Prime Minister Jan C. Smuts today paid tribute to Jewish participation in the South African war effort, in a message to the South African Zionist conference which opened in Bloemfontein.
“Your troubles have merged in the vaster troubles which have overtaken the major portion of banking in the present catastrophe,” Gen. Smuts said. “In such circumstances of universal calamity we can but stand loyally with each other and range ourselves in the joint defense of ideals which we share in common.
“I am glad to say that as far as South Africa is concerned, the response of Jewish citizens is just as good as that of other sections of the population. Their percentage in voluntary military service is approximately the same as the Afrikaner and British sections. The efforts of Jewish women on the home front are very great.
“In the years following the war it will be remembered that the Jews neither failed nor faltered in supporting the Allies. Let’s fight the good fight with all our might.”
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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.
