Newspaper Page Text
Friday, June 13, 1947
THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Page Five
AMERICAN JEWRY MUST REDOUBLE ITS AID
Emergency UJA Conference Hears
McNarney; $110,000,000 Raised So Far
WERNERSVILLE. Pa.. (JTA) —
Anti-Semitism is still rife in some
parts of Europe and the position
of the surviving remnants of Eu
ropean Jewry is mowing rapidly to
ward a crisis. Gen. Joseph T. Mc
Narney. former commander of the
TJ. S. forces in Germany, declared
this weekend at an emergency
conference of the United Jewish
Appeal. Gen. McNarney's speech
was read by Chaplain Herbert
Friedman, who formerly served on
the general's staff. McNarney was
grounded in New York by bad
weather.
General McNarney expressed the
hope that the UN “will achieve a
just solution to the problems of
Palestine’’ so that the wishes of
the majority of the 250.000 Jews
in the DP camps to emigrate there
may be fulfilled. Aftir reviewing
the barely tolerable lot of the
DPs and the approaching conclus
ion of UNRRA activities, McNar
ney called on American Jewry to
take up some of the “slack'' which
will result from the I. R. O.'s in
ability to furnish as much assist
ance as did UNRRA and the In
tergovernmental Committee on
Regugees.
Presenting a picture of the I.
R. O.'s resources, he pointed out
that it had available a budget of
only $150.000 000 “to cover the
needs of more than a million DPs
all over the world. The staff of
the I. R. O. will number approx
imately 700 at the peak for the
world. Compare this with the far
larger sums which were available
to UNRRA and to the staff of
5.000 in Germany alone which
UNRRA commanded. Remember,
too, that the I. R. O. will incor
porate the activities on the Inter
governmental Committee for Re
fugees. This adds up to a very
drastically reduced program of aid
for the DPs in Germany, he said.
“It. means that a much greater
responsibility will be placed on
private agencies like the Joint Dis
tribution Committee.”
ARMY WILL MAINTAIN
ITS AID DESPITE
INCREASED DIFFICULTIES
Dwelling upon the role of the
U. S. Army in assisting the Jews
in Germany and Austria, he stat
ed: “Army funds that can be
used to help the DPs are not in
exhaustible. Growing difficulties
stand in the way of utilizing sup
plies which up to now have been
taken from the German economy
for assistance to DPs. I do not
mean to say that the American
Army intends to stop trying in
every way possible to do what it
can. On the contrary, we shall
redouble our efforts to find ways
and means of carrying on this des
perately needed assistance. But
we cannot do it alone.”
He also pointed out that the cal
oric ration was recently reduced
by some ten per cent, bringing it
down to “barely a subsistence
level.” Surplus Army and captured
enemy equipment from which
clothes were furnished, housekeep
ing and work equipment and medi
cal supplies are practically ex
hausted, he reported. “All these
are elementary needs. They must
be maintained on at least their
present level. “Gen. McNarney as
serted. adding, “if they are not.
I think you know what is almost
certain to happen, especially w r hen
the victims, through no fault of
their own. have lived through
yeai - s of horror and suffering, have
seen their loved ones tortured and
cremated, have seen their hopes
for a new life after the war dashed
to eath again and again.”
In the face of this threatened
breakdown of the already mini
mum aid furnished the DPs,
American Jewry must redouble its
efforts, he declared. “The problem
calls for Jewish statesmanship—
American Jewish statesmanship,
for you are the only Jewish com
munity capable of action on the
required scale. Through your cam
paign for $170,000,000 you must
take up as much as possible of the
slack that will result from the re
ductions in aid I have already
forecast,” he stated. “You may
not be able to replace entirely the
help that will be missing, but you
can keep your brothers in a state
of at least tolerable living.”
$115,000,000
RAISED TO DATE,
MORGENTHAU REPORTS
Reporting to the opening ses
sion of the emergency session.
Henry Morgenthau, Jr., chairman
of tire U. J. A. campaign, told the
300 assembled Jewish leaders that
the organization had raised $115 -
000,000 to date—“largest sum ever
raised by any voluntary organiza
tion in the world in peace time,”
Morgenthau said, adding, “Amer
ican Jews with the cooperation
and encouragement of their Chris
tian neighbors have extended
themselves to the ‘point of sacri
fice’ in meeting responsibilities
neglected by intergovernmental
forces.”
He pointed out, however, that
the $115,000,000 achieved to date
falls short of expectations. On the
basis of the $170,000,000 goal for
I 1947, the campaign should have
reached $127,000,000 by now, he
said. He deplored the sharp re-
| ductlon of the United Nations re-
j lief program with the liquidation
of UNRRA, June 30.
Dr. Joseph Schwartz, European
I director of the JDC. who recent
ly arrived in the United States
from Paris to report on overseas
conditions, warned the conference
that 1 Europe’s Jew's, particularly
the 250.000 DPs in Central Eu
rope, are facing the “most critical
period since liberation more than
two years ago,” as a result of
I UNRRA's liquidation, the refusal
of the American Army to feed and
shelter refugees fleeing to the
American zones of Germany and
Austria and crop failures in many
I parts of the continent. He urged
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sion’s decision on Palestine, by
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program.
Eliezer Kaplan, treasurer of the
Jewish Agency, reported that the
overwhelmingly majority of Pales
tine Jews are “most vigorously op
posed to terrorism, which they feel
is doing as much injury to the
ED KAHN, executive director,
represented the Atlanta Welfare
Fund at the UJA Conference
described in this story.
cause of the redemption of Pales
tine as the punitive measures un
dertaken by the British Govern
ment.” Pointing out that 12,000
homeless European Jews entered
Palestine in the first five months
of 1947, Kaplan predicted that the
coming months will see “larger
and larger number of Jewish re
fugees reaching Palestine regard
less of governmental restrictions
and hardships and dangers In
volved in making last voyage in
search of peace and freedom.”
DELEGATES CALL
FOR RENEWED EFFORT
In response to the crtical sit
uation outlined by McNarney,
Morgenthau and various experts
from Europe and Palestine, the
delegates adopted a resolution call
ing for renewed effort to assure
attainment of the $171 000.000
t?oal.Another resolution asserted
that Jewish communities through
out the country were encouraged
by the formation of 300 local
Christian committees and a na
tional Christian Committee for
the U. J. A. as "strengthening the
bonds between Americans of all
faiths. President Truman, Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower, and other
government and military leaders
were praised for their sympathetic
support of the U. J. A. campaign.
Edward M. M. Warburg, chair
man of Greater New 1 York United
Jewish Appeal, announced that to
meet the emergency situation 11,-
000 volunteer workers have been
summoned to launch an intensive
effort to raise $65,000,000 for the
New York drive.
VISA TO CYPRUS
ROME, (JTA)—The first Jew
ish refugee to be given a visa for
Cypress left here for the island,
where more than 13.000 visaless
Jews are confined.
He is Zwl Brik, former director
of the Palestine Ofice in Uithuania,
who sailed from Naples to become
the Jewish Agency’s immigration
and welfare representative.
There are people who think
they have kind hearts, when in
reality they only have weak nerves.
— Ixsvltlcua 25:37
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ALIEN-BAITERS LEAD CLASH
Stratton Bill Hearings Begun
WASHINGTON, D. C. (JPS) —
The long forecast battle over the
Stratton bill to admit 400,000 Eu
ropean DPs into the U. S. during
the next four years, broke out last
week as public hearings on the
measure opened before the House
Judiciary sub-committee here.
Chief proponent of the bill was its
sponsor, Representative William
G. Stratton (R., Ill.), while the
opposition was led off by Repre
sentative Ed Gossett (D., Texas)
whose bill to slash existing quotas
fifty per cent for the next ten
years was defeated in committee
last year.
Representative Stratton’s chief
argument was that his bill, aside
from its humanitarian aspects,
was designed to save American tax
payers money by lifting the bur
den of feeding homeless destitute
people in Europe. “It costs the
American tax-payer about $182,-
000,000 a year to support the dis
placed persons now, and we can
go on year after year paying at
least $100,000,000 is we don’t do
something about it now,” he said.
Mr. Stratton estimated that the
“hard core” of Europe’s 750,000
displaced persons, which he ex
plained meant those non-repatri-
able for political or religious rea
sons, was 80 per cent Christian,
both Catholic and Protestant with
the remaining 20 per cent Jews,
most of whom “either are going
to live, or are in hope of going to
Palestine.” “Unless we seek to re
vitalize our population by immi
gration,” he warned, “we will be
badly outnumbered by some of the
other major powers.”
Mr. Gossett, whose concern cen
tered around letting “trouble-mak
ers” into the country,, declared:
“We’ve established soup lines for
people in Europe, why not let these
displaced persons join the soup
lines. All sorts of jobs need to be
done in the war-ravaged countries.
Why not make some arrangement
to get them at these jobs.”
Jewish teaching field as a pre
lude to action by individual com
munities to raise the professional
and economic standards of instruc
tors in Jewish religious schools, it
is reported here. The establish
ment oi an inquiry body was de
cided upon at the annual meeting
in Baltimore of the American As
sociation for Jewish Education,
which was held last week.
RELIGIOUS SCHOOL
SURVEY PLANNED
NEW YORK, (JTA)—A com
mission will soon be appointed to
make an intensive survey of the
Hatred in U. 5. Zone
Of Germany Being
Lessened, Aide Says
WASHINGTON, (JTA). — The
eradication of anti-Semitism is
progressing more rapidly in the
American zone of Germany than
in the rest of the country because
of “positive” steps by the author
ities such as the appointment of
a special Jewish advisor to the
military gpvemor, Dr. James F.
Pollock, advisor to Gen. Lucius
Clay, American military com
mander, declared here.
Dr. Pollock, who just returned
from a two-and-a-half month
stay in Germany, said that Rabbi
Philip S. Bernstein, Gen. Clay’s
advisor on Jewish affairs, was do
ing an “excellent” Job. He report
ed that in a number of <%ses Jews
had been placed in public office
in the American zone.
He stated that he thought that
the practice of granting extra ra
tions to former persecutees might
result in friction. The ultimate so
lution of the DP problem, Dr. Pol
lock suggested, was either to
“merge” them with the German
population or to “find new homes
for them,” adding that “all the
Jews want to go to Palestine.”’
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