A first-hand report on the problems of the Jewish communities in Scandinavia was given here today by Mrs. Rose L. Halprin, acting chairman of the Jewish Agency, following her return from Stockholm where she attended the plenary assembly of the World Jewish Congress. Upon the conclusion of the WJC session, Mrs. Halprin toured Sweden, Norway and Denmark to acquaint herself with the situation of the Jewish communities there.
“It is difficult for American Jews to gauge the problems of these small Jewish communities in their efforts to ensure continuity of Jewish life and Jewish survival,” Mrs. Halprin stated. There are less than 1,000 Jews in Norway, about 13,000 in Sweden, and about 6,500 in Denmark. “My talks with various members of these communities and with their leaders have given me for the first time a clear insight into their specific needs and demonstrated to me the vital role which the Jewish Agency’s educational efforts, especially our program to supply teachers and teaching materials, play in communities of this kind.”
Mrs. Halprin expressed her satisfaction at finding the World Jewish Congress “widely accepted by Jews and non-Jews alike as the spokesman of the Jewish people with regard to matters of Jewish survival.” She stressed that this recognition as a representative forum for vital Jewish concerns was one of the most valuable assets of the Congress.
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