Jewish Parley Evaluates Effect of Termination of German Payments

The problem of continuing to provide services to thousands of still needy European Jews after 1964, when West German payments through the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany will come to an end, was the principal topic of a three-day meeting of the Organization of European Community Executives which ended here today.

The Organization is comprised of Jewish community administrators from 14 European countries. It was formed two years ago in Geneva as the professional counterpart to the Standing Conference on European Jewish Community Services, Participants include Astorre Mayer, chairman of the Standing Conference, Oscar Joseph, chairman of the Central British Fund, and Charles Jordan, overseas director for the Joint Distribution Committee. Members attending came from Holland, Belgium, West Germany, Denmark, Switzerland and Italy.

An analysis of postwar developments indicated that a number of Jewish communities on the continent were against supporting their institutions without outside aid. The delegates were told that in communities still receiving refugees from North Africa and Eastern European countries in substantial numbers, there was “still a wide gap between the resources and the needs, which can hardly be expected to be filled by 1964.” This was true despite the fact that long-term social planning and stepped-up fund-raising had brought notable progress on the road back to solvency, it was emphasized.

Reports on the special campaigns which the European communities conducted under the leadership of the Standing Conference to help the French Jewish community cope with the Algerian crisis indicated that a number of successful experiments were tried which were expected to have a long-term impact on European fund-raising procedures. Other topics discussed were relationships between lay leaders and professional workers, recruitment of young lay leaders and improvement of personnel standards.