Swiss press reports received by the Office of War Information today said that a new joint letter of protest had been sent by the Protestant and Catholic churches of Holland to Reich Commissioner Arthur Seyss-Inquart denouncing conscription of manpower, persecution of Jews and deportations of Dutch citizens.
The letter, read from the pulpits of all signatory churches, was quoted by the Swiss newspapers Neue Zuercher Zeitung and Liberte, which reported that it had evoked “sharp reaction” from Nazi officialdom. A possibility of anti-church measures was suggested in the dispatches, which represented Nazi authorities as promising to “react suitably,” soon.
The statement said the compassion of all Dutch Christians “goes out especially to those young people who have been forcibly torn from their homes and it goes out also to Jews and Catholics of Jewish descent who are today exposed to much deep sufferings.”
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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.
