Jewish Congress Asks British and U.S. Governments to Feed Jews in Nazi Europe

The administrative committee of the World Jewish Congress today issued a statement appealing to the American and British Governments to undertake at once the feeding of Jews who are being starved to death in Nazi-held countries, and to make immediate contact, through neutral channels, with Axis powers “in order to secure the release of as many Jews as possible.”

“It is recognized,” the statement says, “that thousands of refugees have been admitted among other immigrants into the United States within the framework of the existing law governing immigration, but it would have been possible to admit thousands of additional immigrants if the procedure had been simplified in the light of the tragic situation in Europe. As it was, no more than a fraction of the number of the immigration-visas available under the existing quota system was granted Indeed, the program outlined recently by the Department of State as a basis for Anglo-American discussion seems to us to fall short of the desperate necessities of the situation.

“It is a matter of the most desperate urgency that America and Britain should without delay, make contact with the Axis powers through neutral channels in order to secure the release of as many Jews as possible; and the work of feeding those who are being starved to death should be undertaken at once, under adequate safeguards. The World Jewish Congress addresses a most solemn appeal to the American and British Governments to create machinery with adequate powers and resources while there is yet time, to carry out a task unprecedented in history. A whole people has for the first time been condemned to death by a formal act of state. Only resolute action undertaken without delay can avert a major defeat of civilization.”