Two American officials of the Intergovernmental Refugee Committee left here today for Berlin to face high leaders of the Reich Government for the first time on German soil for a concrete discussion of the emigration problem. George Rublee, director of the Refugee Bureau, and Robert Pell, assistant director, departed after conferring with French Foreign Office officials.
“Our trip,” the delegation informed the J.T.A. correspondent,” is an exploration trip. We want to establish where the German Government stands on certain aspects of (Reichsbank President Dr. Hjalmar) Schacht’s plan which are notably unacceptable to all governments participating in the Intergovernmental Refugee Committee, and also to clarify other matters prior to the meeting of the Intergovernmental Committee opening in London on Jan. 26.”
The discussions in Berlin, the delegation disclosed, will concern the following points: (1) What alternatives Germany is willing to offer instead of the unacceptable details of the Schacht’s proposal; (2) How many thousands of Jews and “non-Aryans” the Reich Government will permit to emigrate annually with a certain proportion of their capital; (3) The securing of a promise that Jews be given an opportunity to live in peace in the Reich until their turn to emigrate comes; (4) Organization and financing of emigration.
The discussions are expected to last until Jan. 20. The results will then be reported by Mr. Rublee to a meeting of the officers of the Intergovernmental Committee to be held about Jan. 22 in Paris, prior to the plenary meeting of the committee in London on Jan. 26.
Emphasizing that the Schacht plan contains not only financial recommendations, but also suggestions on how emigration from the Reich should be organized, the delegation said that when the conversations in Berlin clarified what quota of emigrants Germany was willing to permit to leave the country along the lines of the Schacht plan, it would then be the task of the Intergovernmental Committee to establish how this quota would be distributed among the other countries for absorption.
Although no Italian representative will participate in the Berlin conversations, the delegation stated that there was a definite connection between the negotiations and Premier Benito Mussolini’s promise to United States Ambassador William Phillips to support a solution of the refugee problem. The delegation assumed that Premier Mussolini may seek to influence Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
At the same time the delegation doubted the truth of reports that the Bank for International Settlements board of governors, holding its monthly session today in Basel, Switz- erland, would take up the Schacht plan. It was emphasized that the bank had nothing to do with the plan. “Montagu Norman (Governor of the Bank of England) and Dr. Schacht, who are participating in the Basel session, will, however, undoubtedly continue their private discussions, which took place in Berlin during Mr. Norman’s visit there,” the delegation said.
Certain details of the Schacht plan have been rejected by the governments participating in the Intergovernmental Committee after a study of financial aspects of the plan by these governments’ experts. At any rate, “our trip is a step forward in the effort to bring the Jews and “non-Aryans” out of the Reich,” Mr. Pell said.
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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.
