The refugee-aid conference opening at Evian-Les-Bains on Wednesday does not aim to deal with the Jewish problem, but with refugees of all faiths, Myron C. Taylor, American delegate, emphasized tonight as he left for Evian.
Mr. Taylor left after spending the Fourth of July completing his message to the conference. he was accompanied by James G. McDonald, chairman of President Roosevelt’s Advisory Committee on Political Refugees, and Robert Pell and George Brandt, State Department officials assigned to Mr. Taylor as experts.
Before his departure, Mr. Taylor received from Rabbi Jonah B. Wise, chairman of the Joint Distribution Committee, and Dr. Bernhard Kahn, its European director, a message of greetings on behalf of the J.D.C. to the opening session, and also assurances that the organization is ready and anxious to cooperate to the fullest extent, in collaboration with other agencies in the great work which the J.D.C. feels sure will be accomplished by the conference.
According to information given by the American delegation to this correspondent, Mr. Taylor will deliver his message at the opening session, but does not intend to become chairman of the conference, although it was called on the initiative of the United States Government. The chairman will be Henri Berenger, the French delegate, chairman of the Senate Foreign Affairs Committee.
In addition to the J.D.C. message, among the principal material received today by Mr. Taylor is a joint memorandum signed by all leading Jewish organizations of Great Britain, Which Will Also be submitted directly to delegations of the others of the 30 nations To Be Represented At The conference. The memorandum, printed in English and French, is signed by the Council for German Jewry and is co-signed by the Jewish Agency for Palestine, the Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Colonization Association, the HIAS-ICA Emigration Association and the Agudath Israel. The memorandum reviews developments which have resulted in the creation of refugees, and also the Jewish situation in Poland, Rumania and Hungary. It emphasizes that a large-scale solution of the refugee problem is only possible when Germany agrees to permit Jews to transfer property when emigrating.
This principal Jewish memorandum will be supplemented by shorter memorandums, all to be submitted directly to each government delegation at Evian by the following organizations: ICA, on colonization; the HIAS-ICA, on emigration; the Zionist Executive, on Palestine possibilities; the World ORT Union, on professional training of emigrants, and the EMCOL, on undeveloped territories.
Simultaneous with Mr. Taylor’s departure, A delegation of the J.D.C. left for Evian, comprising Rabbi Wise, Harold K. Guinzberg and Alfred Jaretsky, All of New York, and Dr. Kahn and Nathan Katz. Among the J.D.C. material which Mr. Taylor took to Evian are two voluminous surveys, one of the countries to which refugees immigrated during the last five years, and the second on land settlement possibilities in a number of overseas countries based on declarations of representatives of these countries and on investigations conducted by the international labor office.
POLAND, RUMANIA SENDING OBSERVERS
The Polish and Rumanian governments, although they have not been invited to the conference, are sending observers there, It was learned. Both nations are interested in the question of emigration and, moreover, are anxious to have representatives on hand in the event the Jewish situation in their countries is discussed. The Palestine Jewish Community Will Also Send Observers to the Conference, Including Dr. Arthur Ruppin, Colonization expert, and Zalman Rubashow, Labor leader.
Yesterday Mr. Taylor received Rabbi Wise and Dr. Kahn, and later Dr. Nahum Goldmann, representing the american Jewish congress, and discussed with them a number of suggestions. Dr. Goldmann submitted to Mr. Taylor a memorandum which is to be submitted by the World Jewish Congress separately to each Government delegation at the conference.
The memorandum includes the following points: (I) The conference should raise its voice against Jewish persecutions in Germany and also for equal Jewish rights in other lands; (2) A permanent organ to be established by the conference should care not only for refugees from Germany, but also for those from other lands — with a Jewish refugee to be considered as such if compelled to leave his country simply because he is a jew; (3) When seeking immigration possibilities, the conference should pay attention to undeveloped territories which Jews could develop by settlement; (4) while the governments participating in the Evian meeting are not expected to finance the emigration, the organ to be established by the conference should consider methods of raising funds for large-scale migration, at the same time getting in touch with the german government on the question of permitting Jews to take their capital with them; (5) The conference should include Palestine in its program and seek political and financial possibilities to enable a larger Palestine immigration.
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.
