Samuel Untermyer, New York lawyer, was the guest of honor at a luncheon tendered him by the American Friends of the Hebrew University yesterday, at the Lawyers Club, on the occasion of the dedication in Jerusalem of the Minnic Untermyer Open-Air Theatre, gift to the Hebrew University by Mr. Untermyer in memory of his late wife. Dr. Israel J. Kligler, head of the Department of Bacteriology and Hygiene at the Hebrew University, also addressed the friends of Mr. Untermyer at the luncheon, which took place at the same time as the dedication exercises in Jerusalem. Dr. A. S. W. Rosenbach, President of the American Friends of the Hebrew University, presided.
Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope, High Commissioner of Palestine, presided at the ceremonies in Jerusalem, which were attended by thousands of visitors in Palestine for the Easter and Passover holidays, according to Dr. Rosenbach. Lord Allenby was the guest of honor at the dedication. A chorus of 135 voices gave Handel’s oratorio, “Judas Maccabeus” from the stage of the Open-Air Theatre, which has seating accommodations for more than 2,000.
A REFUGE FOR STUDENTS
The first step of world Jewry in combating the recent events in Germany must be to enlarge the scope of the Hebrew University so as to receive the young men and women to whom the doors of German universities have been closed, declared Mr. Untermyer, whose talk follows in part:
“When provision was made, seven years ago, for the construction of the Stadium in memory of my dear wife, in the midst of hope and rejoicing, that we are today dedicating in sackcloth and ashes, little did we dream of the possibility of the cataclysm that has overtaken the Jews of the world at the hands of a nation that, notwithstanding its many misfortunes, was then still regarded as one of the cultural peoples of the earth.
“But the impossible has come to pass, and we now find ourselves face to face with a major catastrophe which we must prepare to meet in a practical way.
“Nothing could better illustrate the long-sustained suffering and ultimate despair and the blighting, brutalizing after-effects of a disastrous war upon a once prosperous, enlightened nation than the ascendancy to power of a bigoted brute of the Hitler type and the tame submission to his yoke of a proud, self-respecting people. Deep as is our pity for the persecution, akin to that of the Dark Ages, of our unfortunate brethren, it should be still greater for the remaining ninety-nine per cent of the German people who are thereby relegated to semi-barbarism.
“It is now definitely established that there is a deep-seated, continuing official propaganda to grossly minimize and mislead the Jews and the rest of the civilized world as to the extent of the persecution with the deliberate purpose of withdrawing interest and support.
“There was never until now in history any such reign of terror. The witch-hunters of the Dark Ages did not rival the Nazi anti-Semites in their devilish zeal and ingenuity. The number of suicides in the past few weeks has exceeded anything ever known. The case of the Heidelberg law-student whose only Jewish ancestor was on# grandparent, is fairly illustrative.
“Another instance of the extent of this pogrom is that of a high non-Jewish Government official, whose superiors have demanded that he produce affirmative evidence of the Aryan character of his wife’s grandmother.
“One hears all sorts of stories of terrorism and torture, apart from the destruction of their businesses and of their practice where they are professional men.
“It seems that no one in Germany pays his debts to Jews. Since they are forbidden to carry out more than $50 per month, they are practically stripped of everything.
WOMEN AND CHILDREN HOSTAGES
“The real meaning and effect of the suspension of passports is that the wives and children of these men that are left behind are being held as hostages.
“This cruel edict is not the will of the German people. If they had the courage left they would repudiate it a thousand times over. Nothing could better indicate the extent to which they have been crushed under the weight of their accumulated misfortune.
“I predict that within the brief space of ten years the German people will despise themselves and repudiate and punish the brutes who have so traduced their honor,—but it will then be too late to retrace their steps.
“The World War and this crime of savagery will go down in history as the two ugly blots to disprove all claims to civilization of the Twentieth Century, and this man Hitler as the cruel hideous Nero of modern times, who used his brief tenure of power to torture and destroy the men, and the mothers wives and children of the men who shed their blood for the Fatherland on the field of battle.
“But we are not without means of reprisal. The first step of World Jewry must be to find ways to care for our disfranchised men, women and children, and more particularly to so enlarge the scope of the Hebrew University as to receive our youth to whom the doors of the German universities have now been closed by this brutal decree.
“Our next act should be to see to it that nowhere in the world and under no circumstances should a Jew, from this day forth, buy or use merchandise manufactured in Germany or support German industry in any form. The action taken in that respect by the Jewish shopkeepers in London should be followed the world over. It was not only a wanton and gratuitous insult to our pride but one that had no reason or excuse in any social or economic situation, since the Jews constitute but one per cent of the population of Germany.
“Meantime, as the Jew has outlived all the centuries of persecutions of the past so he will survive this tyranny. He is more proud than ever of his lineage He is the aristocrat of the world. Other races have come and gone. He alone has survived. Persecution cannot crush him.
“Let this beautiful Stadium that you are today dedicating on the crest of historic, consecrated Mount Scopus in Jerusalem, on the site of the University and the University itself, together stand forth as an emblem of this indomitable spirit and as an asylum for those to whom the doors of learning of their own fatherland have been cruelly closed. Let us together make that possible and we will have turned evil into good.”
Mr. Untermyer’s speech was broadcast by both the National and Columbia Networks on coast-to-coast hookups and on a short-wave to Europe.
The Minnie Untermyer Memorial Theatre is the only one of its kind in the entire Near East, Dr. Rosenbach pointed out. It is modeled on the design of the ancient open-air theatres of Rome and Greece and commands a view of the Jordan Valley, the Dead Sea, and the Mountains of Moab.
The stage of the Minnie Untermyer Memorial Theatre has been designed in classic style by Benjamin Chaikin, Fellow of the Royal Institute of British Architects, now living in Jerusalem. The structure is built in white Jerusalem stone of smooth finish with columns of the same stone dug by Jewish laborers from quarries outside of the city. The paving of the stage is in grey terrazzo or mosaic, with a border frame in Belgian black marble tiles.
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.
