Appalled by the reports of the intensified massextermination of Jews in Nazi-held Poland and other occupied territories, representatives of major Jewish organizations last night held a special conference under the chairmanship of Dr. Stephen S. Wise at which it was decided to take the following measures.
1. Make public the documents on the Nazi annihilation of Jews in Europe which were made available through the State Department, including the report of Hitler’s recent decree ordering the extermination of all Jews in the Reich and in occupied countries by the end of 1942, which was obtained from high German officials.
2. Intervene with the U.S. Government to take effective measures which would force the Nazis to discontinue their wholesale murder of Jews.
3. Invite the aid of Christian organizations ready to protest against the Nazi massacres of the Jews in Europe.
4. Proclaim a Day of Mourning to be observed by fasting and prayers by Jews “in all the lands where Jews are still free.”
Participating in the conference were representatives of the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, Jewish Labor Committee, B’nai B’rith, World Jewish Congress, Agudath Israel, Synagogue Council of American and the Union of Orthodox Rabbis of America and Canada. The call for a day of mourning will also be signed by Dr. Chaim Weizmann, president of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, it was stated. A committee is to decide whether the Day of Mourning should be set for Sunday, December 6, or December 13.
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