of the Congress Party was mixed. It adopted no formal resolution on the
Jewish problem that plagued Eu rope or on the Holocaust. In December
1938, the Congress Party referred to “the plights of Jews in Eu rope.” The
CWC resolution on Palestine, declared, inter alia: “While sympathizing
with the plight of Jews in Eu rope and elsewhere, the Committee deplore[s]
that in Palestine the Jews have relied on British armed forces to advance
their special claims and thus aligned themselves on the side of British
Imperialism.”^31 The primary focus was on Jewish “collaboration” with
imperialism and not their persecution in Eu rope. The foreign- policy res-
olution adopted in the INC’s 1939 annual session made a passing refer-
ence to the situation in Eu rope, lamenting:
International morality has sunk so low in Central and South Western
Eu rope that the World has witnessed with horror, the or ga nized ter-
rorism of the Nazi government against the people of the Jewish
race.... The Congress disassociates itself entirely from British pol-
icy which has consistently aided the Fascist powers and helped in the
destruction of the demo cratic countries. The Congress is opposed to
imperialism and fascism alike and is convinced that world peace and
progress required the ending of both of these.^32Both these resolutions were adopted well before the formal Nazi decision
to annihilate the Jews through mass murder and gas chambers.
Nehru was far more forthcoming and unsuccessfully tried to declare
the party’s support for Jewish refugees. Keeping in mind “the terrible
pogrom in Germany against the Jews,” he favored inviting Jewish ref-
uges who could contribute to India’s progress. In response to a letter
from a Jewish person in Prague, he noted that inviting Jewish experts
would be also be benefi cial to India.^33 In the early 1930s, many Jewish
refugees from Eu rope approached the AICC seeking employment in
India.^34 Even though he was not holding any public offi ce, Nehru
played a notable role in getting the Government of India to take in
Jews.... He also succeeded in persuading the reluctant Indian Medi-
cal Council to recognize Continental Eu ro pe an medical qualifi ca-
tions which enabled many highly skilled refugee doctors to practice
in India.... Between 1933 and the outbreak of the war, Nehru was
instrumental in obtaining entry for several German Jewish refugees
into India.^3550 the congress party and the yishuv