Between the Lines

It would be a mistake to think that the Board of Jewish Deputies in England will participate in the forthcoming Non-sectarian Anti-German boycott conference which opens in London next Saturday. It will not. Nor will it take any stand with regard to the boycott of German-made goods.

Attempts made by the Jewish Representative Council in London to influence the Board of Deputies to sanction the anti-German boycott have so far not been successful. All that the Board of Jewish Deputies has done was to reaffirm the statement of its president, Mr. Neville Laski, that no self-respecting Jew will handle German goods in view of the continued anti-Jewish policy in Germany.

The Board of Jewish Deputies in London, just as the American Jewish Committee in New York, is still hopeful that certain concessions may be made by the Hitler government to the Jews in Germany. They consider that their endorsement of the anti-German boycott may not bring for German Jewry the results which they should like to see.

HITLER’S APPROACH TO JEWS

Very few in the United States are aware of the fact that the Hitler government recently made an effort to induce the Jews to discontinue their campaign against German goods. Vague negotiations were carried on and terms were proposed by interested Jewish parties anxious to see German Jewry living a normal life.

Since the approach came from the German government it would naturally be impractical for leading organizations such as the Board of Jewish Deputies and the American Jewish Committee to openly associate themselves with any boycott movement. The negotiations are not completed as yet. Though no longer active, they may still come up at any time.

The German government is well aware of the fact that the Jewish boycott as such is not worth much. It is the boycott which the different governments are silently conducting against Germany, hiding behind the backs of their Jews, that counts. It is the efforts of certain governments to push Germany out of the international market under the shield of the Jewish boycott that make Germany so anxious.

THE JEWISH ATTITUDE

Leading Jewish organizations such as the Board of Jewish Deputies and the American Jewish Committee are therefore doing very wisely in handling the boycott issue diplomatically. While not condemning the boycott, they are doing well by not sanctioning it officially and by not associating themselves with any international conferences to widen the boycott.

The Board of Jewish Deputies in England is one of the organizations exceptionally well in formed about the actual position of the Jews in Germany. They know what is best for the Jews in Germany. They also know that in the boycott movement against Germany, the Jews are only being utilized as the vanguard behind the backs of whom governments conceal their plans and intentions. The Jews of the world must trust the Board of Jewish Deputies as far as the boycott issue is concerned.