President Arturo Illia told an 11-man Jewish delegation today that “in Government as in my private life before, I sustain the same attitude of condemnation of anti-Semitism.”
The delegation members represented the seventh plenary session of the South American executive of the World Jewish Congress. They were received in a very cordial audience by the President. President Illia promised the Jewish leaders that the doors of the Government House would always be open to the Jewish delegation, though he expressed the hope that the occasions for their coming would be only “agreeable ones.” He stressed that his Government would respect human rights.
He asked representatives of Jewish communities from neighboring countries in the delegation to extend his “cordial greetings to Jewish communities in our sister republics.”
The delegation was headed by Dr. Moises Goldman, chairman of the executive, who extended greetings and mentioned the executive’s observance of the 25th anniversary of Crystal Night, the event in 1938 when Nazis roamed through cities of Germany and Austria, setting fire to 191 synagogues and beating and killing Jews. The President said he remembered the outrage very well.
Dr. Goldman also thanked the President for the message he sent to the Rio de Janeiro Conference of Intellectuals called to protest Soviet anti-Semitism in October. Dr. Isaac Goldenberg, president of the DAIA, the central representative body of Argentine Jews, also spoke briefly. The meeting was completely informal and President Illia made an excellent impression on the delegation members.
LATIN AMERICAN JEWS WELCOME VATICAN STATEMENT TO ECUMENICAL COUNCIL
In a statement issued today, the South American executive of the World Jewish Congress welcomed the document on Catholic-Jewish relations presented by the Vatican to the Ecumenical Council. The statement expressed hope that the Council Fathers would give
The delegates also sent a cable to Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev over the plight of Russian Jewry. They heard reports by representatives of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay and Uruguay on the situations in their respective Jewish communities. Mark Turkow, secretary of the executive, reported on the general situation of Latin American Jewry.
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