Ica Appeals to Brazil to Remove Bar on Settlement of German Jews

AN APPEAL BY SIR OSMOND D’AVIGDOR GOLDSMID, PRESIDENT OF THE JEWISH COLONIZATION ASSOCIATION, TO BRAZIL TO RECONSIDER ITS REFUSAL TO GRANT PERMISSION FOR SETTLEMENT OF A NUMBER OF GERMAN JEWISH FAMILIES ON THE ICA ESTATE IN THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO WAS MADE PUBLIC TODAY.

SIR OSMOND’S PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS, DELIVERED NOV. 17 BEFORE THE ANNUAL MEETING OF THE ASSOCIATION, DESCRIBES THE ICA’S EFFORTS TO SETTLE JEWS IN BRAZIL, DEFENDS THE ORGANIZATION’S COLONIZATION METHODS AND PAYS TRIBUTE TO THE LATE FELIX M. WARBURG. IN REFERENCE TO BRAZIL HE SAID:

“CONFIDENT OF THE TOLERANCE AND GENEROSITY HITHERTO SHOWN TO THE ICA BY THE BRAZIL AUTHORITIES, AND ALSO RELYING ON CERTAIN ASSURANCES GIVEN TO US, WE AGREED TO MAKE CONSIDERABLE MATERIAL AND TECHNICAL SACRIFICES FOR THE CREATION OF AN AGRICULTURAL COLONY IN THE STATE OF RIO DE JANEIRO.

“UNFORTUNATELY, AUTHORIZATION FOR SETTLING THERE OF CAREFULLY SELECTED FAMILIES FROM GERMANY, WHOSE LOYALTY AND MORAL STANDARDS ARE GUARANTEED, HAS BEEN, TO OUR SURPRISE, REFUSED. THIS REFUSAL IS STILL IN FORCE. THE ATTITUDE OF THE BRAZILIAN AUTHORITIES IN THIS MATTER SEEMS TO US INEXPLICABLE AND UNJUSTIFIED EITHER FROM THE LEGAL, ECONOMIC OR ANY OTHER VIEWPOINT, LET ALONE THE VIEWPOINT OF HUMANITY.

“WE STILL DO NOT WISH TO BELIEVE IT IS A DEFINITIVE REFUSAL ON THE PART OF A STATE WHICH HITHERTO HAS SHOWN ITSELF INSPIRED BY THE GENERALLY RECOGNIZED FEELINGS OF GENEROSITY. THAT IS WHY WE HOPE IT HAS NOT SAID THE LAST WORD ON THIS MATTER.”

REVIEWING THE GENERAL POSITION OF THE JEWS IN CENTRAL AND EASTERN EUROPE, SIR OSMOND EMPHASIZED THAT THE FUTURE PROSPECTS WERE THE BLACKEST EVER. HE NOTED WITH SATISFACTION THE PROGRESS OF GERMAN JEWISH SETTLEMENT IN ICA COLONIES IN ARGENTINA. DEFENDING THE ICA AGAINST THE CRITICISM THAT ITS COLONIZATION EFFORTS WERE PALTRY, HE SAID THAT GRANDIOSE COLONIZATION PLANS WERE EVOLVED BY DREAMERS WITHOUT EXPERIENCE, WHILE THE ICA’S FUNDAMENTAL RULES FOR SETTLEMENT OF JEWS OVERSEAS WERE EVOLVED AFTER LONG AND OFTEN BITTER EXPERIENCE INSPIRED BY THE WISH TO REDUCE TO A MINIMUM THE RISKS ENTAILED BY SUCH A DELICATE ENTERPRISE.

REFERRING TO THE EMICA’S PLANS IN THE HULEH AREA OF PALESTINE, SIR OSMOND DECLARED THEIR REALIZATION DEPENDED ON THE FINAL SOLUTION OF THE PALESTINE PROBLEM. HE EMPHASIZED THE RIGHTNESS OF THE ICA’S POLICY OF REQUIRING COLONISTS AND DEBTORS OF FOUNDATIONS AND LOAN BANKS TO BE REGULAR AND PUNCTUAL IN THEIR PAYMENT OF CREDITS SINCE, HE SAID, SUCH A POLICY ALONE WAS ENABLING THE ICA TO CONTINUE ITS EFFORTS TO SUCCOR DISTRESSED JEWS OF GERMANY AND EASTERN EUROPE.