A Week’s Events in Review

When the Saar officially passes from the League of Nations to the Nazi Reich this week, there will still be about 4,000 Jews left in the territory.

Isolated from Germany for a period of seventeen years, Saar Jewry will again become a part of German Jewry, the only difference being that the “Aryan” laws will not be applied to them formally for the next twelve months.

It can, however, be left to Herr Joseph Buerckel, the man whom Hitler appointed governor of the Saar, to see to it that the anti-Jewish discriminations, though they cannot be carried out in the Saar openly for another year, are nevertheless put into immediate practice after March 1, when the Saar returns to Germany.

LEAGUE HAS FORGOTTEN SAAR PRISONERS

There is one thing which the League of Nations has neglected to do before handing the Saar over to the Reich, and that is to revise the sentences of those imprisoned in the Saar jails. There are many prisoners in the Saar today who would have been released immediately if a group of international officials had looked into the charges against them. A large number of Jews and Social Democrats were recently arrested in the Saar for no other purpose than to be kept until the Nazis take control of the region. One can easily imagine what these prisoners will have to face now, after March 1, under the Nazi regime.

The 4,000 Jews of the Saar who will on March 1 automatically be subjected to Nazi rule, have remained in the territory chiefly because they would not have been admitted into any other country. Having the life of the Jewish refugees from Germany before their eyes, and seeing how miserable the existence of a refugee is today, and how little help a Jewish refugee can expect to get, they realized that there was no other choice for them than to remain where they are, no matter how bitter the consequences will be.

The problem of the Jewish refugee—a problem two years old—this week finally moved the Nansen office to issue a call through the League of Nations to various governments to grant special credits to expedite the settlement of refugees wherever this may be possible. It is becoming clear that this problem cannot be solved unless interested governments actually contribute to the financial upkeep of the apparatus established under the League of Nations for dealing with the refugees.

James McDonald, the High Commissioner, who heads this apparatus, has long been appealing to different governments for direct assistance. He has pointed out on numerous occasions that the work conducted by his office for the refugees is financed almost exclusively by Jewish organizations. This, he emphasized, is rather abnormal. The problem of the refugees would long ago have been solved if countries affiliated with the League of Nations had exhibited more readiness to solve it, he indicated.

BRITAIN MAY HELP IN FINANCING WORK

From certain remarks made this week by Sir John Simon, the foreign minister of Britain, it may be assumed that the British government, and perhaps other governments of central Europe as well, may finally take a hand in financing the work of Mr. McDonald’s office. Should this be the case, the problem of the Jewish refugees from Germany will be solved in a very short time. There is, after all, no new influx of refugees from Germany. Those of the German Jews who have remained in the Reich are now hoping for a change in the Nazi policy and are in no hurry to leave Germany.

This hope has been aroused in German Jewry by the repeated demand of Dr. Schacht, the minister of economics, that the Nazi government revise its Jew-baiting policy. Anxious to increase German exports abroad and, especially, to obtain large foreign loans, Dr. Schacht is trying his best to influence Hitler and the others to let the Jews alone and to order the discontinuance of anti-Jewish propaganda in the Nazi press.

SPURRED BY FAILURE TO GET LOAN

The interest which Dr. Schacht has suddenly taken in the Jewish problem is due not only to the theory that the boycott of German goods abroad is crippling German industry, but also to the fact that Germany’s negotiations for a $200,000,000 loan in the United Staaes have completely failed.

Very few know that a delegation sent by the German government to America to obtain a loan here left last week for Berlin without successful results. The delegation included such personalities as Dr. Hugo Stinnes and other industrialists and bankers. It conducted its negotiations in the United States quietly. It was almost on the verge of getting the desired loan. At the last moment, however, the banks that agreed to sponsor this loan were prevented from doing so. The delegation had to leave, disappointed, and to carry to Hitler the message that the sentiment against the Nazi government is rather strong in the United States, partly also because of the anti-Jewish discriminations.

It is for this reason that Dr. Schacht, the head of the entire economic system of Germany, has been arguing that the time has come to let the Jews in Germany alone. In his arguments Dr. Schacht is supported not only by leading industrialists of the country, but also by the more liberal elements in the Nazi party. He is, however, severely opposed by the chauvinistic Nazis of the Streicher type.

The question, to ease or not to ease anti-Semitism in Germany, came up this week at a conference of Nazi officials in Berlin. The results of this conference have been, of course, kept secret. The course of the government in the near future will, however, disclose whether Dr. Schacht’s recommendations with regard to the Jews were adopted or rejected at this conference.

In connection with Dr. Schacht’s proposal it is perhaps interesting to know that the sentiments of the Jews in Germany are definitely against the boycott of German goods abroad. This sentiment was expressed publicly this week by German Jewish leaders. The attitude which these leaders have taken is that the Jews abroad are actually playing a very small role in the boycott of German goods and that the entire boycott movement is being conducted for reasons other than fighting for Jewish rights in Germany.

To substantiate this theory the German Jewish leaders point out in their public statements that Palestine, the Jewish country, is not at all boycotting German goods. On the contrary, German export to Palestine is constantly growing. It has substantially increased since the Nazi regime.

HOLD BOYCOTT HURTS REICH JEWS ALSO

Whether this statement is made by the German Jewish leaders of their own will or under pressure it is difficult to establish. There were many occasions when Jewish leaders in Germany made similar statements definitely under the pressure of the government. This time, however, it stands to reason that the Jews in Germany do not wish any anti-German boycott to be conducted by Jews abroad, since such a boycott also affects Jewish commerce in Germany.

While there is hope that anti-Jewish discriminations in Germany may come to a standstill, certain uneasy winds are beginning to blow from Rumania, where all was comparatively quiet on the Jewish front till now. A new decree issued by the Rumanian government on labor threatens the ousting of thousands of Jewish employes from their positions. At the same time, meetings are being organized by anti-Semitic groups demanding limitations for Jews in the field of the free professions and education.

TROUBLE LOOMS ON RUMANIAN FRONT

A report that reached New York this week from a responsible Jewish leader in Rumania warns that the Jewish situation there will definitely grow worse in the near future. Though King Carol himself is definitely determined to suppress the activities of all anti-Semitic organizations, the members of the present Cabinet are determined to violate the King’s policy and to press legislation that will undermine Jewish existence.

Jewish organizations in Rumania are therefore mobilizing their forces to fight for their rights on legal grounds. In this fight American Jewry will probably have to take a hand if the anti-Semitic plans in Rumania are to be carried out, as indicated by a number of recent acts.

The Federation of Rumanian Jews in America held its annual convention in New York last week, but little was reported at this convention on the Jewish situation in Rumania. Instead of dealing directly with matters concerning the welfare of Rumanian Jews, the conference devoted the major part of its session to issues which have nothing to do with Rumanian Jewry.