French Aid Refugees' Adaptation to New Conditions
Protter, Benjamin
French Aid Refugees' Adaptation to New Conditions Guards Let Exiles Pass Ihto France By Benjamin Protter *9*asaasm* ?Jewi*fc neftifcee} fleeing tne tenror oi the tjermsst eoneeetratkm camp and...
...That this de-ci s io n was prompted by the belief of the board that it had a better chance to control the convention by March 20 than at an earlier data, and that basing representation on the membership at the end of last year would also favor the board, may be taken for granted...
...The board has had its way bj fixing the date of the conventior for March 20 in Cleveland, While representation will be based on dues paid by December 31, 1938...
...3) a demagogue who promises "all things to all men...
...Cooperation in War " During the last few years frequent conferences have been held with the object of coordinating economic and social measures...
...Martin favorec" a convention by March 1, wtt* representation based on does pak by that date, and the board favorec a later date...
...As a matter of fact, the democracies are now diverting housing funds for armaments...
...The American reader will find Silone's book of particular significance, since "Thomas the Cynic1- explains bow to establish...
...Very, very few of the hundreds and thousands who cross in this manner into France show any aptitude for farming...
...Introduction by Walter Gropius...
...mm ft HAPPEN fit AMERICA...
...The refugees who succeed in reaching the border, and they average a hundred a day, I am told, beg the French guards not to turn them back into the hands of a schupo or a storm-trooper...
...We've, all heard about the 1,200,000 low-rent ijMaes which the English have built since the World War, the mere mention of which sends uk professional housing 'enthusiast into an emo-jteJL dither, but now it seems the British have flaf by far to re-house those in the lowest in-JEm categories...
...Parties of school children will travel free of charge ox the State railways of each other's countries, > U.A.W...
...The letter has since been published in a French daily paper rOrdre and can be had for the asking- from the Jewish Telegraphic ¦ Agency...
...Milan the author saw large, modern low-rent housing developments...
...Exchange Visit, It is hoped to bring Workers from the different countries into closer personal contact with each other...
...in short, out of the filth of the slums into the bleak grayness of regimented settlements...
...Nazi Influence Seen As Mexico Expels"Times//Man WASHINGTON, D. C —The expulsion of Frask.JU Kluckhohn, correspondent of the New York Times m Mexico City, by the Mexican Government...
...v far tfe teoatse of inquiries which I made in Ffericn official" euttuaoAcial circles, »o»d much -sympathy, understanding and willingness ' to help the unfortunate exiles...
...HarpeVt, New York...
...Of Stalin's Russia Silone says that it is a perfect demonstration of how complete external socialism Without political liberty becomes "most complete slavery...
...B«-1 also discovered that a great source of difficulty, as I shall show later, lies in the inability of the .average refugee to adapt himself to a new mode of living...
...The Tory Government in England has done more for housing than the liberal Roosevelt Administration...
...Illustrated, ^28Cpp...
...Devoted fe Prance Certain sections of southern France, where the soil is fertile and the climate exceptionally mild,' present the strange spectacle of many small and fair-sized farms that have been abandoned...
...But to quote the "high spots" of the book would mean to quote three-quarters of its text...
...He does not believe that the dictators won because of their superior genius...
...Most of those who try, drift back to the cities after a few months on the land...
...eoedj((lp<rtBMsSs)fciaifJfc»*dB which, give" rise to, and promote, dictatorship...
...But something can be done to coordinate efforts in the different countries and a committee of experts has been set up to consider the matter...
...capitalist Sweden has done more than "socialist" Russia...
...1938...
...French Aid Refugees' Adaptation to New Conditions Guards Let Exiles Pass Ihto France By Benjamin Protter *9*asaasm* ?Jewi*fc neftifcee} fleeing tne tenror oi the tjermsst eoneeetratkm camp and the humilation arrd degrada-•tittn the Nazi storm-troopers take a sadistic ftteesui* i* iftflie** big upon him...
...But others must or wish to stay in France...
...Still more recently Finland, liberated from its earlier fascism, has joined the Scandinavian family...
...Many of them, it is true, are in transit to farther lands...
...A sorry picture, indeed, after twenty years of housing effort...
...An obvious fruit of this collaboration was the simultaneous announcement some months ago of bills to enforce a fortnight's vacation with pay for, all workers in Denmark and Sweden...
...Coupled with the American dispute over the Mexican seizure of foreign-owned oil and other properties, the success of Nasi agents in oil barter deals with the Mexican government and the Mexican press campaign against Jews, induced speculation aa to whether the Nasi International has ob* tained a strong foothold south of the Rio Grande...
...fascist,Italy has done more than democratic France...
...Following through the history of Mussolini end Hitler, Silone finds that a dictatorship requires three prerequisites tfor its success: 1) a deep political and economic crisis (the state of postwar Europe...
...Future Imperilled By Old Factional Fight WASHINGTON, D. C—When a thousand members or the Atrto Workers' Union climb ten flights of stairs in a demonstration against opponents of President Homer Martin at the national headquarters in Detroit last week, when they clasir with an anti-Martin group and John L. Lewis' sends official observers to report what is happening, it becomes clear that the settlement last fall still leaves the union in a precarious condition...
...the dispatch of General Juan F. Azcarate to Germany by that government, and Ktajelrhohn's story of the reasons for his expulsion, caused nrnclt concern in official circles here this week...
...Some of these have been mentioned in The New Leader...
...Bread and Wine" made Silone one of the foremost novelists of our time, perhaps the foremost among the many famous writers tasting the -latter bread of exile...
...is that practical internationalism which has long been a part of their work...
...Germany, and it is feared that f* will love important repercusskms throughout Latin America...
...W. W. Norton and Co...
...3.50...
...Miss Denby says, appeared to be "flourishing and happy places...
...In discussing the housing built by the Socialist government of Vienna, Miss Denby had nothing but praise...
...Hitler's semi-rural communities on the peripheries of...
...All in all, this excellent volume is a contradiction in terms—a well-written, exciting book on housing...
...RANKS WITH THE FINEST J?OR distinction of stylo, simple and firm, for wit and depth of historical and political thought, Silone's new book deserves to be placed among- the beat treatises knowsi to this reviewer, from Plato to Bertrand Rtossell...
...Homes for the People fy CHARLES J Ail HARRISON IN a.quiet, unassuming British way Miss Denby * kicks the European housing applecart sky high in this scholarly and informativ j book...
...And still worse, that "hundreds of thousands" h workers.have been segregated in lonely, out-' of-the-way developments without adequate facilities...
...The scope of inter-Scandinavian economic plans is definitely limited since all, and especially Denmark, are dependent on foreign markets for exports of dairy and agricultural produce which in turn necessitate considerable imports from other countries, mainly Great Britain and Germany...
...In all there are perhaps two to three hundred families settled in the south of France...
...2) inability on the part of the existing democracy to solve the problems arising from the crisis...
...s#*» It is alsd suspected that the State Department may have bad knowledge of these ill i llafuTkjs* and that ft may be one reason far the President's recommendation «B* increased armament sO< that one United States Will be prepared foe any possible conspiracy by HMs* . Iirolns part-oftbe world...
...The,cynicism of the book is, of course, deceptive...
...2.50...
...A Preach government official, until recently charged with the administration of a prefecture in the southwest of* France, writes to me in a spirit of generous, reasoned humanity which is an honor to the author of the letter and the country he serves...
...Ever since the early days of ^he movement the Swedish, Danish and Norwegian parties and trade union federations, as well as individual unions, have maintained close contact through regular meetings, conferences and exchanges of information...
...VITAL GOVERNMENT PROBLEM Jk-LTHOUGH Miss Denby is obviously an anti-** fascist, she is compelled to report that the Germans and Italians are going about their housing programs with vigor and intelligence...
...Martin has already been deprived of much of his power, including control of the official paper, which gives his opponents a decided advantage...
...They have nothing of the bofaemian about them, fltfcjplW the fact they were acenstomed tS some time ' to persecution and wandering and have known all the bitterness of exile...
...Silone is not a fatalist...
...A certain American multimillionaire, a Mr...
...THE latest bodk* by Silone is worthy of the ^author of1 "Bread and Wine...
...It is a book written with deep seriousness, in fact, with a certain cold fury, firmly controlled, however, by the author's pi tiles...
...veracity and his disdafn for self -commiseration...
...The correspondent referred to above find* that the German Jews who settle down in France are much more interesting for the future of the country as they bard broken with everything behind them and have no intention of returning to their ungrateful fatherland...
...The principal reasons are the declining birthrate and the attraction of the city for the small farmer or farmhand...
...W. lessons in dictatorship...
...As a rule, the guard closes his eyes and lets the pleading, trembling Jew enter into French territory...
...Vienna's Socialist housing, the pride of Europe, is now moribund...
...Mussolini's draining of the...
...There is also little doubt that there will be a hot battle--at the convention over the seating of delegates^ atld it is doubtful Whether the eaten will come out of the convention a united organization...
...a Fascist dictatorship in America...
...There was nothing sentimental in Silone's novel: it was a bitter story, but its truthfulness and the austere art, with which he depicted the Italian peasants in their realistic approach to their hard existence, in their cunning humanity and quiet fortitude, won for the author the admiration of the world...
...We learn, for example, that all the ballyhoo about British housing is eminently misleading, as is frequently the case with official information...
...But, in that section of the country, there are SO to 60 families of exiled German Jews, including about 160 persons in all, as against seven to eight thousand Italians and Poles...
...Even after the advent of the fascists, the developments were in admirable repair...
...cities...
...Full agreement Was obtained for proposals Which called for government support for more teaching of Scandinavian languages in schools and teachers' training colleges...
...t, ¦ * Refereesstoni Expected Kluckhohn declares that foreign* correspondents are- subjected ~*V government coercion, that several were recently reprimanded and the United Press fined 5,000 pesos by the .government...
...And the democracies had better master it—and do a more efficient job than they have done, so far—unless they want to be swamped by fascism...
...It is neeessary to provide for the re-education and re-adaptation of these forced immigrants in order to assimilate them more rapidly and with the least disturbance to the national life...
...When Miss Denby saw them last, the gardens were still in bloom, but the water had been cut off from the children's wading pools and the communal rooms and gymnasia were boarded up—for political reasons...
...Thus a worker in Stockholm weald be the guest of his colleague in Copenhagen, and vice versa, it is hoped also to improve contacts between worker and farmer...
...Other locals are expected to take sides...
...International vacation homes and workers' guest houses are to be opened...
...Pontine Marshes was also successful, and in Rome, Venice and SVROFS RE-HOUSED...
...Not at all...
...W., is playing with the idea of becoming the Mussolini of America, —and "Thomas" is' giving Mr...
...Since last fall the anti-Martin faction appears to have become a majority of the board, while Martin seems to be confident that he has a majority of the union members behind him and he appears to be eager for a test of power in a national convention...
...Beaver Democracies Finns, Danes, Swedes, Norwegians Forge Inter-Scandinavian Unity By REGINALD SPINK Special to The New Leader COPENHAGEN.—One of the examples which the Scandinavian La-bar Movements have set the world, apart from their fine record of social legislation, for which they share honors with the New Zealand Labor Government...
...Yet the return to the land is a vital necessity for the Jew, and above all, for the Jewish exile...
...houses, and particularly ones for poor families with many children, is stall acute...
...PRAISES PRE-FASCIST VIENNA WALTER GROPIUS, dean of the department of architecture at Harvard, calls housing "the new science...
...By Elisabeth Denby...
...The book la hence a study of the "philosophy" and psychology of dictatorships, of the political •THE SCHOOL FOR DICTATORS, by Ignazio Silone...
...The Joint International Committee for Aid to Refugees provides the funds which come for the most part from French and American donators...
...The Finnish movement baa been asked to arrange accommodation for several thousand workers during the approaching Olympics at Lelsinki...
...Since the advent of Labor governments in all three countries, this cooperation has.been extended to the governmental field...
...The writer goes on to suggest that a committee be formed of representatives of the French administration and police, of agricultural specialists, and a certain number of refugees already established on the land whose hard-won experience would be useful in choosing among the newly arrived refugees the best fitted to lead the life of a small farmer...
...It is not a novel: it is a series of dialogues in which Silone, thinly duguised as ^Thoanas the Cynic," explains to two Americans the "whys" and "hows" of the present-day dictatorships...
...All this, together w:t* CesaWat Accarate's hasty trip to ifcMtnY settri ft) Indicate at trend ofskuMaaS...
...official policy fsvoraMe to Men...
...The Mexican government's press...
...The result baa been an influx of foreigners, principally Itnhua* and Poles, who rent the farms, till the land themselves, but who aa soon as they have saved what seems to them a small fortune, pack up and go back to their native country...
...in fact, the occasional gaping holes left by the Dollfuss artillery simply served to reveal the splendid quality of the workmanship and materials...
...Does this prove that totalitarian governments can solve the housing problem more efficaciously than the democracies...
...A "MUST' BOOK I IKE so many competent observers of fascism *-* and nazism, Silone sees the two not as a conspiracy of "clever capitalists," but, essentially, as a movement of the frightened and frustrated middle class, of its youth...
...One simple plan is to arrange for them to spend their fortnight in each other's homes...
...In order to illustrate those lessons, to explain the strategy and tactics of a dictatorship, Silone draws not only on the history of Fascism, but on all dictatorships, from those of ancient Greece and Rome to Hitler and Stalin...
...It is not an expanded article, it is a genuine and necessary book, a "must" book...
...These events were followed this week by the demand of a big local at Tan ytown, N. that the anti-Martin members ef the executive board should resign...
...Fight en Dote, Delegates An issue in the struggle between the president and the board has been the time for holding the convention and the method of apportioning delegates...
...Plans will include economic cooperation to maintain supplies in the event Of war...
...Not all of the totalitarian successes have been due to political blackmail—and we had better get wise to this fact...
...Democracy lost in Germany and Italy, because we fumbled and lost so many splendid opportunities,—through blindness, lack of fight, lack of social dating...
...VI flT CUVVU 1 IVII At a conference of Hbt Ministers of Education and their officials held at Copenhagen in December important decisions were reached with regard to improved cultural relations...
...The meetings of the Scandinavian Ministers for Social Affairs and their permanent officials have also laid the foundations for closer cooperation in the social field...
...It give* me bo pleasure to report this fact...
...The wide historical perspective of the book, its wealth of illustration and anecdote, originality and firm texture of thought, capture the reader at once and hold his attention to the end...
...France has a common boundary line with Germany...
...There will be interchange of teach-ers and lecturers at colleges and high schools aa well as an exchange of students...
...jureau declares that it had urged Kluckhohn to base hit stora* 6V official matters "on fact and the absolute troth," but that the co-respondent had "maliciously man* interpreted the doctrine of the Mexican government...
...By ELIAS L TARTAK BOOKS AND WRITERS SI lone on Dictatorships •irHOSE who have read Igaaxio Silone's novel * "Bread and Wine" will take any book by Silone on trust In "Bread and Wine" Silone told a tale of Fascist Italy, of its peasants and working people, of tbayr life as seen through the eyes of an "underground" fugitive, daily risking his own life in hia-efforts to keep up opposition to the Fascist sessjne...
...Democracy and Socialism were not defeated: "Socialism defeated itself...
...For Silone ,is an exile of which his country may well be proud...
...The injection of political :;ffc* tions into the union, including the Communists, and outside itlrectt— of inside groups for factional purposes, are taking the usual course of bitter conflict and division which other organizations have ahnVrtal from such outside interference...
...What seems to create the most confusion is that the French government has no fixed policy with regards to the rising tide of refugees...
...The School for Dictators" is easily one of the most important books of the year 1938...
...presents a much more complicated pr^ijlem' bSf France than is commonly supposed...
...Bread and Wine" was a book of amazing honesty and of severe and proud art...
...They show a nigh level of intelligence,'" says my correspondent, "have usually business experience and are tegular in their work and habits...
...It simply proves that housing has now become a vital aspect of municipal government like sewage or garbage disposal...
...As for France, Sweden, Holland and several other continental countries: "everywhere there is a glut of medium-priced dwellings, but the shortage of low-cost (low-rent...
Vol. 22 • January 1939 • No. 3
