As many as 20,000 German-Jewish children could be admitted into the United States if a movement were started in America for this purpose, Leo Simon, well-known philanthropist, said today in an interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent. He expressed consternation over the plight of young boys and girls who are being poisoned, he said, body and soul, by the atrocious anti-Semitic atmosphere in the schools of Germany.
Many children of Jewish parentage, declared M. Simon, are refusing to go to school any more in Germany due to the moral and physical torture to which they are exposed by Nazi teachers who unhesitatingly preach anti-Semitic propaganda in the classrooms, in the direct presence of the youngsters.
‘TORTURE CHAMBERS’
M. Simon stated that many cases have been reported of German teachers calling Jewish children to the blackboard, not by their names, but by some anti-Semitic nickname, thus throwing all the Aryan children in the classroom into mocking laughter. The Jewish children, he said, naturally become confused and often start crying. As a result they absolutely resist all efforts to make them return to what they call their “torture chamber” on the following day.
According to M. Simon, many Jews believe that the most constructive relief for the children of German Jews could come directly from Jews in America starting a campaign in the United States temporarily to admit them into this country. American Jews could bring these children to their homes until the trouble in Germany ended, he pointed out.
He expressed the opinion that it would not be difficult to find 20,000 families among 4,000,000 Jews in the United States who would be ready to take these unfortunate German-Jewish children into their homes.
M. Simon said that this would mean the saving of a whole generation of Jews. The children could easily obtain American visas, he stated, if proper legal steps were taken, and then there would be no difficulty in getting them into the United States for the time being. Jewish parents in Germany, he asserted, would be happy to see their children depart from the land ruled by the Nazi terror, even though it would mean a separation of mother and father from son and daughter.
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.
