The South African Jewish Board of Deputies complained today against articles in a publication, called “Antikom,” issued by the Interchurch Anti-Communist Committee, affiliated with the Dutch Reformed Church in this country, challenging the “veracity” of a newsletter issued by the group and calling for a retraction. The newsletter had printed old canards, accusing Jews of having organized Bolshevism, stating that Lenin was “a Jew financed by New York Jews,” and claiming that “the Jews have no nationality, and seek to destroy the existing order of things for their own ends.”
Two members of the Dutch Reformed Church, both prominent in politics, have demanded that leaders of the Afrikaans Church denounce the anti-Semitic smears. They are S.J. Marain Steyn, a leader of the United Party, and Etienne Malan, a member of Parliament representing the United Party.
At the same time, however, an interview in the South African Jewish Times here quoted Dr. D.J. Vorster, actuary of the Dutch Reformed Church, as saying that the offensive publication was solely the responsibility of the committee that issued the news letter, and not the concern of the Church. Dr. Vorster is a brother of Minister of Justice Balthazar Vorster.
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.
