Volume XXVIII No. 6 June, 1973 INFORMATION ISSUED BY THE AssooAim OF mnsH Rffuass m CREAT BRITAUI '*'' Roaenstock duty to make amends for the past. This duty had been recognised by West Germany after the end of the Second World War and was implemented at the earliest possible time by VISIT TO NEW YORK compensation laws of the Laender and of the German Federal Republic after its establish­ Meetings of Council of Jews from Germany ment. By contrast, the GDR has restricted its and Leo Baeck Institute paymente to those victims of Nazi persecution who are resident in their country. It has made Forty years have passed since the dispersion on. Furthermore, the implementation of the no individual or global payments for the bene­ ^* Continental Jewry started, and those Jews existing laws calls for constant vigilance. In fit of those who live abroad and who are the ^om Central and Eastem European countries all these matters the Council acts under the vast majority. ho escaped the Holocaust are now spread all auspices of or in co-operation with the Con­ The participants at the Council meeting J'^r the world. They have settled in many ference on Jewish Material Claims against realised that it would be premature to sub­ 2^V"Wes, and it is only natiu^l that, with the Germany ("Claims Conference"), the oflScial stantiate in detail the claims to be submitted ot^ of a new generation, the consciousness representative body vis-a-vis the Germaii as long as the principle bas not been estab­ j. the common origin gradually decreases. Yet authoritdies. lished. The Council will co-operate in this ^s a slow process, and integration into the matter with the other major Jewish organi­ ew environment is still linked witlh aware- Claims Against East Gennany sations. Among the losses on which the claims •^^s of the past. have to be based the following items were ^ the case of those Jewish persecultees, In the past months a further aspect of the mentioned by way of example: Communal OoT hail from Geraaamy, this awareness is restitution and compensation problem has property, private and/or heirless property, , "^ only a matter of the individual but, per- come to the fore. It arises from the new posi­ personal damage sustained by Nazi victims as ^Ps more than among other former refugees, tion of East Germany, the German Democratic far as not, or not adequately, covered by West ^ also resulted in joint activities. This does Republic, in the intemational scene, expressed German legislation. It was stressed that before is • "^'^^'^t^ a lesser degree of integration. It by the opening of diplomatic relations between 1933 the assets concerned, to a very large abl" ^he first place due to the fact that, prob- Westem countries and the GDR and the envi­ extent, belonged to Jewish individuals and £ 'y in view of their antecedents, the Jews saged admission of the GDR to the United communities in that part of Germany which is lat* ^^'^^ny have retained the gift of trans- Nations. These developments are bound to now the territory of the GDR and that it is, f^J^^ feelings of solidarity into constructive put the question of restituition and compensa­ therefore, the duty of the Council to safe­ th ^^^r^^d-looking organisational work. On tion to the Jewish victims of Nazi Germany's guard the special interests of the Jews from ® national plane, this becomes evident in the persecution on the map, and the consideration Germany and their organisations in this mait- R^^Sth of the organisations built up in of this question was one of the reasons for ter. At the time of writing, the whole issue cnV * (AJR), Israel, U.S.A. and smaller which representatives of the Council from is still in an exploratory stage. Any develop­ "Entries of resettlement. On the inter- Britain, Israel and the United States met in ments will be reported in this paper. Z^^?al plane, it has resulted in the New York. The issue at stake is in the first j^ation of the Council of Jews from Ger- place a moral one. The perpetrators of the History of Immigration Research thp T '" ^^^ which takes up the interests of Nazi crimes lived in all parts of the territory W^^^^ from Germany, and of the Leo Baeck of the former Reich, whether it is now East The presence in New York of Council repre­ ^«ut€, founded by the Council in 1955 to or West Germany, and there is no reason for sentatives from various countries also served ^eserve by scholarly work the cultural heri- the Government of the GDR to disclaim its as an opportunity for a working meeting of UM '^^ ^hat was once German Jewry. It was those involved in research work on the his­ a n ^ ^^^ auspices of these two bodies that tory of the immigration of the Jewish refugees u "^JJ^ber of important meetings were held from Central Europe and their integration The Association of Jewish Refugees in into their countries of resettlement. The pro­ Jjew York this April. Great Britain gress reports given at the meeting and the Pr^'H **^"°<^atio° of the Council, whose first ensuing exchange of views reaffirmed that the j)j-^'°«iit was Leo Baeck, had been prompted invites members and friends to the position of the immigrants greatly differs from i^^^^rily by the need to safeguard the country to country. This in tum has also fielrt ^^ of the Jews from Germany in the GENERAL MEETING resulted in differences of approach and dif­ 1^ , °^ restitution and compensation. Many on Tuesday, June 19, at 7.45 pjn. ferences of priorities. In the United States the Ggj^^^tive measures from which Jews from at Hannah Karminski House, work is directed by Dr. Herbert Strauss, Pro­ STant^'^^ benefit and which are now taken for 9 Adamson Road, Swiss Cottage, N.W.3 fessor of History and Executive Vice-President the r ^^^ ^"^ **• ^^^ persistent efforts of I of the American Federation of Jews from ass~/'°5"'^*^- EquaUy when, at a later stage, Central Europe, who is also the main initiator ProD ''^ ^^ heirless and former communal Report on AJR Activities and co-ordinator of the whole scheme. He *^essrf^ were recovered by the so-called suc- Treasurer's Report reported that a bibliography of the relevant Cor^ organisations (JRSO and Jewisih Trust Election of Executive and Board literature published in the United States has Bfjij J^tion in the former American and (The list of candidates submitted by thc Executive been completed. Furthermore, a number of eiiQvfr^ Zones respectively), the Council was Is published on paq« 9.) former or present leaders of organisations to jf^ to allocate its share in the proceeds n and congregations, established by Jews from Out an^^^'^^' ^^^^ helping them in carrying Mr Jack Barnett Germany, have been interviewed. It appears ally f expanding their welfare work, especi- (General Secretarv. World Jewish Congress — that the impact of these organisations on the the l^^^ benefit of the aged. In both spheres British Section) personal destiny of the individual immigrant as f^^^ ^3s not yet come to an end. Though, will speak on has been greater than in some other countries, cerjji^ ,^s the German Federal Republic is con- CURRENT PROBLEMS IN JEWISH where the membership with organisations to jj. ' the bulk of the legislation may have certainly also played a great part, but was in '^nsidered as completed and has resulted LIFE not of such central importance. In Israel, the cee^wf'^^'^ts which very considerably ex- Non-members are not entitled to vote, but draft of a publication mainly based on per- Varj. the original estimates, negotiations on are welcome as guests at the meeting "s kinds of amendments are still going Continued on page 2, column 1 AJB INFORMATION June, 1973 Page 2 wald, Jocbanan Ginat, Ismar Schorsch), VISIT TO NEW YORK "Major Trends in Jewish Youth Movements m Germany" (Chanoch Rinott, Werner Rosen- Continued from page 1 stock, Herbert A. Strauss); "Village om SmaU-Town Jews in Germany" (Wern^ J- sonal interviews has been completed. It is ing some originals by Max liebermann and a Cahnman, Emil Schorsch, Erich Rosenthal;- also envisaged to commission an expert author recently acquired Heine portrait. The contents of the proceedings will he P""" with researcih work on the economic integra­ The deliberations at the LBI were, to some lished in due course, and it would be futiie tion of the Jews from Germany. In this extent, devoted to the relationship of the Insti­ to try and sum them up. It may suffice w country Mrs Margot Pottlitzer has collected tute with other enterprises. The discussion state that quite a lot of ground was covereo more than 100 life stories, based partly on indicated the importance increasingly and that, as far as the systematic perusal ana personal interviews, partly on written material attributed to the LBI which had commenced assessment of tbe widely-spread material were received in response to appeals published in its work under most difficult circumstances concerned, the participants did most valuable this paper. The collection is still going on, at a time when interest in German Jewish work. t and any readers who wish to contribute in one history was practically non-existent outside our Under the aspect of historiography, the lat-l; way or another should inform the AJR. The own orbit. It is to a large extent due to the that most of the speakers had been actively work has deliberately been started from this spadework done by the LBI that the position involved in the events under discussion is » angle because the number of those who are ihas now completely changed and that there drawback and an advantage at the same tune- able to speak from personal experience is is an eagerness in having a share in this re­ On the one hand, we cannot have the detacn_ bound to decrease.