The Grey Book Part 30

"In the name of Christianity and democracy, humanity and justice, we protest against the ma.s.s deportations of Jewish citizens from our nearest neighbour country, not for crimes committed but because of their race.

We do this for the sake or our Northern community, but we are angry and distressed that Northern men have been able to commit this deed of shame.

We protest in the name of international law, for without security in law all human order collapses, whether it be called old or new." [506]

Svenska Morgonbladet reported that it had received expressions of sorrow and sympathy from the leaders of various Church congregations.

Bishop John Cullberg said at Strangnas:

"After what happened earlier in Norway, the latest telegrams about the persecution of Jews are not surprising. But we are profoundly shocked.

The Norwegian Church has, through its statements, already interpreted the Christian conscience's protest against these atrocities. It must be loudly proclaimed that we in Sweden support this protest. <229> With bleeding hearts, we think of the martyrs. And what should we say of their tormentors? All we can say is: 'Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do'." [507]

Although leading men within the Swedish Free Churches already at an early stage had separately expressed their feelings in the press regarding the persecution of the Jews in Norway, the Free Churches' Co-operation Committee wished to emphasize their mutual standpoint:

"G.o.d is the Father of all, and all men are called to receive the advantage of the adoption of sons, independent of race and birth. Racial persecution is thus a sin and a rebellion against G.o.d. The Jew is our neighbour, and we wish to love him as ourselves.

Facing what is happening in Norway, we feel grief and distress. We are onlookers at a situation where our neighbour is being treated as something sub-human. We cannot remain silent witnesses to this We wish that our deeds could bring help, to undo what has been done. Our hope is that G.o.d will turn evil to good.

We wish to join in the appeal of the Bishops of the Swedish Church, in the name of G.o.d, for intercessions for our tortured brethren of the race of Israel, and to make daily prayers to our Father in Heaven for the many who are suffering violence and disaster at this time." [508]

Under the subject heading "Christian Gathering", a meeting was held on December 6, 1942 at Hedvig's Church at Norrkoping. This meeting was arranged by clergymen. Speakers were Vicar Thysell, Pastor Einitz Genitz and Vicar Knut Ericson. We quote the following from Vicar Thysell's address:

"The information concerning 1,000 Jews driven from their homes, robbed of their property and transferred to Germany to meet a most cruel fate, has shaken us thoroughly and deeply. Those Jews were loyal Norwegian citizens: they had done nothing wrong. They were punished because they were Jews, without trial or verdict. <230> The people of Norway were the first to speak up and protest through their Church. The brave and strong words from Norwegian Church leaders, themselves oppressed and persecuted, have moved us profoundly. Now we, too, must speak.

There are occasions when it would be denying truth to remain silent.

We bear a special responsibility towards G.o.d and humanity when such things are happening around US. We Swedes are best able to represent the world's conscience in this case, and we feel that we also owe our Norwegian brethren a clear and unequivocal declaration on our stand.

We also have another responsibility in this case, one that lies even nearer to us: our responsibility towards the Jewish brethren, who belong to our own people. The contamination of anti-Semitism has also reached our own country. Infamous and false propaganda is being spread from plague centres within our own borders. We have hitherto belittled this danger. Now we see to where it is leading. It is time for us to wake up!

We must also at this hour think of the ma.s.s persecution of Jews which is taking place in other countries. From available information it appears that the anti-Semitic wave is still rising. The threat now also concerns half-Jews.

Our taking a stand might seem meaningless to all of these. We cannot stop violence. It may, however, in a secret way, bring a ray of consolation and hope into despairing hearts.

We have named our meeting 'Christian Gathering'. That our consciences react to the outrage which is happening, is the result of the spiritual values of life which we have received from Christ and the Prophets of Israel - from the very people who are now being persecuted in so many countries. On those basic values rests our Nordic judicial culture.

We pride ourselves on Sweden being a const.i.tutional state. Here no one can be sentenced and punished except on the basis of justice. Here, right is not equal to might. Above the power of the state stand those eternal truths of our relation to G.o.d and each other, which have been revealed to us and which, in our consciences, appear as indefeasible values of life.

Arnulf Overland says: 'Some things are greater than you. There are mountains with snow. There are dearer things than your life; you shall fight for it'.

The dearest thing we have are those values of life that Christ gives us. The persecution of the Jews is not the only proof - but the most horrible of all - of a denial of these values of life.

We are here to-day to confess our belief in these eternal foundations for human society, which G.o.d himself has laid.

We believe in G.o.d, our Lord Jesus Christ, and our Father, who has called us all, independent of race and all other differences, to receive the adoption of sons and to live in communion with Him and each other. We wish to adhere to this Christian evaluation of man. And we reject as hostile to G.o.d and anti-Christian that brutal conception of man, and that contempt of mankind, which forge the acts of violence in anti-Semitism.

We regard the brotherhood of humanity as holy, and brotherly action as our goal. We feel it our obligation to act towards our Jewish brethren in accordance with Jesus' rule of life: 'All things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them'. <231> Do we seriously mean them to be our confession of faith? Do we dare uphold it, as our Norwegian brethren have done, even if our faith should be tried as gold is tried in fire?

Whatever happens, we need not fear, if we follow Jesus Christ, the eternal King. The weapons of iniquity are doomed annihilation. Christ stands on the side of the persecuted. His spirit, the Spirit of Truth, Righteousness and Love, is strongest of all. The day of freedom shall again dawn for the persecuted and oppressed." [509]

It is remarkable that earlier deportations of Jews in countries such as Germany, France and the Netherlands, did not prompt the Swedish Church leaders to raise their voices, though the number of deportees was much greater than that of the Jews deported from Norway.

It seems likely that what was happening in Western Europe was less known in Sweden than what was happening in Norway. Moreover, human beings generally are more moved by cruelties committed on their doorstep, than by what happens further away. The Proclamation of the Swedish Bishops expressed "horror and dismay" because "an un-Christian racial hatred...

has now expressed itself... in our immediate neighbourhood, on our own Scandinavian peninsula".

As far as we know, the Swedish Church did not issue a Protest against the persecution of the Danish Jews. In fact, events in Denmark took place so rapidly that a Protest would hardly have done any good.

The pressure of the Swedish Archbishop (and others) on the Swedish Government to make public their willingness to receive all Danish Jews, was important. It appears that this step, indirectly, saved many lives.

Dr. Leni Yahil relates the following:

"The Swedish Foreign Office contacted Richert, the Swedish envoy in Berlin, on the same day, September 29 [1943], and again on the next day, September 30, in order to plan with him the appeal to the German Foreign Office. It was decided that Richert would ask the Germans whether there was a basis to the rumours about an impending deportation of the Jews from Denmark, and that he would stress the fact that such a deportation would cause great indignation in Sweden. Moreover, he was to propose that all Danish Jews be transferred to Sweden and concentrated there in a camp and that the Swedish Government would be responsible that 'they would not be able to undertake any activity that might be harmful to Germany'. <232> It became evident that the Swedes did not intend to take any further action.

[Niels] Bohr, Ebbe Munk and their friends, however, were of a different opinion. As we know from entries in Ebbe Munk's diary and from his letters to Christmas Moeller in London, it was the Danish group with the active support of prominent Swedish circles which brought about the publication by the Swedish Government of the appeal to the Germans.

On October 2, the day following on the night of the persecution in Denmark, Bohr had an interview with the Foreign Secretary, Guenther. It seems that already on the preceding day the Danes had tried to persuade the Swedes to publish their appeal to the Germans in the hope that such a publication might prevent the deportation. Since this had not been done, Bohr requested the Swedish Foreign Secretary to repeat his appeal to the Germans and to propose to them that the boats on which the Jews were concentrated, be directed to Sweden instead of to Germany. Guenther proposed this to the German Amba.s.sador Thomsen, who called on him at 9 o'clock in the evening on that day. A reply to this proposal was never received.

Through Kammerherr von Kruse, the Danish Amba.s.sador in Stockholm, and with the active support of Prof. Stefan Hurvitz, an audience with the King of Sweden was arranged for Bohr, in the afternoon of the same day. During this audience Bohr proposed to the King that the Swedish appeal to Germany be published. The King did not reply, but at the end of the audience the Foreign Secretary was called in. That same evening the Swedish radio broadcasted an announcement about the steps taken by Sweden in Berlin. The announcement stressed that the Swedish Amba.s.sador, on behalf of his Government, had declared that Sweden was willing to receive all the Danish Jews. We know that this announcement encouraged the Jews as well as their Danish helpers to organize the ma.s.s escape.

In his letter to Christmas Moeller, dated October 12, Munk told that the Swedish Government only agreed to publish the announcement, after the Arch- bishop, professors and other prominent persons had declared that they were prepared to sign an open letter to the Government about the subject." [510]

The King of Sweden was present when, in May, 1944, Archbishop Eidem delivered his opening address to the General a.s.sembly, to which 2,600 parish-delegates and guests from all over the country had come. Archbishop Eidem said:

"... Our Christian conscience must keep constantly on the alert in the face of all that is happening in the world around us. Might is not right. Power is not justice. Torture is not permissible in any circ.u.mstances. Innocent people must not be made in any way responsible or punished for the acts of others. Houses and entire communities must not be purposely destroyed in order to intimidate or cripple an enemy. <233> People of a particular racial and national group, such as the unhappy people of the Jews, must not be persecuted and martyred because of their membership in that race or national group. All such actions are not only barbarism but sin...

It is indeed no wonder that a frightful harvest of hatred and vengefulness is growing from the sowing of such seeds on our poor earth. As Christians we are called to take up the fight against hatred in every shape and form in this world, which now seems to be a free field for unleashed evil forces; and we must conduct this fight first of all in our own hearts, but each man also in the place where he lives. And we must not grow tired or weary in this fight." [511]

It would be interesting to know how far the King was influenced by this stand of his Archbishop when, shortly afterwards, he appealed to Regent Horthy on behalf of the Hungarian Jews.

It is my impression that the Church of Sweden also undertook steps on behalf of the Jews about which we know nothing, and perhaps never shall. Concerning two steps, we do know at least something. Firstly, the secretary of the Church of Sweden's Committee for Foreign Affairs, Rev. Johansson, communicated to me: "It is true that Archbishop Eidem paid a visit to Hitler himself, but no details are officially known". [512]

Secondly, the German Amba.s.sador in Slovakia, Ludin, informed the German Foreign Office in a letter dated January 3, 1945, that the Archbishop of Uppsala had addressed the Slovak Prime Minister (Tiso) with a plea for the transfer of "the unfortunate Jewish brethren" to neutral territories. [513]

We have, however, not succeeded in retrieving a copy of Archbishop Eidem's letter.

<234>

COUNTRIES AT WAR WITH GERMANY

33 GREAT BRITAIN

a. The First Period

Few voices were publicly raised in England during the years 1940 and 1941.

In 1940, the Battle of Britain apparently occupied the national attention so much that people tended to forget everything else. If any statements made by ecclesiastical leaders were issued in 1941 (except the statement of the Church of Schotland, mentioned below), I have failed to find them.

The Beckley Social Service Lecture is delivered annually in connection with the Methodist Conference in Great Britain.

Its purpose is to review certain major problems in the field of social service from the point of Christian responsibility. In the year 1940 the Rev. W. W. Simpson, now secretary of the Council of Christians and Jews, was invited to deal with the refugee problem and the fight against anti-Semitism. His lecture was published in book-form. [514]

In May 1940, the General a.s.sembly of the Church of Scotland issued the following statement:

"The General a.s.sembly deplore the continued persecution of Jewish minorities in Central Europe, and deeply regret that the situation has worsened in Hungary.

The General a.s.sembly warmly appreciate the vigorous protest against the new anti-Jewish legislation made by the Hungarian Reformed Church, and a.s.sure the Committee and the missionaries themselves of their sympathy with all endeavours to minister relief and comfort and hope to suffering Jews, so far as it may be in their power to do so." [515] <235>

I regret that I have not succeeded in finding any confirmation of the "vigorous protests" made by the Hungarian Reformed Church. In May 1941, the a.s.sembly anew expressed:

"their deep sympathy with the Jewish people in their tragic sorrow, and, realising the gravity and intricacy of the problem, approve the settling up of a Sub-Committee to survey the whole situation, and they resolve to appoint six members ad hoc to a.s.sist in this survey." [516]

This expression of sympathy was repeated in May, 1942, whilst the General a.s.sembly also warned "their faithful people against the growing menace of anti-Semitism." [517]

We record the statements issued by the Presbyterian Church of Ireland during the second world war in this chapter, as most of the members of this Church live in the Northern part of Ireland which is under the sovereignty of Great Britain.

In June, 1942, the a.s.sembly of the Presbyterian Church of Ireland issued the following "Resolution anent the Jewish People":

"That the following resolution, adopted at a recent conference in connection with the Presbyterian Alliance, be given the warm approval of the General a.s.sembly: 'That this Conference of representatives of the Presbyterian Churches of Great Britain and Ireland, held at Edinburgh on the 28th day of January, 1942, having considered the position of the Jews in the problem of post-war reconstruction, deplores any denial to persons of Jewish descent of the right of equal treatment before the law and of other rights due to their status as ordinary citizens, and urges that all Governments shall take immediate steps to restore to the full status of human dignity such Jewish people as have been deprived of it, and, in particular, that all legislation unjustly diminishing the rights of Jews, as such, shall be repealed at an early date; recognising also that liberty of conscience is an essential part of civil liberty, and that a free exchange of religious convictions is a necessary condition of all understanding between races and nations, the Conference urges on all Governments the recognition of the unfettered right of every individual to free choice in religious faith and to the public profession and preaching of it so long as these rights do not run counter to public law and order.

The Conference urges His Majesty's Government, in conjunction with other allied and friendly nations, to provide for some scheme of emigration for Jews who cannot find a home in Europe." [518] <236>

b. Ma.s.s Ma.s.sacres. The Fate of the Refugees

On June 26, 1942, Reports of the ma.s.sacre of Jews in Poland were broadcast by the B.B.C. The Chief Rabbi, Dr. Hertz, based a special Sunday evening broadcast on the reports. On July 8, 1942, the Archbishop of Canterbury inveighed, on the European service of the B.B.C., against "so terrible a violation of human and Divine law." [519]

On October 15, 1942, the Bishop of Chichester spoke in the Upper House of the Convocation of Canterbury:

"The torture and the ceaseless and systematic deportation of the Jews form some of the darkest chapters in the tragic history even of that people, and the latest report which has reached this country tells of the deportation, in terrible circ.u.mstances, of thousands of Jewish refugees from Vichy France, where they had thought they were safe from the oppressor, to Occupied France and thence to Eastern Galicia, leaving behind them between five thousand and eight thousand children of whom many are now orphans, while large numbers do not know their parents or their own names, and all are waiting for the charity of Britain, or America or Switzerland to give them sanctuary." [520]

Also in October, the Archbishop of Canterbury sent the following Message to the Jewish Bulletin:

"The situation of the Jews is unique, and yet has lasted for many centuries.

They are a people conscious of close and real unity, and yet they have no motherland. Other people have survived and maintained their ident.i.ty when there was no national State to which they could be loyal; but there was always a homeland inhabited by the people who remembered their days of independence and hoped for its restoration. For the Jews there has been no such a homeland. Their eyes might turn to Palestine; but though there were Jews among the population there, they did not form the bulk of it. The Jews as a people have been homeless. They have lived among the other peoples of the earth, and they have been loyal citizens of the nations which have made them welcome. But if their hosts turn against them they have no remedy.

In earlier periods this has happened from time to time.