The solution of the German Jewish question must be sought and can be found only in Germany, declared Dr. Bruno Weill, acting president of the Central Union of German Citizens of the Jewish Faith, at a mass meeting which was filled to overflowing and necessitated the hurried organization of loudspeaker system for those outside.
Reviewing the history of German Jewry in the last twenty-one months, Dr. Weill complained of the tendency of foreign Jews to judge German Jewry by its extremist wings.
NOTES DROP IN 1925-1933
“Between 1871 and 1925, the German Jewish population increased as a result of immigration,” he said.
“From 1925 to 1933, our numbers diminished both relatively and absolutely. We have lost 65,000 by emigration and excess mortality. We estimate that there are still 475,000 Jews in Germany today. If we add the non-Jewish ‘non-Aryans,’ who number about 300,000, the measures taken against ‘non-Aryans’ have affected less than one and one-fifth per cent of the German people.
“Of the 60,000 who have migrated up to now, 30,000 have gone to France. A large number went to Palestine, which even a non-Zionist must admit how holds a different place in our mentality because so many German Jews are there. But only half of the number who went to Palestine were German subjects. In the narrow sense of the word, 6,000 to 7,000 German Jews now make their homes in Palestine.
CRITICIZES ORGANIZATION
“Adjustment of the emigration to foreign countries was made difficult not by anti-Semitism, but by the economic crisis,” Dr. Weill said. “We must say to the world, that if there had been more organizing ability, the world could have found room for 60,000 immigrants in a more worthy fashion. The position of these immigrants today is very sad and holds out little hope.
“The question of emigration is a question for the individual and can only be decided after consideration not only of external conditions, but of the entire spiritual make-up. We shall not gainsay those who believe they must emigrate. But those wto have gone have no right to constitute themselves as judges of how the German Jews are to behave in Germany. “
OVERLOOK MASS ACHIEVEMENTS
Dr. Weill complained bitterly of the tendency abroad to lay stress on the nationalist Germans like Dr. Max Naumann and to overlook the immense achievements of the vast mass of German Jewry.
“We stand here to repulse every attempt to defame our race and faith,” Dr. Weill declared. “What has been done in the world for German Jewry is confined to the defense of the Jewish religion and the Jewish race and providing aid for those in need. That is very different from a Jewish internationale. There have been no political Jewish activities.
MORE UNITED
“The spiritual experience we have had was terrible. The elimination of German Jews from the most diverse branches of life was carried out suddenly and rapidly. But people have never recognized more profoundly the values that lie in religion and race than when misfortune compels them to look back. Our community has become spiritually more united. We have never forgotten that we have a {SPAN}##mmunity{/SPAN} of almost 500,000 people {SPAN}###{/SPAN} want to live, and that it is therefore our duty to provide for these German Jews the best means of living. We have not forgotten that we are the bearers of a great tradition.
“We must confess that the decision as to what Jewish policy German Jewry must adopt does not depend on us alone. We do not complain. As far as we can we avoid clashes. The great majority of us are convinced that the solution of the German Jewish question is to be sought in Germany and can be found only in Germany. We hope it will be possible to find a way of living in dignity and honor, under tolerable economic conditions. “
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.
