B’nai B’rith Leader Calls for Greater Efforts on Behalf of Palestine

A call for redoubled Jewish efforts on behalf of Palestine and “a reconsecration to the program of upbuilding Palestine” was sounded today by Henry Monsky in his presidential report to the annual meeting of B’nai B’rith’s executive committee at the Mayflower Hotel.

“Many projects,” he said, “have been proposed for colonization and resettlement of the victims of Nazi persecution, some of them wholly visionary and impractical, others with some apparent merit. These proposals call for careful study and consideration, but in my opinion the present Jewish crisis demands a redoubling of efforts on behalf of Palestine.”

Mr. Monsky paid high tribute to “the magnificent and spontaneous protest by Christians of all denominations against the recent Nazi outrages visited upon our people,” lauding particularly the “great humanitarian attitude manifested by President Roosevelt and the State Department.”

In his first formal report to the executive committee since his election last May, Mr. Monsky attributed an unprecedented increase in the organization’s membership during 1938 to “the growing awareness of the vital issues which face the Jewish people” and who are turning to B’nai B’rith “as the great unifying force in Israel and as the best equipped, with experience and organization facilities, to minister to their problems.”

A record-breaking 1938 paid-up membership of 64,000 organized in 512 lodges in the United States and Canada, a 27 per cent increase over 1937, carried the membership of B’nai B’rith and its affiliates past the 100,000 mark last year, Maurice Bisgyer, secretary, told the executive committee. Mr. Bisgyer’s report showed a membership increase in B’nai B’rith of 14,000 and a gain of 57 new lodges in the past year. Organization of new lodges in South Africa, England and Wales was also reported. An expenditure in excess of $30,000 for aid to refugees from Central and Eastern Europe was also reported by Mr. Bisgyer. He stated that B’nai B’rith’s 1938 outlays for refugee assistance at home and abroad included appropriations for Hadassah’s Youth. Aliyah Fund for settling Jewish children from Eastern and Central Europe in Palestine; the German-Jewish Children’s Aid; the B’nai B’rith-Alfred M. Cohen colony in Palestine; B’nai B’rith’s European Aid Committee; and local committees in London, Shanghai, Cracow, Poland; Vancouver, Canada; and Zurich, Switzerland, furnishing aid to refugees in transit.

Sigmund Livingston, chairman of the B’nai B’rith Anti-Defamation League, in his report asserted that “the democratic form of government is the only government in which the Jews can find security.” He warned that “those in this country who sponsor the mechanics by which prejudice against the Jew is created, are poisoning the blood stream of a healthy democracy, and their loud self-acclaim of patriotism increases their debasement of true democracy.” He called for continuation of B’nai B’rith’s educational program in combatting subversive activities, declaring “we must expose every falsehood. We have nothing to fear from truth, but everything to fear from falsehood.”

Richard E. Gutstadt, director of the Anti-Defamation League, asserted that among the large number of anti-Semitic organizations now functioning in the United States, 150 are operating as “patriotic societies.” He emphasized that “anti-Semitism in America is a growing manifestation, and, as such, it affects everyone who now enjoys the blessings guaranteed under our Constitution and the Bill of Rights.” The report pointed out, however, that “other minority groups have begun to see anti-Semitism as the entering wedge whereby despots seek to tyrannize all people.” The report showed that during 1938 the league handled more than 900 cases of anti-Jewish defamation.

Dr. Abram L. Sachar, national director of the B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundations, laid stress on the expansion of their extension service to small university centers near the existing Foundations. He also called attention to the great interest in refugee assistance among Hillel students, his report declaring that 35 refugee students are living on the campuses where there are Hillel Foundations, the latter having arranged with Jewish fraternities and sororities to provide the refugees with room, board, tuition and personal expenses.

Establishment of the thirteenth B’nai B’rith Hillel Foundation and the first in Canada, at McGill University, Montreal, was authorized by the Executive Committee, Provision was also made for an extension service at Queens University, Kingston, Ont. Abram Sachar, national director of the foundations was authorized to proceed to Montreal to negotiate with university authorities.