Jews in the Saar

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The Saar Territory, one of the smallest countries in Europe, is regarded by esteemed statesmen of our time as the focal point of the basic situation in continental Europe. If it were possible to bring into a simple pattern the current extraordinary complicated political situation involving treaties and individual political conditions of the various European countries the situation in the Saar Territory would still remain the most unpredictable factor. Europe must recognize the fact that England which—without attracting much attention —is at the moment passing through one of the most difficult episodes in its colonial Europe, and that she is and must of necessity remain in-Europe, and that she is and must of necessity remain indifferent to continental differences. Russia finds herself in the same position. This extraordinary country is skipping centuries of cultural development and is working with a passion and vehemence in its efforts to transfer the cultural and industrial center from Europe to Asia.

There remain only France, with its vacillating system of treaties, and isolated Germany, whose isolation will cease at the very moment in which it becomes a partner equal in power of arms to any nation of Europe weary of France.

The Italian attitude, a highly changeable factor, leaves room for any developments, just as it did twenty years ago.

The balance of power in Europe depends upon the relationship of France with Germany. France desires peace, Germany needs war. France is enjoying prosperity, the possibilities of expansion and the gold standard, while Germany’s internal problems demand increasingly drastic measures. While the French are reducing military service periods and their war budget, the German people are not only being trained for war service, in a manner up to this time unknown in European history, but are also being imbued with an enthusiasm for war.

THE SAARLAND

The Saar Territory is an industrial region, inhabited by Catholics. Its coal mines belong to France. Since 1918, this German territory has been under the control of a commissioner, appointed by the League of Nations, and in January, 1935, that portion of the population which resided in the Saar in 1918 is to vote whether the territory should revert to Germany or France, or whether the “status quo” is to be continued. The sociological and psychological question involved is very complicated.

There is no doubt that the territory is German according to its language and its customs. On the other hand, its economic existence depends upon its contacts with France. The currency used is not the German mark, but the French franc—a fact which kept the entire population from becoming completely poverty stricken during the German inflation of 1923. But, France is the only customer for the products of the Saar mines, and if the territory went back to Germany, the greater part of the inhabitants would automatically become unemployed. For the inhabitants of the Saar, therefore, emotional ties speak for Germany, economic demands for France.

Despite all this, the greater portion of the population would vote for Germany, if Germany were not Hitler Germany. Therefore, besides labor, many Catholics and intellectuals prefer the “status quo,” that is, retention of the present situation under the protection of the League of Nations.

GERMAN PROPAGANDA

This is so far as the spiritual attitude goes, and if that were all that had to be taken into consideration, an orderly plebiscite would be assured in January, 1935. But now we must consider German propaganda. It disregards spiritual factors, and for that reason those who do not or cannot disregard these methods, are beaten from the start. The German radio stations and the German press daily make false announcements, and issue threats against the lives of Nazi opponents. While no French cabinet officer or official has ever tried to influence the inhabitants of the Saar, the government of Germany has considered and still considers it its right daily, through the press, radio, and through mass meetings, to promise, to cajole, and to threaten the inhabitants of the Saar.

Hitler himself made arrangements for tens of thousands of inhabitants of the Saar to travel to the Rhine at the expense of the State, where they were fed and entertained, so that he might appeal personally to them in his inimitable way. Even more vehement and unscrupulous are the methods of the National Socialist organizations, particularly the “German Front,” in the region itself. Hold-ups, speeches and among the populace, were the order of the day, and unbelievable measures planned to arouse hatred terror rules the land. The life of anyone who expresses a personal opinion is in danger. The police, cowed by these threats, do not dare to interfere when members of the “German Front” attack their opponents or murder them. Such police officials as seek to maintain their independence are ruthlessly shot down; the murderers are permitted to flee to Germany where they are feted. In this manner, the country of “poets and thinkers” works for its government and many a small business man, many an employee, and many a worker who does not wish to eat the bitter crumbs of unemployment or to spend the rest of his life as a cripple, bows before the terror and shouts “Heil Hitler.”

DIFFICULT FOR JEWS

For the Jews in the Saar, the situation is particularly difficult. In this territory live some of the oldest families in Germany; families for whom over a thousand years this has been their homeland. If the country should fall to Hitler, they would be the first to feel the revenge so often threatened by the National Socialists. Even today their lives are not secure. Weekly, families move from this territory; they lose their homes, they move away, to eke out an existence, if possible, in foreign countries, just as in the case of earlier German emigrants whom the world has long since forgotten. They lack definite moral backing.

Already opposition is stirring in the Saar. The parties of the left, together with Catholic priests, have assumed the burden of the battle against the barbarism of Hitler. On the same day on which Hitler by means of free fare, free food and drinks, and fireworks, brought tens of thousands of inhabitants of the Saar to Coblenz, an equal number gathered in Sulzbach, the heart of their homeland, to acknowledge their fealty to their homeland. They had saved every penny they could from their hard earned money to defray the cost of the trip. They did without food and drink and fireworks. It was a tremendous mass meeting under the blue sky, at which a Communist and a Catholic priest were the speakers. There were young people and old people and all raised their fists and swore to heaven that the “Saar shall be free.”

Upright people throughout the world stand by those who swore here, and the others realize this. The Jews throughout the world must let the Jews in the Saar Territory also have the assurance that they stand by them. Should Hitler lose the Saar Territory, the prestige which he still enjoys in Germany will be broken. Already, he feels that the country is slipping from him. Energetic action on the part of the League of Nations Commissioner only recently destroyed the plan for a “putsch” of the National Socialists. For the sake of the future development of Europe, and for every serious-minded person in the world, the only hope for a cultural renaissance lies in the complete destruction of the “brutal one,” through the will to freedom and to human decency.

The same key position which the Saar Territory holds in relation to the future of Europe is held by the Jews in relation to the Saar Territory. Their moral resistance will be the inspiration for a great portion of the people. It seems to me that the world of thinking people is not even remotely aware of the decisive, yes, even the historic importance of this situation. September 22, 1934.

Make a habit of glancing through the classified advertising columns. They may have a surprise in store for you.