All Jewish institutions and private business enterprises throughout Palestine closed this morning for two hours during mass-demonstrations between eleven and one o’clock, protesting the Nazi massacres of Jews in Europe and insisting that the United Nations take immediate steps to save those Jews who can still be rescued from Nazi countries.
A desperate appeal, issued in the name of all Jews of Palestine, to the democratic governments emphasized that the United Nations, by confining their efforts to declarations of sympathy with the Jews of Europe and by failing to take any concrete measures to save them, will not be able to claim that their hands have not helped to spill the blood of innocent Jews. “This blood,” the appeal says, “will boil and will not give rest to those who stood idle and complacent, satisfied with declarations of future reprisals while millions of our brethren and sisters were crying for help.”
The appeal was read at a large rally in Jerusalem on the premises of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, crowded with members of the Jewish National Council, members of the municipal councils and leaders of all Jewish political groups. Isaac Ben-Zvi, president of the Jewish National Council, in opening the protest meeting, addressed himself to the democratic nations asking them to “treat us as you would have acted if the slaughter affected you directly.”
The Rabbinate today also issued a proclamation addressed to the governments of the United Nations and the heads of all religions outside and within Nazi territories. “Save immediately those who can be saved,” the proclamation read. “Demand categorically from Germany that it open its gates for the emigration of the Jews. Let neutral and Allied governments open their gates for the entry of the Jewish refugees who are escaping the sword. Protest vigorously against the Nazi atrocities,”
Prayers were recited at the Wailing Wall all day by throngs of mourners. Holy tombs were visited and the shofar was sounded in synagogues. Similar demonstrations were held in all other cities and settlements throughout Palestine.
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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.
