“The world was shocked to speechlessness by the obliteration of the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by atomic boms, but no such shock was noticed when innocent Jews-ten-fold the number of the victims in the two Japanese cities combined-were exterminated in Europe,” Dr. Stephen S. Wise declared today addressing the opening session of the European conference of the World Jewish Congress. More than 90 delegates representing Jewish communities in 13 countries are attending.
The conference, which will last through Wednesday, was opened by Lady Reading who emphasized that the Jews in the free countries “worked day and night to help their brethron.” If their efforts were not fruitful, it was because they could do little against the tide of the Jewish tragady, she said.
Dr. Wise, presiding, pointed out that the World Jewish Congress places itself unreservedly under the Zionist banner. At the same time, the Congress will work for the rebuilding of the life and dignity of the Jews in devastated countries, he said. He paid tribute to the late President Roosevelt emphasizing his friendship for the Jews.
Fred C. Hoehler, director of UNRRA’s department for displaced persons, told the conference that beginning in October UNRRA will take over full responsibility from the military authorities for organizing relief in Germany for displaced persons. He stated that UNRRA is grievously disturbed over its inability to move rapidly up to now, but expressed hope of improvement under the leadership of Herbert H. Lehman. UNRRA, he said, welcomes the fact that the State Department permitted the American Jewish Conference, the World Jewish Congress and the Vaad Haatzalah to send ten representatives to Europe to act as liaison officers in camps where Jewish stateless refugees are in need of UNRRA said.
Dr. Nahum Goldmann told the conference that the destruction of a large majority of European Jews represents a revolutionary change in the internal structure and the external position of the Jewish people. “We are now living in a transitory moment,” he said. “The time has not yet come to draw conclusions. If the demand for the establishment of a Jewish State in Palestine is successful, it will be a historic event which will affect the whole structure and set-up of the Jewish people.”
The World Jewish Congress does not represent a specific ideology, he emphasized, declaring that all parties can work within its framework. “It is the right and the duty of our people to defend our common interests through common action and to speak on matters common to all Jews as a united body on the basis of the activities of the Congress,” he concluded.
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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.
