An agreement permitting the export of three million marks from Germany in the form of any kinds of goods, in addition to a thousand pounds of capital which every German Jew will be permitted to take to Palestine, has been reached with the German Government on the eve of the Eighteenth World Zionist Congress, now in session here, Dr. Arthur Ruppin, agricultural and colonization expert of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, will disclose in the course of his address to the congress on the German situation, it was learned today.
The agreement, the Jewish Telegraphic Agency learned from a reliable source, will run for an unlimited period. As soon as the three million mark sum is exhausted, the German Government will renew the agreement for an additional or larger sum. The German Government will decide in each case the amount each immigrant is to be permitted to export.
Goods must be shipped only to Palestine, not to any other country, the agreement provides. The Anglo-Palestine Bank will handle all transactions until a special, mixed committee can be set up to handle the affairs.
It was revealed today that in connection with the arrest in Palestine of fourteen Revisionists (extreme right-wing Zionists) for seditious offenses, during which it was reported that Vladimir Jabotinsky, Revisionist leader, had demanded the expulsion of extremists from the ranks of his followers, that the only letter Jabotinsky had ever sent, that might have been mentioned in the course of the hearing, was one that warned the Chazit Ha’am, extremist publication, to discontinue its praise of Hitler or the editor and the publication would be disassociated from the Revisionist party.
The Eighteenth World Zionist Congress this afternoon disposed of a vexing organization problem that for a time threatened to take on serious proportions, elected a presidium to direct the remainder of the congress sessions and proceeded with its business which had been disrupted by the negotiations over the organization of the congress.
Following the victory of the Laborite faction in the first real test of strength in the congress, when, by a vote of 151 to 149 it defeated the motion of the Mizrachi (orthodox Zionists) that the full congress vote on the principle of equality for all parties represented, a presidium without Mizrachi and without Revisionists (extreme right-wing Zionists) was formed this afternoon. The Mizrachi was omitted from the presidium after an official declaration by the party that it would not participate in the presidium and would vote against it because the all-party principle of its composition was rejected.
The presidium consists of Menachim Ussishkin, president of the Keren Kayemeth (Jewish National Fund), Dr. Reifeisen of Poland, representing the General Zionists. S. Kapalansky, of London; Dr. Josef Sprinzak, of Jerusalem and Elieser Kaplan of Palestine, are the Laborite representatives. Deputy Gruenbaum is the Radical member of the presidium. Dr. Leo Motzkin, chairman of the Actions Committee, is the president of the presidium and of the Congress. Dr. Motzkin took the chair amidst a tremendous ovation from the entire Congress.
Both the Mizrachi and the Jabotinsky Revisionists voted against Dr. Motzkin. Meier Grossman, leader of the Democratic Revisionists, declared that his faction did not participate in the elections in order not to sanction the procedure which he said was a violation of the traditions of the Zionist movement.
Dr. Joseph Schechtman, Jabotinsky Revisionist, made a declaration of non-confidence, stating that his group considers the presidium to consist only of two parties.
The Congress is continuing its normal work with Emanuel Neumann, American member of the Palestine Executive of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, reporting on the work of the economic department of the Agency.
At the same time the special committee of the Actions Committee appointed to deal with the German-Jewish situation recommended that the entire Congress adopt a united resolution on Germany. The text of the resolution is now being negotiated between the various fractions at the Congress.
An unexpected crisis arose during the all-night session of the Actions Committee when the question of approving the proposed World Jewish congress was brought before it. The debate on the resolution approving the World Jewish congress assumed an extremely lively character. The participants, Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Dr. Nachum Goldman, Radical Zionist leader, Dr. Leo Motzkin, and Robert Stricker discussed the question pro and con heatedly. The fear was expressed that the proposed world congress may eventually prove a competitor to the World Zionist Congress, actually performing functions which may limit the Zionist
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.
