American Jewish Committee Urges Punishment of Nazis Responsible for Majdannek Massacre

An immediate on-the-spot investigation by a special United Nations commission of the recently uncovered Nazi atrocities at the Majdanek concentration camp near Lublin in Poland was urged today by the American Jewish Committee in a letter sent simultaneously to Secretary of State Cordell Hull and the diplomatic representatives of the United Nations in Washington.

The letter, signed by former New York Supreme Court Justice Joseph M. Proskauer, President of the American Jewish Committee, declared that “the future peace of the world will rest in no small measure upon the speedy and just punishment of those who have broken the laws of God and the laws of man, for until all men are convinced that the civilized world will no longer tolerate inhumanity and persecution will we be faced with the ugly and tragic consequences of man’s assault upon the dignity of man. Thus, the retribution that will be justly metal out will serve as a bulwark of human morality.”

In his communication to Mr. Hull, Judge Proskauer emphasized the need for the United States Government to take the leadership in the formation of the commission. Declaring that since Poland is “the center of the Nazi machinery of mass murder,” Judge Proskauer urged that that country be visited by this commission “at once, in order that the incredible evidence might be viewed first hand. The findings of such a body would be unimpeachable.”

pointing out that the Jews of the world have in the past few years been apprised of the probable murder of three million souls by the Nazis, Judge Proskauer said that “we reluctantly and mournfully accept the evidence of Majdanek as conclusive proof of our worst fears.” Even a world accustomed to the horrors and tragedies of modern warfare, he said, “is stunned by this latest proof of Nazi inhumanity to man.”