“The fact that Central Europe is facing another ‘Nunger winter’ and that anti-Semitism is still rampant in Germany and Austria makes it imperative that the United Nations undertake at once concrete steps to solve the problem of 250,000 Jewish DP’s,” David Rosenstein, chairman of the American delegation to the World ORT Union Conference in Paris, declared today, upon his arrival in New York, from a two-month survey of Europe.
A leader of the American ORT Federation and a member of the JDC Reconstruction Committee, Mr. Rosenstein visited Germany, Austria, France and Italy to study social conditions and to explore post-war developments.
“General Lucius D. Clay, American Military Governor in Germany,” Mr. Rosenstein said, “was stating the issue squarely, when he stressed the other day before the United Nations Commission on Palestine, that the anti-Semitic seeds sown by Hitler in Germany and Austria still flourish strongly. Indeed, were it not for the presence of American military forces, pogroms would today be a common occurrence in Germany and Austria.”
Mr. Rosenstein pointed out that, as a result of the worst dry spell in decades, the coming winter months may well be explosive, due to the liquidation of UNRRA and the inability of IRO to take over its funcitons immediately. “Only the opening of the gates of Palestine, the United States and other countries can bring about a permanent solutio of the problem of the displaced persons,” he said. “From what I saw of the quality and potential of these people, any country that admits them will be the gainer, economically and spiritually.”
ORT vocational schools and JDC employment projects have turned apathy and despair into courage and hope, Mr. Rosenstein reported. “The mental resiliency, the moral fervor, the spiritual aspirations of the DP’s who have been reached in the constructive manner can match the best we have to offer in the most favorably circumstanced communities anywhere,” he declared. “This should stir us to strain every private and governmental resource to provide these reconstructive and restorative facilities in the European DP settlements and camps. But, above all, with these great life-saving services must come generous opportunities for migration and resettlement, so that the incentives and the objectives of vocational training may be fully realized.”
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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.
