Prime Minister Robert Menzies assured Parliament today that, if the subject of Soviet anti-Semitism is debated at the forthcoming United Nations General Assembly this fall, the Australian delegation would “certainly express in most forceful terms” the opposition of the Government to both racial and religious intolerance.
The matter was raised when P. Aston, a Liberal Member of Parliament, referred to previously introduced reproductions from the anti-Semitic book, “Judaism Without Embellishment,” published last year in Kiev by the Ukrainian Academy of Science. Mr. Aston asked the Prime Minister whether, in view of continued anti-Jewish propaganda in Russia, he would instruct the Australian representative at the United Nations to bring the issue up, and to seek aid from other nations to bring pressure on Russia “to stop this infringement on human rights.”
Replying, the Prime Minister said he had seen “this wretched publication. “He added that the issue was not reached at the end of the agenda of the last General Assembly, but that it probably would be listed again this year. He expressed the hope that the Australian views would be heard and have far-reaching effects.
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.
