Author: Webb

Adolf Hitler: Man of the Year, 1938

Dated:

Greatest single news event of 1938 took place on September 29, when four statesmen met at the Fuhrerhaus, in Munich, to redraw the map of Europe. The three visiting statesmen at that historic conference were Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain of Great Britain, Premier Edouard Daladier of France, and Dictator Benito Mussolini of Italy. But by all odds the dominating figure at Munich was the German host, Adolf Hitler.

Fuhrer of the German people, Commander-in-Chief of the German Army, Navy & Air Force, Chancellor of the Third Reich, Herr Hitler reaped on that day at Munich the harvest of an audacious, defiant, ruthless foreign policy he had pursued for five and a half years. He had torn the Treaty of Versailles to shreds. He had rearmed Germany to the teeth–or as close to the tooth as he was able. He had stolen Austria before the eyes of a horrified and apparently impotent world.

All these events were shocking to nations which had defeated Germany on the battlefield only 20 years before, but nothing so terrified the world as the ruthless, methodical, Nazi-directed events which during late summer and early autumn threatened a world war over Czechoslovakia. When without loss of blood he reduced Czechoslovakia to a German puppet state, forced a drastic revision of Europe’s defensive alliances, and won a free hand for himself in Eastern Europe by getting a “hands-off” promise from powerful Britain (and later France), Adolf Hitler without doubt became 1938’s Man of the Year.

[…]

Time magazine

Source:

www.time.com/time/subscriber/personoftheyear/archive/stories/1938.html

OBLIGATIONS OF THE MANDATE

Dated:

MR. LLOYD GEORGE

THE TIMES

SATURDAY JUNE 20 1936 PAGE 7

Mr. [David] LLOYD GEORGE (Caernarvon Boroughs, Ind. L.) said he wished to make a few observations, because he had a certain share of responsibility for the Balfour Declaration, which was the basis for our Mandate in Palestine. He would certainly respond to the appeal made by the Secretary of State [for the Colonies] in his statesmanlike speech to say nothing that would cause any exacerbation of the racial and religious antagonisms that existed in Palestine. Everybody knew how difficult it was to deal with a situation where either religion or race was involved. When both these factors existed the difficulties were almost insurmountable. But we had our duties and our obligations. Unfortunately, the demand put forward by the Arabs was a demand for the revocation of the Mandate. It was no use pretending that it was not.[…]

“But we could not forget the obligations of the Mandate. It was, as the Secretary of State has said, an obligation of honour, and we could not go back on it. He was very glad to hear what Lord Winterton said about its being more incumbent than ever upon us to make it quite clear that we were not going to run away from our obligations. (Cheers and laughter.) Whatever might have prompted this movement [of growing violence] in Palestine he was perfectly certain, from information that he had received, that the troubles in Abyssinia had a good deal to do with it, on both sides, and that they were firmly convinced that this was the time to press the British Empire, that we were more or less on the run.

A BELIEVER IN EMPIRE

“I am all for the British Empire. I am a great believer in the British Empire, and I became a greater believer in it when I saw it in action during the War. I believe that it saved the world, and that it will do it again, if it is properly led. (Cheers.) The obligations of the Mandate were specific and definite. They were that we were to encourage the establishment of a National Home for the Jews in Palestine without detriment to any of the rights of the Arab population. That was a dual undertaking, and we must see that both parts of the Mandate are enforced. Just look at the conditions under which we entered into it.

“It was at one of the darkest periods of the War that Mr. Balfour first prepared his Declaration. At that time the French Army had mutinied; the Italian Army was on the eve of collapse; America had hardly started preparing in earnest. There was nothing left but Britain confronting the most powerful military combination the world had ever seen. It was important for us to seek every legitimate help that we could get. The Government came to the conclusion, from information received from every part of the world, that it was very vital that we should have the sympathies of the Jewish community.”

He assured the Committee [on the Colonies?] that the Government did not come to the conclusion from either predilections or prejudice. We certainly had no prejudices against the Arabs because at the moment we had hundreds of thousands of troops fighting for Arab emancipation against the Turk. Under those conditions and with the advice they received, the Government decided that it was desirable for us to secure the sympathy and cooperation of that most remarkable community, the Jews, throughout the world.

AN OBLIGATION OF HONOUR

They were helpful to us in America to a very large extent; and they were helpful even in Russia at that moment because Russia was just about to walk out and leave us alone. Under those conditions we proposed this to our Allies. France, Italy, and the United States accepted it, and all the other Allies. Afterwards the whole of the nations that constituted the League of Nations also accepted it. The Jews, with all the influence that they possessed, responded nobly to the appeal that was made. […]

A Work of Mercy

Dated:

New York Times

April 21, 1921

Hitherto the Jews have financed their own philanthropies, and with a liberality and skill which has been universally recognized. In behalf of those of their religion who are still suffering in the war-ridden districts of Europe they are now for the first time seeking oustide aid.

With the fate of Belgium and Serbia it was easy to sympathize. A nation’s territory was invaded and its citizens were making a united stand. The Jews have no fatherland, no means of uniting in the common defense. Yet from the outset, wherever the call came, they fought, and fought bravely, for the allied cause. Meantime, in the widely scattered lands the folk at home suffered as perhaps those of no other people, and their suffering has has in many localities long outlasted the war.

In Europe there are today more than 5,000,000 Jews who are starving or on the verge of starvation, and many are in the grip of a virulent typhus epidemic. An appeal has been issued throughout the world. The quota of New York City is $7,500,000. The drive will occupy the week of May 2-9, and will be based wholly upon the principle of sympathy and a common humanity.

The Jewish War Sufferers

Dated:

The non-sectarian character of the drive on behalf of the Jewish war sufferers was emphasized in the appeal which marked its formal beginning yesterday. An accompanying letter was signed by Evangeline Booth of the Salvation Army, Bishop Burch, Archbishop Hayes and many other representatives of Christian churches. A statement of the nature of the crisis was prepared by the Rev, Dr. S. Parkes Cadman and sent to every Protestant minister in the city to serve as a basis for an announcement from the pulpit. A similar statement for the Catholic churches was sent out by Mgr. Joseph P. Mooney.

Hitherto the Jews have financed their own charities, and with a liberality and skill that have been universally recognized, The present need transcends the means of any single sect and centers in a catastrophe which threatens the entire world. In Russia and the neighboring countries the Jews have been subject to a particularly malignant persecution which has not ended with the war. Without any national organization of their own, they have no central organization to appeal to. Living in segregated and generally impoverished communities, their misery is cumulative to an extent unknown among other sufferers. It is estimated that more than five million are are actually starving or on the verge of starvation, and a virulent typhus epidemic is raging among them and is already spreading among the neighboring populations. Both in the intensity and the extent of present suffering and in the menace it holds out for all Europe, the situation is one which directly concerns the public spirited of all races and creeds.

The quota of New York City is $7,500,000. On the American Joint distribution Committee are Professer Harry Fisher of Chicago, Professor Israel Friedlander, Max Pine, and Maurice Kass. In their work of distributing food and medical aid through the ghettos of Central Europe they are obliged to proceed without the protection of the government of the United States, which has no diplomatic relations with Soviet Russia. Ample precautions will be taken, however, to make sure that the supplies will be used for the purposes in hand. It is a work of mercy that makes a peculiar appeal to both the hearts and the interests of a common humanity.

Source:

New York Times

May 3, 1920