Seymour Lachman, president of the city’s Board of Education, has appealed on “humanitarian grounds and these alone” to Syria’s Minister of Education “to use your influence on behalf of the small remnant of Syrian Jews still residing in your country.” Lachman, an Orthodox Jew, asked Hafaz Al-Jamali to use his influence to allow some 4000 Jews still in Syria “to leave in peace to whatever country they choose.” Lachman also stated in his letter: “I believe our educational goals are quite similar in that one of our essential concerns is to transmit to our young a respect for humanity.” The Board of Education official said he wrote the letter on April 22 but did not disclose it until now because he did not want publicity to interfere with any progress. He said he disclosed it now “because a sufficient amount of time had passed with no answer.”
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.
