Foreign Secretary Eden, speaking in the House of Commons, today presented a very gloomy picture of the position of the Jews in Hungary and of the possibilities of saving them from annihilation.
“I greatly regret to report that there are strong indications that the German and Hungarian authorities have begun the barbarous deportations of Jews in the course of which many have been killed,” he told the House.
“Unfortunately,” he continued, “there are no signs to show that the repeated declarations of His Majesty’s Government and of other governments of the United Nations, of their intention to punish the instigators and the perpetrators of the frightful crimes have moved the German government and its Hungarian accomplices to allow the departure of even a small proportion of victims or abate the persecution.”
SAYS VICTORY IS ONLY HOPE OF SAVING JEWS
The principal hope of saving the Jews of Hungary is a speedy victory, Mr. Eden emphasized, when asked whether the United Nations are taking any further steps to prevent the total extermination of Hungarian Jewry. Queried whether it is true that of 400,000 deported Hungarian Jews about 100,000 have been slain, Eden replied that he would rather not give any figures since exact information was not available.
“We have done all we can, and shall do all we can,” he declared. He referred to intervention by the Pope and by the King of Sweden with the Hungarian Government, and pointed out that Britain, too, has intervened by endorsing, last March, President Roosevelt’s warning to Hungary of retribution for extermination of Jews.
“We shall, of course, continue to use our radio facilities to bring home to the Hungarian Government the feelings of the House and of our nation,” the Foreign Secretary said. He reiterated that the British Government “is completely in step with the government of the United States” with regard to making representations to Hungary, but it cannot associate itself with the representations of the Swedish king “because the position of a neutral king is different.”
The Archbishop of Westminster, Catholic Primate of Britain, today sent a letter to the World Jewish Congress pledging that he “will not leave a stone unturned” in behalf of Hungarian Jewry. Expressing horror and disgust at the persecution of the Jews, the Archbishop stated that he would appeal to the Pope for further intervention by the Vatican and expressed the hope that “our joint appeal will be successful.”
The Archbishop of Canterbury, head of the Anglican Church, also voiced his concern over the fate of the Hungarian Jews and pledged his efforts in support of measures to aid them.
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.
