President Eisenhower today received at the White House Label A. Katz. national president of B’nai B’rith, who presented to Mr. Eisenhower the B’nai B’rith president’s medal, its highest award for his “positive efforts” to preserve world peace.
Mr. Katz was accompanied by Maurice Bisgyer. B’nai B’rith executive vice president, and Mrs. Charles D. Solovich of Detroit, president of B’nai B’rith.
During the presentation, Mr. Katz told the President: “This award was voted you by B’nai B’rith before announcement of the visit of Premier Khrushchev to our country. We are therefore particularly pleased to have the opportunity at this time to advise you that B’nai B’rith endorses your action of inviting Premier Khrushchev here, and accepting a reciprocal invitation to visit the Soviet Union.
“These are acts of calculated risk,” Mr. Katz continued, “which demonstrate the bold judgment and creative leadership that the search for enduring peace requires. We are confident that your actions and motives in the exchange of visits are further confirmation of your continued efforts for world peace.”
The award cited Mr. Eisenhower for his “positive efforts for world peace on freedom’s terms–peace with justice and dignity.” Mr. Katz told the President that the medal inscribed “for peace and humanity” was awarded in recognition of “consistent and determined deeds to advance the peace of the world while preserving the dignity and strength of our nation and its leadership of the free world.”
Mr. Katz said, after the ceremony, that the President had thanked B’nai B’rith for its support of the exchange of visits. He made it known to the White House press corps, that he would like for Mr. Eisenhower to raise the question of Soviet Jewish status with Premier Khrushchev.
The B’nai B’rith award has been presented previously to former President Harry S. Truman. Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion of Israel and elder statesman Bernard Baruch.
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.
