Apparently inspired by a central official source, Jewish leaders today carried a blunt warning to German Jewry that a future in the Reich was forever closed to them. The message was delivered on the eve of celebration of the fifth anniversary of Chancellor Adolf Hitler’s advent to power.
Speaking from the pulpit of the Fasanenstrasse Synagogue, Dr. Heinrich Stahl, president of the Berlin Jewish Community, addressed a large gathering in these measured words:
“To those among our youth who have not yet decided to emigrate, I say there is no future for the Jews in this country. Whatever changes may be forthcoming for us will not probably be for the better.”
This was the first time so blunt and outspoken a message has been publicly delivered by a responsible Jewish leader. Other speakers at the Jewish Community and other meetings spoke similarly. Moritz Rosenthal, first vice-president of the Jewish Community, referred to German Jewish emigres of past years and declared:
“Our German emigres must be prepared to understand and to accept wholeheartedly the new conditions under which they are going to live. Only in this way can they avoid creating hostility in their new surroundings.”
He appealed to thinly populated British dominions to open their doors to Jews, particularly in view of the fact that the gateway to Palestine was nearly shut. He pointed out that few Britons were willing to settle and “we Jews, on the other hand, would willingly go as pioneers to such lands to help to upbuild them.”
He expressed the hope that constructive emigration measures would be reached at the forthcoming emigration conference under the auspices of the International Labor Office.
Meanwhile, the Juedische Rundschau, weekly organ of the German Zionists, was suspended until Feb. 26 by order of Hans Hinkel, Government Commissar for Jewish Cultural Affairs. No reason was given for the order, which was served last night while the paper was going to press. Today’s issue did not appear.
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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.
