Twenty thousand persons attended the state funeral this week-end of Leon Blum, first Jew to become Premier of France. M. Blum died last Thursday at the age of 77.
The eulogy was delivered by French President Vincent Auriol who referred to the late statesman as “my great and tender friend.” After the state funeral a brief ceremony was held at Montmartre Cemetery, attended by the family.
(The New York Times and Herald-Tribune this week-end published editorials eulogizing M. Blum, while many of the major Jewish organizations sent messages of condolence to the family. In behalf of the Jewish Agency, Dr. Nahum Goldmann, chairman of the American section of the Agency, sent a message to Mrs. Blum expressing his sorrow at the death of her husband. “With all his responsibilities as one of the leading statesmen of France and Europe, he always took a deep interest in the destiny of the Jewish people and always lent the support of his great authority and prestige to the Zionist movement and to other Jewish causes,” Dr. Goldmann said.)
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