Robert T. Pell, American vice-director of the Intergovernmental Refugee Committee, returned today from Berlin declaring he had had a “very successful” trip. It is understood that no new negotiations took place during the visit, Mr. Pell merely presenting the committee’s reply to the German memorandum on emigration of Jews, supplementing it with oral explanations on a number of points.
It is believed in committee circles that the machinery for an orderly exodus has been put into operation and its effective functioning will depend largely on the committee’s success in opening places of settlement. Mr. Pell is expected to return to Berlin in the near future, developments necessitating close contact between the Germans and the committee by frequent visits of the committee’s officials.
Mr. Pell’s return from Berlin coincided with the issuance by the Reich Government of a decree for employment of Jews in public and private enterprises. The order, signed by Dr. Friedrich Syrup, president of the Institute for Labor Placement and Unemployment Insurance, had the approval of Economics Dictator Hermann Goering. It states:
“The State has no interest in leaving the working power of employable workless Jews unutilized and perhaps even having to support them from public funds without return service. An effort must be made to employ all workless and employable Jews as soon as possible and combine therewith the release of German workers for urgent and important State-political projects.
“The employment of Jews occurs in enterprise departments, in building construction, soil amelioration, etc., separate from followers (“Aryan” workers). I therefore request you immediately to influence public and private enterprises in your district to provide such work. It is assured that contractors and their enterprises will not suffer disadvantages by the employment of Jews. Jews in the sense of this decree are Jews of German State membership and Stateless Jews suitable for work.”
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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.
