PRESIDENT CHAIM WEIZMANN (ISRAEL) - TYPED LETTER SIGNED 03/21/1933 CO-SIGNED BY: R. D. BLUMENFELD, PERCY GREENAWAY, CHARLES HIGHAM, HUGO HIRST, BARNETT JANNER, H. L. NATHAN, ETHEL SNOWDEN, H. NEWMAN, MOUNT TEMPLE, G. MIDLOWSKY, WILLIAM J. O'DONOVAN, HERBERT AUSTIN, LORD EBBISHAM - HFSID 348031

CHAIM WEIZMANN and OTHER COMMUNITY LEADERS
Supporters of the Melchett Memorial Fund signed this letter to the editor of The Times in 1933
Typed Letter Signed: "Percy W. Greenaway", "R. Blumenfeld", "Mount Temple", "G. Midlowsky", "Ch. Higham", "H. Austin", "Ebbisham", "H. C. Nathan", "Barnett Janner", "W. J. O'Donovan M.D. M.P.", "C. Weizmann", "Ethel Snowden", "Hugo Hirst", "H. Newman" and one unidentified. Two pages. 7½x9¾. London, E. 1. Christian Street. Dated March 21, 1933. On imprinted letterhead to The Editor, The Times, E.C.. In full: "We should feel indebted if you will through your columns afford us the opportunity of informing the public and those of your readers who knew the late Lord Melchett and the many kind things he did during his life, that it is proposed to raise a Fund to establish a Memorial to him. This will be of a living nature since it is the intention of endowing the Commercial Road Talmud Torah, an institution which was so near to his heart. At this Institution hundreds of poor children of one of the poorest districts in London are instructed, clothed and fed, and kept from the temptations of the street corner. It is hoped in this way to pay a tribute - of 'a practical form' as his son calls it - to one who, as a great industrialist and statesman contributed so much to the well-being of the country. We feel that all classes would like to be associated with this living memorial and national tribute which, apart from the respect it pays, will at the same time continue a necessary and essential piece of work in the heart of the metropolis. It would be a disaster of magnitude, the more especially in these days of stress, were the Talmud Torah compelled through want of funds, to close it doors. It was Lord Melchett's dream that this great institution should continue its work unhampered and unfettered by the burden of debt. To do this £10,000 is required. Can this dream be realized? Yours very truly," Chaim Weizmann (1874-1952) and fellow members of the council of the Commercial Road Talmud Torah in the East District of London endeavor to raise funds for the perpetuation of the school. These funds were to be donated in the memory of Lord Melchett. Weizmann received his Ph.D. in 1900 from Fribourg, Switzerland and taught chemistry at Geneva University. In 1904 he accepted a position at the University Of Manchester in England. He became the leader of the Young Zionist opposition and President of the English Zionist Federation (1917) and later head of the World Zionist Organization. On March 23, 1933 two days following this letter, an enabling bill giving full power to Adolf Hitler was voted and passed by Nazi, Nationalist and Centre party deputies in Germany. With the advent of the Nazis in 1933, Weizmann played a major role in public efforts to save German Jews. During World War II he assisted England in forming a Jewish brigade group and in providing pharmaceuticals and synthetic rubber to the war effort. He was instrumental in getting the United States and President Truman to endorse Israel's independence (May 14,1948) and obtaining a $100,00,000.00 loan. Weizmann went on to be Israel's first President (1949-1952). Lord Melchett was Sir Alfred Moritz Mond, politician, financier, and industrialist. He was chairman of the Mond Nickel Company. It had been founded by his father, Ludwig Mond, who had immigrated to Englan in 1862 from Germany. Lord Melchett, who had been President of the Appeal Committee of the Commercial Road Talmud Torah school, was a Zionist and served as Minister of Health (1921-1922) among other political offices. The school was located in London's poorest district, St. Georges in the East. The district was the first stop and hope of a new life for Jewish immigrants fleeing from persecution on Europe and Russia. Other signers of this item include politicians, businessmen, and British peers that supported the cause. Paper clip rust at upper left. Toned. Otherwise, fine condition. Framed to an overall size of 37¾x24¾.