^THE WAR AND THE JEW S.B.ROHOLD Class Zl Book T-^ V -i^ Gsmrn^ JO CfOPXRIGHT DEPOSm^ THE WAR AND THE JEW THE WAR AND THE JEW A BIRD'S-EYE VIEW OF THE WORLD'S SITUATION AND THE JEWS' PLACE IN IT BY THE REV. 5. B. ROHOLD, F. R. G. S. Pastor Christian Synagogue, Toronto; President Hebrew Christian Alliance of America; Asst. Editor "Missionary Review of the World;" Missionary Editor "Jewish Era" INTRODUCTION BY THE REV. T. B. KILPATRICK, D.D. Professor of Systematic Theology, Knox College, Toronto CINCINNATI THE STANDARD PUBLISHING COMPANY Copyright, 1917 The Standard Publishing Company OCT -8 1917 ^Gl,A478892 PREFACE The author of the following pages may be truly described as ^^an Hebrew of the Hebrews." He was born in Jerusalem, the sor of a Jewish Rabbi, who was so in- tense a nationalist that he would use no language but Hebrew. Born of such parentage, he maintained, as a Christian, the full fervour of Jewish patriotism. That love of his own peo- ple, which flamed in the heart of the Apostle Paul, has inspired the auth- or's whole Christian life and minis- try, and glows with the utmost ardor in these pages. In the midst of incessant and labor- ious toil, as head of a Hebrew Chris- vi PREFACE tian Church, with manifold educa- tional, social, and philanthropic enterprises, he has found time to acquaint himself with the situation of his people throughout the World, and especially in those countries which are involved in the present awful conflict. He has compressed into a few pages some of the m.ost telling facts of that situation. He is well aware of the feelings, with which Jews are regarded in all the lands of their dispersion, ranging all the way from coldness and suspicion to dis- like and bitter enmity. But he proves, and illustrates by abundant eAddence, two amazing facts. First : Jews are among the trusted servants of all the Powers now en- gaged in war. Second : Jews are loyal to the coun- PREFACE ^ tries of their nativity, and are to be found, by the thousands, fighting in the armies of their various national- ities. Mr. Rohold is a loyal citizen of Canada, and subject of King George; and is enthusiastically on the side of the Allies in this great conflict for justice and freedom. But he writes with a deep sense of the tragedy, in which, in a peculiar sense, the war has involved the Jew. Men of Jewish race are confronting one another aa enemies on the battlefield. In Rus- sia, too, another drop of bitterness is added to the cup, which the Jew has, in these days, to drink. The tale of the deportations of Jews from one part of Russia to another is very ter- rible. Mr. Rohold is careful not to lay the blame on the Russian people. viii PREFACE but on the bureaucracy, whicli, in its harassing of the Jews, as well as in its treatment of the Finns, has been acting under German instigation. One momentous question, which arises out of the facts presented to us in these pages, is this : Will the War issue in the amelioration of the lot of the Jews, in those lands, where they have lain under suspicion and dis- abilities, where, none the less, they have poured out their treasures and their lives on behalf even of those who have persecuted them? We are prepared to stake our all for Belgium and for Serbia. Is there nothing to be done to secure for the Jew just and equitable treatment ? It is to ask that question that Mr. Rohold has written these brief but pregnant pages. PREFACE IX Readers will note with interest his treatment of one aspect of the Jewish question, viz., the future of Palestine. His suggestion, that it should be taken from Turkish control and con- stituted an independent State under the suzerainty of Egypt, is deeply interesting, in view both of Old Testa- ment prophecy and of modern inter- national politics. It may be added, as a minor point of interest, that Mr. Rohold was brought up, speaking three langu- ages : Hebrew with his father, Span- ish with his mother, and Arabic with his playmates. Yiddish is the speech in which his pastoral and missionary work is done. To these he adds cultivated and fluent English. He is himself a re- markable instance of the intellectual X PREFACE ability and the force of character which have set so many of his people in positions of dignity and trust in every nation under heaven. T. B. KlLPATRICK. Knox College. CONTENTS 1. The Jfw 3 2. Is THE Jew Wanted? . . _ - 7 3. The Third Exile 10 4. The World Tragedy - - - - 11 5. Is THE Jew Paying His Fair Share ? 14 6. Great Britain - 18 7. Francs 24 8. Belgium 25 9. Italy - - 26 10. Germany 29 11. Austria-Hungary 33 12. The Interest op Eleven Nations Entrusted to a Jew - - - - 34 13. Russia 43 14. Zionism 66 15. ZiON Mule Eegiment - - - - 70 16. Net Results 74 17. Scapegoat 76 18. Palestine 77 19. Has Israel's Sorrow Ended? - - 93 20. The Sun Rose Upon Him - - . 95 ILLUSTRATIONS Opposite Page Not Wanted - - - - FrovMspiece Lord Reading 19 Henry Morgenthau 3-1 Lieutenant Frank de Pass - - - 51 Dr. Mosei Nahum 66 TO ENGLAND By An Alien-Bom. Thou art not my step-motlier, England, My Sister of Mercy thou art, Who healed with a balsam of Freedom The sore of a wanderer's heart. I had not a mother-land, England, The land that had given me birth Denied to my wandering People A haven of rest on God's earth. In childhood I learned to love thee, Thy name was a legei2.i to me: I dreamt of a distant great island, Where men can be strong, yet be free. And I whom the clatter of fetters Had deafened in childhood and youth, I bless thee for giving me refuge And faith in the triumph of truth. Thou art not my step-mother, England, ]\Iy Sister of Mercy thou art. And now in the hour of your trial I feel your true brother at heart. P. M. Raskin. Jewish Chronicle, July 2, 1915. "Tribes of the wandering foot and weary breast, How shall ye flee away, and be at rest! The wild dove hath her nest, the fox his cave. Mankind their country, Israel but the grave/' — Byron. The War and The Jew The Jew And Jacob was left alone. — Genesis xxii : 2^, The vivid Biblical narrative of the *' first Israelite'', is a divinely-true life-picture of the ever-burning bush and history's riddle, the weather- tossed individual, who floats like oil on the surface of all peoples. Not only is this Biblical history, a true life-description of the Patriarch to be typically realized by his posterity, but it is the very life-long experience, in its minutest detail, of Israel as a 4 THE WAR AND THE JEW nation since the days of Jacob up to this very day in which we live. The divine Word of God is here telling us the very future of this people. What a faithfully true description is here given us, of a masterly, clever, resourceful, and in many ways, a most successful man! He tells us: *^With my staff I passed over this Jordan, and now I am become two bands.'' He would be considered to- day a very wealthy man indeed. He is also a very religious man, knows God, acknowledges His faithfulness, and records the results of the many blessings which God had graciously bestowed upon him. Now we behold this masterful man desperately afraid of his own brother, and in his desper- ation he resorts to all kinds of strata- gems and humiliation to connive a THE JEW S plan to appease the anger of his brother. He sends a costly present to ''mj lord Esau". But, oh, all these masterful resources are of no avail, and we see here poor broken-down Jacob left alone, in utter darkness. In his loneliness he finds himself in a fearful combat, wrestling with a mysterious person and being wound- ed. There comes a great awakening, and he realizes that he is at war, not with a mere man, but with God, and that it was God Who had given him this new name ^^ Israel.'' This new experience changes his heart and whole life, and to witness of his new faith he calls *Hhe name of the place Penuel; for I have seen God face to face." It is at this very point that *'The sun rose upon him." All his fears left him. 6 THE WAR AND THE JEW This tossed life of the *^ first Israel- ite", is the past, present, and future of modern Israel. The Jew, with all his amazing vitality, creative ability, moral and religious resourcefulness, and all the other attributes that are being attributed to him by friend and foe, is the loneliest man on the face of God's earth. Like the Patriarch of old, he is afraid of his f ellowman, and in spite of the many lessons of Jehovah's past faithfulness and graciousness, he stoops to all kinds of humiliations without any good result. Modern Israel, though bear- ing that princely, new, God-given name, has not yet awakened to the fact that he is at war with God, and that the person he is wrestling with is none other than Jehovah — Jesus. Then, and then only, when the people !S THE JEW WANTED? 7 of Israel have awakened and recog- nized that the ^^Man of Sorrows'' is none other than their long-rejected Messiah, their only Hope and King; and cry out ^^ Blessed is He that Cometh in the name of Jehovah", the ^^Sun" will rise upon them and all sorrows and sadness will flee away. Is THE Jew Wanted ? In one of the leading Jewish papers appeared a sketch of a Patriarchal, venerable Jew, holding in his hand the Globe of the Universe, earnestly searching to find a place where he is wanted, but he cannot find a spot on it. He begins to go over them by name: *^ Russia, I am not wanted there — Grermany, not wanted there — Roumania, not wanted there — France, not wanted there — England; 8 THE WAR AND THE JEW Canada the United States^ Pales- tine, I am not wanted there, and ex- claims: ^^This is a large, beautiful world, but no place for me!" Let us be frank. It is our duty to be frank and honest as we consider the position and place the Jew is occupying in the world, and learn if he is wanted anywhere. This awful, bloody, titanic struggle of the great nations of the earth for supremacy, demands that everyone should be per- fectly frank and absolutely honest. Let us consider this question — Is the Jew wanted ? "Well, the Jew may be tolerated, but not wanted. In what- ever condition he is living, whether Orthodox, Reformed, Radical, or Christian, he may be tolerated, but he is not wanted ; yet at the same time sought after. It is most remarkable IS THE JEW WANTED? 9 that this Jew who cannot find a place on the globe, should at the same time be so amazingly sought after by all the nations at this present time, especially by the warring nations. And what an amazing role he is play- ing in this life and death struggle of the nations! Students of prophecy must ponder over him — politicians, financiers, and military experts must all carefully consider him. Yes, he is being already talked over, dreaded, honoured, and flattered ; and yet, like Jacob of old, ^^he is left alone", and in his fearful loneliness desperation and fear face him everywhere. And in this sad, dark condition, like the Patriarch of old, he is paying a very high price — trying to buy himself into the good graces of his brother Esau, forgetting that Israel is a 10 THE WAR AND THE JEW Prince and should not stoop to sncli degrading humiliations. The Third Exile A name, or a day, yea even a cer- tain hour, bears some particular sym- bolic meaning to the Jew ; and it was of sad significance that this great war w^as declared on Britain and her Allies, on the saddest and darkest day in Israel's history, for it was the 9th of Ab, the anniversary of the destruc- tion of the Temple in Jerusalem. Twice, on the very same day, but at different periods, fire was set to the Temple in Jerusalem, and the people led into captivity, the first by Nebuc- hadnezzar, the Babylonion; and the second by Titus, the Roman. By strange coincidence, while the Jewish people were fasting and sitting on the THE WORLD TRAGEDY 11 bare floors of their Synagogues, recit- ing the Lamentations of Jeremiah, and other sad odes, wailingly com- memorating that mournful event, war was declared by the nations of the earth, and thus ushered in the Third Exile. And, oh, this Third Exile of the Fourth of August, 1914, is perhaps vaster in its fierceness than the first and second captivities, for it has brought greater sorrows and suffer- ings to a larger number of the *^ Wan- dering feet and weary breast". The World Tragedy. What an inhuman tragedy is being enacted before our very eyes! We seethe Jewries of the world convulsed with trials and sufferings, such as even they cannot parellel in their long-drawn annals. Scattered 12 THE WAR AND THE JEW throughout the world, massed in un- due numbers in the very crater of the world-war, they are passing in real truth through the ^^ valley of the shadow'', and are stumbling in its brooding darkness. Old problems, old difficulties, and sorrows have evaporated, in the one overpowering agony of an unprecendented conflict. The world-struggle is searching the very vitals of the race, stirring its energies, revolutionizing its life, and transforming its outlook. Five hun- dred and fifty thousand gallant sol diers at war in an internecine con- test, as far as they are concerned! Jew is engaged in mortal combat with Jew. Jewry is driven into mutual enmity and hate imposed b} the warring nationalities. Pour mi"' lions of them, men, women, and chi THE WORLD TRAGEDY 13 dren, of all ages; strong, weak, healthy, and sick, in full flight, haunt- ed by the thundering cannon, into the wasted roads, marshy fields, bogs, and wild forests ; disorganized, terrorized, abandoning land, stock, treasures, and all the chords of a home, in order to save their bare lives. Hunger and starvation meet them everywhere, and as they pass through the ^^ Valley of Shadows" new horrors overtake them every hour. The very life is lost in the attempt to save it. 'So ^^ Promised Land'' in sight. ^^ All hope abandoned there ! ' ' Our hearts break as we gaze at this horror-full, grim, and continuously moving panorama of Israers bitter and tragic flight. Yes, Israel, the *^ world tragedy'', may well cry aloud, ^^Is it nothing to you, all ye, that pass by? Behold, and 14 THE WAR AND THE JEW see if there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow." (Lam. 1:12.) Is THE Jew Paying His Fair Share? It would be very helpful for us to take a full retrospect of the contribu- tion the Jew is making to this world- conflict. We must confess, that at the beginning of our study and exam- ination into this bloody struggle, en- deavouring to learn the true position the Jew is occupying and the correct role he is playing in this world-drama of frightfulness, we were amazed, hardly believing our own eyes. We found the Jew imperishable as ever, strenuously leading in all the episodes of the war; in its politics, in its economy, in its finances, in its organ- izations, in its supplies, in its armies, Mid all its horrors; paying a very THE JEW'S SHARE IS high price gloriously to the best tra- ditions of the race. The Jew, living among the nations, derives benefits from the governments and all their institutions, and it is but right that he should pay in full for the privileges he enjoys. It is good for us to see things as they really are. With all our boastful twentieth century enlightenment and generous liberality, the Jew is still looked upon as **a stranger within our gates", and thus, he is only 'tolerated'', and therefore something extra is expected from him. The populace who never take the trouble to think, but believe all that is told them, have already been asking ^^What is the Jew do- ing?" Our heart often failed us when reading epistles on the question in the daily press, and we asked, is 16 THE WAR AND THE JEW there no one to open the eyes of the blind? But is he paying a fair share ? We find that the total population of this great universe of ours is something like 1,623,000,000. Of this great world population there is something like 760,000,000 who are being affected by the war. That means that the world is contributing 46 per cent, of her total population. What is the total population of the Jews in the world ? The highest estimate you can give is something like 14,500,000. The total number of Jews affected by this war is over 10,000,000. This means that while the whole population of the world is contributing only 46 per cent., the Jew contributes 68 per cent. THE JEW'S SHARE 17 What is the total number of the armies? There are now twelve nations fighting. A full estimate of the armies fighting is something like 20,000,000, or 2 6/10 per cent, of the nations engaged. What is the total number of Jews engaged in the war ^ It is the biggest army the Jews have ever put forth. A conservative esti- mate, given in the Jewish Chronicle^ is over 550,000. This means that while the nations of the earth are contributing to this war 2 6/10 per cent., the Jew is contributing over double that — 5 5/10 per cent. This is only the number of men fighting, but when you begin to look into the machinery of this war and the role the Jew is playing, and the results of that great machinery from beginning to end, you wonder that 18 THE WAR AND THE JEW the nations of the earth should be trusting to such machinery. Great Britain We find that when the German Chancellor lost his temper and de- clared that treaties were mere scraps of paper, he was speaking to Sir B. Goshen, G.C.B., British Ambassador to Germany. His father was a poor Polish Jew, who came over to Lon- don, England, and who tells us that he wanted to become a clerk in a bank, but they would not take him because his handwriting was bad. He sought to become a partner in the bank, but he had no money, so he opened a bank himself. He became Viscount Goshen, Member of the Privy Council, and at one time First Lord of the Admiralty, and his son ^m .K MMM^^^r %' '0^ m.. .^iki^t^i^ Lord Reading GREAT BRITAIN 19 as the representative of the Great British Empire at the Grerman Court, had to stand up for the honour of Great Britain, and he did it to the utmost satisfaction of his Sovereign and country. The number of Jews in the British Isles, according to the Jewish World of September 29, 1915, is 245,000, and the Jewish senior Chaplain tells us that 17,000 Jews have joined the ranks and have amazed everyone by their valour, resourcefulness, and heroism, while hundreds have secured medals, four of them having secured the most coveted honour, that of the Victoria Cross. We find that five of them are holding positions in the British Cabinet. One has become Lord Chief Justice, five are in the House of Lords, six are Privy Coun- 20 THE WAR AND THE JEW cillors, sixteen are Baronets, fourteen are Knights, and there are eighteen Members of Parliament. To keep Ireland in order they had to put a Jew, Sir Matthew Nathan, in as Secretary. A handful of Jews — ^yet monopolize such important Grovern- mental positions I Is this the Jew who is not wanted? Evidently the lead- ing authorities in Great Britain de- light to praise and flatter him. There is a day in British politics that is a pre-eminent day, a day on which the Prime Minister and the Cabinet Ministers usually make great speeches at the Mansion House, which is known as the Lord Mayor's Bay; and on that great day in November, 1914, just after the war was started, the Prime Minister, in making his great political and momentous speech GREAT BRITAIN 21 and speaking of British finances and how they were being managed, re- ferring to the remarkable success that had attended the arrangements made by the Government in connection with the financial measures taken in consequence of the war, went out of his way to make the following eulogy in praise of a Jew: ^'1 desire in that connection to mention two names, and two names only, because they are the names of men who are entirely outside the current of our political controversies. The first is that of my noble and learned friend. Lord Reading, the Lord Chief Justice of England, without whom, as the Chancellor of the Exchequer would tell you, these satis- factory arrangements could not possibly have been made. He has devoted three months of valuable time day by day to assisting the Government in the prosecution and com- pletion of their plans. The other name is that of the Governor of the Bank of Eng land, Mr. Walter Gunliffe." 22 THE WAR AND THE JEW Who is this Lord Chief Justice? Not long ago he was plain Mr. Isaacs. His father may have been a poor Jew, but now the Prime Minister of all the Britains delights to honour him, and he is being hailed as a ^* British lion". To-day, Britain, France, and Rus- sia send across a commission to New York to secure a large loan — a colossal loan of billions — and who is the head of the commission? ^*Mr. Isaacs!'^ But all the papers call him Lord Reading, G.C.B., K.C.V.O., and he is known as the Lord Chief Justice and a Privy Councillor of the British Em- pire, and being enshrouded with all the other honours, ' ' Isaacs ' ' sinks into oblivion, and the original personality is unrecognizable. Nevertheless, it is this noble Jew, Mr. Isaacs, who is the GREAT BRITAIN 23 actual head of the commission, and who is handling the finances of the allied warring nations. Some have the notion that the Jew will be the ultimate force in bringing to an end this titanic struggle, and the balance of favour will come to those nations with whom the best of the Jewry will throw in their lot. If this may actually come to pass or not, we would not venture to prophesy. The Right Hon. David Lloyd George told the world at the begin- ning of the war, that the nation which could hold on and produce the last few hundred millions, when all the others have been depleted of their treasures, will be the masters. And what do we see here? The head of the Allies' Financial Com- mission is a Jew, who undoubtedly 24 THE WAR AND THE JEW loves Britain and he would gladly give his very life for her. ISTow, who is his great opponent ? Mr. Jacob H. Schiff, the great financier, who equal- ly loves Grermany. And the world witnessed a great battle between the two Jews. And the result was that the Right Hon. Lord Reading, the British- Jewish-Lion, came out vic- torious over the one-headed German- Jewish-Black-Eagle, and thus secured a loan in the United States for Bri- tain and her Allies of Five Hundred Millions* Fran"CE The total Jewish population of France is a little over 100,000. Be- fore the war, in the regular army there were eight Grenerals, fourteen Colonels, twenty-one Lieutenants, BELGIUM 25 sixty-eight Majors, and one hundred and seven Captains; but now over 10,000 are in the ranks, and are doing gallant work on land, sea, and air. General Heymans is in charge of one Army Corps. Five Jews are holding important positions in the Cabinet. The Rothschilds of France, feeling that their country has been outraged, and to record their patriotism, have returned to the Austrian Emperor the title of nobility which his ances- tor, a century ago, had bestowed upon them. Belgium This heroic little nation that has suffered, and is suffering, so much from the ravages of this war, shelters 15,000 Jews, where they were emanci- pated in 1815. The relation of Bel- 26 THE WAR AND THE JEW gium to Great Britain at this time is of utmost importance, in fact, it means life and death to her. The future of Belgium depends on the Allies, and she needs at this time the best possible man to represent her in Great Britain — a man who is not only loyal and has an absolute love for his country, but a strong man with brains and character. And the man the King of the Belgians chose as his Ambassador to the Court of St. James, London, is a Jew — M. HymansI The first man to be taken as a hostage by the Germans, when entering Antwerp, was a Rothschild. Italy It was not till 1870, that the Jews were actually emancipated, and yet they have not only made rapid strides. ITALY 27 but the actual important positions of honour and trust occupied by them is amazing. There is practically no Jewish question, at least not for the present. The total Jewish popula- tion is 45,000, and they have provided Italy lately with a Prime Minister, Signor Luigi Luzzatti (1910), who previously served as Minister of Finance on six occasions. Sixteen members of Parliament and fourteen Senators are Jews, The President of the Council of State, Signor Malvano, and Baron Sidney Sonnino, Minister of Foreign Affairs, these two noble Jews, are the best hated men in Ger- many, because they could see through the tactics of its special Ambassador, Prince Von Bulow, and not only frus- trated, but actually checkmated all his political manoeuvres, so that he 28 THE WAR AND TPIE JSW had to return to Germany with his Italian wife, a complete failure, and fell into disfavour with the impetuous Kaiser ! For the moment the most con- spicuous man in Italy is M. Salvatore Barzilai, whom King Victor Em- manuel appointed as a Cabinet Min- ister. Mr. Will J. Guard, Rome cor- respondent of the New York Sun, July 19th, 1915, gives a vivid account of the new Minister, and of the en- thusiasm prevailing all over Italy. While the Jew is hated and not want- ed, Italy is wild with joy over the newly-found hope. He tells us: ^^ Managing to pass the gate to Signor Barzilai's garden, I succeeded in meeting with him for a few minutes, surrounded by personal and political friends. . . . The procession ar- GERMANY 29 rived. The streets were packed with people, shouting and cheering, while a band played the Garibaldi. It was time for Barzilai to show himself on the balcony. When the new Minister did appear there was a great outburst of Latin enthusiasm." One wonders if this Italian idol did realize that he belongs to a people that are **not wanted"! General Otholenghi, late Minister of War and newly-made Senator, is the idol of the army. Senator Ludovico Mortara has just now become President of the Court of Cassation, a position equivalent to that of the Lord Chief Justice in England. Germany The 615,000 Jews of Germany have not yet been fully emancipated ; they 30 THE WAR AND THE JEW are still fighting for equality and the removal of certain disabilities. The prevailing anti-semitism, with all its nefarious propagandas, could not stem the tide of the onrushing pro- gress of the Jew in Germany. In fact, since the war was started, not only were some leading anti-semitic papers suppressed, but some of its leaders professed conversion in favour of the Jew on account of their loyalty — for- sooth ! German Jews have fully contri- buted their share towards that re- markable display of efficiency, both military and economic, which has astounded the world. In every branch of the social and political life of Ger- many the Jew has left his mark. Karl Marx laid down the scientific foundations of socialism, and Ferdin- GERMANY 31 and Lassalle founded the German Social Democratic party, and its lead- ers up to the present head, Hugo Hasse, were all Jews. The head of the Revisionist party is Edward Bernstein, who on account of his anti-war view, is an exile in Switzer- land. What an irony, that the only man who dared to defy the Kaiser in the Reichstag, and vote openly against the German war loan, and was not beheaded, was Herr Lieb- knecht, a Jew ! Germany, seeing that her popularity in the United States was on the wane, chose the man whom she thought could best possibly attain the unattainable, and sent her Col- onial Secretary, Dr. Bernhard Von Dernburg, as special Ambassador; and this poor Jewish Ambassador made a tragic, heroic effort to white- wash his Kaiser 1 32 THE WAR AND THE JEW The secret of what success there has been up till now in the Grerman armies lies in their wonderful organ- ization of transportation. To pick up an army of 500,000 or 1,000,000 and transplant them from one scene of war to another — the importance of and the responsibility of the person in charge is immense. He must not only be most capable, and with the best possible brain power, but he must be absolutely trusted. And the only man the German Emperor could find was a Jew. To Herr Arthur Ballin the Kaiser entrusted the general management of all the German rail- ways, and he is personally in charge of the transportation of all the Ger- man troops. He has already received the highest grade of the Iron Cross. This all-important position of con- AUSTRIA-HUNGARY 33 fidence, trust and honour bestowed upon a Jew, has been galling to the anti-semites. But this Jew, who is not wanted, is most desirable now. Iron crosses have been lavished galore on the German Jewish soldiers. The latest record brings it up to 3,167 Iron Crosses. Austria-Hungary The census of 1910 tells us that Austria shelters 1,313,687 Jews, and Hungary 932,416. While there are still many disabilities, and Grerman anti-semitism has been rampant, yet in the army they have equal rights. Before the war there was one Field Marshal, Von Schweitzer, another has been added by the promotion of Adolph Komhaber Von Pilis; six Generals, seventeen Colonels, fifteen 34 THE WAR AND THE JEW Lieutenant-Colonels, forty-eight Majors, and two hundred and eleven other officers. It is estimated that since the war 180,000 Jews have join- ed the ranks. Dr. Victor Adler is the leader of the Democratic party. The Interest of Eleven Nations Entrusted to a Jew To be an Ambassador at the Turk- ish Court, and to look after the inter- ests of one country, is enough to tax the energies of any man. The posi- tion of Turkey is so precarious that an Ambassador has very peculiar and very delicate duties to perform ever, in time of peace. The four or five hundred General Consuls, Consuls, and Vice-Consuls, and Dragomans have their hands more than full to look after the interest of their own Henry Morgenthau THE TRUST OF THE NATIONS 35 country's subjects, and the trouble they get into daily; for the Consul must act as a judge, valuator of taxes, decide marriage and divorce ques- tions, be a peace-maker and a mili- tary expert at the same time. He must also possess a brazen audacity, combined with a restraining politic, dignified tact. A Consul may once or twice a week have to protest to a wily Pasha, threaten a Governor, or warn a Chief of Police. He must re- port minutely to the Ambassador at Constantinople, who must not only deal very carefully with these reports and issue orders, but also keep his Government minutely and correctly informed. There are often emer- gencies in a Turkish country, and the Ambassador must be alert, resource- ful, and ready for the occasion. That 36 THE WAR AND THE JEW is in time of peace, and to represent one country adequately keeps the Ambassador alive; time of war is quite a different matter ; it is only the best trained men that are able to en- dure it for any length of time. But here we have something unpreced- ented, a thing inconceivable — one Ambassador to take charge of and look after the interest of ten nations, besides that of his own, and at such a fearfully critical time in the world's history. Here is actually one man to whose hands have been entrusted the lives, property and interests of eleven nations within the Turkish Empire. The Honourable Mr. Henry Morgen- thau, the United States' Ambassador at Constantinople, has for the last fifteen months been bearing a super- human strain which is most remark- THE TRUST OF THE NATIONS 37 able, as it is at the same time most commendable. The Honourable Henry Morgen- thau is a Jew who arrived in United States when three years of age, and he had no military or political train- ing, but became a very successful, leading business man, and he has been found worthy to be chosen as an Am- bassador for his adopted country, in the capital of Turkey. To the hands of this emigrant Jew the interests of all these nations have been entrusted. He is practically responsible for the lives, property, and interests of Great Britain, France, Russia, Belgium, Serbia, Montenegro, Switzerland, Denmark, Argentine Republic, Italy, and the United States, within the Turkish Empire. And he has done his work so well that he has received 3S THE WAR AND THE JEW the praise and gratitude of all these countries. Sir Louis Mallett, the British Ambassador, is full of praise, and in his despatch he openly declar- ed his gratitude : *^It would be impossible to exaggerate the assistance which I have received from Mr. Morgenthau, the United States Ambassador (says the late British Ambassador). During the last two days especially the difficulties arising out of the abnormality of the situa- tion would have been immeasurably greater had it not been for his invaluable help and his untiring efforts on behalf of myself and my staff. We are heavily indebted not only to Mr. Morgenthau himself, but to every member of the United States Embassy. It is entirely owing to their exertions that the British and French subjects who were de- tained at the station on the night of my de- parture were allowed to leave on the follow- ing evening." The last British diplomat to leave Constantinople was Sir Edward THE TRUST OF THE NATIONS 39 Pears, who is full of praise of Am- bassador Morgenthau's exertions on behalf of the British and the other nationalities, and he writes to the Daily News as follows : "I must express my admiration for the great powers of organization shown in deal- ing with an uDprecedented situation. Instead of having to deal with a few hundred of American citizens, it became necessary to attend to the pressing needs of probably 5,000 French, Belgian, and English men and women. What we onlookers were most struck with was the clockwork regularity with which both the Embassy and Consulate worked. "The Ambassador must have had some hundreds of personal interviews, and his secretary, Mr. Tarler, was engaged from early morning to late at night, and everybody spoke of their courtesy and desire to render every possible service, in many cases to poor women and even men who were too alarmed to know precisely what they wanted." But not only does this emigrant Jew receive praise and admiration 40 THE WAR AND THE JEW from individual leading politicians of the day, but the British Parlia- ment openly owns its gratitiide to this Jewish Ambassador, and in- structs the British Ambassador at Washington, Sir Cecil Spring-Rice, to convey its thanks to the American Government, requesting that the fol- lowing letter of thanks should be for- warded to the Hon. Henry Morgen- thau : — "His Majesty^s Principal Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs has received a tele- gram from Athens from His Majesty^s late Ambassador at Constantinople, in which he requests that an expression of his warm acknowledgement of the great services ren- dered by the United States Ambassador at Constantinople to him and to the British community during the past few days shouhl be conveyed to Mr. Morgenthau. No word. Sir Louis Mallett says, can express his sense of indebtedness to Mr. Morgenthau and to his staff. His Excellency accompanied Sir THE TRUST OF THE NATIONS 41 Lc Mallett to the station, greatly assisting his departure, and that of his staff, and it was entirely owing to his exertions that a large party of British subjects, who were prevented from leaving on the night of his departure, were allowed to go on the following day. "I have the honour, under instructions from Sir E. Grey, to request you to be so good as to convey to IMr. Morgenthau the deep grati- tude and warm appreciation of His Majesty's Government for the friendly and invaluable assistance rendered by him, and at the same time, Sir E. Grey desires to express his own personal thanks to His Excellency for the help accorded by him to Sir L. Mallett/' The Missionary Review of the World for October, 1915, tells of the awful, precarious, and critical condi- tion in which the poor Armenians found themselves in Turkey, and con- cludes : — "So critical is the situation that Mr. Mor- genthau, the American Ambassador at Con- stantinople, is heroically and almost single- 42 THE WAR AND THE JEW handedly fighting to prevent a wholesale slaughter of the poor Armenians." And from the Mail of October 2, 1915, we learn that Ambassador Morgenthau, realizing that his efforts to save the poor Armenians from be- ing completely annihilated might be frustrated at any time by the enraged Turk, is appealing for $5,000,000 to transplant the Armenians that are still alive, to the United States, offer- ing to supply $1,000,000 himself. Is this not a most inconceivable as well as a most wonderful irony of fate ! While the Jew as a nation is stamped as ^'not wanted", yet they are not only sought after, but the most im- portant and most delicate, as well as the most trusted positions are com- mitted to their care I And here is a noble Jew straining every nerve to RUSSIA 43 save the lives of the poor Armenian Christians within the Turkish Em- pire, and at the same time he cannot protect the lives of his own people within a Christian land. Russia It is here that the burning-bush is blazing with the utmost intensity of pain, and apparently without the slightest hope of deliverance. Since 1881, when the new May Laws came into force, with the en- deavour of the Russian authorities to interpret rigidly their meaning and carry them out to the very letter, they expelled the poor Jews from all villages and holy cities, thus over- crowding the already overcrowded Jewish Ghettos within the Pale Set- tlement. When all the universities 44 THE WAR AND THE JEW and schools for higher education were closed to the Jew; when shame and degradation were imposed on the Jewish manhood and womanhood of dark Russia, the Jew realized the hopelessness of his existence and thought that he could save himself by taking hold of a straw. The large- hearted millionaire, Baron deHirsh, laid on the altar his whole fortune of £15,000,000 to transplant the Jewish people from Russia to a place of safety, and other Jewish philan- thropists united with him in this newly-found hope. Their efforts were so successful that in twelve years (1899-1913) they stimulated an emi- gration to America alone of 1,347,599 Jews ; and at least 500,000 settled in Great Britain, Palestine, and many parts of Europe. RUSSIA 45 1 ■■ fO to c^ (Tk o KD o t^ rvj rv! ^ 1 ^ r-- 00 r-- CO K cr» ^ (N rn CO r- Ln ir» 00 ro ON iri^ (\j ** 1 *^ CO' OO N p SQ CO fvj s [^ 3 fe s £> !^. in S — ""~ •"" (M bJ ^ ^ fe Cvi r^ _ O m ir> O o (- (D ^ m CO lr> VQ fVl cr» r> cr> i^ cr cc: en ir> CM f\j in r*-) un > o en rO K" S" _^ o" -JT r>'' s i^l ^ O in cr» 00 O ^^ (- 1 [^ h- 00 a^ o ,.^ f\J ro 3 ,f. o O o — . — — "-» < If! at cr» cr» cr. cn 0^ o> !=^. X >■ l^ i LO 00 c? ^ P P, r!^ od ro ^ ^ 1 ^^ 5;^ & NT C\J CVJ rO KD Lr\ m r^ O CVJ to < — m O CVJ ro '^ m vD ^^ (D O O o o O o o > IJJ CO cn o^ CTv cr» cTj J > 46 THE WAR AND THE JEW fO m oo "^ -^ N rvl "«!j* c VO o oS CD ro m 0^ dg- CsT oo •^ »* P vo ^ o _n m o (VJ fVI tvi fO m -sj- to o lll^ in in w? o vO _> m 00 iW s oo is If ^ 3 00 ^ K U3 < u g 00 o § O - OJ ro 1 ? >- £> cr> £> 21 2 £} g ■— ^ ^ 3 O 2 - 1 < 12 llp ir> 2f o ^ P^^ 4S ^ i in in vD t^ in h. ^ a^ < to g «x» VO Gi 0^ cr> cr> RUSSIA 47 But, oh! what a tragic awakening came to them in 1914, its fierceness shattering all their fondest hopes. When the new census appeared in Russia, it was found that the Russian Jewiy had increased to 6,060,000, and that during the past fifteen years there was an actual increase of 845,- 000 Jews. This has revealed a most disappointing and disquieting situa- tion, for it means that the constant heavy emigration has been more than neutralized by the natural increase of the population. In spite of the trains and ships that carry the Rus- sian Jews by scores of thousands to other lands, there is a bigger Jewish population than ever cooped up in the Pale Settlement. Such a fact may well engender a feeling of des- pair in the hearts of the Jews who 48 THE WAR AND THE JEW rely entirely on philanthropic methods to cope with the Jemsh problem. After all these endless wan- derings, these numberless institu- tions, these interminable meetings, this awful expenditure, the Russian Jewish problem has not advanced an inch from where it stood when the great exodus began a generation ago. While new Ghettos have been planted on both sides of the Atlantic, the Pale Settlement exists with all its grim misery, with a population driven closer to its walls. Six millions still tremble at the word ^'Pogrom." That is the net result of sixty years' striv- ing! It was at the very time of this melancholy, tragic awakening that the awful nightmare of this darkest of all wars in the world's history, RUSSIA 49 came as a thunderbolt on the whole Jewry, and here, too, in this darkest of all lands, the Jew seems to have forgotten all his own sorrows and has rallied to the Russian flag with such a tenacity that the onlooker is amazed. The Russian Jew has prov- ed that there is a loyalty and a love for a native country which surpasses all other considerations, and no per- sonal barrier, however dark it may be, can come between them and their native home. Not only have the Jews who live in Russia shown their un- doubted loyalty, but Russian Jews living in England, America, and other parts of the Continent, went back to fight for Russia. This was a thing that even Jewish leaders did not expect, and none of the Jewish thinkers could rive a reason for this 50 THE WAR AND THE JEW loyalty. The only thing they told us was this, that patriotism and loyalty know no bounds. Now what do we see? The three hundred and fifty thousand Russian Jewish soldiers are not only girded and warring, but their heroism, un- selfislmess, resourcefulness, and act- ual leadership when emergencies oc- curred on the very battlefield, called out the praises of the Grand Duke, the Commander-in-Chief of the Russian armies, who tells us, that they do not stand a whit behind the best of the Russian veteran regiments. Literally hundreds secured the highest award for bravery, viz., that of the St. George's Cross. So many have brave- ly laid down their lives, that some of the leading Jew-haters have professed conversion. And the agitation went :-?>-:- -/*'S«i .1. " . .'■.■.■., j?v--'. ■^'1 Lieutenant Frank de Pass, killed in action, the first Jew to WIN THE Victoria Cross RUSSIA 51 SO high in their favour, that we read ill The Globe of October 1, 1915, that a Jew has been actually elected a State Councillor of the Russian Em- pire, in the person of M. Weinstein. More than this; at the present crisis it is of the utmost importance to clear the Russian people from the past atrocities and crimes committed on the poor and inoffensive Jews, and here leading Jews have put up on behalf of Russia, a defence which is not only ingenuous in itself, but also amazing. The Jewish World of August 22, 1915, tells us : "Germany's policy was to keep Russia in- ternally weak by setting population against population. In obedience to this policy she fostered in Russia the anti-Jewish feeling she had practised at home. . . . We have often said — that there cannot be freedom in Russia until the Russian bureaucracy is clear- ^ 52 THE WAR AND THE JEW ed of German influence, with which it is so largely infested, and that there cannot be hope for our people in Russia, until freedom is secured there." The tragedy comes home very close- ly, when we realize that the three hundred and fifty thousand Jewish soldiers are not only fighting for Rus- sia, but they are killing their own Jewish brethren, who are serving with the opposing armies. ^ There is still a larger and sadder result; the six millions of Jews in Russia have become virtually enemies with their Jewish brethren in Germany and Austria. The following story, which appeared in the Jewish Chronicle, gives ample illustration of its tragic sadness : '^A wounded officer of the Austrian army, a Jew, was taken prisoner, and the local Rabbi of the 'enemy country' visited the poor RUSSIA 53 man, sending hira comforts and necessities. After a day or so it was found that an opera- tion was necessary, and the Rabbi promised the soldier that he would be with him while it was performed. Unhappily it had a fatal result and resting in the Rabbits arms, he passed away, while the last rites of the dying were administered to him. In accordance with the wish expressed by the officer, the Rabbi wrote to the dead soldier's father, breaking to him in gentle and considerate language the sad tidings, and telling him that the Rabbi was with his son to the last. The Rabbi duly received an acknowledgement, warmly thanking him for all he had done, the father expressing his deep obligations. He said he was sure the Rabbi had done all he could in the circumstances to assuage the last moments of his son, ^But,' he added, 'the loss is a terrible one to me, not only because I lost a dear son, but because to my dying day there will be for me the mortification that my poor boy died in the arms of an enemy/ " Here is the Jewish agony in very- sooth. 54 THE WAR AND THE JEW The JewisJh Chronicle of 9tli July, 1915, tells us that over four hundred Jews have already received that most coveted Order of St. George's Cross. Now, all this agonizing loyalty and heroism, and these unselfish sacrifices have not in the least altered the awful condition of the suffering Jews in Russia; all the harassing disabilities are still in full vogue. So, the Jewish Deputy Friedman, at the peril of his life, made a strong protest in the Duma, and pleaded for his people : "Under the mask of military precautions, measures more than credible are taken against crimes that are imaginary. ... at a time when nations are struggling for the liberties and rights of small peoples, such terrible deeds embitter our friends and evoke joy among our enemies." Deputy Friedman pointed out that at the beginning of the war the Jews, RUSSIA 55 although they had been compelled to live outside the pale of law for many generations, had nevertheless equal- led and in many cases excelled the non-Jews in their loyalty to their Empire. Thus they sent their only sons — who, as a rule, are exempt, into service. Many Jews volimteered for service in spite of the knowledge that positions of rank would be closed to them. Jewish students who had been exiled abroad because Russian laws denied them educational pri- vileges at home, returned at the be- ginning of the war to fight for their native land, or enlisted with its Allies. The Jews gave freely of money and goods to hospitals and other philanthropies. "I have before me," said Deputy Fried- man, "a letter from a Jew who had emigrated S6 THE WAR AND THE JEW to the United States. He says, ^I risked my life because I love my Fatherland more than life itself, and even more than the liberty that I enjoyed in America. I was admitted to the military ser^dce and lost my left arm. Then I was sent to the Province of Kurland, but no sooner had I reached Riga than I saw at the railroad station my mother and relatives who had been expelled on that very day from their native hearth by the order of the military authorities. Tell the gentle- men who sit on the right benches that I do not regret my lost arm, but I do regret the loss of that human - dignity which I had en- joyed in a foreign country.^ " The Russia-Polish- Jewish Tragedy is so momentous and pressing, that we cannot conscientiously leave off here, without giving some actual de- tails of the frightfulness and shock- ing suffering of the Jews in the east- ern war zone. We trust that in so doing we may be used of God to awaken a prayerful and a material RUSSIA 57 interest on behalf of these unfortun- ate suffering people. The Jewish Chronicle for July 23, 1915, contains the following story of a terrible in- dictment : "Facts that have l>efin detailed to the pres^ ent writer by friends in whose impartiality and veracity he could have nothing but per- fect confidence, are backed up and confirmed to a large extent by an ofiicial document, an Order of the Day, issued by the Russian Generalissimo. This Order seems to have been promulgated in March last. It decreed nothing less than the expulsion of all Jews from military zones in Galicia, Bukovina and Poland. The excuse for this terrible deter- mination was an easy one to find ready to hand. It was the alleged disloyalty of the Jewish population. That allegation, need- less to say, could have been based at most upon the treason of a few individuals. But the Russian Government, bettering Burke, indicted a whole nation. The decree, too, was directed, not at any locality, nor at any gen- eral section of the population. It was a decree against Jews as Jews. 58 THE WAR AND THE JEW "And now we have tlie result. Some two hundred thousand Jews who had been living in the confines of Kovno, Kurland, and Suwalki, were exiled by the Russian authori- ties, so that, in the technical language em- ployed, those districts might be 'evacuated of Jews'. Our unfortunate brethern upon whom this decree fell, were compelled to obey it by a short notice, varying from eight hours to thirty at the most. In that time two hun- dred thousand people had to leave their homes, their possessions, their all, and face — they knew not what ! What followed requires the pen of Dante adequately to narrate. Not one Jewish soul of all this vast population was allowed to remain, so that towns which had contained a large proportion of Jewish inhabitants were deserted. Aged men, little children, women — even those hourly expect- ing to become mothers — some clutching to their breasts their new-born babes; people insane, cripples, the blind; those who were sick unto death — there was no exemption for any. The decree, it must be admitted, had at least the merit of impartiality. For not only were the families of soldiers fighting at the front doomed by it, but soldiers who had RUSSIA S9 received permission for furlough in their native towns, and soldiers, whose bleeding wounds were still unhealed, the Jewish nurses who attended them in the local hospitals, and even the Jewish military doctors — all had to go into exile. Even the rage and fury of battle respects the Red Cross. Sheltered be- neath that symbol are the wounded in war, and those who are attendant upon the sol- diers who have fallen. But this decree tore away Jews whose condition entitled them to safety, as if shielded by the sacred sign from the terrors of belligerency, and it sent them with their brothers and sisters into exile. No wonder we read that the poor people were maddened unto despair ; that they turned and destroyed their goods and chattels, their household gods of generations, preferring to leave behind them the ruin of their property rather than it should fall into the hands of their despoilers. Going Into Exile "It were futile to attempt to describe with anything like completeness what this horrible decree meant to the two hundred thousand poor Jews upon whom it fell. But the order for their expulsion was not the end by any 60 THE WAR AND THE JEW means of the horrors which awaited them. For the conveyance of these people from their homes to some far-distant eastern province, there were provided some twenty-six 'extra trains', as they were called. Each of these 'trains' consisted of from forty to seventy waggons, into which was huddled pell-mell this population of misery. The poor people had been able to take with them only a few of the most necessary of their possessions, and there in these 'trains' they were crowded together — men, women, and children of all kinds. 'Well-to-do and professional beggars,' as my correspondent puts it, 'sound persons and infectious patients, all of them thrown together in this living load.' None of them knew whither they were going. With ex- quisite disregard for the sufferings of their exiled passengers, the slow-moving 'trains' were not allowed to stop at stations where food could be supplied to the poor wretches. The 'trains' could stop only at a distance of at least one kilometre from any station. But the poor stricken people who were carted away in these 'trains' were perhaps not much worse off than the thousands and thousands for whom the 'trains' had no accommodation. RUSSIA 61 but who had to leave none the less. In every sort of conveyance, for which, of course, ex- tortionate prices were demanded, these people rumbled away along the roads; or footsore and weary they tramped along outside the forbidden war zone. Like an avalanche of human misery they came into towns already filled with population in which poverty ruled. Cellars, barns, outhouses — every nook and cranny was filled with this exiled population. Even the Sjmagogues were turned into doss- houses. These destitutes had to beg for sheer life; they could, however, appeal only to the charity of the pauperism into which they were driven. But above all this they were forced to galling personal grief. For in the suddenness of this exile to which they were compelled, families became separated. Wives lost their husbands, brothers their sisters, and little children were parted from their mothers. Some were sent here, others were sent there, with regard to nothing save the capacity of the ^extra trains' or the availability of means for conveyance — all was subservient to the one idea that the war-zone districts must be evacuated of Jews. To such an extent did this misery of missed relatives occur, that 62 THE WAR AND THE JEW special enquiry offices had to be established at several points outside the war-zones by Jews for the purpose of recovering lost per- sons. What life was like upon the 'extra trains' can as little be imagined as described. In at least one case the 'extra train' was not allowed by the local authorities to go into the station for which it was destined. The consequence was that the poor people, still huddled in these waggons, were compelled to return hundreds upon hundreds of miles. There they were not allowed to remain ; they were sent back to their destination! Thus they were hunted backwards and forwards for ^YQ weeks. Twenty-eight of the poor passen- gers became insane through their sufferings; typhus broke out in this 'extra train'; and death, cruel lingering death — was the only mercy which it seemed to the harassed vic- tims would be shown them by a fate against which they were powerless." We do not mean to give the least impression, in giving the above de- tails, that we indict the Russian peo- ple; far be it from us. Our sym- RUSSIA 63 pathies are very tender on behalf of the poor, suffering Russian people. We are keenly sensitive to all their heroic efforts and most noble sacri- fices they are so ungrudgingly laying on the altar in order to become a free people. We also feel that however sad and even ghastly this bloody war may be in its present effects upon poor Russia, it will be commensurate with the results. We believe that out of this fiercest of all struggles, there will emerge a new, free, emancipated Russia. With His Majesty the Czar, we plead and pray for the absolute solidarity of the Russian Nation: ^^It is more than necessary that there should be a complete imion of the Czar and his Government with the people." We are overjoyed with the new measures taken in order to break 64 THE WAR AND THE JEW do^^m the walls of the Pale Settle- ment, hoping that it will prove a real beginning for a rejuvenation of the Jewry. But for the present the actual woes, sorrows, and agonizing tragedy of the martyrdom of the Great Jewry will never be fully told, nor are we able to comprehend the magnitude of its frightfulness and its horrors. The Hon. Louis D. Brandis, Chair- man of the U. S. Government Busi- ness Committee at Washington, tells us that no less than 500,000 Jews lost their lives since the war started, either on the battlefield or by the in- vading armies. With Mr. Herman Landau, Chair- man of the Central Committee, we feel that ^^A cry of frenzied despair comes from those countries. The vast RUSSIA 65 cyclone of destruction, the most form- idable that the world has ever seen, has passed over the Jewish Pale of Settlement. Since the time of the Tartar invasion there has never been a country in Europe so utterly de- vastated. In many districts not a single congregation was spared ; syna- gogues were burned, hospitals and homes for aged and orphans have been destroyed and deserted. A popula- tion full of energy, of resources, and of intellectual abilities, is at once thrown into wretched poverty, the brunt of the terrors falling upon hun- dreds of thousands of refugees.'' Can the Watchman on the Walls of Zion be silent at such a dark time of Israel's sorest distress*? The words of the Prophet Isaiah (LVIII. 10-11) should be a timely message to God's 66 THE WAR AND THE JEW people: ^'If thou draw out thy soul to the hungry, and satisfy the afflict- ed soul, then shall thy light rise in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday, and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones ; and thou shalt be like a watered gar- den, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.'^ ZioisnsM While we do not think it is part of the Christian Church's duty to assist in the restoration of the Jews to Palestine while in unbelief, we should rather seek to point them to Moses and the Prophets, and urge them to flee from the wrath to come and turn to God: *^Por thus saith the Lord unto the house of Israel, Seek ye Me Dr. Mosei Nahum ZIONISM 67 and ye shall live ; but seek not Bethel, nor enter into Grilgal, and pass not to Beersheba, for Gilgal shall surely go into captivity, and Bethel shall come to nought. Seek ye the Lord and ye shall live.'' Amos 5.4-6. But as ^^ watchmen upon the Walls of Zion," we must take a real interest in every movement within Israel. We have seen such hopeful awakenings, a rejuvenation of the whole Jewry. Forty flourishing colonies sprung up in the deserts of Palestine and Galilee ; waste places rebuilt ; Hebrew become a living language throughout Palestine ; ancient songs revived, and a new national hope almost estab- lished. And now, the war only four- teen months in existence, all these fond hopes and aspirations of poor Israel have evaporated. 68 THE WAR AND THE JEW The catastrophe that befell the Jewish hope in Palestine is very hard to realize. It is a very conservative estimate that during the past century not less than £100,000,000 has been spent by the different Jewish phil- anthropists, such as Baron Edmund de Rothschild and other Jewish colon- ization and Zionistic Societies. Practically every Jew in the world has a little box in his house with *^ Great Alms for Palestine'' written upon it, and it is looked upon as a meritorious act to put money in that box, which goes towards the keeping up of the Jewry in Palestine, and the Jewish papers throughout the world were all in praise of the wonderful awakening, and visions and dreams filled the minds of the Jews through- out the world. And what do we find ZIONISM 69 now? Four thousand years ago the Jewish people had fled from the bond- age of Egypt and found a haven of rest in Palestine, and now after four thousand years, the Jewish people have to fly to find rest in Egypt. Fifteen thousand Jewish refugees escaped with their bare lives, and praise Grod that they have found shelter in Egypt. Three notorious Turkish tyrants, Azymi Bey, Djemal Pasha, and Har- degg Pasha, the illustrious agent of the Kaiser, occupying positions in different parts of Palestine and Syria, have not omitted an oppor- tunity of showing their ill-will to- wards the Jews, and especially giv- ing themselves to devastate and erase practically out of existence all Jew- ish colonies; and to be a Zionist is 70 THE WAR AND THE JEW now considered as a political crime. The shattered hope of the Jewish people in Palestine is perhaps one of the severest blows dealt to the wan- dering feet and weary breast. ZiON Mule Regiment The Jew, with no nation of his own, has to be ready to fight the battles of all nations, but the capabilities of the Jew have never been so fully realized as at the present titanic crisis in the world's history, for all over the dif- ferent battlefields we find Jews who have distinguished themselves and have become heroes. But to think that Jewish refugees from Palestine would form themselves into a fighting unit that would call forth the praises of military experts is something which the Jews themselves would not. ZION MULE REGIMENT 71 have ventured to dream ; and here the Palestinian Jew refused to accept Turkish naturalization, preferring to leave everything behind — land, prop- erty, and all the ties of a home. When these refugees came to Egypt, they presented themselves to the authorities and told them that they were willing to fight for Britain, because they know the righteousness of its cause and they desired to show loyalty. So a regiment was formed, and Col. J. H. Paterson, D.S.O., was appointed in command, and telegraphed the following mes- sage to the London Jewry: ^Tray with me that I should not only, as Moses, behold Canaan from afar, but be definitely permitted to lead you into the Promised Land.'' After four months at the Dardanelles, the 72 THE WAR AND THE JEW brave Colonel tells the world: "Everyone has to sacrifice something in this war, but though I would have been command- ing an English battalion had I joined my regiment, I do not in the least regret being with the Zion Mule Corps, for the men are brave and most serviceable, and ready to do anything. I am not the only one who speaks of them in this way, for the higher officers are well aware of the valuable services they render. General Delisle reviewed the corps the other day and was most complimentary to all. He said that they were all good men on the whole, and he congratulated me and my officers and men. A most impressive cere- mony took place the other day when the General commanding the armies pinned the Distinguished Conduct Medal on the breast of Corporal Grouchowsky and congratulated him most enthusiastically. . . . These brave lads who had never seen shell fire before most courageously unloaded the boat, loaded the mules and did a good deal of work while shells were bursting in close proximity to them and bullets were whizzing around them. Nor were they in any way discouraged when they had to plod their way to Seddul Bahr, walking ZION MULE REGIMENT 73 over dead bodies while bullets flew around them. For two days and two nights we marched — the men walking along, but to all appearances almost fast asleep. Thanks to the Zion Mule Corps the 29th Division, which otherwise would have met with a sad fate, was kept in the trenches for a whole week, for the Zion Mule Corps was the only Army Ser- vice Corps in that part of the peninsula at the time.^' The gallant Colonel does not stand alone in praising his regiment, but the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Ian Hamilton, is no less warm in his ap- preciations of the Zion Mule Corps, and has decorated a number of them, and two with the most coveted D.S.O. The London Gazette states the honour has been bestowed ^^for conspicuous gallantry and ability on April 25th and 26th, 1915, near Cape Tepe (Dardanelles). When, on one occa- sion during the operations, most of 74 THE WAR AND THE JEW the officers having been killed or wounded and part of the line had commenced to retire, Private Dia- mond showed the greatest courage and decision of character in assisting to stop the retirement and in leading the men forward again under a heavy fire. He also frequently carried mes- sages over open ground swept by a heavy fire, and exhibited a splendid example of devotion to duty." The Corps is one of the wonders of a revolutionary time. It adds an- other to the many delusions that have been broken in this war. The Jew has now proved his unquestioned adaptability, even to a military career. Net Results This is a brief, conservative retro- NET RESULTS 75 spect of the Jewish position, the role he is playing in this fiercest of all struggles in the world's history. What will the Jew get in return for all his services, for his loyalty, and for his noble sacrifices'? What compensation will be made to the Jew for all his losses of lives and proper- ties ^ Britain and her Allies pledged their honour, to make good to poor Belgium all her losses, as far as com- pensation could be made to a nation which sufi^ered so much! But what about the Jews *? Three millions have actually become beggars. The forty Jewish colonies have been devastated. Five hundred thousand have been slain. In addition hundreds of thou- sands have lost business, properties, etc. Have any of the nations prom- ised redress? Not a word about it! 76 the war and the jew Scapegoat ! We agree with Deputy Friedman : ^^In a protracted war, success and failure naturally alternate, and it be- comes expedient to have at hand some one to blame for the reverses — in other words, a scapegoat. For this purpose, in Russia there has always been available the traditional figure of the Jew. No sooner did the enemy approach the frontier than rumours began to spread that Jewish gold was finding its way to Germans — by aero- planes, in coffms, even in the intes- tines of geese. The Jews, they said, got busy installing secret telephones and destroying the telegraph systems. The legend grew and reached incre- dible proportions. ... A series of measures altogether unprecedented and unbelievable in their cruelty PALESTINE 77 and senselessness was applied to the Jews; and these measures being executed in the presence of the entire population, served to convey the im- pression to the people and to the army that the Government regarded the Jews as enemies ; that the whole Jew- ish population was outside the pale of the law.'' Not a whit behind were the similar accusations of Austria and Germany. So the natural conclusion is that, the Jew is the most suitable scapegoat; and furthermore, the Jew must never complain, for his loyalty may be ques- tioned at any time. Palestine But surely the Allies will sooner or later take away Palestine from the terrible Turk and they will give 78 THE WAR AND THE JEW it to the Jews! We regret not even here to be able to give the faintest hope for the Jew. Realizing the importance of the Palestinian question and knowing how seriously God's people are con- sidering it, we venture to give the following review and possible future action which will be taken by Great Britain and her Allies, and in this we fully agree with the well-informed Near East: ^^The British Govern- ment, as is well known, was prepared to guarantee the integrity of the Turkish Empire for a decade. It suited us in many ways that this great Moslem Empire should hold to- gether as long as possible, some of her friends dreaming up to the very last that there was a possibility of progress and reform if only her rulers PALESTINE 79 would devote their powers to her in- ternal development. Now, however, — misled by Germany — the die has been cast and Turkey has been drawn into a course of action out of which it is impossible that her Empire should emerge intact. As the Turks have ventured to use Palestine as a base for an attack on Egypt, and even now are over the frontiers at several places, it is hardly possible that Palestine can be allowed to continue in Turkish control. What this land has suffered for the long misgovern- ment of the Turks has been witnessed by tens of thousands of tourists, who have had no opportunity of seeing their devastations elsewhere. The Arab natives of the land — Moslem and Christian — have long looked for deliverance and to-day reliable in- 80 THE WAR AND THE JEW formation shows that there is no con- siderable sympathy in any part of Palestine with the Turkish ventures, and that the Germans there, though masters of the armies, are so disliked that in the event of any rising against Christians they would almost cer- tainly be the first victims. ^'The settlement of the future of Palestine is a thorny question, and one which, if not carefully managed, may lead to a whole series of future difficulties. What Palestine needs is, from the material side, a great ex- penditure of capital to develop its devastated agricultural resources. It will never be a rich land, it has no mineral resources of importance; there may be oil, but it has never been shown to be of commercial import- ance. Agriculture must always be its PALESTINE 81 main support, and in tliis direction there are openings for great develop- ment in afforestation, in irrigation, and, in the hill country, in terracing. What has been already accomplished by the Jewish colonies — ^in spite of enormous political difficulties — is prophetic of the great things which might be done under more favourable conditions. * ' From the political aspect the great need is of an administration which will be strong enough and firm enough to hold the balance justly between the conflicting and antagonistic interests. Jerusalem in particular has been a city of dissensions, religious and poli- tical. Every religion or sect, and every nation has sought to be repre- sented there. The four main interest- ed parties are the Greek Orthodox 82 THE WAR AND THE JEW Cliurcli, the Roman Catholic Church, the Jews, and the Moslems. The Pro- testant interests are too divided and too small to be considered beside these great bodies. Between the two ancient branches of the Christi-an Church there has been a perpetual feud with respect to Palestine — a rivalry which became acute in the Middle Ages, and which has been re- cently growing in acuteness with the re-establishment of Roman Catholic propaganda in Palestine during the past fifty years. It is well known that the millions of Riissia's Ortho- dox peasants view Palestine with an intensity of fervour out of all pro- portion to that of any considerable body of Western Christians. That the possession of the Holy Land would be considered a thing well ' PALESTINE 83 worth fighting for by the masses of Russia goes without saying. To the Roman Catholic Church the posses- sion of Palestine would also be a de- sirable prize. This would mean France or Italy having it, and the former of these nations has certainly never disguised her ambitions for in- fluence in Syria. But while the East- ern Church would never tolerate the Holy Land being in the hands of the Roman Catholics, and vice versa, it is even more certain that England would never allow — as long as she is responsible for the safety of Egypt — any first-class power to establish her- self in such proximity to that land. The attempt at revival of an inter- national State after the model of the medieval *' Christian Kingdom of Jerusalem" would be open to even 84 THE WAR AND THE JEW greater objections, for the experience of all such attempts — as witness the latest experiments in Albania — ^is that a protected, semi-independent, international government would be very soon a nest of international in- trigues and rivalries. *^The third great interest is the Jewish. It is well known that the whole Jewish world has been stirred by the movement of ^Zionism,' and many thousands cherish the hope that the Hebrew race may find a centre for their religion and race in the land of their forefathers. Many wealthy Jews, moved by a sentiment of what one may almost call patriotism, and by the more practical desire to find some way out of the difficulties that beset so many of the humbler mem- bers of their race in various lands, are PALESTINE 85 prepared, if security of property can be guaranteed, to put very much capital into schemes for developing the land. The Jews are the only people who have any great desire to settle permanently on the land. Any scheme, therefore, which is consid- ered for the future of Palestine must allow for them. The Jew is prepared to colonize the land, to develop it, and to make life there healthy and pros- perous on a scale which no other nation is likely to attempt. Why not, therefore, make over the land to the Jews? This is the serious proposal of some who view the question rather as an historical or religious than a practical question. Apart from the very serious objections which would certainly be raised from the Christian Powers, and Russia in particular, 86 THE WAR AND THE JEW and the even greater difficulty, to be mentioned shortly from the Moslem side, the practical difficulties from the purely Jewish standpoint are im- mense. Although the Jews are one of the most ancient of races, they are to-day members of a number of nations, and certainly all those who are Europeans are too thoroughly identified with the nations of which they are members to renounce their political and national interest even in Palestine. Some, at least, of these nations are in sharp conflict with each other. It is not likely that the loyal German or Austrian Jew will see eye to eye with his co-religionist of Rus- sia, Prance, or England in the poli- tical development of even Palestine for many years to come. The rivalry between Jewish-German culture and PALESTINE 87 the French-Jewish culture was acute in Palestine long before the present war, and even if they can unite in speaking and praying in Hebrew, the more educated members of the race — whom, it is to be hoped, will be at- tracted to Palestine in its renaissance — would be sure to find great political and educational differences. There are also great differences between the Eastern and the Western Jews, be- tween the Ashkenazim and the Sep- hardim, between the Jew by religion and the Jew — be he reformed, agnos- tic, or even Christian — by race. All these divisions would make the self- government of the community itself of great difficulty, let alone any at- tempt to govern others. The difficul- ties may gradually disappear, and as the Jewish population forms — as it 88 THE WAR AND THE JEW will — an increasing percentage of the total population, it will, under any proper administration, obtain an in- creasing influence in the internal ad- ministration. But the time is not yet. ^'The fourth interest in Palestine is the Moslem one. To the whole Mos- lem world Jerusalem is one of the most sacred spots on earth, only second to the Holy Cities of Arabia. The possession of Jerusalem, together with Mecca and Medina, gives the Sultan of Turkey the claim to be recognized as the Khalif of Islam. Not long ago the Moslems of India were stirred to their depths because of the rumours that the inviolability of the Sacred Rock in the Haram (the Temple Area) had been desecrat- ed by some English explorers. Any attempt connived at by Britain to PALESTINE 89 take the Sacred Sites, especially those in Jerusalem and Hebron, from Moslem control would shake the con- fidence of millions of loyal Moslems in the British Empire. While Christ- ians desire freedom of access to their Holy Sites, and Jews, above all, the right of settlement (mostly in parts of the land of no special religious in- terest to the Churches), the Moslem views the actual possession of the land as being to him of vital import- ance. For this reason, if for no other, England was willing, even at great loss to the land and its inhabit- ants, to continue to prop up the Turk- ish regime. This having gone, where is a substitute to be found ? What can be done which will least disturb the present political arrangements, while allowing full opportunity for develop- 90 THE WAR AND THE JEW ment and for the protection of the other interests involved? *^ Britain should strive to undo the mistake she made in 1840, when she intervened on behalf of the Porte and wrested Palestine from the Egyptian rule, to which it had been ceded by Turkey seven years before. How far different had the prosperity of Pales- tine been had it formed all these years an integral part of Egypt. Now, under an independent Sultan of Egypt, Palestine should be once again brought back to its natural owner. It would mean no violent change, it would remain under Moslem rulers, but the authority of Britain behind the Sultan would ensure equal justice to all. The old frontier ran north of Akka, and here — or, perhaps, more wisely, at the great Litany gorge, SCAPEGOAT 1 91 further north — a frontier-line might be made for this new Egyptian Pro- vince. If Palestine must pass under other control than that of the Turks, where is there a more natural change than this? The Egyptian Moslems and the Arabic-speaking nations are practically one race. To-day increas- ing numbers of families have mem- bers working in the two lands. A common language and literature bind the land into one. To both lands this union would be most welcome. The rights of the Churches might be guar- anteed on very much the lines that have been accepted under the Turk- ish regime. As regards the Jew, there is hardly any possible plan which would so further the Jewish prospects of colonization, as it is quite certain there is no Power which 92 THE WAR AND THE JEW looks upon them more sympathetical- ly than the British Government. Palestine has seldom in history been able to stand alone, and in the linking of this land again to Egypt a step would be taken iii keeping both with the indications of geography and the teachings of the past. ' ' This will not only satisfy the mod- ern Zionistic leaders, whose cry is: *A legally assured home' for the homeless Israelites, but this would actually harmonize with the true prophetic vision of Isaiah xix. 23-25 : ^^In that day shall there be a highway out of Egypt into Assyria, and the Assyrian shall come into Egypt, and the Egyptian into Assyria, and the Egyptians shall serve with the As- syrians. In that day shall Israel be the third with Egypt and with Assyria, HAS ISRAEL'S SORROW ENDED? 93 even a blessing in the midst of the land. Wliom the Lord of hosts shall bless, saying, Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel mine inheritance.'' The latest details of the landing of the British Expeditionary Force on the Euphrates, and its marching to- wards ancient Babylon, makes one feel as if the commanders were using prophetic Biblical geography as their marching orders. Has Israel's Sorrow Ended? Israel's bitter cup of sorrow, full as it is, has not come to an end. The climax has not come. While we be- lieve that the above plans undoubt- edly will be followed, even this will not afford the Jew an abiding place of rest. 94 THE WAR AND THE JEW None of the nations can in the least determine Israel's peculiar destiny. Before Israel's restoration takes place, there must be a reconciliation. The foundations of a resting place for scattered Israel in Palestine, can only be laid on the *^ Stone which the builders rejected''. Jehovah alone will build up Zion, and He will lay for its foundation "A tried stone, a Precious Stone, a sure Foundation". (Isaiah xxviii. 16). And it is Jehovah alone who will bring them back a reconciled and a redeemed people. * ^Behold, I will bring them from the north country, and gather them from the coasts of the earth. . . . They shall come with weeping, and with supplication will I lead them: I will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters in a straight way, THE SUN ROSE UPON HIM 95 wherein they shall not stumble ; . . . He that scattered Israel will gather him, and keep him, as a shepherd doth his flock.'' (Jer. xxxi. 8-10). **The Sun Rose Upon Him y> When will the sun begin to shine upon Israel ? Like the first Israelite, it was not till after he was wounded that he recognized the Person with whom he was wrestling. It was then that he ^^ called the name of the place Penuel : For I have seen God face to face, and my life was preserved." It was after this awakening of the Pat- riarch and recognition of the Person, which resulted in reconciliation, that peace came. It was then that *^The sun rose upon him." The descendants of the first Israel- ite must also first of all recognize the 96 THE WAR AND THE JEW Person with whom they are wrestling, Who alone can bless them and grant unto them peace. Yes, this will be a great awakening. Zechariah 12.10 tells us: ^^And I will pour upon the house of David, and upon the in- habitants of Jerusalem, the spirit of grace and supplications: They shall look upon Me whom they have pierced, and they shall mourn for him, as one mourneth for his only son, and shall be in bitterness for him, as one that is in bitterness for his first- born.'' Then, and then only, when Israel will be reconciled to the long- looked-for and rejected Messiah, the sun will begin to shine upon them, and the voice of singing and com- plete rejoicing will be again heard throughout Jerusalem, and her light will shine in all its purity. THE SUN ROSE UPON HIM 97 At this momentous time in Israel's history, the voice of God speaks aud- ibly to His waiting people in the words of the Prophet Isaiah 62.6-7, R.V., *^Ye that are the Lord's re- membrancers, take ye no rest, and give him no rest, till he establish, and till he make Jerusalem a praise in the earth," 98 THE WAR AND THE JEW •'WHO SHALL SAY, 'THE FOUNTAIN OF THEIR LIFE IS DRIED UP, THEY SHALL EVER CEASE TO BE A NATION?' WHO SHALL SAY IT? NOT HE WHO FEELS THE LIFE OF HIS PEOPLE STIRRING WITHIN HIS OWN." Daniel Deronda