The United States Government is giving careful consideration to the entire problem involved in the Goering decree for registration of Jews’ property, Acting Secretary of State Sumner Welles said today, adding that a report concerning American nationals’ property was being awaited from Hugh Wilson, Ambassador to Germany.
At the same time Representative Emanuel Celler of New York sent a letter to Secretary Cordell Hull declaring that “the world stands aghast at the sweeping anti-Semitic legislation.” Calling the planned confiscation of Jewish property “absolute thievery” and an offense against Article 1 of the German-American Treaty of Commerce and Friendship, Celler asked “a thorough investigation” to discover if treaty rights were violated and expressed the hope Secretary Hull would take necessary steps in protection of “the rights of our citizenry, to prevent the foul discrimination contemplated by Germany.”
The letter followed a discussion of the decree in both houses of Congress yesterday during which Senator Homer T. Bone of Washington attacked the Goering decree as “sadism” and “a reproach to modern civilization,” while, in the House, William Sirovich and Samuel Dickstein of New York assailed the measure.
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.
