At a stormy session marked by frequent clashes on the floor, the national executive committee of the American Jewish Congress, meeting yesterday afternoon at the Hotel Commodore, endorsed the stand of the American delegation at the Geneva conference, affirmed the decision taken there to hold a World Jewish Congress in Geneva in 1935, and held out an olive branch to the American Jewish Committee.
The congress executive committee also decided to launch a campaign for the organization of national democratic elections throughout the United States on April 28, 1935, for an enlarged American Jewish Congress and delegates to the World Jewish Congress.
Appealing to the American Jewish Committee and the B’nai B’rith to join in dealing with the crisis in world Jewish affairs, Bernard S. Deutsch, president of the Congress, made a sharp attack on Morris D. Waldman, secretary of the American Jewish Committee, for having issued a statement repudiating the world conference in Geneva.
CONDEMN NAZI POLITICS
At the same time, the executive committee adopted resolutions approving the report of the American delegation at Geneva, called for a mass Jewish enrollment in the American Jewish Congress, and strongly condemned the attempt being made by Nazis to inject the racial issue into American politics. The resolution, which specifically named the political committee of the German-American Conference, calling on American public opinion forcefully to repudiate the Nazis, but opposing attempts to suppress the movement by governmental action, was referred to the administration for “editing and action.”
Formal ratification of the plans for democratic elections in the United States followed presentation of reports on the Geneva conference by Dr. Stephen S. Wise, honorary president of the Congress; Professor Horace M. Kallen and David Wertheim. Dr. Samuel Margoshes, vice-president of the Congress described the rise of anti-Semitism in the United States and the grave situation created by the anti-Semitic movement for American Jewry.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
