American Jewish leaders agreed today that there was no special significance–beyond “malicious mischief” by “lunatic fringe” individuals–to the anti-Semitic activities in the United States that were sparked by the Christmas Eve desecration of the synagogue in Cologue, West Germany.
There was virtual agreement, too, about the gravity of the current situation in Germany, and about the measures that should be taken there to counter the resurgence of neo-Nazism in that country.
Spokesmen for the national Jewish organizations in the United States disagreed, however, about the existence of an international “plot” which–in the view of some leaders–has been manipulating the current outcroppings of swastika-daubings, Nazi-type sloganeering, threats and synagogue desecrations in far-flung Jewish centers on five continents.
The existence of such world-wide “coordination” was seen by Dr. Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress. Herbert B. Ehrmann, president of the American Jewish Committee, said Germany was still “the focal center of infection for anti-Semitism.”
Sever major national Jewish organizations that joined in a statement issued by the National Community Relations Advisory Council, expressed the conviction, however, that “evidence at this time does not justify the conclusion that the spate of incidents are parts of an organized plot or the result of central planning or direction,” The statement warned that “the rapidity and range” of the recent anti-Semitic manifestations are cause for concern, and merit close and alert attention.”
The organizations signing the NCRAC statement were the American Jewish Congress, the Jewish Labor Committee, Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A., National Council of Jewish Women, Union of American Hebrew Congregations, Union of Orthodox Jewish Congregations of America, and the United Synagogue of America.
AMERICAN INCIDENTS WORK OF ‘CRANKS AND HOODLUMS’
Dealing with the incidents on the American scene, the joint statement said that they “appear to be the work of cranks and hoodlums, whose weak and impressionable minds have been infected by the examples set by the German anti-Semites responsible for the wave of desecrations in that country.”
It added that “while it would be unwise to dismiss or disregard any such wave of incidents as those that have taken place, it is equally important that rock-throwing and other vandalisms that are apparently the work of mentally disturbed perpetrators not be exaggerated or given undue prominence.”
Henry E, Schultz, national chairman of the Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith, concurred with this view. These events, he said, were “not sympathetic of growing, organized anti-Semitism.” He noted that “whenever dramatic outbreaks of bigotry take place, and are widely reported, the lunatic fringe is inspired to imitate. There are enough sick minds walking the streets to be stimulated into acts of vandalism.”
STRESS NEED FOR FUNDAMENTAL MEASURES IN GERMANY
The men and organizations speaking for the American Jewish community were in virtual accord in their attitude on the German situation. They agreed there was no reason to doubt the sincerity of the West German Government in seeking to punish anti-Semitic acts, but insisted that “much more fundamental measures are required.”
“Germany remains the breeding ground of anti-Semitism, the manifest source of an infection that can spread swiftly, as the recent rash of incidents suggests, “the NCRAC statement pointed out. “Despite denazification processes, many former Nazis occupy positions of power and influence in the West German Government, including its judiciary and its ministries. No systematic efforts have been made to educate the German people away from the racist and fanatically nationalistic ideologies of Nazism, The schools, in which new generations of Germans are being reared, are especially deficient in this regard.”
The statement declared that “the German Government must do more than register chock and dismay; more than apprehend and punish culprits. It must take the fundamental social measures that observers of the German scene have for so long urged as the only course to Germany’s regeneration as a real partner in the family of free democratic nations.”
The ADL official described the recent developments in Germany, as grave incidents “that cannot be looked upon as isolated acts, but must be viewed against the nation’s history.” Conceding that the German Government has made anti-Semitism a punishable crime, Mr. Schultz said that “the German people must come to terms with their past.” “This is not,” he continued, “a matter of apprehending a number of culprits, or even of outlawing a minor party. It is a matter of gaining general acceptance of a public policy that repudiates the past unequivocally, and seeks to create a society that is democratic in concept and practice.”
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.
