PERSECUTION OF JEWS IN RUSIA EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. J. CALEB BOGGS OF DELAWARE IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP66B00403R000200190022-4
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 2
• Document Creation Date: December 16, 2016
• Document Release Date: January 4, 2005
• Sequence Number: 22
• Publication Date: May 11, 1964
• Content Type: OPEN

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Appendix
Address of Francis Cardinal Spellman Be-
fore Dinner of American Jewish Con-
gress
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
or
HON. JAMES C. HEALEY
Or NEW YORK
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, May 7, 1964
Mr. HEALEY. Mr. Speaker, with per-
mission to extend my remarks in the
CONGRESSIONAL RECORD, I wish to call
the attention of my colleagues in the
Congress to a very timely and eloquent
address delivered by His Eminence
Francis Cardinal Spellman, archbishop
of New York, before the annual dinner
meeting of the American Jewish Con-
gress, in New York City on Thursday,
April 30, 1964. Cardinal Spellman was
introduced by the Honorable Newton N.
Minow, former Chairman of the Federal
Communications Commission, and I
would also like to include his very excel-
lent and appropriate remarks:
INTRODUCTION OF CARDINAL SPELLMAN
(By Newton N. Minow)
Nineteen hundred and sixty-four is a time
of first stirrings of new interchange between
Jews and Catholics-an interchange that uti-
lizes channels of feeling as well as channels
of intellect-an interchange which will, we
trust, take place with increasing frequency
and increasing confidence all over the world.
The late Pope John, who projected this spirit
as a potent force in our time-and Pope Paul,
who is pressing forward this historic work-
have won the prayerful support of freemen
everywhere. The leaders of the Roman Cath-
olic Church in America, with Cardinal Spell-
man standing_ in first rank, have given the
most vigorous support to this movement for
change. Leading authorities have charac-
terized his Eminence, Cardinal Spellman, as
the most influential figure in world Catholi-
cism, second only to the Pope. Those who live
and work here in his parish need only look
around us to see their achievements that have
been accomplished by our Catholic brethren
under the full guidance of Cardinal Spellman.
We see a great network of religious and social
institutions: churches, schools, hospitals,
charitable and youth-serving agencies. They
have enriched our community and they have
enriched the Nation. They are contributing
with the dedication, the loyalty, and the vigor
of American Catholicism and to his able
spokesmen and leaders whom we are privi-
leged to have here with us this evening. As
we all know, Cardinal Spellman is quite a
traveler from the North Pole to the South
Pole, from Greenland to Korea-there is no
corner of the world so far away that Cardinal
Spellman will not travel to for the comfort
and cheer of the American serviceman, Your
Eminence, your trip from the chancellory
to the New York Hilton this evening is much
shorter than most of your journeys; however,
the distance, measured not in miles, but in
the progress of interfaith relations, is very
great indeed. It is an extraordinary honor
for me to present the archbishop of New
York, His Eminence Francis Cardinal Spell-
man.
ADDRESS OF FRANCIS CARDINAL SPELLMAN BE-
FORE THE AMERICAN-JEWISH COMMITTEE
ANNUAL DINNER, APRIL 30, 1964
I wish to extend my sincere congratula-
tions to our celebrated guest of honor, Mr.
Dean Rusk, on receiving the American
Liberties Medallion of the American Jewish
Committee. Being Secretary of State is an
overwhelming responsibility and sometimes,
I am afraid, a thankless one which exposes
a man to the slings and arrows of public
criticism. While any award is scarcely ade-
quate recompense for Mr. Rusk's trying
labors and successes, at least he may know
from tonight's citation the gratitude of this
company and that of countless fellow Amer-
icans for the dedicated service he has ren-
dered to our Nation.
I myself feel greatly honored that you
have invited me to give a brief address at
your annual dinner. The invitation came
originally from Mr. A. M. Sonnabend, who for
2 years served the committee selflessly and
effectively as its president, and whose un-
timely death was, I know, felt deeply by all
your members. My prayer is that his soul
may rest in peace, and that the important
work which meant so much to him will
continue to prosper under your new presi-
dent, Mr. Morris Abram.
The American-Jewish Committee has given
distinguished service to the cause of brother-
hood. This it has done without ignoring
the unavoidable distinctions of race, color,
and creed. Today it stands in the forefront
of the civil rights movement, thereby ful-
filling the best traditions of Judaism. Well
might the words of the Prophet Isaiah be its
motto: "Seek justice; undo oppression." Its
achievements are the more remarkable when
one remembers how often and how unjustly
the Jewish people have suffered from slander
and oppression. Such a people might be
expected to concentrate on Its own vindi-
cation and welfare. The American Jewish
Committee has, on the contrary, earnestly
striven to promote the welfare of all, and
has in its activities given substance to the
conviction that we are all children of God
and indeed our brothers' keepers.
That we are our brothers' keepers is more
than a pious cliche. It is a lesson the whole
world sorely needs to learn. As a matter of
fact it has become an imperative for sur-
vival In our day. By every means at our
disposal we must wage war on the old sus-
picions and prejudices and bigotry which
have set brother against brother and have
spawned a brood of evils threatening the
very existence of our society. Definitely we
must win that war.
The sad plight of minorities in many
places bears testimony to the existence of
racial and religious prejudice. The struggle
of millions of American Negroes to achieve
first class citizenship underscores it. The
shameful murder in this very generation of
6 million Jews and of millions of other in-
nocent victims of tyranny proclaims it. The
widespread oppression of Catholic and Pro-
testants and other religious groups both now
and throughout the past tells a story of pre-
judice that darkens the pages of history.
Prejudice is mysterious and Its roots are
deeply buried. No rational being can fully
understand it or comprehend all the reasons
behind it. But one thing I do know: pre-
judice can never be justified by the teach-
ings of religion. Hatred can never be justi-
fied by those teachings. The founder of my
faith gave one supreme commandment to all
who would follow Him: "By this shall all
men know that you are my disciples, if you
have love for one another."
This point needs stressing in the light of a
recent survey examining the reasons behind
anti-Semitism. Asked why the Jewish peo-
ple have often suffered outbreaks of persecu-
tion, a surprising number of people replied
that in their opinion it was a punishment
for their part of the crucifixion of Christ.
Frankly I was appalled. This is not Chris-
tianity. I don't know where they learned it
but surely it was not from the teaching of
their church.
It is one of those distorted and terribly
harmful notions which somehow gain cur-
rency and like a cancer spread among cer-
tain people who wish to justify their own
biogtry.
The question of responsibility for the
crucifixion of Christ must be carefully stated
and clearly understood. I am reminded of
an Incident which happened to a priest of
my acquaintance when he was riding in a
taxicab here 1 day last year. The cab drivers
of New York, as everyone knows, are cele-
brated for their conversational talents. Not
infrequently they emerge as homespun phi-
losphers and this particular driver was even
a sort of sidewalk theologian. Over his
shoulder he said to the priest: "I understand
that those bishops over in Rome are saying
that everyone who ever lived is responsible
for the death of Our Lord. Does that mean
that the poor Indians who were hunting
buffalo on the plains of America at the time
were responsible? Why, they didn't even
know its was happening. How, could they be
responsible?"
He asked a good question, to which there is
only one answer. Responsibility for the
crucifixion of Jesus as an event of history
belongs only to those individuals who were
present at the time and who cooperated in
His death. It is simply absurd to maintain
that there is some kind of continuing guilt
which is transferred to any group and which
rests upon them as a curse for which they
must suffer.
The Christian faith, on the other hand,
does teach that Christ Our Saviour died for
all of us, in expiation for the sins of all
mankind. In this sense we do believe that
we are all mystically implicated in His
death-but all without exception and all in
the same way. And His dying for us must
never be thought of as a curse upon anyone,
but rather has a blessing upon all.
Anti-Semitism can never find a basis in
the Catholic religion. Far from emphasizing
the differences which divide Jews from Chris-
tians, our faith stresses our common origins
and the ties which bind us together. In the
early days of nazism, when the wave of anti-
Semitism threatened to engulf Europe, Pope
Pius XI stated clearly: "Abraham is our
patriarch, our ancestor. Anti-Semitism is
not compatible with this sublime reality. It
is a movement in which we Christians can-
not share. Spiritually we are Semites." I
recall well quoting those words in my broad-
cast to the Hungarian leaders and their peo-
ple in June of 1944, a broadcast which I made
at the request of Pope Pius XII to protest
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 Approved DPJJR000200190022-4 May 11
the bloody persecution of Hungarian Jews.
I reminded them that their action was "in
direct contradiction of the Catholic faith,"
and I told them that "no one who hates can
be a follower of the gentle Christ, and no
man can love God and hate his brother."
Pope Plus XII, in his Christmas message of
1942, had passionately lamented: "Hundreds
of thousands of persons, through no fault of
their own, have been condemned to death
or to progressive a ctinction." He decried
their exile and persecution "for no other
reason than race." The New York Times on
that occasion commented editorially: "This
Christmas more than ever the Pope is a lonely
voice crying out in the silence of a con-
tinent."
In June of 1943 Pius XII again pro-
teeted publicly: "For centuries the Jews
have been most unjustly treated or despised.
It is time they were treated with justice and
humanity. God wills it and the church wills
it. St. Paul tells u: that the Jews are our
brothers."
It-is Is the teaching of the Catholic
Church and it can sever be otherwise. My
friends, God is love, and His will for all of
us is fraternal charity and understanding.
It is high time that all, Christians and Jews
alike, applied this great religious principle
to their dealings with one another. It is
high time to stress the bonds of brother-
hood. which should characterize our relation-
sh?p The beloved Pope John XXIII taught
the world a lesson which I pray it will
neither Ignore nor forget, when in greeting
a delegation of Jewirh victors to the Vatican
in 1962 he opened w'de his arms and said: "I
am Joseph. your brother." In that one sim-
ple gesture, springing from his great heart.
he proclaimed to the world the true meaning
of the Christian spirit.
Last week our Ilew York World's Fair
opened. The fair's motto is one that every
man should carry in his mind: "Peace
Through Understanding." Understanding Is
the way to peace. Men are weary of the
hostilities of the part. They are tired of the
feuding of their fo-bears. May they all--
Jews, Christians, anti all men of good will-
begins at last to say: Together let us live
in place. Let us try" to understand one an-
other better-little by little, step by step, to
accept our differen' es and to respect one
another's convictions; to attack prejudice
where first we may encounter it, within our
own mind and heart. And having conquered
it there, let us go firth to work with every
man, our brother, for a better, and a happier
world.
or
HON. J. CALEB BOGGS
Or t'RLAWARE
IN THE SENATE 03 THE UNITED STATES
Monday, May 11, 1964
Mr. BOGGS. Mr. President, all free-
dom-loving people share a sense of out-
rage that in the :3oviet Union the reli-
gious and culturid life of Jews is re-
pressed.
Last September I joined with 63 of my
colleagues in sponsoring Senate Resolu-
tion_ 204 which expresses the sense of the
Senate "that persecution of any persons
because of their religion by the Soviet
Union be condemned."
The resolution calls upon the Soviet
Union, "in the name of decency and hu-
manity," to "cease executing persons for
alleged economic offenses, and fully per-
mit the free exercise of religion and the
pursuit of culture by Jews and all others
within its borders."
A group of 88 clergymen and leaders
in the religious life of Delaware recently
sent a message to Premier Khrushchev
demanding an end to persecution of Jews
In Russia. The list of signatures In-
cludes 41 Protestants, 34 Catholics, and
13 Jews.
A news story in the Wilmington Eve-
ning Journal, entitled "Stop Persecution
of Jews, 88 Here Tell Khrushchev," sum-
marizes their protest, and r ask unani-
mous consent that It be printed in the
Appendix of the RECORD.
There being no objection, the news
story was ordered to be printed In the
RECORD, as follows:
STOP PERSECUTION OF JEWS, 88 HERE TELL
KHRUSHCHEV
A demand from Delaware that Premier
Khrushchev end repression of Jewish religi-
ous and cultural life in Russia was forwarded
to the Soviet Embassy in Washington yester-
day.
It was signed by 88 religious leaders of
northern Delaware. They also asked for an
end to the Soviet Government's persisting
enmity toward religion.
Among the 88 signers are the Catholic and
Episcopal bishops and public leaders who are
active In religious life.
The message to the chairman of the Cen-
tral Committee of the Communist Party of
the Soviet Union is sponsored by the Dela-
ware Unit of the American Jewish Committee
and Is similar to an appeal sent December 7,
1962, signed by 46 of the Nation's outstand-
ing religious leaders.
The message was sent for forwarding to
Ambassador Anatoly F. Dobrynin in Wash-
ington by Louis J. Finger, chairman of the
State unit of AJC.
The message calls attention to the consti-
tution of the U.S.S.R. which grants freedom
of conscience. The message said persistent
hostility to religion is, nevertheless, a matter
of record. While most faiths are permitted
`the bare necessities such as seminaries and
sacred literature, even these are dented Jews,
it continued.
"'Hard pressed as they are by blanket re-
straints," the message reads, "none of the
other major religions of the Soviet people,
neither the Orthodox, Armenian, Catholic, or
Protestant churches, neither Buddhism nor
Islam. have been subjected to the extraordi-
nary disabilities inflicted on Judaism. and
its followers."
The only Jewish seminary In the nation
is in Moscow and has only 4 students and
it opened in 1958, the message continues,
there were none for a generation and the
few remaining synagogues are served by
rabbis ordained more than 40 years ago.
No Jewish Bible has been printed in 40
years and no articles for Jewish ritual can
be produced and, in 1962. even the sale of
unleavened bread, essential for Passover
observance. was banned.
The teaching of Hebrew is forbidden, ac-
cording to the statement, and the -once-
flourishing Yiddish schools, literature ahd
theater have been stamped out even though
a half million Jews declared Yiddish to be
their mother tongue In the 1959 census.
Much smaller ethnic or linguistic groups
have schools. theaters, books, and newspa-
pers in their own languages.
"T.iese conditions conjure up memories
of the anti-Semitic Stalin regime. which you
yourself have denounced." the document re-
minds Khrushchev.
The message called the Chairman's at-
tention to the United Nations Universal De-
claration of Human Rights and said "unless
the Soviet Government conforms," it "for-
felts the confidence of all peoples."
"By deeds alone, can your. government con-
firm that the Soviet Union in truth upholds
the rights of minorities and the equal dig-
nity of man."
In addition to Catholic Bishop Michael
W. Hyle and Episcopal Bishop J. Brooke
Mosley, signers are:
Leon V. Anderson, the Reverend Roberto
Baiducelli. the Reverend James G. Birney,
James B. Brooks. Charles A. Cary, the Rev-
erend Gordon T. Charlton, Jr., Louis S. Co-
hen, Philip Cohen, the Reverend John J.
Conmy. Arthur G. Connolly, the Reverend
Chas. J. Conway. Richard F. Corroon, and
Philip F. Crosland.
The Right Reverend Monsignor F. J. Des-
mond, the Reverend John H. Dewson, the
Reverend Anthony F. DtMichele, Dominick
Di Sabatlno, Thomas B. Donahoe, the Rev-
erend Edward A. Dougherty, the Reverend
Henry Dreyer, Rabbi Herbert E. Drooz, Wil-
liam Duffy, president judge of superior
court, the Reverend William F. Dunkle, Jr.,
the Right Reverend Roderick B. Dwyer,
Samuel Elsenstat, president Jewish Federa-
tion of Delaware, Louts J. Finger, the Rev-
erend Henri I. Foltz, Robert W. Frelick, Rabbi
Leonard B. Gewirtz, and the Reverend Robert
J. Gillespie.
Edward J. Goett. Maurice D. Goldstein, the
Reverend George W. Goodley, Karl F. Green,
the Very Reverend Lloyd E. Gressle, presi-
dent, Wilmington Council of Churches, Frank
A. Gunnip, Thomas H. Hogshead, the Rev-
erend Paul F. Huber, the Reverend James
Hughes. the Reverend Ellsworth Jackson, Jr.,
Harry Jacobs, E. Melvin Jewett, the Reverend
Edmund F. Julien, Edward Kauffman, Robert
F. Kelly, the Reverend A. H. Kieffman, Rabbi
Jacob Kraft, Morris Leibowitz, and the Rev-
erend Edward M. Leinhelser.
Clement J. Lemon, the Reverend Thomas
F. Luce. Jane du Pont Lunger, Stewart Lynch,
judge of superior court, the Reverend Mal-
colm J. MacQueen, Adolph Markel, Jr., the
Reverend Philip U. Martin. the Right Rev-
erend Monsignor Wm. J. McElwaine, the Rev-
erend John J. McGee, the Reverend Henry
A. Miller, the Reverend Paul It. Miller. the
Reverend Ralph L. Minker, Jr., the Reverend
Robert E. Mohr, Thomas W. Mulrooney,
Frank J. Obara, the Reverend John L.
O'Hear. Stewart E. Poole, W. Ellis Preston,
Dr. Willard F. Preston, and the Reverend
James -B. Pritchard.
William F. Raskob, the Reverend Roy E.
Raymond, the Reverend Roddey Reid, Jr.,
Harry J. Repman. the Reverend Percy F. Rex,
Harry Rofel, Gilbert S. Scarborough, Jr., Col-
lins J. Seitz, chancellor, Melvin A. Slawik,
Edward B. Sledz, the Right Reverend Mon-
signor Joseph D. Sweeney, David R. Tread-
well, Sally K. Treadwell, the Reverend Gil-
bert F. Van Bever, Mrs. Winston J. Wayne,
the Reverend Donald C. Wilson, and the Rev-
erend Stuart G. Wysham.
EXTENSION OF REMARKS
OF
HON. JACK WESTLAND
OF WASHINGTON
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Monday, May 11, 1964
Mr. WESTLAND. Mr. Speaker, re-
cently there appeared in an issue of the
Republican Islander, official publication
of the Island County Republican Cen-
tral Committee in my district, a reprint
of an article that reminds us of a time
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