U.S. Must Give Exiles Haven Until Freedom Returns to Reich, Ickes Asserts

The United States must welcome exiled scientists and artists and benefit from their contributions until “the bright ray of freedom” breaks through in Europe’s totalitarian states, Secretary of Interior Harold L. Ickes declared tonight at a dinner in his honor given by the American Guild for German Cultural Freedom.

Attacking the racial theory as “neo-barbarian” and the “marsh light of a dictator,” Mr. Ickes contrasted the intolerance “in certain countries in Europe today” with America’s utilization of the talents of people from many races and cultures and concluded by quoting Thomas Jefferson’s prophecy that the flames of freedom would “consume the feeble engines of despotism.”

Mr. Ickes spoke at the Hotel Waldorf-Astoria to an audience gathered to honor him for his “brave and forthright stand against dictators, on behalf of civil liberties and freedom of speech and assembly.” The speech, entitled “Culture Requires Freedom,” was broadcast over an NBC network. Other scheduled speakers were Alvarez del Vayo, Spanish Republican Foreign Minister; Thomas Mann, Prince Hubertus zu Lowenstein and Stanley Richardson, representing the Archbishop of York.

The Secretary of Interior was the second Cabinet member within two days to speak of tolerance towards immigrants. Secretary of Agriculture Henry A. Wallace, chairman of the United States New York World’s Fair Commission, welcoming foreign government exhibitors at a dinner last night, stressed American tolerance “toward all races and creeds.” He said the United States had found it possible to make the peculiarities of various races and cultures “a source of strength to a united state.”

Mr. Ickes, rejecting the dictators’ idea of a specially-designated race, declared that “we are the splendid amalgam of every European people, including those whose governments now claim exclusive purity.” Pointing out that Germany alone had enriched the United States with 400 scientists, artists and men of letters in the last six years, he termed their exiling a “tragic commentary upon twentieth century civilization” and stressed that the United States must see to it that it could always welcome such immigrants.

“They are thrice welcome here as kindred civilized beings,” he declared. “We are proud and gratified to have them make their home with us where they can live and work in an atmosphere of freedom. They have witnessed scenes of desolation and terror; their startled eyes have seen what happens to culture and to all the sacred values of civilization when a sterile and brutal intelligence is permitted to make a litter of the rights of humanity; a shambles of the fruits of the spirit. They have seen the devastating results that follow the assassination of character, the murder of culture, the strangulation of the spirit and even the torture of human bodies. And having seen, it is natural that they should come to us, rededicated to the ideal of freedom and democracy, as it is natural that we should welcome them as the inheritors of a common culture, as guardians of the spirit of civilization.

“These scientists and artists and men of letters are living reminders of the ancient truth that even the most powerful tyrant cannot kill the soul of man. The tyrant represents only the nether spirit of his country. Under a tyranny the best and noblest of a people submerge or go into exile. Those in retirement bide their time until the bright ray of freedom again breaks through the lowering clouds, as in due course it will do even in the totalitarian states of Europe. Those in exile carry on, despite privations and obstacles, as true soldiers of the spirit. They keep alive the sacred fire of their culture on foreign shores and wait for the day of liberation to come. In the meantime, we, the hosts of so many of these men of the spirit, are the gainers, benefiting from their skill, and learning from their wisdom and their experiences. And as hosts of precious guests, we must not forget the obligations of hospitality; we must do all that lies in our power to contribute to the welfare and happiness of those who honor us with their presence.”