With the reported blessing of the mayor of the City of New York, but without the official permit from the Police Department, the New York Committee to Aid the Victims of German Fascism yesterday were planning to demonstrate against the Hitler regime on the occasion of the first anniversary of the buring of books in Berlin on May 10.
The projected demonstration would take the anti-Nazi faction into Yorkville, and on the strength of this Deputy Police Commissioner Fowler Monday refused to grant the necessary permit. "It would be invading enemy territory," he said.
Pauline Rogers, fiery secretary of the committee, took issue with the police department. "Since when," queried the young lady, "has Yorkville become Nazi territory?" She demanded her right to speak out, but yesterday the police department continued adamant, even though Miss Pauline Rogers argued that the streets of New York belong neither to the Nazis nor any particular faction.
The support of Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Dr. Horace Kallen, and a number of liberal and progressive groups has been solicited. They were prepared yesterday to appeal to the mayor personally and to Police Commissioner John F. O’Ryan.
A delegation from the committee called on Deputy Commissioner Fowler at Police Headquarters yesterday afternoon, but the permit was denied once again. Members of the delegation included Rabbi Benjamin Goldstein, Joseph Tauber and Alfred Wagenknecht.
Following announcement that the permit has again been denied, Pauline Rogers, secretary of the organization, declared the group is going ahead with the original plans to start the outdoor demonstration at seven o’clock tonight, at Avenue A and Eighty-sixth street.
Commemorations of the book-burning are planned today by anti-Nazi groups in various sections of the country.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
