The fact that Jews fear the re-armament of Germany on “Jewish grounds” is of no special significance to the countries of which those Jews are nationals, but if British Jews wish to protest the re-armament of Germany there are “more than adequate channels within the frame work of the country” for them to use for this purpose, Ewen Montagu, president of the Anglo-Jewish Association, declared last night at the annual meeting of the group.
He welcomed West German Chancellor Konrad Adenauer’s recent statement that the Federal Government is prepared to negotiate with the Jewish people and Israel on claims for injuries to the Jews by the Nazis. He also stressed that the A.J.A. is doing everything it can to help advance any just and reasonable claim from Israel.
In an analysis of problems facing the British Jewish community, Mr. Montagu said that while there is a great need to support Israel financially there is an urgent need for support of communal welfare and educational institutions in Britain. He added that “it is quite clear” that the majority of the community, while it is interested in and anxious for Israel, wishes to remain citizens of Britain and share with their non-Jewish colleagues its responsibilities. He declared that “the Jewish problem” has ceased to exist in Britain, to its “great glory.”
Mr. Montagu attacked suggestions that the World Jewish Congress should become a voice speaking for a union of Jewish bodies. “The fact that on many occasions various communal bodies have reached agreement on such subjects as neo-Nazism in Germany or reparations is a sign of strength, but to imagine that we all have the same point of view ant the same method of approach would be misleading.” He opposed a “supra-national Jewish body.”
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.
