High Commissioner James G. McDonald, League of Nations refugee chief, officially declared today: “I know nothing whatsoever of the scheme reported in a morning newspaper for ‘large scale Jewish settlement in Angola.’ I have not been consulted on any such proposal, nor have I directly or indirectly mentioned such a subject either to the League of Nations authorities or to the Portuguese government. Nor have I at any time suggested that a loan be raised in the United States or anywhere else for this purpose.
“A report on the work of the High Commission for German Refugees and its estimate of possibilities of settlement overseas for Jewish and non-Jewish refugees is expected to be made at the opening session of the governing body of the commission, which meets here on May 2.”
An official statement issued here by the Portuguese Embassy to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency declared: “Several weeks ago we received inquiries from Paris about settlement in Angola. We immediately dispatched to Paris a copy of the Portuguese immigration regulations. The matter ended there.”
J D C DENIES FUND STORY
In a statement issued yesterday the Joint Distribution Committee denied that it is preparing to give $10,000,000 for the settlement of Jews in Angola, Portuguese West Africa, as reported in several of yesterday’s papers.
“Our attention has been called” read the statement, “to a news item appearing in this morning’s papers to the effect that the Joint Distribution Committee is reported to be prepared to advance $10,000,000 toward the establishment of an autonomous Jewish state in Angola, Portuguese West Africa.
“The Angola project has not even been submitted to the Joint Distribution Committee.
“It is one of a considerable number of proposals that have been made to some organizations interesting themselves in the plight of the German Jewish refugees.
“The statement that the Joint Distribution Committee has $10,000,000 at its disposal for this or any other project is entirely incorrect.”
The London Daily Herald yesterday reported that the Joint Distribution Committee is prepared to advance $10,000,000 for the Angola project.
According to the newspaper, Sir John Simon, British Foreign Secretary, and many other notables in public life are taking a keen interest in the proposed settlement of five million Jews in Angola, in Portugese West Africa.
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.
