Page Two IF I WERE A JEW By GENERAL HUGH S. JOHNSON The former administrator of the NRA and noted news paper columnist states in vigorous and deeply moving words his sympathy for Jews in lands of oppression, sound ing a clarion call for the full est support for Refugees by Americans of all creeds. Since the savage yellow hordes of Ghengis Khan swept like a blight from the China Sea to the Danube River, leaving behind them great pyramids of skulls and acne of smoking ruins, the world has never seen any such Christless ex- p P M tolne* -m ML Vj % ■ * ami Hfe- HEr ML- GEN. HUGH S. JOHNSON ample of “man’s inhumanity to man” as the deluge of slaughter and torture that darkens Europe and threatens civilization today. In the comfort and safety of our distance and detachment, it seems to us incredible. The horrible news of much of it obscured by censor ship but enough leaks through from returning eye-witnesses to arouse in us such emotions of con- For An Expert Repair or Construction Job CALL GRISHAM CONSTRUCTION CO. Route 1, Box 442 Ph. 3-0459 J Springfield Laundry & Cleaners I. G. Hawk 2511 Main St. TeL 5-5522 SANDWICH INN MAIN AT 37TH PARK AT GILMORE MIAMI ROAD IN SO. JACKSONVILLE LOANS On Your Own Security Seaboard Finance Corp. 515-516 Lynch Big. Ph. 5-1750 DAVID B. BALTER The Right Contract To Fit Your Individual Needs VOLUNTEER STATE LIFE INS. CO. 1008 Greenleaf Bldg. Phone 5-3080 MORTON R. WEINER, Associated with CHARLES C. FOSTER Creative Advertising Techniques 406 FLORIDA THEATRE BUILDING TELEPHONE 8-0170 Art Photography Layout Copy BURNSWELL THE QUALITY COAL IT BURNS WELL—IT BURNS SWELL FUEL OIL—OAK AND FINK WOOD—KINDLING DUVAL ICE ft COAL CO. PHONE *-7174 S. K. DAVID. PrtHiDl M& lIR. tempt and indignation as make it hard to refrain from crying havoc and urging flaming national ac tion. Yet this, no responsible Ameri can who is aware of all the forces working in this detestable com plex, can do. This country has been and still remains the only safe refuge on the globe for the victims of such insensate prejudice and cruelty. It is better not merely for our 180,000,000 people but for the whole world that we keep it so and not risk the last best hope on earth by entangling it in the complex double crossing, deceitful maze of either European diplomacy or European war. It is better for us and it is necessary for us to draw closer to each other In one compact front and so perfect the defenses of this hemisphere that we can keep this pestilence of the Old World out of it—come what may. That is easy to say but it is hard to take, especially by those who are tied by bonds of blood, race or religion to unfortunates dear to tuem who are caught in that terri ble trap. The impulse is strong, human and understandable to urge national aggressive action for the sake of the particular kindred which is ours. This is supposed to be our weakness. We come from so many diverse peoples that it is sometimes said that we are neces sarily a nation of divided loyalties. It is not true. We proved in the World War that it is not true. We are proving it again today and this time no group among us is prov ing it in a test more poignant than that of Americans of Jewish ori gin, whether of our pre-Revolu tionary stock—of whom we have not a few—or recent immigrants whose immediate family ties are much closer and hence more strong. For never in the whole long bloody history of the persecution of the Jews has anything been seen to approximate this extermination by slaughter, exile, famine, depri vation and disease that the Nazis have imposed in every country, starting with their own, spreading to the conquered countries of Czechoslovakia and Austria and reaching an apex of bloody bar barism in Poland. God knows what has happened there. It is a certainty that man kind in the mass and possibly by i the millions has been driven food ; less, and without shelter into con gested, impoverished, stripped and barren areas to starve, freeze or perish by disease and without re gard to age, sex, or physical con dition. If I were an American Jew it would be an almost overwhelming impulse with me to seek to bring the majesty and the strength of my country into this conflict to the rescue of my people. I have never heard a Jewish voice raised to urge tuat. The record of this restraint is the highest proof that could be made of the loyalty, honor and pa- All You Can Eat Gerbing’s Famous Oyster Dinner Gerbing’s Oyster Farm Phone 2102 Fernandina for Reservations THE SOUTHERN JEWISH WEEKLY n | daoc. kiftT MAftAY« ** Trt£ftS IS WDUSIRY,COMMERCE ''IT'S "Wf **© OF Afto ajeefWi!>»G. i CHEER UP! "i triotism of Americans of Jewish extraction. It is a high example to others in this country who, having no such restraint, form their sympa thies, indignation or opinion, plead everything from contributions from the United States Treasury to military or naval action. Any such thing urged through Govern ment action is an attempt to force other people who may not agree with them to do, and pay, and sac rifice, and perhaps die, for some thing which these opinionated peo ple are unwilling to do individually but are quite prepared to make their countrymen do collectively. It has always seemed to me that there is an excellent alternative for them. If they want to fight, there are many foreign legions where they can do so. If they want to pay, they can also do that to their heart’s content In neither case will they involve their coun try. Now, Jewish people are not alien to us. They are of the race which gave us our religion—not only the Old Testament but the mother of our Lord Jesus Christ. They gave us all the pillars of our faith and when I say “our faith” I say “our civilization”—the Ten Command ments, the Golden Rule and the Sermon on the Mount—the funda mentals of democracy, decency, fairness and charity throughout the human race. Men and women of their people also gave the world some of its most profound philo sophy, its highest art, its most beautiful music and poetry, a ba sis of its laws and more than its share of the advance in science alike in industry and in the heal ing arts of medicine and surgery. No, they are not alien to us. In that and in many other senses they are our own. FRANK H. BROWNETT BUILDER B*s W. 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