The official figures made publict by the German government disclose that sixty-five thousand Jews have left Germany since Hitler came to power, but that half a million Jews are still in Germany.
These figures are to be borne in mind when speaking of the situation of the German Jews. It is quite clear that no matter how large the Jewish immigration from Germany may be, the bulk of German Jewry is determined to remain in Germany.
German Jewry has not given up its hopes for just and equal treatment. It still considers Germany its fatherland, despite the anti-Jewish policy of the Hitler government. It is still patriotic, because it believes that the German nation as a whole has nothing to do with Jew – baiting now going on throughout the country.
SELF-DETERMINATION WANTED
Those who have been in Germany well know that not all the people agree with the Nazi discriminations against the Jews. There are even good Nazis who believe that Hitler would do better for Germany if he let the Jews alone.
The hope which Jewish leaders in Germany entertain that the problem of the German Jews will be solved within Germany, and not outside the country, is therefore to a great extent justified. Little by little, the Jews in Germany may come to be recognized by the Nazi regime as a constructive element in all fields of life, just as they are now being recognized as an essential element in Germany’s commercial system.
BASELESS CRITICISM
In this connection it must be said that a very grave injustice is done to the leaders of German Jewry by those in America who allege that German Jewry has not displayed sufficient courage in the fight for their rights. This allegation is altogether baseless and can come only from people who know nothing of the present state of affairs in Jewish life in Germany.
Spending over a year in Berlin under the Nazi regime, and watching very closely the Jewish activities there, I can only testify that the Jewish leaders have acted with the greatest dignity as far as making representations to the Hitler government goes. Much of what has been done by the Jewish leaders in Germany in connection with their demands to the Nazi government is not a matter to be discussed in the press. It will, however, be sufficient to say that the leaders of German Jewry have not permitted themselves to be used as tools and have stood up courageously for their interests, often even to the point of exposing themselves to real danger.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
The question as to whether German Jewry is acting bravely or not is certainly not a matter to be discussed in the United States, where very few know the actual problems. This matter should be left entirely in the hands of the Jews in Germany. History will show how courageously they have struggled for their rights.
What American Jewry, however, needs to remember is that there are still a half million Jews in Germany today ### that the wave of Jewish immigration from Germany is ### likely to reach such proportion as it reached during the fir## year of the Hitler regime.
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.
