A representative of Chacelor Dollfuss has given assureances to the effect that the Jews of Austria need have no fear of any change in their political or legal status in the event of an accord between Austria and Germany. He said to the correspondent of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency:
“The Government does not stand on the race viewpoint. It is not anti-Semitic. Furthermore, all apprehensions of an alteration in the government attitude to the Jewish question in the event of an accord with Nazi Germany are completely unfounded, An accord with Germeny is possbile only on the basis of mutural non-interference in our internal affairs of there will be no accord.”
These asurances are not very impressive. They are obviously intended for foreign consumption. After the outrageous methods employed recently by the Dollfuss government in dealing with the Socialists, the only element that had offered aid which alone could have safeguarded the intergrity and independence of Austria and could have resisted auccessfully the nazification of Austria, Dollfuss realized that the threats to reduce the Jews of Austria to the status orf the Jews of Nazi Germany created a still more unfavorable impression in the countries whose sympathy and support he is seeking.
The dollfuss assurances with regard to the Jews, given to representatives of the foreign press by a high government official in his behalf, bear the earmarks of publicity for the purpose of preparing foreign public opinion for the accord between Dollfuss, Austria and Hitler Germeny. Even if the formal accord were to contain the stipulation that Nazi Germeny would not interfere in the internal affairs of Austria, the Hiltlerist Nazi “Aryans” would be sure to impose their anti-Jewish program in Austria soon after their triumph in that country.
All signs indicate that little Dolluss is paving the way for Hitler in Austria. The consequences of a Nazified Austria are too horrible to contemplate. Only a definite firm stand now on the part of the great powers can prevent a new European catastrophe.
ISAIAHS AND SPINOZAS
General Jan Christian Smuts will have a tract of land in Palestine named in his honor, Kfar Smuts. The South African Zionist Federation is paying a well deserved tribute to the General, who has distinguished himself as an advocate of peace and a champion of Zionist ideals. In acceptting the honor, Gerneral Smuts wrote:
“That the Jews should continue to remain exiles was an historic anomaly and injustice which (countinued on page eight)
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
