anti-Semitism has completely disappeared from the Bethel Green district of East London as a consequence of the general recognition of the bravery of Jews under the Blitzkrieg on London and the active participation of Jews in the city’s civil defense, Brigadier General Sir Wyndham Deeds, Chief Air Raid Precautions Warden of the district, declared last night.
Bethel Green, one of the largest and poorest districts in London, was a hotbed of Fascist anti-Jewish activities before the war and was one of the strongholds of Sir Oswald Mosley’s British Union of Fascists. Fascist organizers held meetings there almost nightly, which were frequently followed by clashes between the demonstrators, the police and the local Jewish population.
The district was hard hit in the first week of the serial bombardment of London and five well-known local Fascists were killed on one street there and a local headquarters of the B.U.F. was demolished.
Sir Wyndham, after a tour of inspection of A.R.P. posts and shelters in the district, told newspapermen that “the active part played by the Jews in civil defense militated against anti-Semitism and tended to change, in the general opinion, the value of the Jewish population in our midst.”
“Local Jews,” he added, “are contributing to the A.R.P. services to an extent proportionately higher than that of the general population.”
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.
