Destinies of nations are molded every night on the Coney Island boardwalk. It has gotten so that citizens of the world’s greatest playground consider it their nocturnal duty to congregate on the walk and decide just what the rulers of great powers will do next.
In order not to be accused of partiality these amateur politicians concern themselves with a different power each time the moon shines over the sparkling waters. Their energies are expended, in turn, for Russia, Italy, Germany, Austria, etc.
The other night the talk drifted to Germany and its Fuehrer. Because of the extreme seriousness of the question only the older folk ventured opinions while others listened with a solemn air.
One of the assembled gentlemen pushed himself to the fore, surveyed the crowd, and then launched into a discussion of how this “guy Hitler will bite the dust.” The prediction was greeted with enthusiastic cheers.
“I give him fice months more,” he shouted. The original group was greatly augmented by now. Some of the boys marvelled at the generosity of the speaker while others noddingly agreed with him.
“His policies are too inhuman, too stupid for the German people to absorb in the long run. Let him go back to paper-hanging in Potsdam where he came from before it is too late,” the volunteer speaker roared while the crowd registered its approval with appropriate bravos.
“Soon Hitler will have nothing to feed his people and what will the empty-bellied Aryans do then?” the speaker asked. Nobody had the correct reply so he answered the query himself.
“They will kick him out,” the speaker bellowed. The crowd agreed with him to a man. One lone policeman ambled over with a knowing smile and the group realized that its time was up. The officer acts as a stopwatch for these political theorists.
Although unemployment may be very much prevalent in Germany postmen have plenty of work. Some of their business comes from the United States in the form of post cards addressed to Chancellor Hitler, Berlin, Germany. These cards are issued by the anti-Nazi Federation and are usually sold at anti-Nazi rallies and meetings.
The card reads in part: “We vigorously protest the new brutal terror wave unloosed by your Fascist regime against workers and Jewish people.” The card also bears a picture of Ernst Thaelmann and demands his immediate release. The concluding line reads: “We demand an end of the medieval, barbarous persecution of the Jewish people and all anti-Fascists.”
B. Z.
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.
