The plea of Rudolph Hess, Chancellor Hitler’s deputy, for better trade relations with the United States stood on record today with the retort of Mrs. Stephen S. Wise that the Nazis should be fought with the boycott of German goods and services.
The impromptu “debate” was staged before the fourth annual Woman’s Congress sponsored by the Chicago Tribune when Hess, speaking through a recording of his voice, was followed on the program by Mrs. Wise, who spoke over a nationwide network on “The Role of Woman in Democracy.”
Hess expressed the hope that a trade treaty with the United States could be obtained and announced that a negotiator was being sent for that purpose. In his three-minute address, he said Germany was seeking world peace and would fight only if provoked. He warned the world against interfering with Germany’s export trade.
“My most heartfelt desire is that the question of war may have been raised and discussed for naught, ” he said. “Adolf Hitler, Fuehrer of the German Reich, is a front soldier. I, too, have seen four years of service on the front. I implore you to believe me when I say that we front soldiers do not want another war. We have only one wish and that is to protect humanity from another war.”
Mrs. Wise, attacking the Nazi regime, urged that commercial relationships with the Reich be refused. Replying to Hess’ appeal for goodwill, she said that this could come about only when civil and religious liberty was given to the entire German population.
“The women of my people have suffered from the destruction of democracy in other lands, ” said Mrs. Wise. “We know what is happening to women in Nazi Germany. They are treated without respect and their status is one of utter degradation.”
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.
