A substantial part of the Satmar SHIT"ah really stands on one "fact" ...that the Zionist Jewish Agency had no interest in saving Jews!
To support this accusation, the Satmar Rebbe, R' Yoel Teitelbaum, would quote Rav Weissmandel's assertion that he saw a letter from a Mr. Gruenbaum of the Jewish Agency, that said
"Rak B'dam Tiyeh Lonu Haaretz"
which translates as
"Only with blood will we have a Land"
in other words, "let the Jews die, so that the Nations of the world will have some sympathy and give us a State."
This twisted thinking, gave birth to their belief that the Zionists had no interest in saving Jewish lives from the claws of the murderous Nazis! And not only didn't they do anything, but they impeded efforts on behalf of the doomed European Jews!
There is only one part of the puzzle missing ......
The letter!
In 70 years, no one can produce this letter....
Despite copious and detailed record keeping of The Jewish Agency, "the letter" has never been found!
And Rav Weissmandle himself never produced the letter!
To play the devil's advocate, maybe there was a letter but the Jewish Agency destroyed it ...
If that were in fact true, then we would find some evidence somewhere else that Mr. Gruenbaum's policy was not to help any Jews!
Also, where is the recipient of this letter? Why, in 70 years hasn't anyone come forward and say that they saw or that they were the recipient of that letter?
The truth is...that there is no letter, and there was no letter, and no one will ever in the future produce this letter.
The Jewish Agency, as I said above, kept meticulous notes of all meetings, even minutes of meetings that made The Jewish Agency look bad. There are thousands of documents recorded, yet there is no indication that they weren't going to do whatever was needed to help the Jews! There is no documentation anywhere in the thousands of Jewish Agency documents referring to that alleged notorious statement of Mr Guenbaum!
In fact just the opposite is true ..... read minutes of a meeting attended by Mr. Gruenbaum in May 25, 1944, and see All and I mean All who attended were trying to figure out ways how to save the Jews...
Read what Mr. Gruenbaum actually said, referring to a proposal by Mr. Pomerantz, that Brand keep negotiations open with Eichmann to stall him and actually offer him cash, since the US and the UK would never agree to supply the Wermacht with Trucks!
"We have to keep this game going as long as possible, although there is no doubt that nothing can possibly come of it. I consider it a satanic provocation meant to give them an opportunity to slaughter the Jews of Hungary. For this reason, we have to pretend that we are doing everything in this direction.
I believe Mr. Shertok should leave for Turkey at once and spend several days there; we should also state that one of our people is going to the United States. However, we must present one condition: the deportations have to stop immediately. And another: the first thousand Jews should be from Poland and not from Hungary.
They should also be allowed to negotiate for money and not for goods. I am sure the United States will not agree to this “trade,” but we must send someone to Turkey immediately, because that way we buy time."
This meeting was actually about the efforts of Julius Brand to try to negotiate the lives of the Hungarian Jews!It is also interesting to note at this time, that it was the Zionists who begged Jews from Hungary and Poland to run for their lives, and it was the Rabbis like Satmar and Belz, that told the doomed Jews to remain...
I'm not saying that the Rabbis had any bad intentions, but History now proves that the Rabbis were actually wrong.. and the Zionists were right!
Minutes of the crucial Jewish Agency Meeting that proves Rav Weissmandle and the Satmar Rebbe wrong!
Zionists Debate Rescue of Hungarian Jews(May 25, 1944)Draft Confidential No. 48 Minutes of Meeting of the Jewish Agency Executive, Jerusalem, May 25, 1944 In attendance: Mr. Ben-Gurion, Chairman Mr. Gruenbaum Mr. Kaplan Dr. Shmurak Mr. Shertok Dr. Joseph Mr. Shapira Mr. Dobkin Mr. Eisenberg On the agenda: Rescue of Hungarian Jews (Mr. Zeev Pomerantz, who had previously come from Turkey, entered.)
Mr. Pomerantz:
The matter on which I am about to report is extremely grave and
extremely sensational. On March 19, 1944—the day the Germans entered Hungary,
with no Hungarian resistance whatsoever (they talk about one shooting
only)—persecution of the Jews began. The first to be interned were leaders of
the leftist party and Polish and Hungarian Jews. Within the first three weeks,
about 6,000 persons were removed from Hungary. Today, 300,000 Jews have been
concentrated in Carpathian Ruthenia and Transylvania. The concentration camps
are run by the Germans and the Hungarians.
Eight thousand Jews have been deported to Poland to date, and
starting next week another 12,000 will be deported every day.
Several Hungarian Jews have been in contact with the German
authorities. As we know, these contacts also took place in Slovakia and the
deportations from that country were occasionally delayed because of them.
Now, three weeks ago, two of our comrades in Hungary, Mr. Joel
Brand and Mr. R.Kastner, were summoned for a talk with the commander of the
Gestapo, the well-known Eichmann. Krumi (Scherzer) Schreber, and Willi, whom we
know from Slovakia, took part in this talk for the Gestapo. Eichmann bragged
that he had executed three and a half million Jews. If the Jews wanted, he would
now be willing to make a “deal” with them: goods instead of blood. Churchill, he
said, wants to save the Jews. Roosevelt argues that the Jews are his. So, he
said, the Gestapo is willing to give them the Jews, on the condition that they
head for Portugal or Spain and not be routed to Palestine. In return, they want
ten thousand trucks, to be used exclusively on the eastern front; eighty tons of
coffee, twenty tons of tea, twenty tons of cocoa, and two million bars of soap.
They are also willing to exchange Jews for German POWs.
This talk was followed by another three or four talks. They are
willing to deliver the Jews to the border of Spain or Portugal. One of them
blurted that they would also want a little money. They would release one hundred
Jews for each truck delivered to them.
On Wednesday, we received a cable from Constantinople signed by
Joel Brand, in which he advised that he would reach Constantinople on Friday. He
asked to be provided with entrance visas. Indeed, on Friday afternoon, Joel
Brand came to Constantinople with a German passport in the name of Eugen Band.
From Budapest they took him to Vienna, where he slept in the Gestapo building.
By Friday evening he had come to Constantinople, where he gave us the details.
They also told him that, for the purpose of this offer, he would be allowed to
visit Lisbon, Switzerland, and—by special permit—Palestine, too.
We asked him how he knew for sure that the proposal had come
from the army. Eichmann, for example, said he was willing to be the first and to
release ten thousand Jews, with payment to follow. Mr. Brand also reported that
they had obtained a permit for six hundred Jews, who would be taken away as if
for deportation but would be removed to Palestine en route . The unanswered
question is whether Brand can come to Palestine with permission from the British
authorities, on the condition that he can exit again. We made inquiries in
Constantinople and reached the conclusion that we must first hand the matter
over to the Executive, which will decide what to do next. Brand cabled Budapest
this past Saturday, advising that he is coming to Ankara and that the
negotiations are continuing.
In the meantime, the deportations from Hungary are proceeding.
We decided to send one of our people to Palestine to report the matter to the
Executive and to ask a member of the Executive to come to Turkey at once.
We asked whether they would allow one of us to visit Hungary,
and they replied that it was not out of the question.
Brand was accompanied to Constantinople by a Hungarian who had
been in our service and, with him, a group of important Hungarians. He also
worked for the Germans and took part in the talks with Eichmann. The Germans
told this Hungarian that a financial ransom might also be relevant, and when
Brand asked about the price, he was told $500 per person. He—the
Hungarian—offered $100. They forbade him to tell this to Brand.
On Sunday, they were about to make inquiries with the comrades
in Budapest about the state of the deportations and concentrations. We also
asked if it were possible to arrange to have the Swiss consul supervise the
transports out of the country. There was also talk of a delegation of Gestapo
people—Schroeder (this is not evidently his real name)—to continue the
negotiations. It is not clear whether all the talks were conducted at the
instructions of the high German authorities. The Hungarian, for example, advised
that they had been authorized to conduct the talks at the highest echelons.
Mr. Brand explained that it was important to keep the
negotiations going, because this would buy us time. And since it is important to
play for time, it is essential for someone to travel to Ankara and for a member
of the Executive to go to Turkey at once, because important things are happening
there. Mr. Brand will return to Budapest over the next few days. If we advise
him by cable that he should stay on for another few days, they will certainly
let him do so. The comrades in Constantinople are demanding that Mr. Shertok go
there at once.
Mr. Gruenbaum:
We have to keep this game going as long as possible, although
there is no doubt that nothing can possibly come of it. I consider it a satanic
provocation meant to give them an opportunity to slaughter the Jews of Hungary.
For this reason, we have to pretend that we are doing everything in this
direction.
I believe Mr. Shertok should leave for Turkey at once and spend
several days there; we should also state that one of our people is going to the
United States. However, we must present one condition: the deportations have to
stop immediately. And another: the first thousand Jews should be from Poland and
not from Hungary.
They should also be allowed to negotiate for money and not for
goods. I am sure the United States will not agree to this “trade,” but we must
send someone to Turkey immediately, because that way we buy time.
Mr. Shertok:
The matter should be treated with the greatest urgency and
boldness. The goal is not to buy time but to rescue Jews from Europe. We must
also buy time, but that should not be the goal. Even though the scheme seems
chimerical, there is no doubt that many Jews may be saved if we respond in the
affirmative. Say hundreds of thousands of Jews reach Portugal—what will they do
with them? With what will they feed them? But we have no choice; we are
duty-bound to do everything to rescue the surviving remnant in Europe. We have
nothing more to lose. If the last million is not saved, it will be
annihilated.
None of us should go to Turkey at once; neither should our man
meet in Constantinople directly with the Germans but rather through the
mediation of the Red Cross. We should immediately report the matter to our
comrades in London and Washington. Maybe somebody should go to London right
now.
Mr. Ben-Gurion:
I accept Mr. Pomerantzs characterization of the whole matter as
fantastic, but we should not belittle its seriousness. Nor should anyone speak
now about satanic plots. The Nazis have one plot—to destroy Jews. If there is a
hope of one in a million, we should cling to it.
I regret that action was not taken immediately and that they
did not cable that a member of the Executive would set out for Turkey then and
there, because it is essential to talk with the British and American envoys.
[Ben-Gurion favors sending Mr. Shertok to Turkey.]
We should also inform our friends in London and report the
matter to the High Commissioner, because without assistance from the government
we cannot move. We should ask the Commissioner to bring the matter to the
knowledge of the Colonial Office and the Foreign Office immediately.
Mr. Dobkin:
First of all, we should announce that the negotiations are
continuing. [I] Second Ben-Gurions view on a mission by Mr. Shertok to Turkey.
We should try to turn the negotiations into a matter of money, not of goods. We
should also strive to send our envoy to Budapest at once. [I] doubt that we
should turn the matter over to the British. For the time being, we should
negotiate with the Americans, and afterwards with the British.
Dr. Shmurak:
I concur with Mr. Ben-Gurion and Mr. Shertok. The comrades in
Constantinople should be instructed to insist on a halt to the deportations.
There is no point in dealing with the matter behind the authorities backs.
Mr. Gruenbaum:
I consider this a plot and nothing more. I fear that if we hand
the matter to the British and the Americans, we shall fail altogether. I support
Mr. Dobkins proposal—not to send a cable and not to tell anyone about this
matter until Mr. Shertok returns from Turkey. I agree, for lack of choice, that
it should be reported to the High Commissioner in total confidentiality.
Mr. Kaplan:
The whole thing is puzzling, but we should debate the action we
are about to take, because it is our duty to spare no effort to rescue the Jews
of Hungary. In the meantime, we should bring the matter to the knowledge of the
comrades in England and the government. If there is even one straw to grasp, we
must not let it slip away. There is no hope of buying time by concealing the
matter.
I suggest that the government be advised at once and that our
comrades be informed by cable that Mr. Shertok is setting out for Turkey.
Mr. Ben-Gurion:
I object to Mr. Dobkins proposal—to report first to the
Americans and then to the British. We have to report this to the authorities at
once. Of course, we will have to ask them to report it to the central government
and to treat it confidentially.
Summation:
All of us favor sending Mr. Shertok to Turkey.
The motion passes.
It is proposed to report these affairs to the High
Commissioner, to ask him to forward the information to the central government
and to Dr. Weizmann, and to add that Mr. Shertok is about to leave for
Turkey.
The vote:
three in favor (Messrs. Kaplan, Shertok, and Shmurak);
One opposed (Mr. Gruenbaum).
The motion passes.
Mr. Ben-Gurion:
We ask the comrades, especially Mr. Pomerantz, to keep these
matters in total confidence and reveal them to no one. Meeting adjourned.
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