Philip Slomovitz, editor and publisher of the Jewish News here, marked 50 years of his becoming an American citizen with a tribute to the American way of life which attracted the attention of the Detroit Free Press, one of the leading newspapers in the country, which reprinted part of Mr. Slomovitz’ column expressing thanks “for the privilege of being an American.”
“Fifty years as an American,” Mr. Slomovitz wrote, “meant 50 years of freedom-freedom to speak the mind and to express views without hindrance, 50 years of service to causes that fit into the American way of life and therefore to help in the uplifting of the less fortunate, 50 years that were not without their battles and debates but they were disputes and arguments of such a nature as to echo what the striver for Justice acquired as part of his immersion into Americanism.”
Outline unexperiences of half a century as an American, a Jew, a Zionist and a journalist, Mr. Slomovitz, lauded the “genuine principle of fair play” prevailing in this country. “In this country we were free to speak our minds against intolerance, to battle the anti-Semites,” he stressed, adding:
“When you fight the ant-Semite you seek to eliminate the negative aspects of American life. It is when one searches for the positive, when you aim to do the creative things in life, that you are faced with the true test of American greatness. Your commentator has found the genius of America in the freedom to act in behalf of his fellow Jews through the Zionist ideal.”
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.
