The eighth anniversary of the Jewish uprising against superior Nazi forces in the Warsaw Ghetto was observed here tonight at a memorial meeting arranged by the World Jewish Congress at which Lord Henderson of the British Foreign Office was one of the principal speakers.
“The 60,000 Jews who died gloriously in the bitter five-week battle in the Warsaw ghetto may seem few in comparison with the total of Jews exterminated by the Nazis in the camps of Oswiecim, Maidanek and Treblinka, but they take an assured place in history as a result of their unparalleled resistance in the face of overwhelming odds,” Lord Henderson said.
Reviewing in detail the Nazi persecution of Jews, the British statesman said that the Jewish defenders of the Warsaw ghetto gave the world “an example of unparalled heroism that will never be forgotten.” It would be inconceivable, he declared, if the German people had no stirrings of conscience “for the dastardly acts of the Third Reich” and if they were without any wish to make such material reparation to the Jews as lay in their power.
“There could be no greater reflection upon the new democratic Germany than a refusal to look the tragic facts in the face and to do whatever possible to repair the great wrong,” Lord Henderson continued. He said he recognized that it is “beyond the capacity of Germany either now or in the future to provide such material indemnification that would be adequate to the crimes committed.” Nevertheless, he pointed out, reasonable amends would do much to assuage the bitter recollections of the Jewish people and to pave the way for a new understanding between world Jewry and democratic Germany.
Lord Henderson expressed the hope that the young state of Israel “will thrive economically and culturally as a peaceful democratic country, and that it will provide new opportunities for its people to make their own special contributions to the progress, happiness and well-being of mankind.” (See page 4 for more news on the observance in various countries of the anniversary of the Warsaw ghetto revolt.)
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