There should be no great surprise at recent synagogue bombings in the South because resistance to Federal law by state officials invites "a complete breakdown of law and order," a spokesman for the American Jewish Congress testified today before a House judiciary subcommittee.
Sanford H. Bolz, Washington representative of the American Jewish Congress, told the subcommittee that "the bombings are an inevitable result of this official irresponsibility." He said: "No one should be greatly surprised at the recent outrages against Jewish places of worship in Nashville, Miami, Jacksonville, Birmingham and elsewhere by a group calling itself the ‘Confederate Underground.’"
According to Mr. Bolz, it may be that this group represents only the extreme lunatic fringe hating all minorities "yet there can be no doubt that these dynamiters believe, in their distorted minds, that they are following a line of action suggested to them by their state governments. They have been repeatedly told by high authorities that it is appropriate and desirable to flout the law whenever doing so will frustrate desegregation."
Mr. Bolz appeared before the subcommittee to testify on behalf of legislation that would strengthen civil rights, promote integration, and provide the Attorney General with broader power to intervene.
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.
