Mr. Gans also stated that once he paid a large amount of money on behalf of persons hidden in Holland, through the kind offices of Dr. Visser 't Hooft. From Holland came the confirmation: "The organization thanks you very much for the money transferred from Switzerland." [601] The testimony of Mr. Gans also speaks of the matter of sending gift parcels to the Jews in concentration camps: "No parcels could have been sent and no other help could have been rendered, if we had not been supported continuously by Dr. Visser 't Hooft, General Secretary of the World Council of Churches, Geneva... His contribution to the Dutch resistance movement will certainly be described by others. Suffice it here to point out the general importance of the presence of such a man in Switzerland, and the fact that busy though he was, he never refused to see me whenever I asked for an interview, and that happened almost every day. No detail of our relief work was unimportant to him." [602] It appears that neither Dr. Visser 't Hooft nor Dr. Freudenberg were formalistic in their activities. They understood, in contrast to so many in and outside occupied Europe, that "illegal" acts were, in those special circumstances, morally justified. Thus money was "illegally" transmitted to Jews in hiding; and refugees were supported who had entered into Switzerland "illegally." What has been said about Church leaders in Bulgaria, can be applied to Dr. Visser 't Hooft and Dr. Freudenberg: they were gravely concerned, and thus they were available whenever their help was requested. In June, 1944, the Ecumenical Commission for Aid to Refugees published the following statement: <280> The Fate of the Jews in Hungary "The Ecumenical Commission for Refugees exists in order to give material and spiritual aid to refugees of all faiths. Its main task is therefore to relieve the suffering of the refugees rather than to protest against the treatment meted out to them. But there are situations in which the only aid we can give is in the form of a solemn and public protest. To-day this is the case. Trustworthy reports state that so far some four hundred thousand Hungarian Jews are deported in inhuman conditions and, in so far as they have not died on the way, brought to the camp of Auschwitz in Upper Silesia where, during the past two years, many hundreds of thousands of Jews have been systematically put to death. Christians cannot remain silent before this crime. We appeal to our Hungarian Christian brethren to raise their voice with us to do all they can to stop this horrible sin. We appeal to Christians of all countries to unite in prayer that God may have mercy on the people of Israel." [603] 36 TERRITORIES IN WHICH THE CHURCHES REMAINED SILENT