The Jewish Trail of Tears The Evian Conference of ... - Haruth.com

The editor of the Palestinian paper Ha’aretz, Moshe Glickson, recorded that the
Evian Conference had generated “immense esteem and admiration” for the American
President from the Jews of the Diasporsa. 89 Moshe Kleinman, the editorialist for Haolam,
expressed gratitude to FDR and acknowledged the “historic importance” of the gathering.
He was concerned about the potential for “further dispersion [of Jews] instead of the
ingathering” into Palestine that was the dream of all Zionists; an ideal severely
constrained by high costs, British immigration policies and Arab hostilities. 90 Dr.
Mordechai Ehrenpreis, Chief Rabbi of Sweden, who went to the conference as an
observer, was moved by a “sense of growing optimism… [F]rom afar there shone the
thought of Evian as a star of hope.” The meeting could potentially reflect the “world’s
conscience.” Finally, he believed, the community of man had awakened to the evil that
threatened Jewish existence in Central Europe. The very convening of the Evian
Conference represented a “resonant act” which provided hope for a “downtrodden and
oppressed” people.” 91
The Zionist Organization of America announced that a special edition of the
Golden Book of the Jewish National Fund would be dedicated to Roosevelt with a
citation acknowledging that his efforts on behalf of the Jewish people deserved to be
“engraved in the hearts of the Jewish people.” 92
Palestine was, however, to remain the
prime focus of Jewish transfer and the Jewish Agency drafted a memorandum calling for
89 Ha’aretz, July 8, 1938 cited in Beit-Zvi, Post-Ugandan Zionism, 145.
90 Haolam, July 7, 1938. Ibid., 152-153.
91 Dr. Mordechai Ehrenpreis, Between East and West (Av Oved: 1957), 223-224. Ibid., 144.
92 Davar, July 5, 1938. Ibid., 145.
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