A Brazilian journalist known as a rabid anti-Semite was exiled this week for publishing an insulting article against Marshal Castella Branca, the former President of Brazil, after his death in a plane crash, officials reported here today.
The journalist, Helio Fernandes, editor-in-chief of Tribunas da Imprensa, was sent to the Island, Fernando De Noronha, known as Brazil’s Devil’s Island. The editor was the only journalist in Brazil who defended Adolf Eichmann when the Nazi was brought to Israel for trial in 1960. He was also the only journalist in Brazil who defended Franz Stangl, wartime commandant of the Treblinka and Sobibor death camps in occupied Poland, after Stangl was arrested in Sao Paulo last March. Stangl was extradited to West Germany where he is now awaiting a war crimes trial.
The Tribunas da Imprensa was the only newspaper in Brazil which denounced Israel and Jews in connection with Israel’s lightning victory over three Arab states last June. His article was headlined: “Jews — Don’t Be Joyful Yet Over Your Victory.” The newspaper has little status in Brazil. The island to which Fernandes was banished was named for a Portuguese Jewish ship owner who discovered it in the 16th century.
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.
