Re: Proper Definition Zionist

Posted by Aboul Quassim elDjazairy on February 01, 19101 at 14:10:56:

In Reply to: Proper Definition Zionist posted by URIGNORANT on February 01, 19101 at 02:50:46:

THE MILLIONS THAT COULD HAVE BEEN SAVED
By I. Domb

Many books have been published, read and forgotten. There is one book,
however, which dare not be allowed to share this fate. This is the chronicles
of Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl, ztl, of the war years, 1942 to 1945, so aptly
named "Min Hamaitzar" (From the Depths). published in New York in 1961 in
Hebrew. Not enough individuals have read this book. The ghastly facts uncovered
in it are not sufficiently well known.

Who can imagine the Hitlerite holocaust? Where is the language to
describe it? All the known words of human speech have already been used for
conventional occurrences; they have acquired everyday meanings and have been
fashioned with an inability to describe the horrors of an Auschwitz or a
Treblinka. What can be said to make individuals understand the wild cries of
the night, when our brothers and sisters were led to the slaughterhouses? And
in what way can one convey the conversion of precious Jews to the status of
animals preparatory to being slaughtered?

Skyscraping walls prevented their cries being heard, and in that
horrible man-made silence, the most valuable portion of the Jewish people was
compressed in the confines of the ghettos in hunger and in thirst, in epidemics
and in torture, crying bitterly, only to themselves, until the end of their
anguish; when they were loaded into the sealed anguish; when they were loaded
in the sealed cattle-wagons for the week-long journeys, when their corpses and
the still have-living reached the slaughterhouses and gas chambers. Where can
existing words be found to fit this story, and who is there to coin new phrases
with meaning enough to tell this tale?

Yet all this was done through a directive from an innocent-looking
office, where the S.S. murderers, with the methods of modern civilization gave
the orders which, by chain reaction, set in motion all the machinery of death
and destruction to which a stop could not be envisaged. One stroke of the pen
to extinguish a hundred thousand lives. A few words enough for a million. And
these few officers set the wheels turning in Auschwitz, in Treblinka; the
Einsatzkomandos; the deep pits on the lonely plains of Europe overflowing with
human blood. So much power behind it, such a military might enforcing it that
only the winning of the World War could interfere with this running horror.

But how astonished was Rabbi Weissmandl to discover that these strokes
of the pen could so easily have been erased, that the Jewish tragedy could to a
considerable extent, have been alleviated by some simple "old fashioned"
methods. How many hundreds of thousands of Jewish lives could have been saved --
perhaps even millions.

Wisliceny was the German henchman for the Jews of Slovakia, Eichmann's
representative in that area for establishing the ghettos, destroying their
livelihood and finally dispatching to slaughter the hundreds of thousands of
Jews in Slovakia and the neighboring countries. He carried out this mission as
directed by Eichman and as his own cravings commanded. His was the first
country in Europe to be designated for the supply of Jews to the slaughter
houses, as it was Slovakia that was first occupied by Hitler--even earlier than
Poland. The puppet government of Cardinal Tissu had asked Hitler to "cleanse"
its country of Jews. Officially it even paid Germany for transportation, and
Wisliceny was the ultimate ruler and organizer. He was nearly always drunk;
drunk from spirits and intoxicated with blood -- and seemingly unassailable.

Rabbi Michael Ber Weissmandl, at the end of 1943, when two thirds of
the Jews of Slovakia had already been transported for "work" to that far
destination, got to know through a certain Hochberg -- an S.S. intriguer, and
second in command to Wisliceny, that his chief was also lustful for money and
that already on more than one occasion, money had bought relief for some
individuals, postponing their deportation. Overwhelmed with joy at this
discovery, he consulted his father-in-law, the great and renowned rabbi of
Nitra, ztl, who agreed that if this old-fashioned method was effective, there
was no reason why it would not be attempted on behalf of the great masses to be
saved.

Rabbi Weissmandl writes of this same Hochberg, "I was first there on
Friday in the summer of 1942 -- Tammuz, 5702. I was standing in the corridor
near to the office of Hochberg and all of the waiting rooms around were crowded
with those who had come to Hochberg to beg a postponement of that ultimate
journey for "work in the east," as many still believed. I heard the voice of
Hochberg speaking on the phone to his chief, Wisliceny saying, 'Her
Hauptstumbandfuehrer, ich melde ghorehsamst, the train has left: Man 727, Women
637, Children 1667: altogether 3,028 Jawohl!' Never will this total leave my
memory; 1600 children! No outcry and no tears. No one cares. The whole world is
silent. Jawohl, Herr Hauptsturmbanfuehrer.

One of the famous men of Pressberg, Reb Aharon Gruenhut, finally
succeeded in gaining confidence by Hochberg in Rabbi Weissmandl, for whom a
secret appointment was arranged. On this occasion, the rabbi presented himself
as one who had connections with rabbinical circles throughout the world. He
showed Hochberg his passport that contained a British visa issued just before
the outbreak of war, and told him of his visit to London and of conferences
there to impress him with his high standing. He then made it clear that he had
come on a secret mission of the highest importance as a representative of Jewry
abroad, who had contacted him through the American "Joint" in Switzerland.
Their message was that they were prepared to pay in cash for the stopping of
all further transports of Jews from Slovakia to the east. The "Joint" was ready
to pay the price that his chief, Wisliceny, would name. Rabbi Weissmandl
emphasized that neither Hochberg nor Wisliceny should believe that his mission
was directed by local Jews.

During this conversation with Hochberg in 1943, when the scales of war
were already a little out of balance for Hitler's Germany after the heavy
defeats in the east and the support of the allies by American might, Rabbi
Weissmandl was able, with American might, Rabbi Weissmandl was able , with
careful tact, to introduce doubts into Hochberg's mind about German world
conquest, and more specifically about Hochberg's own position after the war. He
conveyed to him that it would be very much to his and his chief's advantage to
make some provisions for their own safety. In this respect, he was now
authorized to offer the promise of World Jewry that if they would stop all
further transports, he and Wisliceny would be save.

Hochberg became enraged at such suggestions, but as the conversation
progressed, he became much softer and began to listen carefully to what was
proposed. He listened and replied, "I must go to see Wisliceny."

He left immediately and Rabbi Weissmandl waited. Every minute seemed
like an hour; every hour seemed endless. He sat there exhausted, awaiting the
reply fateful for the remaining Jews of Slovakia, with so many hanging in the
balance.

He had set there for many hours, when suddenly the door burst open and
Hochberg hurried into the room. Speaking rapidly and with great excitement, he
said, "the deal is done. My chief asked for $50,000 and no further transports
will be sent; but he lays down the following terms: Wisliceny will show his
goodwill: three transports -- next Tuesday, next Friday, the following Tuesday -
- each of about 3000 souls, will be held up, but on Friday after that, the
first Installment of $25,000 must be handed over. After that, there will be no
further transports for seven weeks, to enable the second installment of $25,000
to be obtained and paid, after which there will be a final stopping of all
transports. There is one further condition. You must be able to show that the
money comes from abroad and not from Slovakian Jews themselves."

The latter was an important point to this S.S. henchman, as a guarantee
that it was world Jewry who was behind the deal, and who would finally keep its
promise for his safety. In any case, Rabbi Weissmandl did not then think that
Slovakian Jews could possibly find such a sum, as by that time they had been
stripped of all their possessions. On that other hand, he did not imagine for
one moment that the wealthy "Joint" would not provide such a relatively small
sum to save literally tens of thousands of lives from total annihilation in the
German slaughterhouses.

Rabbi Weissmandl left Hochberg's office with hope and joy. He hurried
home to Nitra to inform his father-in-law and to set about getting the deal
consummated. The Rabbi of Nitra, in spite of his happiness at the possibility
of saving so many lives, expressed some reservation. He felt that from a
distance the "Joint" would not see their tragedy, and that the Zionist leaders
working together with the "Joint" had a different calculation. But he
suggested, representatives from beyond the "Kanzelel" -- the Council of
Orthodox Jewish Communities -- should be drawn into this, and even the Zionists
and non-Orthodox groups taken into partnership.

The name of Mrs. Gisi Fleischman came to the forefront, as she was of
Zionist circles and also the pre-war representative of the "Joint" in Slovakia.
Besides her prominence, she was a good-hearted and courageous women and her
word would carry weight with the "Joint". It was also decidedly to call on Mr.
Fuerst -- known for both his integrity and financial ability.

Among the weapons with which the Zionists have equipped themselves to
pierce the walls of resistance to their influence, there is one most
predominant. This is "ahavas Yisroel" -- love of the fellow Jew. This slogan
and catch-phrase carries extra weight with the religious Jew to whom this
concept has a special attraction. The Zionists have explained that their aim is
achieving statehood is to provide a refuge and shelter for much tormented
Jewry.
The long, bloody paths of our, till now, 2000 year long exile, with its
inquisitions, persecutions, pogroms, slaughter and torture, has always been at
the front of every Jews mind. Seldom was there a place on this earth inhabited
by Jews, or a stretch of time, without blood and tears at the hands of our many
persecutors of all nations. It was these pogroms that provided, for the short-
sighted, the initial conditioning to seek a solution in the outward idea of
Zionist achievements.

Possibly the Zionists, themselves, at the first steps of inception,
were honestly taken by the idea of that solution; and it was this kernel of
compassion that gave to them the power to influence others with this
superficial consideration. Zionism has built on the basis that the solution of
nationhood applicable to any other nation is in the same way also applicable to
Jewry, as they could see no difference between the nations of the world and the
Jewish people. As they see it, Jews regulate their fate by the same ways and
means as all other peoples. The belief in exile by Heavenly Decree as a
punishment for our sins, and the belief in Heavenly Redemption by the Will of
the Creator was, to Zionism, non-existent. People's thoughts were not directed
to the fundamental, all-embracing heresy upon which Zionism was established,
but grasped only the attractive promises that were offered because
unfortunately, Zionism arrived in the most feeble and small of all generation,
coupled with distressing happenings, which contributed to the closing of
people's minds to the truth and to their being led astray by the Zionist Idea.

How much were Rabbi Weissmandl and his colleagues overcome with joy
when they succeeded in getting the right people together! How great was their
hope! But how much were they overwhelmed by sorrow when they tried to get
things in motion, and how great was their frustration when they learned that
the Zionists, together with the "Joint", stopped every outside help from
reaching them. This was not only when it was a question of saving the remnants
of the Jews of Slovakia -- about 40,000 souls -- but also when the possibility
of saving what was still left of the Jews of Poland and Hungary was in
question; a matter then of millions of souls. Then, too, the Zionists
deliberately prevented any help from being extended under various excuses that
even a child could see through. This was their policy -- stupid and merciless --
but they perused it relentlessly. In the end, they admitted openly that their
policy was not to help fellow Jews, but to let them perish in the tens of
thousands and in their millions.

This is forever unforgettable and unforgivable. Zionist "ahavas
Yisroel" must be displayed conspicuously and beyond any doubt.

The Friday when the first installment of $25,000 had to be paid was
fast approaching and there was not yet a way how this money could be found for
Wisliceny. Mrs. Flesichman was also the representative of the World Jewish
Congress and well known to the Jewish Agency. She was, therefore, considered to
be the most suitable person to make contact with these organizations. Her words
would be listed to....

The pressure became even greater when it was seen the S.S.
oligarchy was in earnest. The first transport has been stopped. But how can
contact be made with Zurich, with New York and with Jerusalem, the seat of the
Jewish Agency, which influenced and coordinated the work of these other two
bodies? Slovakia was then a small country sealed off by the German occupation
of the surrounding territory. There was no common border with any free country,
so how could any message be conveyed to the outside world?

Shloime Stern was instrumental in finding a temporary solution. He
obtained a diplomatic courier, who was prepared to take all the important
messages to the "Joint" in Zurich. He was also able to borrow money,
temporarily, from various sources in Slovakia, putting together the equivalent
of the enormous sounding sum of $25,000. The money obtained was changed on the
back market for dollars and handed over to Hochberg for Wisliceny. Hochberg
accepted it and came back with the message that there would be no further
transports for seven weeks, which time was set for the completion of the deal.

They were all convinced that once the diplomatic courier would get
their message to the "Joint" and the Jewish Agency, not $50,000 but ten times
$50,000 wold at once be put at their disposal for this and similar "deals."
Surely Jews the world over would dance for joy upon hearing that at last the
door was open in the inner circles of the S.S. and a way found to rescue their
fellow Jews.

Mrs. Fleischman sat down to write the memorandum to Salli Mayer,
the "Joint" representative in Switzerland. She was careful in her every word,
explaining the situation of hope that had been ignited. The "Joint" should
hasten its help at this last moment and miss the life-saving opportunity that
had been so dramatically forced. The memorandum was sent to the "Joint", to the
Jewish Agency and to a personal friend of hers, Mr. N. Schwalbe in Zurich. And
then they sat down to wait.

Days went by, swallowed by weeks, and of the seven not many were left.
The time for the final settlement was fast approaching and a great sum of money
was needed. Many people had managed to escape from the hell of Poland to
Slovakia on their way to Hungary and Romania, which were not yet being so
intensely processed by the Hitler hordes. They were not a thousandth of a
percent of those who were so brutally done to death, but still a number to be
supported and a problem of Slovakian Jewry. Money was needed to bribe the
Slovakian genarmerie and police to stop their pressure for the deportations to
continue. Money was needed for the labor camps in Sered, Novaki and Wiener in
Slovakia.

The Slovakian anti-Semitic government had built these camps for a slave
labor before deportation began, and it was put to those Jews still left there
that if they, themselves, would build up and increase the capacity of those
labor camps, they would absorb more and so relieve the pressure
for "deportations." and above all, the money was needed to refund the temporary
loans from so many sources that had gone towards the first payment to Wisliceny
and to provide the second $25,000 that would finally seal this blood
transaction.

All this money was a matter of life or death for the tens of thousands
of Jews in Slovakia and, in the end, for millions still alive throughout
Europe. Who could provide and who should provide, if not the "Joint" and the
Jewish Agency, who held possession of the vast sums of money given by Jews the
world over for the help of their brethren in need? Was there anywhere at all
any need that was greater?

The diplomatic courier left for Zurich, holding in his hands the
lamentations of the strangling remnants of Jewry; in his hands, their appeal
from death.

This courier had to spend some days in Zurich before his return. He was
awaited with mounting anxiety, for with his advent were tied up all the hopes
of the masses under sentence.

And he returned. But not even a letter was sent with him by those "help
organizations" only a verbal message that they had no time to write, and of
help there was no mention at all.

Rabbi Weissmandl writes that on hearing this message, they 'felt as
though the house had collapsed on them'. It was only Mrs. Fleischman who
started to explain matters after this great shock. She said that "uncle" Salli
Mayer was a very cautious man and it was necessary to write again. It was also
necessary to write to Mr. Silbersten, the Jewish Congress representative. "And
who knows, maybe they are doing something great," she added. Maybe for such a
big undertaking they had to refer to New York and Jerusalem -- who knows?

Rabbi Weissmandl, himself, followed up with letters to the Agency and
the "Joint" in the name of the Rabbis left in Slovakia -- letters of tears and
of pleading -- but still there was no reply. Meanwhile, the seven weeks had
passed and they had to send to Hochberg, asking him to explain to Wisliceny
that the messenger that was to bring the money from Switzerland had met with an
accident and was delayed in a hospital there. He would be bringing the money in
three or four weeks time. Wisliceny agreed to wait.

In the end, a letter did come from the "Joint"; a letter written by
Salli Mayer, which said that $50,000 was a lot of money for such a small
country, and that in the previous year's budget of the "joint", only a few
thousand dollars had been allocated for them. The "Joint" had to be run
according to their system. The explanation given in the memorandum why they now
need all this money and the documentary evidence as to what was happening in
Poland, to which country the "deportations" took place, were exaggerated
stories. This was the way of Eastern European Jewry, who were always asking for
money. In general, he added, it was impossible to send anything at all just
then, as the money was coming from America, which had prohibited the sending of
funds to enemy countries. What was possible to do was to render some small
help, monthly, if the "Joint" in Hungary would agree to do this out of the
blocked account that been held since the outbreak of the war.

Rabbi Weissmandl and his colleagues read the letter, but they could not
believe it had been written by fellow Jews. Their hearts stopped beating when
its contents became clear to them. But this was not the end. There was a
further letter. It fully explained the first. But it was more deadly and more
devastating. It disclosed the bottomless abyss to which born- Jews can sink --
the responsibility of Zionism.

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