Philip Auerbach, a German Jew who spent six years in a concentration camp, assumed office today as Commissioner of Jewish Affairs in the Bavarian Government. In his first interview, he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he was happy to meet with a cooperative spirit on the part of the United States authorities and some Germans.
Among his projects is an advisory council consisting of representatives of the Central Jewish Committee of Germany and of various agencies, who will meet regularly and advise him on matters of policy and make suggestions. He plans to ask some of the small communities to take in families from the camps for displaced persons, in order to relieve the crowded conditions there and to restore family life.
He stressed that he does not intend to separate the Jews of Poland from the Jews of Germany, since “everyone experienced common sufferings, regardless of the original country.” He expects to take active steps to institute effective restitution laws. He wishes to help restore the cultural and spiritual life of the Jewish communities and to obtain a sanitarium in Bavaria for tubercular patients.
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