Efforts of representatives of the German League of Nations Society to arrange some compromise whereby the German Jewish question would not come up in the discussions of the congress of League of Nations Societies now in session here, were unsuccessful, and the Jewish question occupied a prominent place on the congress calendar. Two resolutions of the Palestine and French societies were on the agenda for consideration. They came up in the minorities commission meeting and later were to be brought up in the plenary congress.
Speaking before the minorities commission, Dr. Ben-Zion Mossinsohn, Palestine representative, described impressively the deprivation of Jewish rights and the “violation of elementary human rights” of the Jews in Germany. He urged refugee aid, especially support of immigration into Palestine.
Mrs. Dugdale, of England, the French representative M. Borel, and the Czechoslovakian, M. Baxa, insisted that racial persecution was not an internal matter for Germany but one “revolting the conscience of the world.”
The German representative, Herr Schnee, declared that some of the measures taken in Germany were transitory and said that the whole matter was not completed and that any action by the League groups should await its completion. He insisted that the Jewish question was an internal German political matter and said that the Jews of Germany did not want minority rights.
Dr. Leo Motzkin, chairman of the Committee of Jewish Delegations, who presented the petitions to the League of Nations in behalf of the Upper Silesian Jews, analyzed the German anti-Jewish legislation and Remanded its condemnation by the congress. Geoffrey Mander, British M.P., castigated Herr Schnee for his speech.
“Englishmen are proud of the British Jews and their contributions to the British nation,” he declared.
A subcommittee of eight members was appointed including Dr. Motzkin, to draft the text of the resolution to be presented to the congress.
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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.
