Benes Assures Rights to Jews in a Restored Czechoslovakia

A call to the Jews to bravely await the end of Nazism was made public here today by Eduard Benes, President of the Czechoslovak Government-in-Exile. Declaring that Jews will enjoy “due justice” and religious freedom in a restored Czechoslovakia, Dr. Benes in his message to the Jews, declares:

“The Jewish problem, along with many other problems relating to the reconstruction of the life of our State after the conclusion of the war, has greatly occupied my mind. It represents an important factor in our efforts to secure civil liberty and social justice in Czechoslovakia within the framework of a genuine and improved new order which, as a sequel to the chaos let loose upon the world by the insane Nazi experiment, is certainly destined to come into existence. In a restored Czechoslovakia all sections of the population, as far as they have shown themselves and will show themselves in the future, as capable of aiding in the work of the State, must receive due justice.”

Emphasizing the brutal treatment of Jews by the Nazis, President Benes’ message continues: “The Nazis incite people to intolerance and to racial, religious and ideological fanaticism. They expel those who are not so cowardly as to accept their regime, or those who in our eyes sinned only by the fact they were not born of “Aryan” parents, while at the same time they drive their own youth to their grave on battlefields. But all this is only transitional like everything which is in contradiction with the laws of humanity. Hold on, therefore, to the end and be sure that the renewed Czechoslovak republic will have no other program than the program of religious tolerance maintained by the First Republic of President Masaryk.”