A strong plea for tolerance among religious groups and for the admission of displaced persons was made here this afternoon by President Truman in a brief, extemporaneous speech. The President addressed some 1,200 persens attending a coremony at which a memorial honoring Oscar S. Straus was presented to Truman for the United Staten.
Speaking of the accomplishments of the famous American Jewish statesman and diplomat, who served as Ambassador to Turkey under the administrations of Presidents Cleveland, McKinley and Taft and who was Secretary of Commerce and Labor in the Cabinet of Theodore Roosevelt, Truman said Straus was a “great statesman, diplomat and patrict.” The monument, he said, would be a “monument to tolerance and reason for which Osear Straus stood.”
Referring to the history of the Straus family, which came to this country during the 1848 revolutionary wave in Germany, the President called it “a magnificent family.” He pointed out that the members of the family had come to this country “because they believed in the freedom of the individual and the things which this country stood for. They were a great family,” he said. “And they were displaced persons,” he added in clear emphatic tones.
“I wish we could have the same tolerance now that we had in 1854 ‘when they came here, the President continued. “Just think how we would have lost the services of these people if we had followed the same policy then as we are following now,” he told the audience. “I hope we can overcome this prejudice and do our part toward meeting the situation with which we are now faced,” he said.
The President pointed out that Straus, a champion of religious freedom, had done more for Christians in Turkey while he was Ambassador to that country “than all the ambassadors we had there up to that time put together.” He also recalled that Straus had written several books on the development of religious liberty in the U.S.
The benediction was given by Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, who made the plea that whatever his faith or race of ancestry let every dweller between our borders be free to serve his country in whatever manner he sees best.”
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.
