Egypt than to die in the wilderness. They will not get a chance to serve Germany. They will die there.
The Nazis themselves have put forward the idea of the Jews being a separate national unit. They can not run away from the consequences of their own teachings. The fate of the German Jews who were proclaimed a national minority by the Nazis themselves is something with which the world must concern itself.
In various European countries there are about 100,000 German Jewish refugees today whose future is completely uncertain. This turn of affairs is partly the fault of the emigrants themselves and the Jews who remained in Germany and fortified the various foreign relief committees in their belief that the Nazi persecution was only a temporary matter.
INTERNATIONAL ACTION NEEDED
They soon realized their mistake. Even if we do not go so far as wholesale systematic transplanting of the German Jews we will have to reckon upon finding room for at least 300,00 of them. Granting that it will be possible to place 150,000 of the German Jews in Palestine within the next few years it will be impossible do do so without the greatest financial strain. And then what about the rest of the dispossessed Jews?
Concerted international action is needed to help the German Jews in a way that will enrich, not harm, the countries which are extending their friendly hospitality to these victims of race and religious hatred. Preparations must be made along these lines courageously and honestly.
The cardinal problem, not only for Jews but for the whole world, that must be taken in hand as soon as possible, is the making of financial arrangements for the emigration movement. It would suit the present rulers of Germany perfectly if after sqeezing the Jews dry they would hunt them across the frontiers of that country, after which other nations out of sympathy will not be willing to drive them back into the inferno and will grow poor trying to find a way of keeping and feeding these unfortunate people. Steps must be taken for launching an international movement, by autumn at the latest, which will make certain that the possessions still remaining in the hands of the German Jews are retained by those persons leaving the country, or will be transplanted elsewhere under international agreements to be entered into after they depart.
FORUM FOR DAMAGE CLAIMS
Property amounting to several hundred millions of marks is involved. Jews throughout the world will have to make it their business to see that the German Jews find a forum before which they will be able to lodge claims of compensation against Germany, on the grounds of the present government’s diabolically unfair activities.
The things which have been done in violation of the German constitution, the dismissal of thousands of officials and employees, the barring of lawyers and the dismissal of doctors, actors and musicians are not only a breach of the constitution and a violation of all the elements of civilization, but also a breach against divine ordinances which are the foundation of every legal system valid the world over. Worse still are the things which have been done secretly, the destruction of Jewish businesses by boycotts, the seizure of Jewish property by lickspittle commissioners and all similar atrocities. All these things could be made the basis for which claims for compensation could be brought.
It is impossible to advance the argument that there is a political regime in Germany defending itself against political opponents and thus the harsh measures are matters of national expediency, for it is well known that the basis of the Na# anti-Jewish campaign is of a religious and racial origin.
CLAIM MUST BE MADE NOW
The sum of money concerned in the seizure of Jewish property can not be immediately calculated. It will be a vast sum even if every figure going to make up the total is questioned, examined and scrutinized. But the principle of the matter dictates that the claim must be lodged at once with a responsible world tribunal.
The German people must find out that they will be called to pay for the damage done through the action of their rulers. The people at the top of the heap in Berlin may seize, confiscate and destroy as much property as they like, but reparations must be demanded from them to the last penny, and with interest, too. They must not think they can put their hands in the pockets of Jews—and ultimately in the pockets of people in other nations—and get away with it.
These Nazis will not be afraid of world opinion until it affects their own pocketbooks.
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.
