Leading American newspapers today carry editorials emphasizing the greatness of Dr. Chaim Weizmann not only as a leader of Jewry but also as an outstanding world figure who believed in human betterment through science.
The New York Times editorial says that “by any criterion one chooses Chaim Weizmann was one of the great and formative figures of today’s world; his death is a loss for all humanity.” Pointing out that the high quality of his scientific achievements establishes Dr. Weizmann as “an outstanding figure of our times” in chemistry and other related fields, the paper states: “But intellect alone does not explain Chaim Weizmann, for in him there were also tenacity, courage, kindliness, vision and loyalty — all attributes he displayed to the full on innumerable occasions.”
The New York Herald Tribune editorial says: “Hope is an eternal monument, and it was hope that Dr. Weizmann gave a people. Today it has been translated into lives saved, universities founded and homes established, families reunited, a nation reborn. To all who admire faith and courage, Chaim Weizmann’s name will remain an everlasting inspiration, his memory a blessing. That is why all people with hopes and dreams in their hearts may say: ‘Know ye not that there is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel?”‘
The New York World Telegram editorial points out that “few men contributed as much as Weizmann to the winning of both World Wars. “It emphasizes that Dr. Weizmann was offered a title by the grateful British, but his reply was that the only thing he wanted was a national home for the Jewish people. “Chaim Weizmann died without accomplishing his last great ambition — to bring peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. But the other achievements of this extraordinary man stand as a monument to his statesmanship and vision.”
The New York Post says: “Dr. Weizmann’s death is not only Israel’s loss but the world’s. He will be missed for his own aristocratic brand of statesmanship, for his magnificence of purpose, for his unfailing humor and, perhaps above all, for his humanitarianism. That’s a tongue-twister but it fits Chaim Weizmann, because he loved the people. He always loved the people.” The paper also carries an article by columnist Max Lerner evaluating the role played by Dr. Weizmann in Jewry and in world affairs.
The Journal-American writes: “It is rare to find in one man a number of talents, any one of which would be enough to bring him renown. Dr. Weizmann was such a man. He was a world-famous chemist. He could have rested secure in that. But he was in addition a man of action and a tremendous spiritual force. From boyhood in Russia, when he suffered under the wave of anti-Semitism loosed by Czar Alexander II, he cherished the driving dream of a Jewish homeland. He never lost that dream, nor the energy to work for it patiently and tenaciously — in the long years when he was becoming a great chemist, in the long years when he was president of the World Zionist Organization. And at last, he saw it come true and experienced the ineffable satisfaction of being the first president of the first Hebrew nation in 2,000 years. Like Nehemiah, he will be remembered in the history of Israel and in the history of the world for the good he has done.”
The New York Jewish daily newspapers — except the Communist “Freiheit” — appeared with black borders on the pages reporting the news of Dr. Weizmann’s death and on the pages which carried articles and photos depicting the life of the late President of Israel. The “Freiheit” limited itself to a front-page news story.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
