1st edition, original paper wrappers. 8vo, 8 pages. A sermon preached on New Years Morning, Saturday, September 8th, 1945 before Congregation Keneseth Israel of Allentown, Pennsylvania by Rabbi Braunstein, Ph. D. This sermon was preached before the release on Sept. 30, 1945 of Earl G. Harrisons Report to President Truman on the conditions of refugees and displaced persons in western Europe, and of the subsequent interchange of correspondence between the President and General Eisenhower. All of these strengthen and confirm the point-of-view expressed in this sermon. (page 8) Braunstein doesnt think that the Jews who fled should have to go back to their former homes. He says, The Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, of which our Government is a member, recently declared that the Jewish D. P. will be given the opportunity to learn more about conditions in his country and give the governments more time to satisfy their nationals that they can return to their countries with the prospect of leading a healthy, normal life before reaching the conclusion that the person must be treated permanently as non-repatriable. These are elegant words to conceal the real decision of the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees. That decision is this: Let the Jews cool off their heels in the German concentration camps until they realize they must return to their former homes. The simplest truth is that these Jews are afraid to return to their former homes. They who have cheated death for so many years at the hands of the Germans do not want to die at the hands of the Germans, do not want to die at the hands of their former co-citizens. And if their experiences in Poland and in Slovakia and elsewhere are any indication of how the wind is blowing, they have a right to fear. They have a right to refuse to return to their former homes. I have been wondering whether the late President Roosevelts promise of a world in which there would be freedom from fear will ever have meaning to the displaced Jews of Europe. (page 6) Subjects: Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945) . OCLC: 992671406, OCLC lists two copies worldwide ( Harvard, NLI) . Slight wear to rear cover, Very Good Condition Overall. Rare and important (HOLO2-144-16)
