National Agencies United in $3,000,000 Campaign

A concerted effort on the part of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the American Palestine Campaign of the Jewish Agency for Palestine to raise $3,000,000 for relief work among German Jewish refugees was announced yesterday. Officers of the administrative body to direct the campaign have not yet been chosen.

The drive, which is to enlist the joint efforts of both organizations, follows a plea by High Commissioner James G. McDonald, of the German refugee body, for funds to be used in a program of reconstruction work among refugees within and without Germany.

Two statements came from leaders of the Jewish oranizations and from Mr. McDonald, asking that contributions toward the relief program be made as evidence that donors are “aware of the desperate needs of the hour.”

ALLOCATION OF FUNDS

The joint statement which was issued by Paul Baerwald and Rabbi Jonah B. Wise, representing the Joint Distribution Committee and Louis Lipsky and Moris Rothenberg, representing the American Palestine campaign, pointed out that the funds collected will be allocated in two channels.

From the first funds to be collected, says the statement, $250,000 will go toward the program of the Jewish Agency and the same amount for the Joint Distribution Committee. An additional $250,000 for each organization will be used to meet commitments. An allocation committee to represent the joint objective of both groups whose members are yet to be chosen, to apportion the remainder of the funds raised.

High Commissioner McDonald’s statement, couched in simple and direct language, sets out with a tributo to the “willingness to make generous sacrifices on behalf, of their fellow Jews” of the Jewish people, and asks that the response in this drive be “prompt and wholehearted.”

APPEALS FOR CONTRIBUTIONS

“It is only through the generosity of private contributors that those of us engaged in the task of finding new homes for refugees–tens of thousands of helpless, innocent exiles–can help to make our work effective,” said the High Commissioner.

“Once more, as so frequently throughout their long heroic and tragic history, the Jews are showing their willingness to make generous sacrifices on behalf of their fellow Jews,” Mr. McDonald said.

“The decision of the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the American Palestine Campaign of the Jewish Agency for Palestine to make a united effort to raise $3,000,000, to on used in large part to meet the immediate needs of the refugees from Germany, deserves the highest praise, I hope that the response, both from Jews and non-Jews, will be prompt and whole-hearted. it is only through the generosity of private contributors that those of us engaged in the task of finding new homes for the refugecs–tens of thousands of helpless, innocent exiles–can help to make our work effective.

“This united effort of the Joint Distribution Committee and the American Palestine Campaign is a fulfillment of the hope which I have frequently expressed, both publicly and privately, since the first meeting of the High Commission at Lausanne last December. This coordination will, I am confident, expedite, just when speed is most essential, a nation-wide effort on behalf of the approximately 50,000 Jewish refugees from Germany.

“The plight of the Jewish men, women and children who, through no fault of their own, are today homeless and desperately uncertain of the future, is one of the gravest problems facing mankind. The direct effects on the individuals concerned are, in all conscience, bad enough to stir the pity of men everywhere, but the imphcations of the situation are so grave as to disquiet all those who believe that religious and racial tolerance are essential qualities of civilized men. The issues involyod are as broad as humanity itself.

A COMPLICATED PROBLEM.

“The problems created by the situation in Germany are complicated. Their solution involves aiding the Jews still in Germany to maintain their cultural and racial institutions, and their associations of relief and rehabilitation, the absorption of portions of the refugees in countries where they now find themselves, and the settlement of tens of thousands German Jews in Palestine and in other countries whose doors the High Commission is endeavoring to open to them.

“I am confident that the Jews of the United States will show by their deeds that they are fully aware of the desperate needs of the hour. Their generous response will enormously facilitate the task which the High Commission for Refugees is undertaking. Moreover, the prompt success of this united campaign will hearten all of those engaged in similar endeavors elsewhere. I will also demonstrate once more to the whole world and particularly to the governments which make up the High Commission, and whose continued cooperation is so essential, that the Jews of America are willing and anxious to do their full share in this worldwide undertaning.”

JOINT STATEMENT

In the statement announcing the combined effort, the signatories pointed out that the agreement followed recognition of “the need for mobilizing the combined forces of American Jewry to meet the tragic need of the Jews of Germany.” The statement also points out that a portion of the funds raised will go for the regular Palestine budgets and for the Joint Distribution Committee’s relief and reconstruction activities in Eastern Europe.

“The funds allotted to the American Palestine Campaign will be applied to the program being carried out by the Central Bureau for the Settlement of German Jew in Palestine, of which Dr. Chaim Weizmann is the chairman, and to the normal budget of the Keren Hayesod (Palestine Foundation Fund),” the statement disclosed. “The funds allotted to the Joint Distribution Committee will be applied to continuing its activities of relief and reconstruction in cooperation with the German Jewish welfare organizations and with the refugee aid committees in various lands and toward the continuance of its programs of aid in behalf of the Jews of Eastern and Central Europe.

“The Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Joint Distribution Committee will continue to cooperate with James G. McDonald, High Commissioner for Refugees coming from Germany, appointed by the League of Nations. Both organizations will also continue to work in cooperation with the Central British Fund for German Jewry.

SPLIT FUNDS

“The understanding was reached that, out of the first funds to be collected, the sum of $250,000 each shall be allotted to the American Palestine Campaign for the program of the Jewish Agency in Palestine and to the Joint Distribution Committee for its normal program of activities. In addition, commitments already made by the Joint Distribution Committee and by the American Palestine Campaign, in aid of the Jews of Germany and for the settlement of German refugees in Palestine, will require a further allotment of $250,000 which shall be made to each organization. The balance of the fund to be collected during the period of the joint campaign will be apportioned to meet the needs of the Jewish Agency for Palestine and the Joint Distribution Committee, in aid of the Jews of Germany and for the settlement of German Jews in Palestine, by an allocation committee jointly to be agreed upon by the representatives of both organizations, the members of which committee, we feel certain, will have the fullest confidence and approval of the public.

“The representatives of the American Palestine Campaign and the Joint Distribution Committee are still in conference with respect to the leadership and the administrative machinery of the campaign, announcement of which will shortly follow. It is deemed desirable, however, to make this advance statement in order that the American Jewish public, which has given unmistakable evidence of its desire for unity of action in dealing with the problem of German Jewry, way be informed of the conclusion that has been reached, and make immediate plans for combined campaigns in their respective communities.”