The League of Nations today rejected the request of the American Jewish Committee and other organizations to intercede with Germany in behalf of the Jews and other minorities, but promised to do “everything possible” to aid them.
Dr. Saavedra Lamas of Argentina, president of the League Assembly, told a delegation which called on him to present a petition for intercession, that there was no question of taking steps toward that end and that the petition could not be placed on the agenda or debated in the Assembly.
The delegation presenting the petition was headed by Max Gottschalk of Belgium. Melvin Fagen of New York, representing the American Jewish Committee, asked Dr. Lamas to submit to the Assembly’s subcommittee on refugees the petition’s demands for exerting influence with the German Government to prevent a further exodus by a modification of its policy on the Jews.
Dr. Lamas replied that the League’s work on refugees was technical, not political in character, and that the subcommittee would continue to seek a solution of the refugee problem. He praised the work of James G. McDonald of New York, who resigned as High Commissioner for Refugees last January.
The petition, which supported the proposal for intervention contained in Mr. McDonald’s letter of resignation to the League, urged intercession on the principal ground that forced emigration from the Reich imposed unwarranted burdens on neighboring nations, who were obliged to care for the refugees.
Among the other organizations sponsoring the petition are the American Christian Committee for German Refugees, B’nai B’rith, the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom, the Comite pour le Defense d’Israelites, Comite National de Secours aux Refugees, Comite Central d’Assistance aux Emigrants and the Ligue des Droits de l’Homme.
The document, which was ten months in preparation, was accompanied by a 36,000-word annex citing precedents and legal grounds for international action in behalf of the Jews in Germany.
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