The commander of the Jewish War Veterans of the U.S.A. warned today that “right-wing extremists have changed their tactics but not their objectives, in a carefully planned attempt to seize power in this country.” In a speech before the 70th annual national convention of the JWV, national commander Ralph Plofsky, of White Plains, N.Y., said that Americans should “triple their guard and stop looking at right-wing extremists as merely misguided crackpots motivated by a milder strain of paranoia.”
Commander Plofsky announced that the JWV will devote the coming year “to mounting a massive educational program to expose right-wing extremists in whatever guise they now assume.” More than 2,000 delegates from all parts of the United States are attending the convention, which ends Sunday.
“The right-wing extremists,” said Mr. Plofsky, “are more powerful than ever, having learned a valuable lesson from the Goldwater defeat. They seek power first, to grab the political machinery, then to marshal the attack. It is the identical approach of the Communists. All over the United States, they have collected enough dry tinder ready for the fires.
“Organizations like the John Birch Society are waiting in the wings to exploit any setbacks. With money pouring in from ultra-conservative elements, the John Brich Society is expanding its network. They have even opened an office in the nation’s capital. Organizations like the John Birch Society are very catch-alls for the malcontents, the white supremacists and other extremists, having inherited both their funds and their leadership from such groups as the America Firsters and the other right-wing movements of the thirties.”
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.
