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

“racial persecutees” who were primarily Jewish and as a result Jews were denied
“political sanctuary.” 2
A joint declaration was introduced by Dr. Constantino Herdocia (Nicaraguan
Minister to Great Britain and France), Professor Luis Dobles Segreda (Costa Rican
Chargé d’Affairs in Paris), Dr. Mauricio Rosal (Honduran Consul in Paris) and Dr.
Ernesto Hoffman (Panamanian Consul-General in Geneva and Permanent Delegate to the
League of Nations) on behalf of their respective governments. They expressed their
fullest cooperation and “moral support for the generous initiative” of FDR and the
creation of the Intergovernmental Committee for Political Refugees but their willingness
to accept involuntary expatriates was dependent on similar action in the other states based
on a percentage proportional to the “territorial extent” of each nation. Although
“saturated with foreign elements” the absorption of aliens, they believed, provided
positive benefits to the development of these small countries. Limitations on national
resources, however, tempered their “power of assimilation” and refugees would not be
accepted beyond a reasonable quota. Any cost for resettlement must be borne by the
refugees themselves as official funds were inadequate to meet the need. In addition, any
refugee “engaged in trade or intellectual work” would be barred from entry due to
concerns about competition with the local community. 3
Gustavo A. Wiengreen, the Paraguayan delegate and Minister to Hungary,
expressed the deepest pleasure and the “keenest sympathy” of his Government that led to
2 David Cesarani and Paul A. Levine eds., Bystanders to the Holocaust: a Re-Evaluation (London:
Frank Cass Publishers, 2002), 19. Gösta Engzell has been credited with saving more Jewish lives during
WWII than his compatriot, Raoul Wallenberg. “Teaching the Hero in Holocaust History: The Cases of
Raoul Wallenberg and Gösta Engzell” by Paul Levine, October 14, 1999, available from
http://www1.yadvashem.org/download/education/conf/Levine.pdf; Internet; accessed May 31, 2010.
3 “Proceedings,” July 11, 1938, 35-36.
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