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

concept. His participation represented, on the whole, an “unwelcome duty.” 91 He was
instructed only to “listen, make notes and say as little as possible” while opposing any
concrete solutions, “without seeming to be obstructionist.” 92
The Canadian delegate informed the members of the Evian Conference that his
Government felt “sympathy and concern…for the victims of changes of regime and of
racial and class conflict.” Canada had generously admitted more than ten thousand
political refugees following the conclusion of the Great War but economic problems had
severely impacted Canada’s capacity to absorb “considerable number[s]” of additional
émigrés. As a result, the Government was compelled to initiate a more restrictive
immigration policy. There were, however, “special administrative exemptions” that the
Dominion would, in concert with the other Powers, consider in the “most sympathetic
and friendly manner which may be practicable in the circumstances.” Success of such a
project depended upon Germany allowing retention of sufficient personal assets to
facilitate and fund resettlement. Jews possessing sufficient capital to establish successful
farms could be prioritized for admission. 93
Overall, Wrong viewed the preparations of the Committee as being “very
amateurish” and warned the Prime Minister that prospects for a meaningful outcome
were “gloomy… [as] there seems to have been no effective diplomatic or technical
91 Public Archives of Canada RG 25 G1, vol. 1870, file 327c, part 1, Hume Wrong (Geneva) to Dr. O.D.
Skelton (Ottawa), June 21, 1938 cited in Bartrop, “Drawing the Line,” 6.
92 King to Wrong, Jun3 30, 1938 cited in Irving Abella, and Franklin Bialystok, “Canada,” in David S.
Wyman and Charles H. Rosenzveig, eds., The World Reacts to the Holocaust (Baltimore: John Hopkins
Press, 1996), 756
93 “Proceedings,” July 7, 1938, 20-21.
187