Virginia’s leading daily newspaper, the Richmond Times-Dispatch, editorially commended Gov. J. Lindsay Almond, Jr., for statements condemning anti-Semitism expressed in an exclusive interview with the Jewish Telegraphic Agency.
“Coupled with Gov. Almond’s previous denunciation of the Ku Klux Klan, this adds up to an eminently sane and proper point of view on the part of Virginia’s Chief Executive toward professional bomb-throwers and other sowers of dissension,” said the Times-Herald. “The attitude of Virginia officialdom toward this species of obscenity probably had a good deal to do with the decision of John Kasper, the much-jailed hate-monger, not to resume operations in this Commonwealth.”
The newspaper reviewed at some length “the dire effects of professional anti-Semitism,” tracing developments in Nazi Germany. “The Nazis had to find a ‘goat’ to explain their own failures, and they decided that the Jews would be the handiest and most defenseless victims… the tragic fate of their innocent victims has been brought home in recent years to the German people and to the world by the brilliant and unforgettable book and play, the Diary of Anne Frank.”
The Times-Herald said “it is well, therefore, that here in Virginia Gov. Almond has moved forthrightly and vigorously at the outset to slap down any small minority which may be seeking to promote anti-Semitism among us. It is unthinkable, of course, that Virginia, or any other American state, could ever be the scene of such a holocaust as the Nazis visited upon Germany, but professionally promoted prejudice must never be allowed to get a foothold here. We thank the Governor for his lofty stand and his unmistakable warning.”
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.
