On November 10, 1942, the Archbishop of Canterbury, inaugurating a new Parliamentary session, drew once more the attention to the extermination of the Jews, that "horror which is going on almost at our door". Contrasting "what is still our standard of living" with the ordeals of the afflicted, "packed in cattle trucks... sixty in each...given little food" so that "on one occasion they all died of starvation", he inquired "whether it is thought possible that we may be able to do something to bring relief to these sufferers". He mentioned as a shining example "the amazing generosity" of the Swiss whose "frontier has been technically closed but actually open" and suggested that Britain should give aid to the Swiss in support of refugees who can make their way there. He also recommended the granting of visas to those able to reach Britain: <239> "I hope that we should not in such a case waste our time in considering whether we have done as much or more than other nations for people who are in this kind of distress; the only question which really matters is whether we have done all we can... Again I hope we shall not waste time by considering whether these people fall into the categories drawn up to regulate such matters. Categories are nothing but administrative headings, and can be altered, if we wish, to include some who do not fall under them..." [524] The Archbishop of Canterbury again urged the Government, in a letter to "The Times" [525], to admit to Britain "any refugee who might succeed in escaping". c. Retribution for the Persecutors; Intercession for the Persecuted At the beginning of December, 1942, the Archbishop of York delivered a speech in the House of Lords. The Archbishop said: "Men, women and children are being ruthlessly put to death by massacre, poison, gas, electrocution, or being sent long journeys to unknown destinations in bitterly cold weather without food or drink. Children that die on the way are cast out from the open trucks to the side of the railway. Such is Hitler's new order." The Archbishop called upon the Government "...to state solemnly that when the hour of deliverance comes, retribution will be dealt out not only on the cold-blooded and cowardly brutes who order these massacres, but also on the thousands of underlings who appear joyfully to be carrying them out." [526] The "Solemn Statement" requested by the Archbishop of York (and many others) was published on December 17, 1942, simultaneously in London, Washington and Moscow, with the assent and support of all the Allied Governments and of the British Dominions. The text was as follows: <240>