Dr. LOWDERMILK. Of course, we heard a great deal about the terrorists from various sources. We were told the Mufti, who was still in Jerusalem at the time, was responsible for these terrorists.

Near where I lived at the time, the American School of Oriental Research was a school where the Mufti was in charge. We understood that the archaeologist-I have forgotten the name of the museum-had been shot by one of the Mufti's students. I was told that these students were pretty much anti-Jews and were carrying out raids locally.

Out in the country I was told by British officers that bands had been caught. One British officer-I have forgotten his name said that they had found on one of the raiders that had been killed a check on the Bank of Rome. And I said, "What does that mean?" Then he said it looked as if these terrorists were being financed from outside. But one heard all sorts of theories and rumors about the terrorists. Mr. WADSWORTH. You did not study the political situation?

Dr. LOWDERMILK. I did not study it. I had too much to do making my survey.

Mr. WADSWORTH. Because of course the political situation is highly important.

Dr. LOWDERMILK. Yes, sir.

Mr. WADSWORTH. That is all.

Chairman BLOOM. No more questions? Mr. Gerlach?

Mr. GERLACH. No questions.

Mrs. ROGERS. May I ask a question? Do you represent yourself here at the hearings or the Department of Agriculture?

Dr. LOWDERMILK. I represent myself.

Mrs. ROGERS. How long have you been with the Department of Agriculture?

Dr. LOWDERMILK. Nearly 30 years.

Mrs. ROGERS. Yes, I have known of your name.

Chairman BLOOM. Thank you very much. And you might hear from us again on that subject we want to know something about. We will now hear from Dr. Henry Atkinson. He is president of the Christian Council on Palestine.

STATEMENT OF DR. HENRY ATKINSON, PRESIDENT OF THE CHRISTIAN COUNCIL ON PALESTINE

Mr. ATKINSON. Mr. Chairman, I want to thank you and the members of the committee for your courtesy in offering me the opportunity of appearing before you.

Our organization, the Christian Council on Palestine, of which I am president, was formed some 2 years ago for the purpose of bringing to the American people through Christian leadership and membership of the churches the conviction that in the post-war settlement Palestine should be made accessible to Jewish refugees from lands of persecution and that the ultimate destiny of the Jews depends upon the reaffirmation and fulfillment of the Balfour Declaration.

We have had our consciences hurt by the recognition that it is only in so-called Christian lands where things like that which happened in Germany could start. Outside of places where there are Christians the less Christian they are the more liberty there is for the Jewish people apparently, and we feel the time has come when we ought to

face up to the responsibility and recognize that there is hardly a Jewish problem in the world but there is a very serious Christian problem that we have to face.

This committee is made up of 1,100 Christian clergymen located in every part of our country. I have the list with many of the leading men of our country on it which is a cross section of the United States. Chairman BLOOM. Where are you from, Doctor?

Mr. ATKINSON. New York; originally from California. I heard California being booted around a while ago.

This is the resolution adopted at our meeting the other day:

We strongly urge the adoption of House Resolution Nos. 418, 419 (WrightCompton). We favor the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people, and urge that the United States Government help provide appropriate measures to the end that the doors of Palestine be opened for further entry of homeless, stateless Jews of war-torn Europe. We urge that there be full opportunity for colonization in Palestine so that the Jewish people may reconstitute that country as a free and democratic Jewish commonwealth.

We are horrified by the indescribable brutality of Hitler and his Nazi oppressors and conscious of the tragic plight of millions of Jews in Europe today. We reaffirm our faith in the spirit as well as the letter of the Balfour declaration. We are convinced that the open door of a strongly established and recognized Jewish homeland in Palestine offers the only real hope for most of these suffering men, women, and children, who today linger in misery and ignominy under the heel of Hitler.

We join with a large majority of the British people in confidently following Winston Churchill who, in 1939, denounced the Chamberlain-MacDonald white paper on Palestine as "a breach and repudiation of the Balfour declaration." We range ourselves also on the side of the Permanent Mandates Commission of the League of Nations under whose political authority Great Britain administers Palestine. This Commission condemned the white paper at the time of its promulgation as "an indefensible and flagrant breach of international good faith." Beyond all other considerations we call for the abrogation of the white paper on the grounds of justice and mercy and in the interests of our common humanity.

We believe that this problem is basically a Christian problem and thus we appeal on behalf of our members and the people in their churches.

That is signed by members of the committee, myself as chairman; Dr. Carl Hermann Voss, he is executive secretary; Dr. Howard B. Warren; Dr. John W. Bradbury; Prof. Reinhold Niebuhr; Prof. James Luther Adams; Rev. Richard E. Evans, who is here in the room; Dr. Daniel A. Poling; Prof. Paul Tillich; Prof. William F. Albright, a prominent pastor in Brooklyn; Rev. Karl M. Chworowsky; Prof. S. Ralph Harlow; Rev. Dr. John Haynes Holmes; Rev. Leslie T. Pennington, of Cambridge, Mass.; Rev. Dr. Harold Paul Sloan, and Mr. Pierre van Paassen.

I wish to add just a few words in support of this resolution, Mr. Chairman. First of all, I believe that from the standpoint of history the only relief for the sufferings of the Jewish people of the world is through the establishment of their homeland in Palestine. The history of Poland and Ireland through many centuries was that of people bereft of a national home and at the mercy of their enemies as well as their friends. From the eighteenth century on the Polish question was a topic of hot discussion in almost every international gathering, so much so that in France when a conversation or a discussion came to an end someone would pipe up, "Now, let's talk about the Polish question." After the World War when Poland was reconstituted the discussion of this question very largely disappeared. The same is true in regard to Ireland. The Irish movements within

other countries was a constant source of misunderstanding, even among the Irish themselves. With the establishment of a free Ireland these divisive movements disappeared, and I have not heard of the Sein Fein since the last World War or any considerable movement or any force.

I conscientiously believe that the same will prove true in regard to the Jewish people when Palestine is established as our national Jewish homeland.

Secondly, no one expects that all the Jews of the world will move to Palestine. American and British citizens of Jewish descent live under good auspices. Certainly no large number of them would expect to go to Palestine any more than all the Irish in America would migrate to Ireland even if this is now a free state.

Chairman BLOOм. Or go on his honeymoon?

Mr. ATKINSON. Ninety-five percent of the Jewish of the world are hoping for this kind of a settlement.

Lastly, I firmly believe that Palestine is not only a means of salvation for the Jewish people, but in a larger sense is also a means of safeguarding our democracy. The attack on the Jews was the entering wedge by which the liberties of all the free people in all nations were attacked, and the Jew was attacked because he was the most vulnerable in Germany at that time.

I wish I had time to give you some of the experiences I had in Germany in 1933. I was there when Hitler came into power. I was there in 1934 and 1935. I saw an organization as strong in Germany as the Conference of Christians and Jews in this country. It was thoroughly organized by Prof. Rudolph Otto and Professor Stronheim, head of the Roman Catholic Church movement. It was a marvelous organization. When Hitler came into power he said he would do nothing about the Jews. Then overnight it became a state policy. Nobody could do anything. I am terribly afraid if we fail in the peace settlements to do justice to the Jews of the world there is danger that on some periphery of this question there will be another Hitler who will precipitate another wholesale attack on the liberties and rights of all of us.

Therefore, Mr. Chairman, ladies and gentlemen of the committee, in the name of humanity and in the name of justice I strongly urge the passage of these resolutions in order that we may begin the establishment of a just and durable peace by affirming rather than denouncing and nullifying the Balfour Declaration, the best and most constructive single document that emerged from World War I.

I thank you.

Chairman BLOOM. Thank you very much, Doctor.

The Chair would like to state we have a couple of Members of Congress here, and we also have some people from out of town. One just left. I hope he is not angry with me. I am doing the best I can with the time available to us. I promised Rabbi Louis Wolsey, of Philadelphia, of the American Council on Judaism, to be heard next. Mr. COMPTON. If it will save time I will be very glad to put my statement in the record.

STATEMENT OF HON. RANULF COMPTON, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF CONNECTICUT

Mr. COMPTON. In order to save time, Mr. Chairman, I would like to leave this statement with you.

Unfortunately I was out of town on official business yesterday and was not able to be present, and I wanted to be present today to show my intense interest in this resolution and to let any that has any view to the contrary know that I was not here yesterday because it was impossible for me to be here.

I want to leave this statement and some 25 or 30 telegrams that I have received from all over the United States that I would like to make a part of the record.

Thank you for the privilege.

Chairman BLOOM. You wish to state for the record unfortunately you could not be here yesterday, and the record will so show that. Mr. COMPTON. Thank you very much.

(The statement above referred to of Representative Ranulf Compton and the telegrams are as follows:)

I do not wish to take up too much of the committee's time, as I am fully aware that the dramatic and thrilling story of the Jews in Palestine can be better told by others. There are one or two factors which I should like to emphasize, however, and ask the committee to keep in mind.

First and foremost, of course, it should be remembered that action on the resolutions introduced by myself and my esteemed colleague from Pennsylvania, Mr. Wright, plus implementing action by the State Department, is the duty of the Government of the United States if we are to continue to respect our position in foreign relations. The convention of 1924 expressly sets forth that, and I quote "Nothing contained in the present convention shall be affected by any modification which may be made in the terms of the mandate, unless such modification shall have been assented to by the United States."

It seems to me that action by this Government is more than a privilege—it is a duty.

Next, I should like to remind you of the human aspects of the present situation. Too many of us permit our minds and our reasons to become clouded by extraneous issues. There should be only two issues here involved: Duty and love of mankind.

I have not come here for the purpose of heaping praise upon the Jews, even though their record is one of which they can well be proud. They know their virtues and they are practical enough to acknowledge their faults. I would prefer that my actions be the gage of my intent, that my tribute to their courage and ability be shown by my determination to lessen their suffering. Let us then be practical today.

It is the wish of most Americans and a great majority of the British public that the so-called white paper promulgated by the Chamberlin government in 1939 be abrogated. It may well be that the present British Government will be receptive to the type of pressure which the Government of the United States can exert toward abrogation of this document. We have the right to interfere and, more important, it is our sacred duty to mankind to interfere with the action of any nation which adversely affects a national policy in which we have a vital and human interest.

Adoption of our resolutions by this Congress will be notice to the British Government and to the world that the cooperative spirit we are anxious to extend toward the solution of international problems must be accorded equal importance in the solution of purely human, racial problems.

We are concerned here with a problem of human suffering. Much of this suffering can be alleviated by opening the doors of Palestine to the havenless Jew. But while we hesitate, the suffering continues on so fantastic a scale that it is

impossible to contemplate in our everyday thoughts or explain in everyday language. It is like a childish nightmare that is impossible of description; a frightening dream that seems unreal. And because we cannot describe it, because our everyday thoughts cannot grasp the horror it has become commonplace; it passes lightly from our thoughts, or perhaps we speak appropriate words of regret for the condition or condemnation for those responsible.

Yet, if one out of the myriad of these horrible experiences occurred within our sight we would be sick at heart and aroused to immediate and positive action. The bird that strikes our windshield, the dog beaten or hurt in our presence, the story of a child burned in a building fire or crushed by a car, the news of a lost or wounded soldier being mistreated or mutilated by the enemy-each brings shock and personal pain and the will for action.

Why, then, should we pass off with platitudinous complacency the acts, abuses, and tortures multiplied a thousandfold against our fellow man, they who have joined us as brothers in arms, flesh and blood like our own, begat as we were begat, beholden to the same ideals of humanity, bedamned by the same intolerance that has swept the earth with the greatest scourge of all time.

We should not.

I come before you humbly and with a great feeling of futility, as I remember the great men who have espoused this cause. Without your support I am as helpless as the persecuted and tortured Jew. With your aid I, and more important the hopeless suffering Jews of Europe, have a weapon to defend their right to a free homeland, a weapon provided by an expression of strong public opinion from the greatest, the strongest, the most humane, and the most tolerant nation on earth. Some of us here today are Republicans, some are Democrats, and a few represent other political parties. Almost daily we unite, in whole or in part, for some fine purpose that raises us above our politics. So it is, and so it must be with the Jews, the Christians, and the representatives of any other faith. We may be divided in our belief, but we must be united in our aim for peace and good will on earth.

I do not want to clutter up the record, Mr. Chairman, but I have here a selected number of telegrams from States from coast to coast other than from Connecticut, the State I represent. Telegrams, letters, and post cards have come to my office by the hundreds. I have not had one in opposition to this resolution.

Chairman BLOOM. Representative Francis J. Myers, of Pennsylvania.

STATEMENT OF HON. FRANCIS J. MYERS, A REPRESENTATIVE IN CONGRESS FROM THE STATE OF PENNSYLVANIA

Chairman BLOOM. We will now hear Mr. Francis J. Myers, of Pennsylvania.

Mr. MYERS. Mr. Chairman, ladies, and gentlemen of the committee, I appear before you in support of House Resolutions 418 and 419 and to urge that the committee report these resolutions favorably. The United States should certainly use its good offices to the end that the doors of Palestine be kept open for the free entry of Jews into that country and that the immigration of Jews into Palestine scheduled to stop on March 31, 1944, might continue. The Balfour Declaration must not be nullified nor the provisions of the mandate disregarded. An opportunity for colonization in Palestine by the Jewish people must be continued, and they should be allowed to reconstitute Palestine as a free and democratic Jewish commonwealth. They should be helped to develop this homeland for we are all aware that millions of Jewish people in the conquered countries have been tortured and killed by the Nazis; indeed the extermination of a race is systematically going on at this very moment and if we are in earnest about this problem, and if we intend to do more than sympathize with these people who are suffering untold agonies, there is no better way to help them than by the adoption of these resolutions. It is therefore my