which I have quoted, accusing him of betraying the country which gave him twelve years’ hospitality, is written and signed by none other than Charles Recht!
What Recht lacks in logic, he makes up in intensity He is a man who has written novels, plays and poetry, which in itself should normally dispose him against blind, unthinking orthodoxy. Yet he lets himself in for old-fashioned witch-hunting in the name of a new faith.
NO FACTUAL ATTACK
He does not, of course, attempt to deny the facts or alleged facts in Chamberlin’s book in detail. A loud and panic-stricken “Liar!” suffices him. Even the circumstance that Chamberlin painstakingly describes the favorable side of the Soviet picture he manages to twist into a proof that the author is a liar.
I am reminded of an old Russian-Jewish story. The merchant Levinson meets the merchant Rabinovich on a railroad station.
“Where are you bound for?” Levinson asks.
“To Odessa,” Rabinovich informs him.
“You dirty liar!” Levinson shouts. “You tell me you are going to Odessa so I’ll think you’re going to Kiev. But I happen to know that you are really going to Odessa…”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
