Sir Neill Malcolm, league of nations high commissioner for refugees, has proposed to a number of European countries that they admit a larger number of German refugees to be housed in interim camps pending re-emigration, it was learned today.
Establishment of an independent state or mandated territory for refugees, financed by an international loan, was suggested by defense minister Oswald Pirow of South Africa, arriving here yesterday after a tour of European countries during which he interviewed chancellor Adolf Hitler. Mr. Pirow, whose country did not participate in the Evian refugee conference and which has sharply restricted refugee immigration, said in a statement on his arrival here:
“Even the refugee question – I call it that because it is more than a Jewish problem is capable of comparatively easy settlement. Two things are necessary for such a solution first, money to take the place of the assets that the refugees are not allowed to take with them; second, land to settle those who have no money or who, in spite of their money, are debarred by immigration laws.
“An international loan, for which countries who wish to get rid of their refugees would be responsible but which would be guaranteed by the other great powers, would solve the first question. As to land, there is more than enough unoccupied suitable land which could form an entity either as a state or as a mandate to settle twice the number of refugees likely to be available.
“What is absent, however, is a willingness both on the part of countries who wish to shed their refugees and of those who profess to feel sorry for them to make any real sacrifice the former are merely prepared to give them one-way passports and the latter to accord them sympathy. The international attitude on the refugee question is not by itself a reason for war, but is symptomatic of that state of mind which is not prepared to make a substantial sacrifice for peace. As long as that state of mind persists, the drift to war – a drift with an increasing momentum – will continue.”
WALEY COHEN, CAZALET JOIN NEW COLONIZATION BODY
The newly-formed International Jewish Colonization Society announced its decision to collaborate with Catholic and Protestant organizations interested in the problem of “non-Aryan” Christian refugees and to appoint a technical-financial advisory committee to aid in its aim of coordinating all projects for the evacuation of German Jews and their settlement in overseas territories.
The society named a provisional directorate headed by Daniel Wolf and including outstanding Dutch Jewish and non-Jewish personalities, as well as Sir Robert Waley Cohen, prominent British Jewish leader; S. Gestetner, London manufacturer of mimeograph machines; Capt. Victor Cazalet, Conservative M.P.; senator Paul Benazet, of Paris, and Lewis J. Ruskin, of Chicago.
Except for Australia’s announcement that 15,000 refugees will be admitted during the next three years, the British government has no detailed information on the extent of preparedness in the various dominions for settlement of German emigres, Dominions secretary Malcolm MacDonald told the House of Commons today. The question was raised by Laborite Morgan Price, who asked what replies had been sent by the dominions to British inquiries on refugees and whether MacDonald would give any information as to the numbers they have already accepted and are prepared to accept.
“But statements made by the dominions’ statesmen,” he added, “indicated they are fully alive to the importance and urgency of the question. The dominion governments will put in their replies to the Intergovernmental Committee and I will get information in due course from that source.”
Elisabeth Bergner, exiled German-Jewish actress now a resident of England, declared today that the solving of the refugee problem was a task for the whole world. She spoke at a meeting of the Women’s Appeal Committee for German Women and Children at the home of Mrs. Anthony de Rotshchild, declaring that millions of pounds were needed to help German women and children. Sir Norman Angell, holder of the Nobel Peace Prize, declared that the refugee problem was not a Jewish question but a question of the salvation of civilization. About $45,000 was collected at the meeting.
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.
