A review of the status of diaspora Jewry was presented by Philip Klutzick, president of the World Jewish Congress here yesterday at a gathering to mark the first anniversary of the Beth Hatefutzat the Museum of the Diaspora, which was officially re-named in honor of Dr. Nahum Goldmann, former WJC president, who conceived the idea 20 years ago.
Future anniversaries will also be occasions for analysis of the situation of diaspora Jews. In his remarks, Klutznick disclosed some surprising population figures. He said Jews in the Soviet Union numbered between 1.7 and 1.9 million, not 2.5 million as estimated earlier. He said this figure took into account the 200,000 Jews who have emigrated in recent years, the almost zero natural increase of Soviet Jews and the inroads made by assimilation. The entire Eastern bloc, including the USSR, has a total Jewish population today of 2.250 million, Klutznick said.
He also reported that there are 3 million Jews in Israel and 6 million in the U.S. and Canada combined. Western Europe has 1.250 million Jews, South and Central America 900,000, the Far East, including Australia and New Zealand, 150,000 and 150,000 in all of Africa.
Klutznick said that in the diaspora as a whole, anti-Semitism, including anti-Zionism, was far below crisis level. But there are disturbing manifestations in parts of Latin America and in some European countries where neo-Nazi and fascist groups are becoming more numerous and bolder, Klutznick said.
He said there were certain lessons to be learned from the American television series “Holocaust,” which was ignored by some communities. That, he said, is one reason why the statute of limitations ending the prosecution of Nazi war criminals in West Germany must not be allowed to go into effect Jan. 1, 1980.
CONSEQUENCES OF CHANGING LIFE-STYLES
Klutznick spoke of changing life-styles and work patterns among diaspora Jews, notably their mobility which is greater than at any time in the last 25 years. He said that in the U.S., fewer Jews are going into business or self-employed occupations and more into professions and salaried jobs. This, he said, may have repercussions on fund-raising in the future.
In that connection, Klutznick remarked: “I hold the opinion that Israel’s difficult march toward full peace will continue to be a focus of diaspora concern and effort.” But “there are some speculations about what would happen in the field of fund-raising if, for example, Israel ceases to be a cause. One should understand that fund-raising in the U.S. is more than just solicitation of gifts. It has become for tens of thousands a way of identifying themselves with the Jewish community.”
Mayor Shlomo Lehat announced the re-naming of the museum in honor of Goldmann. Goldmann, he said, was behind the idea to establish it as a monument to the life of Jews in the diaspora, past and present. He recalled that the decision to build the museum was made by the World Jewish Congress in 1959.
Goldmann, responding, thanked the directorate of the museum for the honor. He said the museum was one of his greatest goals and he was strongly moved. He said he was pleased to learn that the museum is attracting thousands of Israeli youth and thereby creates ties between the past and the present.
REMINDER: There will be no Daily News Bulletin dated May 28 due to Memorial Day, a postal holiday.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
