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

nations Governing Body under the leadership of the American, James Grover McDonald
(October 1933-December 1935) and his successor, Major General Sir Neill Malcolm. 12
More than one million Russian refugees had sought shelter in European countries
following the November Revolution of 1917, the Russian Civil War and the famine of
1921. This led the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) to demand that the
League of Nations provide relief to these now stateless refugees. The ICRC President,
Gustave Ador, noted that this particular group of émigrés lacked “legal protection,”
clearly delineated “legal status” or “any legal means of subsistence.” Therefore, an
“obligation of international justice” necessitated the appointment of a High
Commissioner for Russian Refugees. 13 Consequently, the League named Fridjhof Nansen
as the first High Commissioner for Russian Refugees. He introduced a form of passport
that officially recognized these migrants who were granted the right to a twelve month
period of foreign travel. This system was later expanded to include Turkish, Armenian
12 The League Assembly meeting of September 30, 1938 decided to replace the Nansen Office and the
High Commission for Refugees from Germany with a new organization, the Office of High Commissioner
for Refugees under the Protection of the League of Nations, headed by Sir Herbert Emerson (commencing
on January 1, 1939). Emerson would later assume the directorship of the Intergovernmental Committee for
Political Refugees following the resignation of George Rublee (who had been chosen by the
Intergovernmental Committee to negotiate with Germany and nations of potential refuge). McDonald had
been the president of the Foreign Policy Association and a professor of political science and history. As
High Commissioner he dealt with the issues of passports, travel and identification documentation and
permits granting the right of residence and work. He also sought sites of permanent resettlement abroad
aided by less restrictive German policies on the transfer of capital and foreign exchange. After two years of
ineffectual work, coupled with a paucity of support from the League, McDonald resigned on December 20,
1935. He called for the League and its constituent members to utilize their “moral authority” to persuade
the German Government, for the sake of “humanity and of the principles of the public law of Europe,” to
end its policies which created international “unrest and perplexity” by the forced emigration of Jews and
other refugees. He argued that proactive action must be taken and “considerations of diplomatic
correctness must yield to those of common humanity.” “League Aid Asked by McDonald to End Nazi
Persecution,” New York Times, December 30, 1935, 1, 12.
13 Gustave Ador to the League of Nations, “The Question of Russian Refugees, League of Nations
Official Journal, Annex 2, 1921 (February 20, 1921): 228.
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