Representatives of a number of central Jewish organizations, including the World Jewish Congress, the American Jewish Committee, and Agudas Israel, are attending the sessions of the United Nations Committee on Refugees and Displaced Persons here as observers.
In a memorandum to the committee, the Agudas Israel today requested immediate consideration of the problem of Jewish war orphans who are still in non-Jewish homes throughout Europe. Declaring that it is the right of every child to take the religion of its parents, the memorandum says “to save the life of the orphan and than to rob it of its religious belief would amount to spiritual looting, contrary to the four freedoms.”
The memorandum also stated that it was the inalienable right of every Jew to enter Palestine, and asked that measures be enacted to facilitate the reunion of families now split between Europe and Palestine. It pointed to the existence of such special immigrant categories in America and Great Britain.
Committee Chairman Hector McNeil yesterday urged the formation of four sub-committee to perform the following functions: find countries of possible settlement and ascertain how many refugees each would accept; establish machinery for dealing with the refugees; financial and fact-finding.
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