JOSEPH C. HYMAN, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE JOINT DISTRIBUTION COMMITTEE, DECLARED HERE TODAY THE J.D.C. HAD NO DESIRE TO COMPETE WITH ANY OTHER ORGANIZATION IN PALESTINE AID AND ALSO CONDEMNED THE “SEPARATE AND COMPETITIVE” CAMPAIGN OF THE FEDERATION OF POLISH JEWS FOR THE JEWS IN POLAND.
ADDRESSING THE EASTERN CENTRAL REGIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE NATIONAL COUNCIL OF JEWISH FEDERATIONS AND WELFARE FUNDS, MR. HYMAN DEFINED J.D.C. POLICY AS “NON-POLITICAL” AND “NON-PROPAGANDIST,” AND DENIED THAT THE J.D.C. AND THE AMERICAN JEWISH COMMITTEE “ARE ONE AND THE SAME ORGANIZATION.”
HE SAID THE J.D.C. WAS DEDICATED TO THE FUNDAMENTAL PROPOSAL THAT JEWS, LIKE OTHER ELEMENTS IN THE POPULATION, HAVE A RIGHT TO REMAIN IN THE COUNTRIES OF THEIR BIRTH AS “PART AND PARCEL, BONE AND SINEW OF THEIR NATIVE COUNTRIES,” BUT ADDED THAT “WE CANNOT AFFORD TO OVERLOOK ANY POSSIBLE OUTLET THROUGH WHICH SUBSTANTIAL NUMBERS OF THE JEWISH POPULATIONS MAY GO TO GAIN A FOOTHOLD FOR EXISTENCE ELSEWHERE.”
HE SAID IT WOULD BE NECESSARY IN 1938 TO SUPPORT INSTITUTIONS AIDING THE JEWS ECONOMICALLY “ON A MUCH LARGER SCALE THAN EVER BEFORE,” TO COOPERATE WITH CULTURAL, RELIGIOUS, EDUCATIONAL AND HEALTH ORGANIZATIONS, TO COLLABORATE WITH ORGANIZATIONS FOR TRAINING JEWISH YOUTH FOR PRODUCTIVE OCCUPATIONS AND TO “GIVE OUR CONSIDERED JUDGMENT” TO IMMIGRATION POSSIBILITIES THROUGHOUT THE WORLD.”
MR. HYMAN’S STATEMENT THAT THE J.D.C. “HAS NO DESIRE TO SUBSTITUTE FOR OR COMPETE WITH THE ACTIVITIES CONDUCTED BY ANY OTHER COMPETENT, RESPONSIBLE ORGANIZATION” IN PALESTINE WAS INTERPRETED AS A REPLY TO RUMORS THAT NON-ZIONISTS PLANNED A CAMPAIGN FOR PALESTINE IN COMPETITION WITH THE UNITED PALESTINE APPEAL BECAUSE OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN ZIONISTS AND NON-ZIONISTS IN THE JEWISH AGENCY COUNCIL.
REFERRING TO “CONFUSION THAT HAS CREPT INTO SOME MINDS” REGARDING THE J.D.C.’S ATTITUDE TOWARD PALESTINE, HE EXPLAINED THAT THE J.D.C. WAS NOT ZIONIST, NON-ZIONIST OR ANTI-ZIONIST AND DECLARED THE J.D.C. HAD ON ITS BOARD OF DIRECTORS AND EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEN OF DIFFERING OUTLOOK ON PALESTINE.
REGARDING THE POLISH FEDERATION, MR. HYMAN CALLED ITS CAMPAIGN “UNWISE AND UNDESIRABLE” AND DECLARED THAT THE “RELATIVELY SMALL SUMS THAT HAVE BEEN RAISED ARE FREQUENTLY COLLECTED AT THE EXPENSE OF MUCH LARGER POTENTIAL INCOME OF THE J.D.C.”
“THEY SEEK TO DUPLICATE THE WORK OF THE COMMITTEE,” HE ASSENTED, “IN CAMPAIGNS HERE AND IN SERVICE ABROAD. THEY CREATE UNFOUNDED HOPES ABROAD. THEY TEND TO DIVIDE AND CONFUSE COMMUNITIES. THEY SET AN UNWHOLESOME PRECEDENT FOR SEPARATIST ACTION ON THE PART OF ANY GROUP THAT MAY BE DISSATISFIED WITH THE BUDGETARY ALLOTMENTS OF THE ONE AGENCY, THE J.D.C., WHICH HAS SOUGHT TO DO EVEN-HANDED JUSTICE, NOT ALONE TO THE JEWS IN EASTERN EUROPE, BUT TO THE JEWS IN OTHER LANDS OF DISTRESS AND SUFFERING.”
MR. HYMAN ALSO REVIEWED THE JEWISH SITUATION IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE AND ANALYZED J.D.C. EXPENDITURES.
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.
