The Cuban Government had under consideration today a plan broached by Congressman William Sirovich of New York for settling from 100,000 to 200,000 German Jews in an industrial colony in Cuba.
After an interview with President Miguel Gomez, Mr. Sirovich represented him as “greatly interested” and ready to consider a definite plan if proposed by a group of internationally prominent persons. Mr. Sirovich said President Roosevelt as well as industrialists and other congressmen favored such a plan.
Mr. Sirovich’s next step was to fly to Los Angeles where he said he would confer with Louis B. Mayer regarding formation of an international committee to present the plan formally in the form of a brief in September.
He said refugees could help solve Cuba’s unemployment problem by creating new industries and markets and assisting in building the nation’s merchant marine. He added:
“The Jewish settlers would apply brain and brawn in opening world markets for new Cuban industrial products. The project would not clash with either the Palestine project or the Soviet’s Biro-Bidjan project as some Jews do not desire to migrate to the Holy Land with the present Arabian trouble, and others do not desire to live under a communistic State.
“I told President Gomez that Cuba as a daughter of Spain may now open her gates to religious and racial tolerance to the same people Spain expelled more than four centuries ago.”
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.
