The Jews in Poland stand shoulder to shoulder with their fellow citizens and are fighting to defend not only their homeland but the ancient traditions of their faith and the right of every individual, no matter what his race, to maintain his dignity as a human being, Count Potocki, Polish Ambassador to the United States, told the Third Biennial Conference of the Federations of Polish Jews abroad tonight. The Ambassador spoke from the Polish Embassy, and his words were carried by telephone to the conference, meeting in the Astor Hotel in New York.
After castigating the German attack for its savagery, and as a war upon unprotected civilians, the Polish Ambassador said:
“While, as a Pole, I have tried to give you a picture of what is taking place in our homeland and of the issues involved in this struggle, I want to impress upon you that no matter what your feelings and sympathies, as American citizens you must follow only the leadership of your country and act strictly in accordance with its interests and traditions. We in Poland do not know the meaning of divided loyalties. We do not want to introduce them here.
“You may be called upon to relieve the sufferings of your fellows in Poland and to rebuild their devastated homes. To that appeal, when it comes, I hope you will respond most generously. But beyond that it is not for you to take active part in a conflict to which your own country is not a party.
“In this struggle between might and right Poland will win. The time will come, as it did come so often in the history of our country, that Poland shall rise again. Towards this hour every Polish citizen, Christian and Jew, will strive, will hope and will pray.”
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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.
