Sharp criticism of the Bermuda Conference was voiced here today in a statement issued by Congressman Emanuel Celler of New York, in which he charged the Anglo-American parley on refugees with assuming “the usual pattern of diplomatic lack of candor and a plentitude of verbiage.”
“Agencies long familiar with the distress of the persecuted abroad like the Quakers and the Joint Distribution Committee are barred,” he said, criticizing the fact that the conference is being held in Bermuda, which is inaccessible except by air. “Their valuable practical suggestion will be unavailed of. All deliberations and conclusions will be according to plan and schedule of the State Department and the British Foreign Office. The delegates will be moved across the chess board by the diplomats.”
Emphasizing that “time is of the essence” and that thousands of Jews are being killed by the Nazis daily, Congressman Celler deplored the fact that the Bermuda Conference is of an exploratory nature only. “Much water,” he said, “will go over the dam before a final report of findings is made. This report will only bind Britain and the United States. Then neutral countries will be contacted, singly or at another conference. More precious time gone and more complications, more diplomatic tight-rope walking.”
The New York Congressman urged the Bermuda Conference “to examine the MacDonald White Paper” in seeking areas for asylum. “The fact that the question of food for Nazi victims will not be considered at the Conference is a tragedy in itself,” he declared. He expressed the opinion that the needs of one oppressed group differ from another or a third and the urgencies of rescue differ in degree if not in kind. “The delegates,” he said, “have already expressed themselves as dedicated to saving only those refugees now in neutral countries. These victims are already saved. We are not so much interested in them; we are interested in getting more hapless out of Hitler’s clutches. There need not be any conference to save those already saved.”
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