Prague Opens Doors to Zionist Congress As Friend of Jewry

Czecho-Slovakia is proud of the fact that the 18th World Zionist Congress will be held in its capital, Prague. The Zionist Congress will bring many thousands of Jews from all quarters of the globe to Prague, and the Government wishes to take advantage of this occasion in order to prove to its own Jewish population, as well as the world at large, its good will towards the Jews, and its sympathy for their national and Zionist aspirations. At the same time the Government wishes to give official expression to its opposition to the anti-Semitic propaganda that is pouring into the German parts of Czecho-Slovakia.

Not that all of this is entirely without selfish consideration. Czecho-Slovakia rightly estimates the value of Jewish sympathy for this young democratic republic, and sees in the Zionist Congress an excellent opportunity of furthering its own aims—political, moral and economic. And so the Foreign Office and the Ministry of Trade and Industry are together preparing for this great event. There will be official Government receptions to celebrate the Congress, there will be demonstrations of sympathy for Jewish rights in general and for Zionism in particular; in short, everything will be done to make the delegates feel that, whatever the attitude of their neighbors might be Czecho-Slovakia, at any rate, is well disposed toward the Jews.

MASRAYK RECEPTION

The Czecho-Slovakian Government is very serious in its desire to bring about a happy solution of the Jewish problem. One of the chief reasons for this, is the fact that this young republic has a population consisting or several distinct national groups and feels that for a peaceful and democratic development it is essential that the Jewish population, which forms one of the most patriotic groups in the state, should be happy and contented.

The first act in this official pro-Semitic policy took place recently, when Prof. Masaryk, president of the republic, received a large Jewish delegation, and freely and openly discussed with them the Jewish question as a whole, and the wishes and hopes of the Jewish population of the Republic in particular. Prof. Masaryk is not only a statesman, but a philosopher as well. He told the delegation that he thought Democracy would come into its own again sooner than was generally expected, and that with it would disappear the terrible wave of anti-Semitism that has swept over so many countries. He assured them that Czecho-Slovakia would not be infected by this disease. It would stand up for democracy and Jewish rights, and would see to it that Nazi anti-Semitism should not spread over the frontier of the Republic. The Government, Prof. Masaryk went on to say, would do its utmost to bring about a peaceful understanding and to build up a firm friendship among the citizens of the State, whatever their nationality.

AS AN OLD FIGHTER

The President’s assurances gave the delegation the conviction that the Government would continue to uphold order, equality and freedom, and that it would not allow anti-Semitism to be imported into Czecho-Slovakia. The President’s statement had been made not out of mere conventional politeness, but simply, as man to man, as an old fighter for Right and Justice, and he had shown himself to be remarkably well-informed about the Jewish situation in the whole world in general, and about Zionist efforts and aspirations in Palestine in particular. The interview was given much publicity by the whole press of the country, and was taken as a gentle hint that a friendly attitude towards the Jews was considered {SPAN}de#irable{/SPAN} in the interests of the State.