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Appendix 4
Letter from Jan Masaryk to research director Max Weinreich,
dated May 5, 1942

Facsimile of
the English original
(click to enlarge - 58k):
Transcript:
Letter from Jan Masaryk to Max Weinreich JAN MASARYK
May 5, 1942.
My dear Mr. Weinreich:

      Pray forgive my delay to your interesting letter of April 14th. I was away from New York, hence only to-day I am settling down to my correspondence.
      I can understand that under the unprecedentedly tragic circumstances that the heroic and sorely tried Jewish people find themselves in to-day, Dr. Benes's mentioning the possibility of exchanging populations could give rise to worry.
      It has been my honor and pleasure to work for Benes for the last twenty-five years and I know that when he speaks of "exchange of populations" he means that within the realms of possibilities we must - after this war - try to get rid of some of the Germans around the frontiers of Germany who have never been much good to us and I do not think they will be a great addition to Germany. Naturally - there are some decent people among them. We will find who is who when the war is over.
      I would like to go on record, and you have my approval to use this letter in any way you want to, in stating that Jews are certainly not included in these as yet very hazy plans. And I have Dr. Benes's authority in emphasizing this point.
      I am off to a sanatorium to do a bit of a cure after seven vacationless years. When I return to New York, I would like to discuss this question in order to dispel any possible misgivings you and yours may still have after reading this letter.

With cordial greetings,

Sincerely yours
[sgd.] Jan Masaryk


Max Weinreich, Esq.
Research Director
Yiddish Scientific Institute - YIVO
New York City.


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Documents on the Expulsion of the Sudeten Germans
Survivors speak out