World Jewish Congress Reports on the 25 Years of Its Activities

A report on the major activities of the World Jewish Congress during the 25 years of its existence was published here today by the headquarters of the WJC here. The report, prepared by Dr. Isaac Schwarzbart, head of the Organization Department, reflects the changes which have taken place in Jewish life throughout the world during the last 25 years.

Simultaneously with the issuance of this report, the World Jewish Congress called upon its affiliate organizations throughout the world to observe the 25th anniversary during this summer. The call urges the affiliate groups “to bring home to the widest possible number of Jewish people” the activities conducted by the WJC over a period of a whole generation.

“During the 25 years of its existence the WJC struggled with considerable success, to achieve constructive unity of the Jewish people,” the appeal stresses. “Its success is attested to by these two facts, among others: that affiliates from 60 countries are today united in the Congress for a common purpose; and that the executive of the World Jewish Congress is composed of elected representatives of these affiliates from 28 countries.

“The observance of the Congress anniversary, it is hoped, will lead to a growing awareness of the remarkable degree of active unity already achieved by the WJC in the interest of the Jewish people. Nevertheless, much remains to be done if we are to attain an even greater peak of unity. We live today in such an anxious, troubled, unstable world, fraught with so many crucial problems, that the need for a broader and greater unity of the Jewish people has become more urgent than ever before. The World Jewish Congress stands for such unity,” the appeal concludes.

REVIEWS JEWISH LOSSES AND GAINS; FINDS U.S. JEWRY INSPIRING

Reviewing the losses suffered by world Jewry during the last 25 years in various countries under dictatorial regimes, the WJC report also deals with the positive developments in Jewish life during that period and emphasizes that “the re-establishment of the State of Israel, 1878 years after the destruction of the Jewish Commonwealth by the Romans, is, of course, the acme of constructive achievements of our people in the last 25 years.”

“The other great positive development to be listed in the balance sheet of our life in the last 25 years is the rise of over six million Jews in the Western Hemisphere and their development into a new reservoir of Jewish forces, ” the report says. “Here the largest Jewish community in the world, that of the United States of America, has grown into a stronghold of Jewish life, a mainspring of spiritual and material encouragement, a rich laboratory of Jewish culture, learning, and self-assertion, notwithstanding the forces of disintegration which are active in this populous Jewish community, too.

“It seems like another miraculous act of Providence that as though to make up for the tragic destruction of the historic Jewish communities in Eastern Europe, this great Jewish community has sprung up in the New World, proving anew that our belief in the indestructibility of the Jewish people in spite of so many disasters is justified; In the drama of history, American Jewry has been chosen to play a leading part in the destiny of our people. Growing strength and a new sense of responsibility for the present and future of the Jewish people are manifested also to the south of the United States by the 650,000 Jews of Latin America and to the north of the United States by the 230,000 Jews of Canada,” the WJC report states.