Prof. Selig Brodetsky, president of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, today stressed the “great satisfaction” felt by Jews the world over for the Polish Government’s pledge that Jews would enjoy full equality in a reconstituted Poland.
Addressing the Board in the presence of Secretary Mieczyslawski of the Polish Ministry of the Interior and M. Westfal, member of the Minorities Department of the Polish Premier’s office, Prof. Brodetsky said the pledge “will do much to cement friendly relations and foster a sense of mutual confidence and goodwill among Poles and Jews.”
“The Jews will always remember that centuries ago, when their forefathers were persecuted in central and western Europe, they found a home and enlightened treatment in Poland,” Prof. Brodetsky said. “If during recent decades there was a falling off in the liberal traditions in Poland’s treatment of her Jewish citizens it is to be ascribed to evil influences such as are the cause of the present war.
“This corrupting spirit is being exercised, unhappily at the cost of blood and bitter sacrifices,” he continued. “We Jews fully share the confidence expressed by Minister Stanczyk (Polish Labor Minister) of a victory by Britain and her allies and that out of the present dread conflict will come a world where men and the nations among them, including the Jews, will be free to work out their destinies in peaceful, happy cooperation.”
Reviewing the European situation, Prof. Brodetsky emphasized “the unbelievable, indescribable” tragedy of the Jews of Poland, cited the anti-Jewish legislation in Rumania and deplored the anti-Semitic laws introduced by the Vichy Government as “a crime against the spirit of freedom, first declared by France for the world.” He expressed the hope that following an allied victory France would return to its former level of civilization.
Prof. Brodetsky also announced that the Deputies had decided to launch a £54,000 campaign for organizing the congregational life and religious education of evacuees.
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