Demanding that the League of Nations intercede with Germany in behalf of Jews and other persecuted minorities, James G. McDonald, for two years League High Commissioner for Refugees, today submitted his resignation to the League Secretary General, effective Tuesday.
"The moral authority of the League of Nations and of State Members of the League," he declares in his letter of resignation, "must be directed towards a determined appeal to the German Government in the name of humanity and of the principles of public law in Europe. They must ask for a modification of the policies which constitute a source of unrest and perplexity in the world, a challenge to the conscience of mankind, and a menace to the legitimate interests of the States affected by the immigration of German refugees.
Mr. McDonald, who returned here from Europe last week, urges the League to make his commission a part of its organization rather than allow it to remain a separate unit.
His letter of resignation is dated London, Dec. 27. In it he reviews the work of the commission, reporting that 80,000 refugees have already left Germany. Of this number, he said, three-fourths have found new homes, more than half of them in Palestine. He added that 15,000 still remain unplaced.
"The denationalization by the German Government of thousands of German citizens," he asserts, "has added to the hardships both of those remaining in Germany and of the refugees, and is an increasing burden on States which have admitted the refugees while in possession of German nationality."
Mr. McDonald describes Nazi measures against Jews and "non-Aryans," pointing out that more than half the German Jews have already been deprived of their livelihood and that in many towns starvation drives against Jews are conducted.
He praises the cooperation of philanthropic groups and stressed the necessity of "renewed efforts of the philanthropic bodies." But he emphasizes that the "Governments, acting through the League of Nations, must make possible a solution."
The German Jews, the letter contends, come within the scope of a resolution adopted by the League Assembly in 1922 which expressed the hope that "states not bound by specific legal obligations in the matter of minorities will nevertheless observe in the treatment of their own minorities at least as high a standard of justice and toleration as is required by the treaties in question."
The High Commissioner’s efforts, Mr. McDonald writes, were weakened by the separation of the commission from the League. This, he reported, was carried out to avoid a veto by Germany, which was then still a League member.
He warns that resources of Jewish philanthropic and educational institutions in Germany are exhausted and "the victims of the terrorism are being driven to the point where, in utter anguish and despair, they may burst the frontiers in fresh waves of refugees."
The German Jews, he says, are being made scapegoats despite their loyalty and contributions to Germany and the service of many at the front.
Reiterating the necessity for League action, he expresses the hope that intercession would meet with response. "Without such response," he declares, "the problems caused by the persecution of the Jews and the ‘non-Aryans’ will not be solved by philanthropic action, but will continue to constitute a danger to international peace and a source of injury to the legitimate interests of other states."
The letter of resignation is accompanied by an appendix analyzing German administrative decrees and jurisprudence and their effects on the problem of the refugees.
The letter follows in full;
London, December 27th, 1935.
The Secretary General of the League of Nations
Geneva, Switzerland.
Sir,
On October 26th, 1933, the President of the Council of the League of Nations did me the honour to appoint me High Commissioner for Refugees (Jewish and Other) Coming from Germany, to "negotiate and direct" the "international collaboration" necessary to solve the "economic, financial and social problem" of the refugees. I hereby beg to submit through you to the Council of the League my resignation from this office, to become effective as from December 31st, 1935.
2. In the period of over two years since the establishment of the office, conditions in Germany which create refugees have developed so catastrophically that a reconsideration by the League of Nations of the entire situation is essential. The legislation and administrative and Party action against "non-Aryans" were steadily intensified, and culminated in the autumn of 1935 when a series of new laws and decrees initiated a fresh wave of repression and persecution of a character which was not envisaged in 1933.
The intensified persecution in Germany threatens the pauperization or exile of hundreds of thousands of Germans-men, women and children- not only Jews but also the "non-Aryan" Christians treated as Jews, and Protestants and Catholics who in obedience to their faith and conscience dare to resist the absolute will of the National Socialist State.
3. Apart from all questions of principle and of religious persecution, one portentous fact confronts the community of states. More than half a million persons, against whom no charge can be made except that they are not what the National Socialists choose to regard as "Nordic", are being crushed. They cannot escape oppression by any act of their own free-will, for what has been called "the membership of non-Aryan race" cannot be changed or kept in abeyance.
Tens of thousands are to-day anxiously seeking ways to flee abroad; but except for those prepared to sacrifice the whole or greater part of their savings, the official restrictions on export of capital effectively bar the road to escape, and the doors of most countries are closed against impoverished fugitives. Nevertheless, if the present pressure is not relieved, it is inconceivable that those who can flee will remain within Germany.
The task of saving these victims calls for renewed efforts of the philanthropic bodies. The private organizations, Jewish and Christian, may be expected to do their part if the Governments, acting through the League, make possible a solution. But in the new circumstances it will not be enough to continue the activities on behalf of those who flee from the Reich. Efforts must be made to remove or mitigate the causes which create German refugees. This could not have been any part of the work of the High Commissioner’s office; nor, presumably, can it be a function of the body to which the League may decide to entrust future administrative activities on behalf of the refugees. It is a political function, which properly belongs to the League itself.
4. At the last meeting, on October 16th, 1935, of the Permanent Committee of the Governing Body of the High Commission, at which my intention to resign was fully discussed, action was taken to liquidate the office of the High Commissioner at the end of January, 1936, or sooner if before that date the Council of the League had made other provision for the co-ordination of the activities on behalf of the refugees coming from Germany. It was the expectation of the Permanent Committee that the Committee of Experts provided for by the Assembly of 1935, to study the re-organization of the activities on behalf of the "German" and of the "Nansen" refugees, would complete its investigations in time to present a plan for consideration, and it was hoped for action, by the Council at its meeting in January, 1936.
It has been the sense of the Governing Body that the work of assistance in the countries of refuge could be better carried forward by an organization directly under the authority of the League. It is now clear that the effectiveness of the High Commissioner’s efforts was weakened from the beginning by the compromise which was agreed upon at the time his office was set up- that is, the decision to separate it definitely from the League. This compromise was accepted in order to avoid the veto of Germany, which was then an active member of the League.
5. Progress has been made during the last three years in settling the refugees from Germany. Of the more than 80,000 who
have already left the Reich, approximately three-fourths have now found new homes – more than half of these in Palestine – or have been repatriated to their countries of origin. This accomplishment has been primarily the work of the refugees themselves and of the philanthropic organizations – Jewish and Christian – whose devoted labours have been ceaselessly carried on in many parts of the world. Probably not more than 15,000 refugees now remain unplaced. (An account of the work done for the refugees since April, 1933, is being published.)
6. The care and the settlement of these remaining thousands of refugees could and would be borne by the already heavily burdened private organizations, were they not fearful that the number of refugees may be increased many times by new flights from Germany.
The facts which arouse these apprehensions are indisputable. They are evidenced clearly in the German laws, decrees, judicial decisions and Party pronouncements and practices during the last two years. The culmination of these attacks on the Jews, the Christian "non-Aryan," and the political and religious dissenters was the new legislation announced at the Party Congress at Nuremberg last September. The core of that enactment was the law limiting citizenship to those who are "of German or cognate blood," and who also conform to the National Socialist conception of loyalty to the State. As the direct result in Germany not only the Jews, who now number about 435,000, but also tens of thousands of Christian "non-Aryans" who are classified as Jews, lost their citizenship, were disfranchised, and made ineligible to hold public office. Indirectly, through this new law, a constitutional basis was laid for unrestricted discriminations against all those whom the Party may wish to penalize.
The denationalization by the German Government of thousands of German citizens has added to the hardships both of those remaining in Germany and of the refugees, and is an increasing burden on States which have admitted the refugees while in possession of German nationality.
7. Relentlessly the Jews and "non-Aryans" are excluded from all public offices, from the exercise of the liberal professions, and from any part in the cultural and intellectual life of Germany. Ostracized from social relations with "Aryans," they are subjected to every kind of humiliation. Neither sex nor age exempts them from discrimination. Even the Jewish and "non-Aryan" children do not escape cruel forms of segregation and persecution. In Party publications, directly sponsored by the Government. "Aryan" children are stirred to hate the Jews and the Christian "non-Aryans", to spy upon them and to attack them, and to incite their own parents to extirpate the Jews altogether.
8. It is being made increasingly difficult for Jews and "non-Aryans" in Germany to sustain life. Condemned in segregation within the four corners of the legal and social Ghetto which has now closed upon them, they are increasingly prevented from earning their living. Indeed more than half of the Jews remaining in Germany have already been deprived of their livelihood
In many parts of the country there is a systematic attempt at starvation of the Jewish population. In no field of economic activity is there any security whatsoever. For some time it has been impossible for Jewish business men and shopkeepers to carry on their trades in small towns. The campaign against any dealings with Jews is now systematically prosecuted in the larger towns. Despite the restrictions upon migration from the provinces into the few largest cities where Jewish economic activity is not yet completely excluded, the Jews are fleeing to those cities because there only can they hope to escape, at least for a time, from the more brutal forms of persecution.
This influx has exhausted already the resources of the Jewish philanthropic and educational institutions in Germany. The victims of the terrorism are being driven to the point where, in utter anguish and despair, they may burst the frontiers in fresh waves of refugees.
9. Again, as so often during their long heroic and tragic history, the Jewish people are used as the scapegoat for political and partisan purposes. The National Socialists level against them charges of the most outrageous and untenable kind. They ignore all of the facts of the continuous loyalty of the Jews in Germany: for example, during the Empire when Jews helped to unify Germany and to make it strong; during the War when a percentage of Jewish youth as high as that of any other religious community in the Reich gave their lives for the Fatherland, and Jewish scientists and men of affairs helped so notably to enable Germany to prolong the struggle; and under the Republic when Jewish leaders aided in saving Germany from some of the worst effects of defeat. Instead, it has been found useful to attribute to the Jews the responsibility for the misery and dejection which the German people suffered during the last years of the War and the decade that followed. Though less than a one-hundredth part of the total population, the Jews are held responsible for all the adversity which the German people had to undergo. As in the Middle Ages, when they were massacred and expelled from German States as the cause of the Black Death, so to-day they are eliminated from the economic and cultural life of Germany and degraded on the ground that they were the cause of the German humiliation. So far does this hatred extend that even the Jewish war veterans who fought and were wounded in the front line trenches have been forced from their positions in the public services, and the names of the Jewish war dead may no longer be engraved on war memorials.
10. The attitude of the German Government is based not only on the theory of "Nordic race" supremacy and the desire to eliminate "foreign racial" elements from the life of the country; it rests also on the conception of the absolute subordination of the individual to the State. An influential section of the Party is actively promoting a revival of neo-Paganism which sets itself against both the Old Testament and parts of the New Testament. The conceptions of "blood, race and soil", propagated with fanatical enthusiasm, menace not alone the Jews, but all those who remain defiantly loyal to the old ideals of religious and individual freedom.
Party leaders violently attack religious freedom in the State, and threaten the Church with political domination. Outstanding thinkers of the two great Christian communities in Germany and abroad raise their voices in protest against this attack which threatens to increase the number of refugees.
11. The developments since 1933, and in particular those following the Nuremberg legislation, call for fresh collective action in regard to the problem created by persecution in Germany. The moral authority of the League of Nations and of State Members of the League must be directed towards a determined appeal to the German Government in the name of humanity and of the principles of the public law of Europe. They must ask for a modification of policies which constitute a source of unrest and perplexity in the world, a challenge to the conscience of mankind, and a menace to the legitimate interests of the States affected by the immigration of German refugees.
12. Apart from the Upper Silesia Convention of May, 1922, Germany does not appear to be expressly bound by a treaty obligation providing for equal citizenship of racial, religious or linguistic minorities. But the principle of respect for the rights of minorities has been during the last three centuries hardening into an obligation of the public law of Europe. That principle was recognized in some of the most important international instruments of the nineteenth century. I may refer to the provisions of the Congress of Vienna, the treaty of guarantee following upon the Union of Belgium and Holland, the collective recognition of the independence of Greece, the creation of the autonomous principalities of Moldavia and Wallachia. It was affirmed at the Congress of Berlin in 1878 in relation to newly recognized states. It was deliberately reaffirmed in the Peace Settlement of 1919 and in a series of special minorities treaties as a vital condition both of international justice and of the preservation of the peace of the world. In the case of newly-created states its express recognition constituted a condition of admission to the League of Nations.
Neither was the attitude of Germany in this matter open to any doubt. During the Peace Conference, the German Delegation, in urging the adoption of the principle of protection of minorities for the German population in the territories detached from Germany, declared spontaneously that "Germany on her part is resolved to treat minorities of alien origin in her territories according to the same principles." The Allied and Associated Powers expressly took note of that declaration. From the moment of her admission to the League Germany took the lead in securing the effectiveness of the principles of international protection of minorities.
13. The Assembly of the League in 1922 adopted a resolution which expressed the hope that "states not bound by specific legal obligations in the matter of minorities will nevertheless observe in the treatment of their own minorities at least as high a standard of justice and toleration as is required by the treaties in question." The Assembly in 1933, when considering the question of the persecution of Jews in Germany in connection with the discussion on minorities, reaffirmed that resolution; and in order to
dispel doubts whether it applied to the Jews in Germany, voted, with the single dissent of Germany, in favour of a further resolution that the principle "must be applied without exception to all classes of nationals of a state which differ from the majority of the population in race, language or religion."
The German Jews, although not claiming or desiring to be a minority, are within the scope of this principle because, as was stated at the Assembly, as soon as there is legal discrimination, a minority exists within the meaning of modern law.
14. It is not within my province to state to what extent the practice in this matter of the community of nations in the last hundred years and of the League of Nations has become a rule of customary international law; neither am I called upon to judge how far the declarations and the conduct of Germany prior to 1933 are in themselves sufficient to establish legal presumptions. But both, I believe, are sufficient to establish an appeal to those broad considerations of humanity and of international peace which are the basis of the public law of Europe in the matter of racial and religious minorities.
The growing sufferings of the persecuted minority in Germany and the menace of the growing exodus call for friendly but firm intercession with the German Government, by all pacific means, on the part of the League of Nations, of its Member-States and other members of the community of nations.
Pity and reason alike must inspire the hope that intercession will meet with response. Without such response, the problems caused by the persecution of the Jews and the "non-Aryans" will not be solved by philanthropic action, but will continue to constitute a danger to international peace and a source of injury to the legitimate interests of other states.
15. The efforts of the private organizations and of any League organization for refugees can only mitigate a problem of growing gravity and complexity. In the present economic conditions of the world, the European States, and even those overseas, have only a limited power of absorption of refugees. The problem must be tackled at its source if disaster is to be avoided.
This is the function of the League, which is essentially an association of states for the consideration of matters of common concern. The Covenant empowers the Council and the Assembly to deal with any matter within the sphere of activity of the League or affecting the peace of the world. The effort of the League to ensure respect for human personality, when not grounded on express provisions of the Covenant or international treaties, has a sure foundation in the fact that the protection of the individual from racial and religious intolerance is a vital condition of international peace and security.
16. I am appending to this letter a comprehensive analysis of the German legislation, administrative decrees and jurisprudence, as well as of their effects on the problem of refugees.
17. I feel bound to conclude this letter on a personal note. Prior to my appointment as High Commissioner for Refugees Coming from Germany, and in particular during the fourteen years following the War, I gave in my former office frequent and tangible proof of my concern that justice be done to the German people. But convinced as I am that desperate suffering in the countries adjacent to Germany, and an even more terrible human calamity within the German frontiers, are inevitable unless present tendencies in the Reich are checked or reversed, I cannot remain silent. I am convinced that it is the duty of the High Commissioner for German Refugees, in tendering his resignation, to express an opinion on the essential elements of the task with which the Council of the League entrusted him. When domestic policies threaten the demoralization and exile of hundreds of thousands of human beings, considerations of diplomatic correctness must yield to those of common humanity. I shoule be recreant if I did not call attention to the actual situation, and plead that world opinion, acting through the League and its Member-States and other countries, move to avert the existing and impending tragedies.
I have the honour to be, Sir,
Your Obedient servant
JAMES G. MCDONALD
High Commissioner for Refugees (Jewish and Other) Coming from Germany
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