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Senator Mead Lauds Anti-fascist Contributions of Europe’s Jews at Ort Meeting

December 13, 1943
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The “magnificent contribution” of the Jews of Europe, “fascism’s first and foremost victims,” to the cause of freedom in the underground and guerilla movements has been hidden in “one of the most amazing conspiracies of history a technique of silence,” United States Senator James M. Mead declared today, in an address at an emergency conference of the Council of Organizations of the American ORT Federation at the Commodore Hotel.

“Only after they have ceased to exist…only after some unbelievable mass murder like that of Warsaw and of Kiev, do we become aware of the Jews who are participating in the United Nations struggle,” he said. “I do not pretend to understand the reasons for this technique of silence. I do not understand why, when we recount the blows struck on Democracy’s behalf, we should so discriminate against those who have proved themselves second to none in the world.”

In a message to the conference, addressed to M. Maldwin Fertig, Council chairman, former Governor Herbert H. Lehman, Director General of the United Nation Relief and Rehabilitation Administration, paid tribute to the constructive program of ORT and declared it will be of tremendous value in post-war reconstruction.

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