Walter Kotschning, director of the Office of United Nations Economic and Social Affairs, has advised Rep. Emanuel Celler that no support can be given to an Orthodox Jewish proposal that an amendment be added to the U.N. Covenant on Human Rights to insure return of European war orphans to the religion of their parents. The proposal was submitted to the United Nations by Dr. Isaac Lewin, a leader of the Agudas Israel of America.
Mr. Kotsching explained that such an amendment “would open wide the door to numerous other detailed amendments to other articles of the Covenanat and on other subjects which might easily jeopardize the establishment of the Covenant within the foreseeable future.”
“It might be added that we are fully aware of the weight of your concern in this matter and the human tragedy involved in the fate of children disassociated from the religious and cultural background of their parents,” Mr. Kotschnig added. “Specifically, it is hoped that other ways and means can be found to assure the religious education of children of Jewish parentage in the faith of their parents,” he declared.
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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.
