The fairy tale-like castle of Versailles, the world’s largest and probably most luxurious royal palace, was lit up last night for the French United Jewish Appeal annual dinner. Four hundred and fifty UJA contributors attended the dinner served in “the Hall of Royal Battles” by footmen in 17th century liveries to the accompaniment of period chamber music.
The dinner, which marked the launching of the annual fund-raising campaign, was presided over by Baron Guy de Rothschild who was accompanied by all the members of his family. Baron de Rothschild said that the 1972 campaign had netted 45 million francs (about $9 million) slightly less than the previous year. He said that following a recently concluded agreement with Jewish Agency chairman Louis Pincus, the Jewish Agency received 24 million francs and the French Jewish Central Welfare Agency, the FSJU, 14.5 million. The balance of 6.5 million francs went for fund-raising expenses.
Baron de Rothschild said that he had found “great understanding” for local French needs as well as “an awareness of the important role local development plays in the general perspective of Israel and world Jewry.”
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
