ZIONIST MOVEMENT.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 11, 13 January 1934, Page 7

ZIONIST MOVEMENT.

DR. SHEIN ARRIVES. PLIGHT OF GERMAN JEWS. NEW HOPE IN PALESTINE. "I have eeen with my own eyes the resujts of atrocities on German Jews," said Dr. Benzion H. Shein, official propagandist of the World Zionist Congress, who arrived in Auckland this morning by the. Monterey. "In France and Switzerland I have seen thousands of refugees fleeing from the land of their birth, still bearing on their bodies the wounds inflicted by those who until | recently were their fellow countrymen." Though still a young man, Dr. Shein has had a varied life. Born near Riga, Latvia, in 1002, he went to Palestine as a youth and became a British, subject. In 1922 he went to South Africa to study medicine at Johannesburg University. While there he occupied his spare I time in lecturing on Palestine and the Zionist movement, and he was appointed by the South African Zionist Federation la's official propagandist for that country. 'in 1927 he made a lecture tour of South I Africa and Rhodesia, and attended the | 15th World Zionist Congress in Basle, Switzerland, as delegate for South Africa. He continued his medical course at Basle University and qualified in 1930 when he joined the surgical staff of the university clinic. Later, transferring to the Basle University clinic, he did special research work on blood and the thyroid gland, and made discoveries of scientific importance. Last year.Dr. Shein was invited by the headquarters of the Zionist movement to make a tour of Australia, New Zealand, China, Dutch East Indies and •India - to explain the aims and work of the organisation. Tragic Conditions. During his .frequent visits to Germany, the doctor was able to gain firsthand knowledge of the conditions under which the Jewish population lived.

"The position is so tragic," he said, "that tens of thousands have lost the opportunity to earn enough for the bare necessaries of life. I have seen Jews, once prosperous business men and industrialists, and even intellectuals, compelled to stand in long queues to accept small bowls of charity soup. These, people have only one chance of making good again, and that is to leave the country of their birth, where they and their ancestors have lived for generations. There is practically no country %vhere they can go, so strict are the present immigration laws of all countries. "The one bright spot in this tragic drama is Palestine. The preliminary work that has been doie by Jewish j people for the past 12 years has made j Palestine an outstanding place. It is one of the few countries where there is no unemployment; in fact, there is a shortage of labour, and only a small proportion of her vast resources has been exploited. There is room for all !the German refugees, and for Jews of other countries. "Such a great immigration must be carried on in a systematic way, for j i many of the new inhabitants are penni- j lees and they must be helped to estab- i lish themselves. This organisation is { being undertaken by the World Zionist Organisation, and we appeal to all Jews, particularly those of British countries, to rescue the unfortunate brethren of their own race. Without assistance they would go under in a sea of misery." Palestine's Resources. Colonisation was proceeding rapidly, said the doctor, and was making progress. The many cultured and industrial men who were flocking to Palestine would prove a great asset to the country. As long as • there was work available immigration would be carried on, and at present there was every indication that it would be a long time before the absorption point was reached. The statue of those who settled in Palestine was an unusual one. They were Palestinian subjects, but used British passports. Asked about the Arabs, Dr. Shein said that they had been a difficult problem, and at present there were about two Arabs to each white person. Their conditions of living had been immeasurably raised by the Jews, and now the great majority of them were on friendly terms with the white population. It was only a very small minority, in.

many cases the agents of foreign countries, who stirred up trouble. Hostile Arabs were losing their following. Dr. Shein will spend some six weeks lecturing in New Zealand. A civic reception has been planned for next Monday at mid-day, and at 1 o'clock the same day the doctor will be the guest of the Kotary Club. On Tuesday the Hebrew congregation will give him a reception. His first public lecture will be at the Scots Hall on Thursday evening. Other centres at which Dr. Shein will lecture include Wellington, Christchuich and Dunediu.