An international loan through the League of Nations, with the nations of the world participating, to finance the settlement of German Jews in Palestine, was urged upon the Eighteenth World Zionist Congress here today by Morris Rothenberg, of New York, president of the Zionist Organization of America.
Mr. Rothenberg proposed that the loan be modeled after that floated by the League of Nations for the repatriation of Greeks. American Zionists, he declared, had reason to believe that the United States Government would find a means to cooperate in any practical measures undertaken.
Mr. Rothenberg’s address followed one by Vito Catastini, director of the Mandates section of the League of Nations, who was introduced to the congress by Dr. Leo Motzkin, presiding officer. In his introductory remarks, Dr. Motzkin pointed out that Zionists consider it the duty of the League of Nations to German Jews to support the Jewish demand for an opening of Palestine’s gates to a larger Jewish immigration.
M. Catastini declared he brought the greetings of the League and the Mandates Commission to the Congress and declared that the international bodies were watching the work of the congress and the “heroic” Zionist activities with deep interest.
What has been done until now for the relief of the Jews of Germany, is insignificant, Mr. Rothenberg told the assembled Zionists.
“The doors of Palestine must be opened not only for capitalists,” he declared, “but chiefly for those people without the means to remain in Germany.
“World Jewry, even American Jewry, cannot now contribute much for the large repatriation of German Jews. However, an international loan could be secured if the sympathetic interest of the League of Nations and the Mandatory Power would be enlisted.
“We are aware,” he continued, “that the present economic position of the European countries is not too favorable for such an appeal. We refuse, however, to believe that when a large part of the Jewish people is deliberately crushed, mankind will decline to come to its aid. The world that created the Jewish problem must help to solve it,” he declared.
“American Zionists are also encouraged to believe,” Mr. Rothenberg revealed, “that the United States Government, which has shown great interest in the Jewish national home with its endorsing of the Balfour Declaration, will find a way as it did in the case of the Greek repatriation, to cooperate in any practical scheme that may be undertaken for the solution of the tragic problem of Jewish homelessness.
“This congress must assure itself before adjourning that definite, vigorous measures will be taken, either by the executive or by a special committee elected by the congress, to secure international cooperation in the solution of the problem of Jewish refugees and that the question will be placed before the world on that high level which this acute problem deserves.”
The morning session of the congress opened with short greetings
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.
