News Brief

(Jewish Telegraphic Agency Mail Service)

The appointment of Dr. Hausner, a member of the Mizrachi Organization, to be Polish Consul in Haifa, has attracted wide attention in the Polish press. In an interview today with the representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency here,Deputy Hausner, speaking of his appointment, said that it had to be borne in mind that the Polish Government had made the appointment knowing the facts and after very careful consideration. It was not the ordinary appointment of a consul, he said.

Poland had not yet behind it the tradition of appointing a Jew to represent his country abroad. The question in this case was one specifically of Palestine and of the Jewish Palestine. The Vice-Premier, Professor Bartel, had told him that the present Government wished by means of his appointment to emphasize its friendly attitude towards the work of upbuilding a Jewish national home in Palestine and its desire to assist in the carrying out of this task. The appointment was only the first step on the part of the Government.

“I am fully aware of the responsibility of my post,” Dr. Hausner continued. “I shall have to represent the double interests of Poland and of reviving Palestine, the interests of the Polish immigrants who form the largest part of the immigrant stream and also the interests of the Polish State. I trust that Polish Government circles will as a result be convinced that it is possible to be a devoted Zionist and also to safeguard the interests of the Polish State no less than if one is an assimilationist. I regard the action of the Pilsudski Government in making this appointment as a blow to assimilationism and an expression of confidence in Zionism.”