, Wallenstein appears to feel bothfreed up and fired up, experimenting with formand unafraid to explore life’s pleasures and perils.Drastic Dislocations demonstrates theconsistently high standard <strong>of</strong> his work these pastthirty-five years.Whether one is a long-time admirer or engagingwith Wallenstein’s verse for the first time, this isa vibrant and valuable volume.Drastic Dislocations by Barry Wallenstein, NYQBooks, New York, 2012.THE ARAB LOBBY*Gary SelikowThe pervasive myth <strong>of</strong> an all-powerful Israellobby controlling American foreign policy haslong dominated public discourse. In The ArabLobby: The Invisible Alliance that UnderminesAmerica’s Interests in the Middle East, MitchellBard shows how Arab governments use theirpetrodollars and control <strong>of</strong> energy supplies tocontrol American foreign policy in favour <strong>of</strong> theAnti-Israel, pro-Arab cause. In the same way,they dominate educational institutions and themedia, thereby fostering heavily one-sided pro-Palestinian public opinion.Bard demonstrates how the discourse on theArab-Israeli conflict is distorted due to theimmense financial resources <strong>of</strong> the Arab lobby.His book highlights the latter’s manipulation <strong>of</strong>American foreign policy and public opinion,usually out <strong>of</strong> public view, and in ways that havegone unnoticed that need to be exposed. In Bard’sview, the Arab lobby exerts a malignant influenceon American foreign policy, with the result thatbasic American values and American securityneeds are disregarded in order to bolster repressiveArab regimes and terrorist organizations.The Arab Lobby has had much success. ThePalestinians receive more capita aid than anyother group in the world, indeed more than all <strong>of</strong>Sub-Saharan Africa put together. As Bard writes:“Even as hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands <strong>of</strong> people die inDarfur, it is the Palestinians who get the world’ssympathy and donations <strong>of</strong> billions <strong>of</strong> dollars”.The Arab Lobby has adopted the terminology<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Jewish</strong> people and turned it against Israel.For example, Palestinians, like Jews, now live inGary Selikow is a researcher and media activist.His reviews <strong>of</strong> books <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> and Middle Eastinterest appear regularly online and elsewhere.the ‘Diaspora’. Israelis are compared to Nazisand their actions are characterized as ‘pogroms’,‘ethnic cleansing’ and ‘genocide’. Israelis accused<strong>of</strong> creating ‘ghettos’ and even engaging in a‘holocaust’. The disputed territories are nowtermed ‘occupied’. The pro-Islamic lobby hascreated a new term to brand all who are concernedabout radical Islam, Islamization and Islamicterror, namely ‘Islamophobia’.The most successful <strong>of</strong> the lobby’s campaignhas been its infiltration <strong>of</strong> the educational system,including a sustained and sinister campaign toalso influence students outside the classroom.The Muslim Students Association haspropapagated the falsehood that “Zionism isracism”, and disseminated the Protocols <strong>of</strong> theElders <strong>of</strong> Zion, while the Palestine SolidarityMovement has supported Arab terror againstIsraeli civilians and vigorously supported the socalledRight <strong>of</strong> Return, something aimed atdemographically swamping Israel’s <strong>Jewish</strong>population.When pro-Israel students asked the PSM attheir conference at Duke University in 2004 tosign a benign statement calling for civil debatethat would condemn the murder <strong>of</strong> innocentcivilians, support a two state solution and“recognize the difference between disagreementand hate speech”, they were refused. By hostinga group that could not bring itself to object to themurder <strong>of</strong> children, Duke therefore lent supportto terror sympathizers, as did other universitiessuch as Berkely Wisconsin, Ohio State andGeorgetown. In one shocking incident, an Israelistudent asked Pr<strong>of</strong>essor John Massad a questionat a public lecture and Massad responded bythundering, “How many Palestinians did you kill?”Massad had also written that Israel is a “racist48


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012colonialist” state and that Zionists are Nazis. Heargues for a ‘one-state solution’ to the conflict(that is, the abolition <strong>of</strong> Israel and its replacementby an Arab ruled Palestinian State). At AmericanUniversity, an anthropology pr<strong>of</strong>essor used acomic book in the vein <strong>of</strong> Der Sturmer as a text.Another pr<strong>of</strong>essor crossed out the word ‘Israel’on a student’s exam and wrote in the margin“Zionist entity”. An especially perverse statementwas made at an anti-Israel rally at ColumbiaUniversity on 17 April, 2002, Israel’sIndependence Day, by Pr<strong>of</strong>essor <strong>of</strong> Latino StudiesNicholas de Genova: “The Heritage <strong>of</strong> the victims<strong>of</strong> the Holocaust belongs to the Palestinian people.The State <strong>of</strong> Israel has no claim to the heritage <strong>of</strong>the Holocaust”. Thus, according to De Genova’sgrotesque thinking, a country with thousands <strong>of</strong>Holocaust survivors and hundreds <strong>of</strong> thousands<strong>of</strong> descendants <strong>of</strong> Holocaust survivors has noclaim to the heritage <strong>of</strong> holocaust victims, but apeople that did not suffer from the Holocaustdoes. So much for the great minds <strong>of</strong> academia!Syllabi in the humanities departments <strong>of</strong>university campuses contain powerful and hatefulpropaganda against Israel. One <strong>of</strong> the drivingforces behind this is the Middle East StudiesAssociation (MESA), to which the centralityaccorded the Palestine issue at the expense <strong>of</strong> allother peoples suffering in the Middle East is due.In a study <strong>of</strong> the three-year period following 9/11,Martin Kramer found that “For MESAns, thePalestinians are the chosen people now more thanever. Arab financial pressure has influenceduniversities in more ways than one. Texas A&MUniversity effectively pressured the PBS stationto cancel a screening <strong>of</strong> the movie about abuse <strong>of</strong>women in Saudi Arabia called ‘Death <strong>of</strong> aPrincess’”.The study <strong>of</strong> Israel and the Hebrew languagehas been marginalized, delegitimized and evendemonized at universities across the USA.Furthermore, there is vociferous support forHamas and Hezbollah at such institutions. AnIsraeli Arab who is the Palestinian <strong>Affairs</strong>correspondent for the Jerusalem Post returnedfrom a 2009 speaking tour <strong>of</strong> American collegecampuses and reported, “There is more sympathyfor Hamas then there is in Ramallah. Listening tosome students and pr<strong>of</strong>essors at these campuses,for a moment I thought I was sitting opposite aHamas spokesman or would-be suicide bomber ...the so called pro-Palestinian ‘junta’ on thecampuses has nothing to <strong>of</strong>fer other than hatredand delegitimization <strong>of</strong> Israel. If these folks reallycared about the Palestinians, they would becampaigning for good government and for thevalues <strong>of</strong> democracy and freedom in the WestBank and Gaza Strip”.There is also an insidious campaign to bar allIsrael academics from American universities. AsAlan Dershowitz points out, “many <strong>of</strong> the peoplewho want boycotts claim that Israel is inflictingcollective punishment on the Palestinians, but aboycott is effectively punishing every Israelacademic without regard to what their views maybe.”All this and more is exposed in Bard’s book,which provides a much-needed analysis <strong>of</strong> howdeeply the US’s Arab lobby is impacting on publicpolicy and intellectual trends regarding Israel,the Middle East and the phenomenon <strong>of</strong> radicalIslam.The Arab Lobby: The Invisible Alliance thatUndermines America’s Interests in the Middle East byMitchell Bard, Harper, 2010, 432ppTHE PRIME MINISTERS: AN INTIMATENARRATIVE OF ISRAELI LEADERSHIP*Ralph ZulmanAmbassador Yehuda Avner was born inManchester, England in 1928. He was a foundingmember <strong>of</strong> Kibbutz Lavi in the Galilee, and enteredthe Israel Foreign Service in the 1950s. Duringhis lengthy diplomatic career, he served as Consulin New York, Counsellor at the Israeli Embassyin Washington D.C., Ambassador to Great Britain,Non-Resident Ambassador to Ireland, andMr Justice Ralph Zulman is a long-servingmember <strong>of</strong> the editorial board <strong>of</strong> and regularcontributor to <strong>Jewish</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong>.Ambassador in Australia. Between overseaspostings, he served as a speech writer and secretaryto Prime Ministers Levi Eshkol and Gold Meir,and as adviser to Prime Ministers Yitzhak Rabin,Menachem Begin and Shimon Peres. He is afrequent guest columnist for the Jerusalem Post.Given this background, Avner was well placedto write an insightful account into the Israelileaders whom he served. This he has done withhis 2010 book The Prime Ministers: An IntimateNarrative <strong>of</strong> Israeli Leadership. The bookcomprises an Author’s note, Acknowledgements,49


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012a list <strong>of</strong> “Principal Characters” and a foreword bySir Martin Gilbert. Its thirty chapters are dividedinto three parts, headed respectively ‘Beginitesand Anti-Beginites’, ‘Coalitions and Oppositions’and ‘The Last Patriarch, Prime MinisterMenachem Begin, Prime Minister Levi Eshkol,Prime Minister Golda Meir, Prime MinisterYitzchak Rabin’. It concludes with an Afterword,Endnotes, a Bibliography and author details.Avner states that his book is “not aconventional biography or memoir, nor is it awork <strong>of</strong> fiction. It deals with real people…” Indeed it does so, admirably. In his foreword, Gilbertcorrectly observes: “Anyone who is interested inthe first fifty years <strong>of</strong> the history <strong>of</strong> the State <strong>of</strong>Israel will be both enlightened and entranced bythis book.” He concludes, “Yehuda Avner’s bookwith its cast <strong>of</strong> fascinating characters, its insights,its vigour, and its zeal, show how right Churchillwas. A State was formed, whose leaders guardedit and moved it forward. Their most recentchronicler, himself so <strong>of</strong>ten at the centre <strong>of</strong> theevents he describes, has done them proud.”In her review <strong>of</strong> the book, US Secretary <strong>of</strong>State Hilary Rodham Clinton describes it as “…asweeping tome <strong>of</strong> Israeli politics and history.”Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu calls it “…afascinating account <strong>of</strong> someone who was an eyewitness to many historic moments in the history<strong>of</strong> the <strong>Jewish</strong> state. It provides “insight into theactions <strong>of</strong> our nation’s leaders and <strong>of</strong>fers importantlessons for the future.” Brett Stephens in the WallStreet Journal regards the book as providing, “…a front-row seat to the drama <strong>of</strong> Israeli statecraftin moments <strong>of</strong> crisis and triumph, tragedy andjoy.” For Jerusalem Post editor David Horowitz,it is “one <strong>of</strong> the most remarkable accounts we areever likely to get <strong>of</strong> how Israel has been governedover the decades…the ultimate insider’s account.”I highly recommend this well-written andabsorbing, if perhaps rather lengthy, book to allthose who, in the words <strong>of</strong> Sir Martin Gilbert, areinterested in the first fifty years <strong>of</strong> the history <strong>of</strong>the State <strong>of</strong> Israel.The Prime Ministers: An Intimate Narrative <strong>of</strong>Israeli Leadership by Yehuda Avner, Toby Press LLC,2010, 715ppWishing all our<strong>Jewish</strong> friends aHappy New Yearand well over the fast6 Vickers RoadCity DeepJohannesburgP.O. Box 86268City Deep 2049Tel: (011) 623-1332Fax: (011) 623-2188Email: info@africaspice.co.za012 319 8811 • 011 378 3200www.cityproperty.co.zaSUPPLIERS OF: *Spices *Castings *Packagingmaterial and all Butcher Requisites50


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 201210 WHOLE WEEKS!It would never happen to me!‘Pa’ would live forever.Then the reality – cancerPanic, self-pity then denial,Hebrew – no go, Kaddish – never.This was me – what next?10 whole weeks!Concern for his wife and familyFear <strong>of</strong> the great unknown.First nothing … then the pain …Uncontrollable – the circle had turnedFrom our ‘Pillar <strong>of</strong> Strength’ to helplessnessThat was ‘Pa’ – what now?10 whole weeks!Time we thought was too short.We discussed, spoke and learned.His sense <strong>of</strong> humour never wanedBut the pain … the fear … the helplessnessNot knowing nor understanding … Why?Was the time really so short?10 whole weeks!For some there are no goodbyes,No time to talk or make one’s peace.No time to say “Thank you” orTo express their love and respect.No time to learn, trying to understand.We had the time – “Thank You, HASHEM”,10 whole weeks.SHIVA – The first seven days,Numb – confusion, pain and tears,Fear – my Pillar has been removed.SHLOSHIM – The next three weeks.Reality – acceptance back into the community,Acknowledgement – my strength has gone.KADDISH – Eleven months, with DeRabanan,Three times daily – every night, morning andeveningFour seasons came and went, learning tounderstand.YORTZEIT – One year now the anniversary,Memories – the heart healed – but ‘Pa’ neverforgotten.Thank you one and all.YA HOODJeff FineIn memory <strong>of</strong>: TZAPHANYA ben YEHUDAH YOSEPHha KOHEIN.23 rd November, 1927 – 18 th October, 1998.DevotionGodly pure devotion,Deepest human emotion,Resides in the depth <strong>of</strong> the soul,And supplants your normal self-control,Tremendously powerful and strong,And pulls you mercilessly with magnetic pullalong’You fall prostrate shake and cry,I love you Lord and for you I will die,You long to embrace and touch,The one you love so much,You crawl and grovel like an obedient slave,Before the almighty you so desperately crave,You pray and sing G-d’s song,And wish to be near him where you belong.Israel SilberhaftBEGINNINGS & ENDINGSLife is a series <strong>of</strong>Beginnings and endingsStarts and finishesCul de sacs and bendingsNot decades or years or months or daysThat is not the way that destiny playsChances and choicesCycles <strong>of</strong> seasonsEndlessly repeating its times and its reasonsWith you, without you; do’s and don’tsEvers and nevers; wills and won’tsNew and old; timid and boldWords preserved and stories untoldUp-to-date fashion and clothing well wornDeath and dying and the new-born.Old contests, new racesOld places, new facesA friendship finished – a relationship renewedForgive and forget; or acrimony accruedComing together or pulling apartA parting <strong>of</strong> ways or a brand-new startA broken promise – a reaffirmed vowFor the happily ever after; or for the ‘here andnow’Lose or win – again to beginHellos and goodbyes – congratulations and sighs“What could I have done? What should I havedone?”Questions and answers, ‘what ifs’ and why’sRemain where you landed …keep pushing aheadWork a new idea – or just stay in bedPick yourself up or want to lie down and dieWake with intent – or let the world go byLife is a continuum <strong>of</strong> giving and takingRepeating its patterns again and againA never-ending recurrence <strong>of</strong> beginningsand thenA continual closing and ending againCharlotte Cohen51


JEWISH AFFAIRS ROSH HASHANAH 2012I was interested to read the article by Gwynne Schrire ‘Art as protest: <strong>Jewish</strong> inversions <strong>of</strong> theCrucifixion motif’ in the Pesach 2012 issue <strong>of</strong> <strong>Jewish</strong> <strong>Affairs</strong> as it brought back memories.I was friendly with George Lowen, QC, a refugee from Nazi Germany and a senior advocate at theJohannesburg Bar. He was visiting me one evening and noticed a painting I had by Father FransClaerhout, the Roman Catholic missionary from Belgium, who lived in the Tweespruit mission station.The painting depicted a crucifixion, with Jesus portrayed as a horse with a crown <strong>of</strong> thorns.He explained that he was defending Harold Rubin on a charge <strong>of</strong> blasphemy for painting a Jesus thatthe prosecution complained looked like a monster. Could he borrow the painting to take to the court?If a Catholic missionary could paint Jesus as a horse, then surely a <strong>Jewish</strong> artist could paint him as aman?This he duly did and my painting was produced as evidence for the defense. Harold Rubin was foundnot guilty. I do not know whether it was my painting or common sense that prevailed.‘Ploni Almoni’JohannesburgREADER’S LETTER*We wish all our <strong>Jewish</strong> customersa sweet and blessed New Yearand well over the fast52


Somepartnershipsyou just can’tdo without.Wishing our clients, associatesand staff a sweet New Year.Shanah Tovah.www.sasfin.com | 0861-sasfin(727346) | info@sasfin.com

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