Contact with Jewish communities in the Soviet-held zone of Germany “has proved impossible to maintain” because the Russian authorities have refused to give any information about them, Harry Greenstein, advisor on Jewish affairs to the American Military Government in Germany, reported today at a conference of representatives of central Jewish world organizations and of the Central Committee of Liberated Jews.
The conference, held at Heidelberg, was addressed yesterday by John J. McCloy, American High Commissioner designate for Germany, and by Dr. Eugen Kogon, a German liberal Catholic editor. Mr. McCloy said he thought it was of utmost importance that a permanent Jewish community should again arise in Germany. “The world will carefully watch the new Western German state,” he asserted, “and one of the tests by which it will be judged will be its attitude towards the Jews and how it treats them.”
Dr. Kogon also advocated that the future German state should make an effort “to wipe out the bitter heritage of Hitler’s crimes against the Jews” and develop good relations with the state of Israel.
Mr. Greenstein told the conference that there are now between 55,000 and 60,000 Jews in Western Germany and Western Berlin. He estimated that in the Soviet zone of Germany there are about 15,000 Jews. The number in Western Germany, he emphasized, was liable to be further reduced by the emigration of about 30,000 by the end of this year. Further developments, he said, would depend on the general conditions of life for Jews in Germany. At his suggestion, the conference decided to set up a permanent organization to represent the interests of the Jewish community.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
