Nazi Massacres of the Jews & Others. Some Practical Proposals for Immediate Rescue Made by the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Rochester

London: Victor Gollancz, 1943. First Edition. Original paper wrappers. Staplebound, 8vo, 16 pages. Very good copy with some minor age toning and handling. During World War II in response to what would later be called the Holocaust, in Britain, in March 1943, William Temple, as Archbishop of Canterbury, joined Ernest Henry Lamb, Lord Rochester, in this historical speech before the House of Lords outlining ongoing atrocities within the Nazi regime and calling for the British government to develop plans to resettle Jewish refugees with great haste and urgency. Temple concludes his powerful speech with this: “My chief protest is against procrastination of any kind. The Jews are being slaughtered at the rate of tens of thousands a day on many days. We know that what we can do is small compared to the magnitude of the problem, but we cannot rest so long as there is any sense among us that we are not doing all that might be done. We have discussed the matter on the footing we are not responsible for this great evil but it is always true that the obligation of decent men are decided for them by contingencies which they themselves did not create. We stand at the bar of history, of humanity, and of God.” William Temple (1881 - 1944) was a bishop in the Church of England, serving as Bishop of Manchester from 1921 - 29, Archbishop of York from 1929-42, and Archbishop of Canterbury from 1942-44, dying while in office. Much of his work as a leader in the church revolved around social reform and he is perhaps best remembered for his book Christianity and Social Order (1942). Ernest Henry Lamb, 1st Baron Rochester (1876 - 1955) was a British Liberal and National Labour politician who served as Paymaster-General from 1931 to 1935 in the National Government of Ramsay MacDonald. He served as a Methodist lay preacher for many years and, like Temple, was involved in social reform and philanthropic activities.