Terming the sinking of the ill-fated refugee ship Struma a “black and bloody spot” in the diary of the fighting democracies, and declaring that it is “impelled to say that what happened in the Black Sea is unworthy of the spirit of freedom,” Free World, a monthly magazine devoted to democracy and world affairs, appeared today with an editorial appealing to all the United Nations and to the Latin-American countries to freely admit all refugees from Axis-dominated Europe.
“No nation has the moral right today to close its frontiers to these victims,” the editorial says. “There are no longer any aliens, there are only friends or enemies. We must regard every refugee as a potential soldier and worker in the struggle for freedom. Within the bounds of precaution that will prevent the infiltration of the enemy, we must welcome and include without distinction the men of every race to aid us in this conflict. This must be proclaimed as a definite policy of the United Nations.”
Asking the governments of the Allied Powers “to settle once and for all this question of refugees,” the editorial concludes with a call to labor groups, farmers associations, women’s organizations, and the congregations of all churches “to express the popular will in support of this measure which will wipe from the pages of contemporary history a shameful indictment of our indifference to human suffering.”
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.
