George Rublee resigned today as director of the Inter-governmental Refugee Committee after having presented to a plenary session of the 32-power Evian body his report on a three-point program for orderly Jewish emigration from Germany which he negotiated with Reich officials in Berlin. His post will be taken over by Sir Herbert Emerson, who will combine it with his functions as League of Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Mr. Rublee’s resignation will take effect immediately after he has dispatched to the German Government the committee’s reply to the emigration program. The 70-year-old Washington attorney, who was elected to his post last August on nomination of President Roosevelt, will return to the United States Saturday on the Queen Mary. He said the duties of his legal practice obliged him to give up the post, which he had filled at considerable personal inconvenience, the Berlin negotiations having taken much longer than he had anticipated.
Lord Winterton, chairman, and Myron C. Taylor, American vice-chairman, delivered speeches thanking Mr. Rublee for his services and voicing regret at his retirement. Robert Pell, of the United States State Department, who has been assistant to Mr. Rublee, will be appointed Vice-Director of the committee.
The emigration proposals outlined to the committee this morning, contained in a memorandum by Dr. Helmut Wohlthat, ministerial director of the German Economics Ministry, provide for the following: 1) Emigration of a stipulated number of Jews from the Reich annually; 2) living conditions for the Jews pending emigration; 3) transfer of the emigrant’s capital.
It is understood that Jews will be allowed, under the terms of the memorandum, to engage in trade pending emigration. This provision, which is subject to certain conditions, is held to be an important concession since Jews have been virtually barred from earning a livelihood under decrees issued after the assassination of a German Embassy official in Paris by a young Polish Jew last November.
Although transfer of very little capital is provided for in the memorandum, the whole transfer question remains open. It was understood that the governments attending the meeting would be asked how far they would contribute to a settlement of the refugee problem.
Other matters scheduled to be discussed at the current session, which is expected to continue on Tuesday, were the proposal for inclusion in the committee’s scope of 14,000 Polish Jews deported from Germany to Poland and negotiations with the Dominican Republic and other governments regarding settlement of refugees. Last night the steering committee, comprising Lord Winterton and the vice-chairman, held an informal dinner meeting at the Claridge to discuss procedure for today’s session.
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