A letter expressing “the disgust, the horror and the indignation of all good Frenchmen” at the anti-Jewish measures in France was addressed to the chief rabbi of France by Paul Claudel, French poet and former ambassador to the United States, it was revealed here today by the Free French which made the text of the letter public guaranteeing its authenticity.
Dated from Chateau de Brangues, Morestel, where Claudel lives, the letter, written on Dec. 24, 1941, at the height of the persecutions against Jews in the occupied zone, has been copied and circulated throughout France, the Free French office here reported. The letter reads.
“I wish to write to you so as to express the disgust, the horror and the indignation that all good Frenchmen and especially all Catholics feel toward the iniquities, the spoliations and the ill treatment of which our Jewish compatriots are at present the victims. I have had many contacts with Jews of all countries and I have always found in them not only an open mind but a generous and kind heart. I am proud to count many friends among them. No Catholic can ever forget that Israel is the elder son of the promise as he is today the elder son of pain. But, ‘blessed are those who suffer persecutions for the sake of justice.’ May the Lord protect Israel on the path of redemption. ‘I shall not always be angry,’ said God through the voice of his prophet.”
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.
