The prediction that Jews in Europe will continue to suffer even after the defeat of Hitler was made by Prof. Morris R. Cohen, addressing the opening session of the threalday fifteen enthrennual conference of the Yiddish Scientific Institute, which closed tonight at the Hotel Picadilly.
Presided over by S. Niger, the conference listened to addresses on various problems in Jewish life delivered by some 15 experts on sociology, economics, history, literature and pedagogy. The speakers included Dr. M. Weinreich, sociologist and director of the Yiddish Scientific Institute; Dr. Jacob Shatzki, historian; Dr. Paul Romanoff, curator of the Museum of the Jewish Theological Seminary; Dr. H. Frank, economist; Dr. A. Menes, one of the editors of the Yiddish Encyclopedia, and Elihu Cherikower, head of the historical department at the Institute.
Prof. Cohen said that whatever the outcome of the war, Jews in Europe would seek to emigrate overseas. Relief work alone will not meet the needs of Europe an, Jewry after the war, he said. He expressed doubt as to whether the Jewish problem in the Soviet Union had actually been solved and whether the five million Jews on Soviet soil were actually safe, now that the Soviet Government was following a policy of giving in to Nazi Germany on many important issues.
The audience of more than 1,500 persons who heard Prof. Cohen’s address also heard his views on the role which Yiddish as a language played in the past and its fate in the future. “Yiddish has been useful to the Jews for the last 800 years, but now Yiddish is a luxury while English is a necessity,” Prof. Cohen said.
Dr. Weinreich discussed the transfer to New York of the institute’s world head-quarters following seizure of the Wilno quarters by the Soviet authorities. He thanked the Jewish Labor Committee for making it possible for many active members of the institute to come from Europe to the United States.
New light on some sculptures by Leonardo Da Vinci and Giofrancesco Rustici, based upon the finding of Hebrew inscriptions and their content on the statues themselves, was presented by Dr. Romanoff.
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.
