| Main Performers | Dr Cyril Garbett, Archibishop of York (presiding),
Mr Victor Gollancz
Robert Boothby MP,
Clement Davies MP,
Michael Foot MP,
T L Horabin MP,
Eleanor Rathbone MP,
Lieutenant-Colonel Rees-Williams MP,
Sir Arthur Salter MP,
R R Stokes MP,
Air Marshal H V C de Crespigny - speakers |
| Performance Notes | At the meeting the Archibishop of York urged the Government to take further measures to stop Europe dying on our hands; to discourage mass migration of Germans from the East in the winter of 1945-1946 and he appealed to America to increase their help to those desperately in need of food and clothing. "It is no excuse for indifference to urge that Germany is mainly responsible for the miseries of Europe. We must not let complacently watch the full penalties for the wickedness of the leaders fall upon those who had little or no part in their crimes." Mr Gollancz suggested that British food reserves were too high and protested against extra Christmas rations that were intended for jollification rather than for the public's health. About 7,000 people attended the meeting. (Birmingham Daily Post, 27 November 1945, page 3).
Victor Gollancz was a Jewish-British publisher and humanitarian who defined himself as a Christian socialist and internationalist. He used his publishing house chiefly to promote pacifist and socialist non-fiction, and also launched the Left Book Club. He founded the organisation Save Europe Now (SEN) in late 1945 to campaign for humane treatment of German civilians, and drew attention to their suffering, especially children, and atrocities committed against German civilians. The SEN campaign tried to persuade the British Government to allow British people to send food parcels to Germany. At the time this was forbidden. |