An outline of the role of the Jew in the modern world as set forth by Romain Rolland, noted French writer and Nobel prize winner, who died in France last December, was made public here last night at a memorial meeting of leaders in the world of music, the theater, literature and education which took place at the New School for Social Research.
Andre Spire, French poet and one of the speakers, read a letter written to him by Rolland in 1931, but hitherto unpublished, in which the latter deprecated the idea of a Jewish State, except as a homeland for the “thousands of unfortunates pursued by their tormenters.” Educated Jews, who have been “more than half assimilated” by the nations with whom they have been living, “can and must merge with the Christions to whom they are so closely bound,” the letter continued, “but the true role, in my opinion, of the Jewish intellectual elite, and its sacred duty, is that of a messenger of God, champion of the new law in the old world of Europe and America.”
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.
