“In one or two countries of Eastern Europe Jews are facing possibilities more terrible than anything that has happened to them yet,” High Commissioner James G. McDonald, of the League of Nations German Refugee Body, declared yesterday afternoon at a tea in his honor tendered by the board of directors of the People’s ORT Federation, at the Advertising Club, 23 Park avenue.
When he first undertook his task, the High Commissioner told his audience, he realized that a most democratic approach was essential in order to win the support and confidence of the masses of Jewry the world over. Today, Mr. McDonald said, there is a feeling of unity among Jews for the time being, which he characterized as a “contribution which the Nazis made to Jewish life.”
One of the great problems confronting him is “the orientation of the Jewish people toward a new kind of life. We must make people work with their hands, do things that are fundamental.” Many Jewish leaders are agreed on that point, Mr. McDonald said. “In a larger sense, ours is a problem of rehabilitation, of retraining, etc.”.
When his task is completed and he has more leisure, he may write a book on “Unity Among the Jews . . . Which Is Not,” Mr. McDonald said.
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.
