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Palestine Council Cables Rescue Program to Governments of U.s., Britain, Russia

February 1, 1944
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A three-point appeal containing practical measures for the immediate relief and rescue of Jews in occupied Europe was cabled today by the Jewish National Council of Palestine to the governments of the United States, Britain and Russia.

Lauding the establishment by President Roosevelt of the War Refugee Board, the appeal points out that the following three rescue measures must be taken at once:

1. The starving Jews in occupied countries must be sent food immediately in the same manner as the population of occupied Greece receives shipments of food from the Allies, distributed under the supervision of officials of neutral governments.

2. Neutral governments must be urged not to bar transit of Jewish refugees through their territories to other countries.

3. Neutral governments should be persuaded to provide havens for Jews who succeed in escaping from Nazi lands as well as for those who must remain temporarily on neutral soil until reaching Palestine or other countries of permanent residence.

Addressing a press conference, Isaac Ben-Zvi, president of the Jewish National Council, emphasized that the Jews of Palestine believe that President Roosevelt’s War Refugee Board will lose no time in starting its rescue activities. He asked for special action “to exploit all possibilities for the absorption of refugees in Palestine.”

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