One appointment was to speak to a large group of Rabbis and important Jewish businesses people. I was told that this was one of the most important tasks I had to do. At the conference hall where the meeting was to take place, the press officer of the Catholic Relief Service gave me my instructions: “Make it short. Make it clear and factual. Use the photographs and visuals.”
As I spoke, I felt that I was making no impression on my audience. It was just another tragedy. These people had heard so many similar appeals before. Sure, they would respond with kindness and probably even with generosity to my talk, and to the poster-size photographs of Biafran children – but they had seen it all, too many times.
However, when I showed a photograph of Igbo people queuing up to be registered in Lagos, the level of interest suddenly rose. A chord had been stuck and memories were recalled of their persecution during World War II, when the Nazis forced Jews to register. They were so touched by that photograph that their generosity seemed to know no bounds.
One of them, Abie Nathan, organized several shiploads of supplies, arranged deliveries of them to us in Sáo Tomé and visited Biafra himself, in a wonderful demonstration of the concern of the Jewish community.
Airlift to Biafra: Breaching the Blockade, by Reverend Father Tony Byrne, Page 84
Emeka Maduewesi
credit: Chi Di
