“The situation is real and demands realistic handling. The Hitler government has given more than one token that there is to be no quarter. The Jews are completely outside the pale of subsistence in Germany and in continuous fear of physical annihilation. The time for the old palliatives has long since passed. This is a new situation, a graver situation than any man of this generation has witnessed. The old bromides are ineffectual. A new formula is imperative.
“The first ingredient of this new formula must be unity. Unity of action and not mere verbiage. From such unity must follow a policy and a program in behalf of German Jewry, in behalf of American Jewry….
“For the American Jewish Congress I make the pledge that it will not desist from its efforts on behalf of the Jews of Germany until their rights shall be fully restored.
“I appeal to American Jewry to render the accomplishment of its program possible by supporting its $1,000,000 Defense Fund against Hitlerism.
“May that fraternity of spirit and action evolve from this holy of days at the end of that the glory of Israel may be preserved.”
FROM PALESTINE
Rabbi Abraham Isaac Hacohen Kook, chief rabbi of Palestine, sent the following message:
“I send my heartfelt blessing from Zion to all the people of the Lord. In this year may we reap with song what we have sown with tears for the good of our nation and our Holy Land; may every party labor for the common good of all Jewry; and may our enemies, recognizing the purity of our aims, which are no less for the good of humanity as a whole than for ourselves in particular, cease to put obstacles in our way, and leave us to build up our nation and our country in the spirit of the Lord, whose words are always with us.” L. Ickes and George H. Dern, the Secretary of War, sent the following messages:
“Jews throughout the world celebrating the advent of the New Year, 5694, should be proud of their great record as a people. Not only in my own country but in other lands, those sterling qualities of faith and patience and courage which have characterized the Jews for centuries are still ingrained in the hearts of that race and are meeting the fire of adversity.
“The world has been undergoing a period of severe spiritual and economic stress. America has not escaped. Its people Jew and Gentile alike—have suffered, but have stood the test.
“The will and the strength to suffer must now be replaced by the will to overthrow the forces of defeatism and pessimism. This will to struggle desperately for better things is strongly implanted in the hearts of the Jewish people here and I have no doubt that this fine quality is shared by Jews in every land.”
(Signed) Harold L. Ickes.
“It gives me great pleasure to be able through you to transmit a message to the loyal and patriotic Jews of the United States.
“We of the War Department are ###
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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.
