A demand that the League of Nations intervene against Germany’s persecution of the Jews was made this evening by George Lansbury in the House of Commons, in the course of a debate on the Dominions’ foreign affairs policy. During the debate the question of Jewish treament at the hands of the Nazis was raised by other parliamentarians.
Lansbury, in protesting against what he termed the brutal and ruthless persecution of German Jews, also demanded justice for German communists because, he said, they, too, were human beings.
Sir Austen Chamberlain pointed out that, as a former foreign minister, he must speak cautiously regarding the internal affairs of another country, but he stressed the difficulty for England “to be on friendly terms with a nation which banishes every idea fundamental to British institutions.”
“How could we really be friendly with a nation which proscribes a race within its own borders, refusing to treat its own citizens as equals?” Sir Austen asked. “How can Germany expect our help and cooperation when Germany has outraged every sentiment implanted in our breasts through the whole course of history? These sentiments are common to every party, whatever their differences. The German policy is a menace to every nation beyond the German borders and for every race over which Germany might succeed in establishing her dominion.”
Sir Austen pointed out that he had done his best to bring Germany within the good grace of other nations, but he said that this hope, if not destroyed, was at least postponed by the new anti-Semitic spirit prevailing there.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
