A delegation of the American Zionist Emergency Council and a delegation representing the American Jewish Committee were received, separately, by President Truman yesterday, in connection with the Palestine question.
The Zionist delegation, composed of Dr. Abba Hillel Silver and Dr. Stephen S. Wise, on emerging from the White House declined to say anything, declaring that President Truman might say something later.
The delegation of the American Jewish Committee, composed of Judge Joseph M. Proskauer and Jacob Blaustein, revealed that “the President expressed his deep interest in the program to save human life by the securing of prompt issuance of a substantial number of certificates for Jewish immigration into Palestine” and that the President stated “that he was using the good offices of this country to effectuate that result.”
The full text of the statement issued by the American Jewish Committee delegation read as follows:
“The President today received Joseph M. Proskauer, president, and Jacob Blaustein, chairman of the executive committee of the American Jewish Committee. It was represented to the President that there was a sharp distinction between the importance of Palestine as a place of homeland and refugee and the question of state- head for Palestine, and that the tragic events of the Summer have sharply accentuated the absolute need for opening the doors of Palestine to substntial further Jewish immigration.
“The President was informed that the Committee’s reports from Europe indicate that this is now becoming a stark matter of saving human lives. The question is not one now of political ideology. Increase in immigration is necessary to give hope of life to the unfortunate remnants of European Jewry which have managed to survive the Nazi horror.
“The Committee representatives expressed to the President full recognition of the importance of the earnest efforts that the President had already made to attein this objective of substantially increased immigration and assured him of hearty gratitude and support for the continuance of these actions.
“The President expressed his deep interest in the program to save human life by the securing of prompt issuance of a substantial number of certificates for Jewish immigration into Palestine. He stated that he was using the good offices of this country to effectuate that result.”
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.
