First World War, will make them turn their footsteps to a land where they can rebuild their own lives, as well as the life of their people. For they are conscious that they belong to an ancient and noble people that is entitled to a dignified life and future of its own in the family of nations. Let it also be said at this time that, not only the Jewish people but, alas, also Judaism, that great and ancient religion, has been a victim of the devastating wrath of nazi-ism. Ancient and well-entrenched centers of Jewish learning have been uprooted. Those fountainheads of complete Jewish religious living, which I had occasion to observe during numerous visits in eastern Europe, are unfortunately a thing of the past. The broken and shattered body of the stricken Jew needs the good earth of Palestine in order to regain life and vigor. Surely, the Jewish soul needs the inspiring atmosphere of the land of prophecy and the word of God in order to recreate that spiritual life which our foe so utterly destroyed. We hope and trust that the resolution, introduced under bipartisan auspices, will receive the unanimous approval of Congress, thus reaffirming the historic policy of our country with respect to the restoration of Palestine and Israel, a cause to which the vast majority of the Jews of America are profoundly attached. And as we invoke the blessing of the Almighty upon you, we pray that it may be among your shining deeds to have served greatly in the furtherance and attainment of this goal. Chairman BLOOM. Thank you, Rabbi Gold. The Chair wishes to state that he wants to thank all of the witnesses, and we feel very grateful to our guests for being so attentive, quiet, and helpful in every way possible. We have a few witnesses left, but we must adjourn now. It is very unusual for the committee to sit as late as this, especially when the House is in session. I want you folks to understand that we have sat here all of this time when we should not have done so. We knew you came from out of town. We wanted to hear you. There are several witnesses here and I would like to have them put their addresses or any letters, telegrams, or petitions they have in the record. If you do not have anything with you kindly write it out, and send it to me, I will see it is inserted in the record. I want to call upon Mr. David Wertheim, national secretary of the Poale Zion, a Labor Zionist Organization, to insert his statement in the record. STATEMENT OF DAVID WERTHEIM, NATIONAL SECRETARY OF THE POALE ZION (LABOR ZIONIST ORGANIZATION) Mr. WERTHEIM. Speaking for the thousands of members and many more sympathizers of the Labor Zionist Organization, Poale, Zion, we join with other Jewish bodies in expressing our support of the Palestine resolution which is now before the distinguished committee of the House of Representatives. Ours is a movement of American Jewish workers organized nearly 40 years ago in order to help, morally and financially, the endeavors to reestablish the Jewish commonwealth in the ancestral home of the race along the lines of economic democracy. Many of our members who have migrated to this country from eastern Europe have personally experienced the economic and social disabilities, the constant insecurity and degradation, which have been the immemorial lot of the Jewish masses in most European countries. They have felt that it was their duty to help their fellow Jews, particularly the underprivileged and economically dispossessed, to build through self-help and pioneering efforts a home for themselves and a haven of refuge for millions of Jews in search for economic and political security and spiritual regeneration. In Palestine nearly 600,000 Jews, victims of economic discrimination, political persecution, refugees from savage massacres and the threat of annihilation have found a home. There they have succeeded in laying the firm foundations of a well-balanced economy, based on intensive agriculture and industry. Their children, trained in the spirit of sturdy independence and pride in their heritage, have been given the chance to grow up, upright and happy human beings. The achievements of Jewish pioneering in Palestine have been a source of infinite encouragement to the Jewish people throughout the world in its hour of darkest despair. Outstanding authorities in agriculture and industry, economists, and farsighted statesmen are in agreement with the humble men and women who have made possible the miracle of a rejuvenated Palestine so that country can under favorable circumstances become the home of many more hundreds of thousands and millions. The hope that such favorable conditions be created in Palestine is the sole hold on life of those Jews who will survive the present catastrophe in ravaged Europe, Africa, and Asia. The enormous sacrifices which our country, together with its allies, is now making will have been in vain, if a better world does not emerge after this war. Shall the Jews, the first victims of NaziFascist madness, be forgotten when that happy day will arrive? Shall the survivors of Hitler's concentration camps and annihilation centers be driven back to their destroyed homes, to the insecure existence which is the cause of their present plight? Shall they not be given the opportunity to settle on the soil and establish for themselves a permanent home in the country of their ancient hopes? The resolution now before your committee broadly outlines the elements of a just and humane solution of the Palestine problem. Giving expression to the sympathy of the American Congress to the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine would, we are certain, serve as a powerful stimulus to the realization of one of the most constructive social undertakings in our time. It would be a welcome encouragement to those responsible and humanitarian elements in Great Britain who are anxious to see the fulfillment of the pledge which their people has given to world Jewry. It would be a decisive factor in the abrogation of the disastrous White Paper and encourage the only just and fair solution of a vexed problem. As Jews and Americans we support the adoption of this resolution, which will not only bring encouragement and hope to millions of victims of our mortal enemy, but add greatly to the honor and glory of the United States. Mr. Chairman, I will be able to submit later an answer to Mrs. Rogers about labor in Palestine. Chairman BLOOM. Kindly send it to the clerk. I want to thank you, and I hope you appreciate the position the committee is in. The committee is adjourned subject to the call of the Chair. (Thereupon the committee adjourned at 5:40 p. m., subject to the call of the Chair.) (The following was submitted for the record:) STATEMENT SUBMITTED BY PHILLIP MURRAY, PRESIDENT, CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS, ON BEHALF OF PALESTINE RESOLUTIONS No. 418 AND No. 419 BEFORE THE FOREIGN AFFAIRS COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES The Congress of Industrial Organizations, through its representative, is happy to appear before this committee to voice its endorsement of the resolutions now under consideration. The great labor organizations of the United States have watched with admiration the development of the Jewish National Home in Palestine, and the splendid progress made by the Jewish pioneers there in developing the agriculture and industry of the country. We are particularly proud of the outstanding achievements of Jewish labor in Palestine. We believe that the progress of the Jewish National Home should be permitted to continue unimpeded and unimpaired, particularly in view of the tragic plight of hundreds of thousands of Jews in Europe, and the necessity of providing for them a place of resettlement and rehabilitation after the war. The half million who have settled in Palestine since the issuance of the Balfour Declaration have demonstrated their capacity for building in days to come a free and democratic Jewish commonwealth based upon the principles of equality and justice. We believe that one of the most important results which can come out of the present struggle being waged by the democratic forces of the world will be an expanded opportunity for the Jewish people to construct a healthy and normal natural life for itself in Palestine. The resolutions now pending before this committee will voice the overwhelming sentiment of America in favor of affording the Jewish people this opportunity. We urge their favorable consideration. May we, in conclusion, call your attention to the following excerpts from the resolution which was adopted at the Sixth Constitutional Convention of the Congress of Industrial Organizations meeting at Philadelphia, in November 1943: “All of civilized humanity is outraged by the Nazis' barbaric drive to exterminate the Jewish people. The annals of human history do not record any reign of terror more inhuman than this Fascist terror which has already murdered more than 4,000,000 Jewish men, women, and children in Nazi Germany and in Nazioccupied countries. The "The Jewish people in the ghettos of Warsaw and in all the occupied countries have written epic pages of heroism in their refusal to submit to Nazi extermination. "The great tradition of labor throughout the world and the great tradition of American labor is that there can be no division between race, color, or creed; that all working people must stand united if civilization is to continue. Jewish people in America and throughout the world today as in the past join with all other people of the world as workers in the mines and mills and factories, as farmers and as soldiers on the battle fronts in joint contribution to the advancement of humanity and in the joint fight to defeat the forces of tyranny and barbarism. "American workers are making an outstanding contribution in this great battle. They will oppose any Nazi attempt to arouse race against race and to use this division as a means to fully entrench themselves and put through their Fascist ideology of barbarism, destruction, and the wiping out of civilization. "American workers are making an outstanding contribution in their great war of national liberation. American workers know that this war is a people's war and that the gains labor has made through its many years of struggle and sacrifice are at stake in this war. "We look with great sorrow on what is taking place in Nazi-occupied Europe today. We join hands with our fellow workers in all the occupied countries; with the downtrodden, persecuted Jewish people in protest against the barbarous acts of the Fascists. "We, organized labor in America, we of the Congress of Industrial Organizations, support the Jewish people in their fight for survival and freedom. "We wholeheartedly support the program of the American Jewish Conference, representing more than 60 Jewish organizations, which calls on the United Nations to warn the Nazi gangsters that the atrocities against the Jewish people will be avenged. * "We note with great satisfaction that the Jewish communities in Palestine have already made noteworthy contributions to the winning of the war against fascism. "We support the demands of Palestinian Jews for full opportunity for unrestricted participation on the battlefield and for the unrestricted opportunity to make an agricultural and industrial contribution to the war effort. "We join in their demands for the abrogation of the so-called Chamberlain white paper which would close all Jewish immigration into Palestine by April 1944, as discriminatory, unfair, unjust, and a hindrance to the war effort." STATEMENT BY DR. LOUIS M. LEVITSKY, PRESIDENT, RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY OF AMERICA, ON BEHALF OF THE RABBINICAL ASSEMBLY, ADDRESSED THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS As president of the Rabbinical Assembly of America, I have come here to present the views of the conservative rabbinate of America on the white paper. We rabbis call upon the Congress of the United States to use its good offices with Great Britain, in the name of justice and humanity, to fulfill the promise solemnly given to the Jewish people of the world to facilitate "the establishment in Palestine of a national home for the Jewish people * * * it being clearly understood that nothing shall be done which may prejudice the civil or religious rights of existing non-Jewish communities in Palestine, or the rights and political status enjoyed by Jews in any other country." We demand the repeal of the white paper which proposes to put an end to Jewish immigration into Palestine on April 1, 1944, and which restricts the right of Jews to purchase land in Palestine. We feel that the implementation of the white paper policy is a breach of contract with the Jewish people, which has spent blood and treasure in carrying out its obligations in the development of Palestine, and which, despite riots and massacres directed against Jews by nonJews, has consistently respected the rights of the non-Jewish communities in Palestine and the holy places of non-Jewish religions. To deny or restrict the right of Jews to settle in Palestine involves not only tragic suffering for multitudes of individual Jews who are subject to persecution, assault, or ignominy, it involves also the frustration of Jewish religious aspirations. For ever since the dispersion and the destruction of the Judean state, we have yearned and prayed for the restoration of Palestine. We have felt intuitively that, for Judaism to flourish, it must draw inspiration from a selfgoverning Jewish community living in the land hallowed by Jewish history. The difficulty in our day of maintaining Jewish religious and cultural institutions in countries in which Jews constitutue but a small minority of the population has made religious Jews keenly aware of the need of having a national home in which Judaism could inform every aspect of the social and cultural life of Jews. From the Jewish community in the land of Israel, if it is permitted to develop into a genuine national home for the Jewish people, Jews all over the world would derive encouragement, guidance, and inspiration for perpetuating their religious and ethical ideals and contributing to the spiritual and social welfare of the countries of their citizenship and political allegiance. At a time when the Axis Powers are seeking to exterminate the Jewish people without mercy, and when the conditions of life everywhere expose Judaism to disintegrating environmental influences, we cannot waive the historie claim of our people to Palestine. We therefore appeal to the Congress of the United States to use its good offices with Great Britain to complete the act of historic justice begun with the issuing of the Balfour Declaration. We ask not only that the White Paper be abrogated, but that the right of the Jewish people to establish its national home in Palestine be expressly and explicitly reaffirmed and implemented. We deem it just to demand that the gates of Palestine be opened to all Jews who need or desire to make it their home; that every encouragement be given to Jews to become as quickly as possible a majority in Palestine; that, to this end, the Jewish Agency for Palestine be given exclusive authority to regulate immigration into the country, and that it be aided in its effort to increase Palestine's economic absorptive capacity by the development of its industry and agriculture; and that, finally, when a Jewish majority shall have been achieved and before, Palestine be given the status of a free and autonomous commonwealth under a democratic constitution which would guarantee equality of all rights to all citizens regardless of race, nationality, or religion. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES, Washington, D. C., February 8, 1944. RESOLUTIONS AND TELEGRAMS RECEIVED FROM SAN FRANCISCO IN CONNECTION WITH THE ABROGATION OF THE CHAMBERLAIN WHITE PAPER AND URGING THE ESTABLISHMENT OF A JEWISH HOMELAND IN PALESTINE, PURSUANT TO HOUSE RESOLUTION 418 AND HOUSE RESOLUTION 419 Resolutions San Francisco Lodge, No. 21, B'nai B'rith, 703 Market Street. Pacific Hebrew Orphan Asylum and Home Society, 1600 Scott Street. Jewish Educational Society, 745 Buchanan Street. National Home for Jewish Children, San Francisco Chapter, 733 Thirty-first Avenue. Zionist Organization of America, 369 Pine Street. Temple Sherith Israel Men's Club, California and Webster Streets. Beth Israel Sisterhood, 1839 Geary Street. San Francisco Emergency Committee for the Abrogation of the White Paper, 110 Sutter Street. Telegrams Mrs. Louis Bloch; Mrs. Jessie Gans; Mrs. Henry Sahlein; Mrs. Carl Jacob; Mrs. Maurice Heppner, president, San Francisco Chapter of Hadassah; Prof. Sam Lepkowsky; Prof. Zev Hassid; Prof. Michael Goodman; Prof. Ben Bernstein; Prof. Jacob Traum; Mrs. Richard M. Neustadt; and Mrs. Henry Harris. STATEMENT BY MAX ZARITSKY, GENERAL PRESIDENT, UNITED HATTERS CAp and MILLINERY WORKERS, INTERNATIONAL UNION, NEW YORK CITY I appear on behalf of the United Hatters Cap and Millinery Workers International Union of which organization I am the general president, and which is an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor, in support of the pending resolutions Nos. 418 and 419, endorsing the establishment of a Jewish commonwealth in Palestine. What is proposed by the resolutions represents a reaffirmation of the historic position our country has taken whenever and wherever oppressed and persecuted peoples have striven to secure their liberty and to establish their position in the family of nations. So far as the struggle of the Jewish people for a homeland is concerned, it is a reaffirmation such as this that is more desperately needed today than it was needed in 1922 when our Congress endorsed the Balfour Declaration, promising that Palestine would be restored as the Jewish national homeland. It was wise, sound, and statesmanlikeļ to make our position clear then. It is infinitely more so to make our position clear today. I need not tell you that the position of the Jewish people in the lands across the seas in which they have lived for centuries is more precarious today than it ever was. Even the victory of the United Nations to which we can look forward today with greater confidence than we dared entertain 2 years ago, cannot bring tangible or immediately relief to the Jewish people in the countries devastated by the war. They have been driven from their homes and lands that were once their own and were forced to seek refuge throughout the world. In some places they have been granted temporary havens, but the stipulation that when peace returns they will be obliged to leave. But where shall they go? What shall be done with them? What shall be done with the hundreds of thousands of Jews who have been completely uprooted from their soil by the Nazi barbarians and their satellites and who have been rendered homeless and stateless-men without a country? Shall they go to Germany?-to a Germany where hate, paganism, racialism, contempt for human dignity have been instilled in the minds of the people-to a Germany where the extinction of the Jews is the first commandant of the Nazi bible? Shall they be told to strike roots in the soil of devastated Poland, which is saturated with the blood of millions of slaughtered civilian Jewish men and women-where the memories of horrible tortures and cruelty and murder will haunt them like nightmares for decades to come? |