British Minister Refuses to Divulge Ambassador’s Report on Nazi Acts

Hope that the British Government might publish the offical ambassador’s report in regard to the treatment of German Jews was dispelled today by Sir John Simon, Minister of Foreign Affairs, who advised the House of Commons that he considered the practice of disclosing such reports undesirable. Sir John Simon was subjected to a shower of supplementary questions from Members of Parliament, revealing the keen interest of that body in the Jewish question. Barnett Janner, member from Whitechapel, asked whether the German Government had denied the reports of systematic discrimination against the Jews.

Holford Knight, M.P., of Nottingham, suggested that the British Government convey expressions of concern over the situation to the German ambassador, but the speaker of the House intervened before Sir John could reply to this suggestion. More questions were showered upon the Foreign Minister, all tending to extract details about the ambassadorial report, but he declared that the matter was a delicate one, and reiterated his statement that the discussion of the question in Parliament was in itself evidence of British concern for the German Jews. It was a staement similar to this, made just before Easter, that aroused official German protest to the British Foreign Ministry.