6. Lt.-gov. Herbert Lehman

Mr. James N. Rosenberg,

165 Broadway,

New York City.

Dear Jimmie:

It is a source of very great regret to me that, because of official duties which require my presence here in Albany, it will not be possible for me to accept your invitation to preside at the meeting in behalf of the Allied Jewish Campaign in New York to be held at the Town Hall on the evening of May 27.

I have been so long connected with this work and my heart is so deeply in it that it would have given me great satisfaction to have had the opportunity of again giving public expression of my interest and sympathy.

I believe that the work of the past fifteen years has resulted in the saving of hundreds of thousands of people overseas from starvation, ruin and despair. The need for palliative relief is now happily nearly over but there still reamins the equally important work of rebuilding the economic foundations and of providing an opportunity to the Jewish communities in the future to earn a fair living. The whole emphasis of our work in the past several years has been laid on reconstruction activities; the making of men and women again self-supporting and self-respecting members of the community.

The scope of the work has been vast and on a scale seldom duplicated in humanitarian effort. It is not possible in a short letter to describe all the reconstruction activities in which we have been engaged in eastern and southeastern Europe. It is worthy of note, however, that nearly 700 credit cooperatives and 150 free loan societies have been established, serving between two and three million people. In addition, homes have been built, artisans trained in useful occupations, and many thousands of men and women settled on the land to become agricultural producers.

This campaign, however, has a dual purpose; not only to make possible the continuance of absolutely essential reconstructive work in eastern Europe but to aid in the upbuilding of Palestine as a homeland. The people have built their homes in Palestine during the past generation or two and those who are still going there are eral pioneers in the finest sense of the word. They are not only creating a great spiritual and cultural center based on traditions which have brought civilization to the world for countless centuries, but they are builders of roads, hospitals, universities, orphan asylums and homes. They are draining swamps; they are eradicating disease. In everything they are doing their neighbors, regardless of race or creed, are gaining as much as they. People with the courage, vision and determination that they have demonstrated certainly deserve our wholehearted support and help.

Because of the high purposes of the undertaking and with the splendid leadership under which we are working I am confident that the campaign must and will be a great success from every point of view.

With kindest personal regards, I am

Yours very sincerely,

Herbert H. Lehman.