“Anti-Semitism is a manifestation of a canker eating at the very heart of Christianity and must be eradicated both out of justice to the Jews and for the protection of the very basis of Western civilization,” Premier Jan Smuts of the Union of South Africa declared today in a message read to the 350 delegates at the opening session of the fourteenth biennial congress of the Board of Deputies of South African Jews.
Expressing his belief that a “stable post-war structure must provide freedom and equality for the Jews and also implementation of the promise of a Jewish National Home,” the Premier stated that “Jews were the first victims of the barbarous regime which has trampled the precious principles of Western civilization. Their sorrows merge with the greater sorrows of mankind. I believe that in the liberation that will follow this nightmare the meaning of the Jewish sacrifice will be understood.”
Field Marshall Smuts paid tribute to the “fine war work of South African Jewry,” and mentioned the names of some of the outstanding Jewish casualties killed in action. His message called for still further sacrifices in order to guarantee victory.
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