First Post-war Conference of Jewish Refugees from Germany Opens in London

The first post-war world conference of German Jews opened here today with representatives from various countries, including the United States and Palestine, attending. The meeting, which was called by the Council for the Protection of the Rights of Jews from Germany, will discuss legal and economic problems, including restitution, statelessness and naturalization.

Dr. H. E. Fabian, a district court judge in Berlin, told the conference that anti-Semitism is as strong in Germany as it ever was. Dr. Fabian, who is a member of the Berlin Jewish Community Council, said that Nazis are firmly entrenched everywhere, and denazification courts are passing “ridiculously mild” sentences. He disclosed that 50 percent of the judges in the British zone are former Nazi Party members.

Dr. Herman Muller and Dr. Hugo Emmerich, representatives of the American Federation of Jews from Central Europe, complained of the continued delays in the carrying out of the Truman directive for the admission of DP’s to the U.S. They suggested that the scheme be extended to the British and French zones. Dr. Siegfried Moses, of Palestine, claimed that the political influence of German settlers there was resulting in a more realistic approach to the Arab-Jewish problem. Other speakers included Prof. Martin Buber, Dr. Leo Baeck, former Chief Rabbi of Germany, and delegates from Switzerland, France and Belgium.