The Commission for Polish Relief, Inc., has completed arrangements with the German authorities and the Allies which will make possible the immediate shipment of supplies valued at more than $100,000 for distribution in Nazi-occupied Poland under the supervision of four Americans, it was disclosed tonight.
First intimation of the development was given by Herbert Hoover, a member of the commission’s executive committee, in a mass meeting for Polish relief at the Madison Square Garden under the auspices of the Polish National Council of New York.
“The first great step of these negotiations with the Allied Governments on one hand and the German Government on the other has been under way for some months,” the ex-President said. “That is, agreement providing for immunity of ships, from attack and American supervision of distribution. I am happy to say that within the last 24 hours these steps have been advanced at least far enough to enable preliminary shipments to be made.”
Hoover stressed that the American supervision was necessary “to assure the Allied Governments and all donors of funds that these foodstuffs shall be used solely for the civil populations and that there will be just distribution among the population of every race and faith in Poland.”
At the office of the Commission for Polish Relief it was learned that the arrangement to which Hoover referred had been made with the German Embassy in Washington yesterday. While the terms of the temporary arrrangement were not revealed, the commission said it was satisfied that it could conduct preliminary relief operations with complete American supervision.
The first shipment, valued at more than $100,000, is being assembled in Scandinavian countries now for immediate delivery, it was said.
The commission’s efforts to open relief operations in Nazi Poland had been blocked by the German authorities’ refusal to allow adequate American supervision, which in turn led the Allied blockade to refuse to pass through supplies lest they be diverted to the use of the Nazis. The American Friends (quakers) Service Committee, through whose field men the commission operates, had staunchly refused to distribute relief without American supervision to guarantee impartial and non-sectarian distribution.
At tonight’s meeting a message was read from President Roosevelt. Among those on the speakers’ list were Polish Ambassador Jerzy Potocki, Congressman John D. Dingell, M. Maldwin Fertig and Mayor LaGuardia.
Hoover, in his address, said: “we are faced today with the necessity of immediate food supplies to millions of people in Poland….Whatever can be done by public charity must be done. But before the next year is over, relief on a huge scale must be found. Hundreds of thousands of tons of foodstuffs must be imported. It may cost as much as $50,000,000. Charity can be of great aid for immediate action. But the backbone of financial strength for the long pull can be secured only by the cooperation of governments.” He urged Government support in finance and supplies. “We are in hopes that the American Government will join in this great task,” he said.
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.
