DENOUNCING THE GERMAN GOVERNMENT’S INTENTION TO ORGANIZE NAZI GROUPS IN THIS COUNTRY AS “A GRATUITOUS INSULT TO OUR FREE INSTITUTIONS,” NATIONAL COMMANDER HARRY W. COLMERY URGED BEFORE THE OPENING SESSION OF THE AMERICAN LEGION NINETEENTH ANNUAL CONVENTION TODAY AN INVESTIGATION INTO NAZI CAMPS IN THE UNITED STATES.
IN HIS ANNUAL REPORT, MR. COLMERY DECLARED THAT AMERICANS HAVE A RIGHT “TO DECLARED THAT THERE WILL BE NO NAZISM. OR NAZI DEMONSTRATIONS, AND EITHER TO BAR THEM FROM ENTRY INTO THIS COUNTRY, OR TO SEND OUT OF IT THOSE WHO PREACH OR PRACTICE IT.”
GOVERNOR HERBERT H. LEHMAN WARNED THE CONVENTION THAT “FANATICISM AND INTOLERANCE ARE NOT YET DEAD EVEN HERE” AND DECLARED THEY COULD BE DESTROYED “ONLY BY INCREASED GOOD WILL AND UNDERSTANDING.”
HE COUNSELLED AGAINST “DIVISIONS OF CLASS, OF RACIAL ORIGIN OR OF RELIGIOUS DOGMA” AND ASSERTED THAT “AMERICAN IDEALS WILL TRIUMPH BECAUSE AMERICAN IDEALS ARE FOUNDED ON RIGHT AND JUSTICE.”
“WE STILL HAVE A GREAT PRINCIPLE OF DEMOCRACY AND LIBERTY FOR WHICH WE MUST FIGHT,” THE GOVERNOR SAID.
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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.
