Klutznick, in London, Urges Deeper, Thorough Study of Jewish Life

The lack of reliable information about Jewish life today was stressed here last night by Philip M. Klutznick, at the meeting of the International Committee for the Institute of Contemporary Jewry. The committee was organized to stimulate the Institute’s scientific studies of Jewish life throughout the world at the Hebrew University, in Jerusalem. Mr. Klutznick, former United States Ambassador to the United Nations Social and Economic Council, said that, while world Jewry was “still beset my many troubles, we have some breathing space which enables us to take a more profound look at Jewish life.”

Dr. Eliahu Elath, Hebrew University president, said the function of the Institute was “to gather the facts of Jewish life, to interpret them, and to make them available so that the right conclusions for action can be drawn.” Dr. Moshe Davis, head of the Institute, told the meeting that only in Israel, and possibly in Canada, were there exact figures about Jews. Elsewhere, he said, there were no such figures, and there were similar gaps in regard to other aspects of contemporary Jewish life.

Among the Jewish organizations sponsoring scientific studies at the Institute are the American Jewish Committee, The Joint Distribution Committee and the Council of Jewish Federation and Welfare Funds.

In a related development, the Wienner Library here announced today that its Institute of Contemporary History and Brandeis University will publish jointly a symposium on Jewish history during World War II. The announcement noted that all existing comprehensive reports on that era have centered on the Nazi slaughter of European Jewry. The Wienner-Brandeis history will center on life within the Jewish communities and on the Jewish resistance to the Nazis. Murray Mindlin will serve as editor for the Institute, and Dr. Eric Goldhagen for Brandeis.