Life of great Cana

GUIDE TO GOOD READING

dian placed “oh

in setting of people's struggle

LITERATURE, in our time as

im all times, unfolds in a nebulous
“manner. Like a statistical chart
line, the quality ebbs and flows,
zigs and aags. We are affronted
most of the. timé with a pernic-
jous outpouring of horror, of
soulless degredation, an ’ inferno
of filth, lies and neurotic. hysteria.
This is the cultural fig leaf of the
“Yankee eagle whose desires and

greed would bestride the world,
whose flight evokes terror; in its
wake rides death.

What then if the winged blight
be arrested, if. the murk be parted
as though a Jovian flash had rent
the veil to permit hope, truth and
light to appear if, only for but a
moment. This does not often hap-
pen, but happen it sometimes does,
and then the spirit of man soars,
song is ascendant and inspiration
is unfurled. Men and women take

heart, erectly stand and vow again
to make life worth while.

Good art, great literature does
this to us and it does this for us.
The Scalpel, The Sword — the

story of the great Bethune, our
countryman, patriot of our time
and our struggles, now comes to
us and the moment is right.

Norman Bethune was born in
Gravenhurst, Ontario, in 1890. His
family were intelligent people and.
his forebears were fearless French
Huguenots whose exile from tyran-
ny took them to Scotland. En-
riched by the exigencies of strug-
gle against hardship, some of the
family migrated to Canada and
there sank their roots deep in the
social soil of our country.

He was an adventurous boy,
quick to learn and quicker to ex-
periment with all that life had to
give. Canada was entering _ its
period of expansion, industry was
ealling for many more hands and
brains from overseas, and the
great west was unfolding. In the
salons of the powerful, a young
French (Canadian orator was em-
bracing the twentieth century as
a Canadian epoch. It was to be
the beginning of the golden age
for those who would but pick up
the challenge.

Norman Bethune found in medi-

cine his life to be and although .

necessity forced him to become at
times, a woodworker, a sailor and

‘a general laborer, the profession —

of the great humanitarians claimed
him surely for the rest of his life.
‘The First World War interrupt-
ed his career. He enlisted in the
army and experienced the horror
‘that accompanied the imperialist
conflict. The aftermath was a
bohemian period where Epicurus
‘was worshipped and asking the

why of it all was simply just not

x

done. In passing, he married and

- yeturned to Canada, determined to

forge forward to the surgeon’s

dream, career, comfort and fame.

* * =
AT THIS TIME, the growing
wonder of America was the city
of Detroit. where great machinery
belts, manned by many workers,
turned out in quick and yet more
quickly progression, automobiles

- - in fabulous numbers, where it was

said that “Mister Ford” would pay

the unbelievably high wage of five

dollars a day.

Dr. Bethune moved to Detroit
and there for the first time met
the social paradox of the age.
Distress, sickness and ill health ex-
jisted, but those who suffered had
not the means to pay for allevia-
tion or cure.

This contradiction bothered Be-
-thune and his mind was torn with
the complexity of this social Gord-
jan knot.) Then came what he
believed to Ibe the end. He sick-

ened, lost weight, gave up blood,
was diagnosed as tubercular and -

*

\

retired to a death cell sanitorium
to await the inevitable.

Death is said to be the great
leveller. The contemplation of
approaching end thas been the
source of much philosophy and
action ever since man began. ‘Some
craven creatures accept defeat and
whine their way out of existence,
unhonored and unsung. Others
reflect, face fact and struggle to
survive, and thereby take up their
beds and walk. Such moments

ra

are nodal points in life, and char-_

acter which is the photograph of
the soul is tarnished or enhanced
by the nature of such a conflict.

Undér sentence of death, Be-
thune studied diligently the prob-
lem of curing tuberculosis. He
read and re-read every available
work on the subject and having!
selected what he believed to be the
most scientific answer, offered
himself as a guinea pig and was
cured.

The net attainment of this strug-
gle was not only that of his life
being saved, but also in the pro-
cess, he became a renowned auth-
ority on thoracic surgery. He
came out of his valley a new man
in that he now was possessed of
the necessity to help rid life of
the conditions which gave rise to
the incidence of -curable diseases
as well as to the actual sure itself.

* * *

THE EARLY thirties were
times that tried men’s souls, here
ag elsewhere, and life for Dr. Be-
thune .was raw and real in the
great urban community of Mont-
real, where he now lived. Intro-
duced to unemployed councils, de-
monstrations and police brutality,
he also came into contact with
Communists: Some people now
began to call him Comrade Beth.

His interest was aroused in the
progress of the USSR and ‘to-

. gether with some other eminent

Canadian doctors, he visited the
Soviet Union. On his return he
recorded his impressions ina
memorable address given in Mont-
real, It was clear now to him
that in another part of the world
changes for the good were taking
place, changes which in their por-
tent would cosmically affect the
course of all humanity.

The darkening clouds of war
and fascism were now most evi-
dent in Spain where Bethune felt
he should be. Arriving in Madrid,

he fi obile blood ;
be anenres tie fee ae See could have been unaware of. the

connotation between the drama of —

clinic in history and thereby saved
countless lives of wounded and
abandoned. mah !
He was appalled at the fright-
fulness of Nazi and Fascist bar-
barity and his letters home reflect
his unalterable anti-fascist spirit.
The lines of the refugees, the
plight of little children, the broken
homes and senseless destruction —
all these experiences made an un-
dying impfession on the mind of
the soldier-doctor. . Pas
He returned to’ Canada and
tirelessly campaigned across the
continent on behalf of Republican
Spain. He now joined the Com-
munist party and thus solemnised

the unity of his own mind and >

-actions with those whose task it is

to change the world.

He was successful in raising a
great deal of money for Republic-
an Spain by virtue of his lectures
and work in arousing sympathy
and support for the cause of all
humanity, but now another field
of work was arising on the other
side of the world—the Orient was

aflame, a new chapter was to
open on an even greater stage.
* * *
WHEN JAPANESE imperial-
ism unleashed aggressive war and

death on the Chinese people in the ~

thirties, a chain of historical
forces was released, which in per-

_ spective may be considered to be

a lever changing the relation of
power throughout the world. The
enormity and grandeur of the
Chinese- people’s struggle evoked
in Bethune the sympathy and un-
derstanding necessary for his
final work.

The closing years of the turbu-

lent decade found him once again
in the front line, organizing, oper-
ating and creating in the service
of the Chinese Liberation Army.
This time he was based behind the
enemy lines and here he establish-
ed hospitals, trained nurses and
taught young Chinese to be doc-
tors. .
A whole ‘system of medical re-
search was established and he
found time to, write a textbook to
aid others in practical medical
work. ‘

Most of the time, he was direct-

_ly associated with front line action

‘and was called upon to perform a
number of daily surgical opera-
tions,, which probably has never
been equalled by a doctor at any
time. It was a cruel and.terrible
struggle and it began to leave its
mark on the great Canadian whom:

- his Chinese followers almost wor-

shipped.

The blockade of the Chinese
People’s regions was facilitated by
the betrayal of the Kuomintang
regime. Food and ‘arms were

-searce and also medical supplies

and drugs were vanishing. But

This photo of Dr. Norman Bethune talking with a young ,

‘Chinese student was taken while the great Canadian surgeon was

heading the medical mission with the Chinese Liberation Army.

Bethune’s iron tenacity neven
faltered. :
Now he had to operate without
anesthetics. Old bandages were
washed and re-used many times.
All history shows little to compare
with the 6pic struggle of the
Chinese Liberation Army and its
gallant medical corps. :
The end for the great doctor
came almost suddenly. A slight
wound, for lack of antiseptic, de-
veloped into a critical infection,
bringing his life to a close.

died on November 13, 1939. Chu

Teh, commander in chief of all ©

the People’s Armies, said of this
hero, “The Chinese people will re-
call him with love and admira-
tion, and some day, all progressive
mankind will cherish his memory.”
’ He lies buried in an East Shansi
valley and here a monument of
precious marble stone and love
stands as a shrine of regard and
esteem. The ground is sacred,
the memory is immortal. ‘Here
lies a man in whom were invested

OUTSTANDING PRODUCTION OF GREAT PLAY

He

the: qualities of greatness, consci-
ous resolve ‘and resolute adherence
to a higher duty. Canadians now

- living and those yet unborn will

venerate this great countryman
who, in the finest tradition of the. —
nation, expressed that regard in
international fellowship.

Much praise must be. extended
to the co-authors, Te@ Allan and
Sydney Gordon, who have present-
ed us with such a splendid ‘bio-
graphy. They were able to in-—
tegrate Bethune’s own diaries and
opinions with their own excellent
historical narration, and in doing
s0, have achieved a highly com-

mendable smoothness and celerity-

—LIONEL EDWARDS —

@ The Scalpel, The Sword, by Ted
Allan and Sydney Gordon
(Little, Brown) obtainable in
Vancouver at the People’s Co-
operative Bookstore, 337 West
Pender. Price $5.

UJPO Drama Workshop scores
success with ‘Professor Mamlock’

ON MONDAY this week as the
Drama Workshop of the United
Jewish People’s Order concluded
six months’ work with a final dress*
rehearsal of Professor Mamlock,
the daily papers carried this head-
line: Last Commander of Hit-
ler’s Brownshirts Wins Vote.

No one in the audience that fill-

ed Point Grey Junior High School » a ,

J . for the UJPO Drama Workshop,
that the full political import. of - point those who see in her one of
_ this city’s most promising players:

auditorium two nights later to see -

the UJPO Drama Workshop’s out-
standing performance of Friedrich
Wolfe’s great anti-fascist play

nascent Nazism being enacted on
the stage and the real life drama
of resurgent Nazism ibeing writ-
ten in West Germany.

Seven years after Hitler’s death :
amid the flaming salvos of Soviet ‘

guns ringing Berlin, after the end
of the war to destroy fascism, the
theme of Professor Mamlock
should belong to a tragic past and
be no more than a warning of
what ‘horrors can be wrought
among a people that becomes en-
meshed in lies. .

But seven years of cold war
propaganda have so warped think-
ing and distorted perspective as to
give this play the timeliness of a
daily paper headline. iAnd it is
more than the freeing of Nazi war
criminals, the election of Nazis to
West Germany parliaments, the
rearming of Niazi legions to mock
the dead and threaten the world
anew. Every line of this play re-

‘veals the common origin and pur-

pose of Hitler’s anti-communish

and the anti-communism of Tru-
man and Eisenhower, St. Laurent
and Drew that sees in resurgent

Nazism its logical ally and in>

fascist-type measures its own
means of. destroying all: but the
hollow shell of democracy. —

It is to the ‘credit of Frank V.

Cvitanovich, who directed this play ed young actress, playing the part

Professor Mamlock is brought out

sharply and clearly. That is what ’

distinguishes this from previous | lock, also showed a talent worthy’

Drama Workshop ~ presentations -

and makes it at once thé group’s
most ambitious and greatest

‘achievement. - :

i
In its earlier productions, not-
ably The Biggest Thief in Town
and The Journey of Simon Mc-
Keever, the Drama Workshop fail-
ed'to make the most of far more
limited content. At the same time,
the players strove for and gener-
ally achieved! a high ‘standard of
technical proficiency. Now, apply-
ing their experience to Professor
Mamlock, they demonstrate a new
maturity in interpretation and
their work carries a powerful con-

viction, :

It is difficult to single out in-
dividuals without doing an injus-

_ tice to a cast in which every mem-

ber contributed to the high stand-
ard of acting.’ Yet special men-
tion must be made of Searle Fried-

man who, as the Nazi Dr. Hell-

pach, carried through a difficult

’ Mamlock, Mast ated

role in a most convincing manner. |

Similarly, Harry Gofsky’s sensitive’

interpretation of the title role of
Dr. Mamlock brought out sharply
the dilemma of \the scientist and

. intellectual confronted with the

contradictions of the society in
which he must. work. :

'Shelah Martin, that very talent-_

of Dr. Inge Ruoff, did not disap-

‘And Oscar Osipov, as Rolfe Mam-

of development. :

i ip
The outstanding performance
was that given by Sylvia Fried-_
man. Her portrayal jof Ruth
in Act
Three, was a high point of the play
and in a large way helped to com-
municate its realism to the audi-
ence ,

Other members of the cast
were: Anne Wiseman (Nurse Hed
wig), Doreen Thomas  (Mrs-
Ruoff), Lou Osipov (Dr. Hirsch); a
Nate Wiseman (Dr. Werner 5ei
del), Jerry Vertone (Dr. Carlsen
Harold Sambad (Simon), Ano
Cohen (Mrs. Ellen Mamlock), Ro#
Murphy (Ernest), Perry Fried“
man (The Worker and Sto
Trooper). ‘4

This is one production that-

_ should be given wherever there 18

a trade union or progressive Of
ganization tof sponsor it and a ha
to play it in. It is good theatre i”
the finest sense of the word.
—HAL GRIFFIN:

_ PACIFIC TRIBUNE — NOVEMBER 14, 1952 — PAGE