INFORMATION ISSUED by the — ASSOCIATION of JEWISH RCFUGFES in GREAT BRITAIN 0//Icf and Comulting Hours
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VOL. XX No. 12 December, 1965 INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE — ASSOCIATION OF JEWISH RCFUGFES IN GREAT BRITAIN 0//icf and Comulting Hours. 8 FAIRFAX MANSIONS. FINCHLEY RD. (corner Fairfax Rd.) London. N.W.S Monday to Thursday lOa.m.—lp.m. 3—6p.m. Telephone : MAIda Vale 9096 7 (General Olkce and Weltare lor the Aged), MAIda Vale 4449 (Emplovment Agencv. annually licensed bY the L.C.C., Friday lOa.m.— lp.m. and Social Services Dept.) appropriately express our gratefulness to the British people. Perhaps the only proper A MEMORABLE OCCASION way for us to try and repay the debt is to make a continuous effort to be useful ii Thank-You Britain" Fund Handed Over to British Academy citizens, doing a job to the best of our abilities, taking an active part in the general life of the community, fully identi At a reception held on November 8 at In conclusion Mr. Behr paid tribute to fying ourselves with the communal life Saddlers' Hall, the "Thank-You Britain" the General Secretary of the AJR, Dr. W. of the country, and offering our services Fund was handed over by Professor Sir Rosenstock, and his co-workers who had whenever the occasion arises. If, in the Hans A. Krebs, Winner of the Nobel Prize made the administrative work so much course of trying to serve the community, we in Medicine and Physiology and one of the easier by shouldering the burden of the have also served ourselves, and done very Patrons of the Fund, to Lord Robbins, C.B., day-to-day routine, and to the Secretary and well for ourselves in many cases—some President of the British Academy. staff of 'the British Academy who had times even embarrassingly well—this is As readers know, the proceeds will be helped to cope with all the technicalities. perhaps in the nature of the circumstances, used for the award of Research Fellowships The audience was then addressed by Pro and in particular an outcome of the fair in the field of human studies. fessor Sir Hans A. Krebs and Lord Robbins. ness with which we have been treated. The function, held in the beautiful Livery The full text of their addresses is published Quite a large number, of course, served Hall of the Saddlers' Company, was a most below. with the Armed Forces. I believe, although dignified and impressive event. statistics are not readily at Among the guests were Sir hand, something like one in Mortimer Wheeler, Secretary of every eight refugees here during the British Academy ; the Nobel the war years served, and quite Prize Winner, Professor E. B. a few paid with their lives ; this Chain, and Professor L. Gutt wt should remember today. mann, C.B.E., both Patrons of I would like to add one the Fund ; Mr. S. H. E. Burley, further comment. If it was representing the Home Office ; force of circumstances and not Mr. J. P. Carswell, representing our own choice which drove us the Department of Education out of the country of our birth, and Science ; a number of dis it was in many cases our free tinguished scholars, authors and choice to take refuge and to artists as well as representatives settle in this country rather than of the organisations associated in other parts of the globe. No with the Fund. doubt there were many different In his opening address Mr. reasons which prompted indi Werner M. Behr, Chairman of viduals to make this choice. I the " Thank-You Britain " Fund cannot pretend to know all the Committee, recalled that the reasons, but I do know some of suggestion of making a collec my own, and I know that these tive gesture of gratitude to this are shared by very many. country, which helped us at a [Photo : " Jewish Chronicle ' What this country of our From left to right: Lord Robbins, C.B., Mr. Werner M. Behr. time of extreme anxiety, was Professor Sir Hans A. Krebs, F.R.S. adoption gave us was not just first made by the late Chairman a new home and livelihood. of the Association of Jewish Refugees, Dr. ADDRESS BY What we also found was a new and better Hans Reichmann. Quite independently, in SIR HANS A. KREBS way of life, a society whose attitudes to life a letter to a leading newspaper, Mr. Victor were in many ways very different from Ross, co-Chairman of the Committee, also To me has fallen the privilege of what we had been accustomed to, and, I called on his fellow refugees to remember handing over a cheque to the President of dare say, accustomed to not only under the what they had been through and how they the British Academy. This cheque and the Nazi rule. Coming from an atmosphere had found a haven. He received an efforts leading up to it are no more than a of political oppression and persecution, of enthusiastic response, and it was decided token, a small token of the deep sense of hate and violence, of lawlessness, black to form a committee to embrace all the indebtedness which is harboured by all of mail and of intrigue, we found here a spirit different groups of refugees from Nazi us who came to this country as refugees of friendliness, humanity, tolerance and oppression. At this juncture, Mr. Behr and were given here a new home—not fairness. We found a society where people stated, the Committee was helped and merely a shelter, but a true home. We all of many different dispositions, races, con advised by Sir Isaiah Berlin in finding a went through the experience that home is victions and abilities lived together har useful and worthy objective for the idea. not always where one was born and moniously, and yet vigorously. We saw Unfortunately, Sir Isaiah was unable to brought up. Home is where one strikes them argue without quarrelling, quarrel attend the ceremony because he was on a roots, where one has the opportunity of without suspecting, suspect without abus lecture tour in the United States, but he doing the things which, by virtue of inclina ing, criticise without vilifying or ridiculing, had conveyed his greetings to the gathering tion or conscience or some other forces praise without flattering, being vehement in a message which was read out by the deep down in one's soul, one feels one without being brutal. We saw what Chairman. ought to do in order to fulfil one's.life and Robert Browning said of his dog, " strength without violence, courage without ferocity." " In our appeal letter," Mr. Behr went thereby gain true happiness. The social climate and the social soil of this country, These are some of the characteristics of the on, " we set a target of £40,000 to £60,000. soul of this country. I am sure you will be pleased to learn that thanks to the spirit of generosity and we have been able to collect over £90.000. tolerance that pervades it, made it easy It is the widespread occurrence of these and I would add that this result has been for us to strike roots and to become firmly traits which impressed us as being so achieved at a nominal administrative cost settled. different from the world from which we had of less than 1 per cent." No sum of money can adequately and (Continued on page 2) Page 2 AJR INFORMATION December, 1965 BUDGET PROPOSALS ON A MEMORABLE OCCASION COMPENSATION *' Thank-You Britain" Fund Reception Council of Jews from Germany Protests The German Federal Government has drafted a " Bill for the Protection of the (Continued from page 1) ADDRESS BY Budget " {" Haushaltssicherungsgesetz ") escaped. Of course, all societies have their LORD ROBBINS, C.B. which, among other economies during the outstanding individual heroes, but these fiscal year 1966, envisages the partial have not necessarily left their mark on the I find this a very notable and, for me, a deferment of certain compensation pay character of their society as a whole If ments. While, if adopted by Parliament in proof were needed that these attitudes very moving occasion. which I have mentioned are prevalent traits its present shape, the Bill would not affect The arrival here in the inter-war period payments under the " Bundesriickerstat- of the British way of life, I would say : of those of you who came from Nazi per which other language uses in its everyday secution was a dreadful thing, a painful tungsgesetz" and annuities under the life phrases equivalent to " fair play", symptom of the outrages that were going Federal Indemnification Law, it would " gentleman's agreement ", " benefit of the on in Central Europe. Episode after episode affect capital payments under the Federal doubt ", " give him a chance ", " under more frightful than has ever before Indemnification Law. Of these capital pay statement ", phrases indicative of a sense occurred in civilised history. But it was a ments, only 50 per cent would be made of justice, of a sense of perspective, of circumstance which brought great benefit during the first nine months of the year tolerance, of humility and, above all, of to this country, great benefit in the world of respect for humanity ? Quite a few lan 1966, whereas the rest would be paid in scientific and humane learning, great instalments according to budgetary devel guages have to use the English words when benefit in music and the arts, and in wishing to express the sentiments lying technical and economic affairs, and not opments. behind these phrases, and I am sure this is only here indeed, but also throughout the In a letter to Federal Chancellor Erhard, not an accident.