A call to all Jewish organizations to “pool their energies and resources in the common cause of saving human lives” was issued here tonight by Dean Alfange, co-chairman of the Emergency Committee to save the Jewish People of Europe at a dinner tendered to him by the Committee at the Hotel Commodore.
Secretary of the Interior Ickes, in a message to the gathering said that the officers and members of the Emergency Committee should feel gratified by the order of President Roosevelt establishing a War Refugee Beard to rescue Jews and other persecuted minorities in Europe.
Mr. Alfange emphasized that he speaks “as a Christian who believes in the tenens of Christianity.” He condemned anti-Semitism as a menace to America. “Those who exploit and those who tolerate bigotry in any of its ugly forms are political Nazis at heart,” he said. “They speak the language of fascism and use the weapons of Hitlerism. They are false to American history; traitors to American unity and enemies of the American way of life. The recurrent waves of anti-Semitism and the tragic apathy of the United Nations to the plight of the defenseless Jews of Europe are by no means the sole concern of the Jewish people. They are the vital concern of every decent man and woman, of every liberal-minded person throughout the world.”
Other speakers included Supreme Court Justice Ferdinand Pecora, who was toastmaster, Representative Emanuel Celler, Peter H. Bergson, a co-chairmen of the Emergency Committee and Rabbi Louis I. Newman.
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