Agencies of Fascism in the United States “have had a comparatively easy time,” the American Civil Liberties Union reported today in its 21st annual report, entitled “Liberty’s National Emergency,” distributed to Union members and public officials.
“Despite an international policy aimed at Fascism, public opinion and public authorities have been far more concerned with hostilities to labor and the left,” the report said.
“Little or no attention has been paid to fascist groups among the foreign-born. Even the German-American Bund, symbol of Fascism, has suffered little actual interference. Native organizations with Fascist objectives, greatly weakened, have been ignored. The one group to be brought to trial, the Christian Front boys in Brooklyn, charged with conspiracy to use force against the Government, were freed.”
On the other hand, the Union condemned prosecution of eight Bund members for anti Semitic speeches under a New Jersey law. “Since such a statute is clearly violative of free speech, the Union has opposed it from the start,” the report said. “Bills based on the New Jersey law were introduced in at least seven legislatures in 1941 and up to June 1 not adopted by any. Not only the Union, but even Jewish organizations opposed their enactment.”
Regarding aliens, the Union reported that the administration of the Aliens Registration Act has been “on the whole in sympathetic hands” in the Justice Department. The report opposed the pending bill to establish concentration camps for deportable aliens who cannot in wartime be deported.
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.
