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Between the Lines

March 8, 1935
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Die Juedische Rundschau, official organ of the Zionist Organization in Germany, has more than once been criticized for its overtures to the Nazi government. It has been pointed out more than once that this organ, while expressing the views of the Zionists in Germany, acts in contradiction with the interests of the general Jewish population in the Reich and with the attitude of world Jewry towards the Nazi regime.

The overture, which this official organ of the Zionists in Germany has just made, demanding from the Nazi government economic equality only, at a time when world Jewry demands the restoration of full rights for German Jews, will again give ground for a new criticism of the German Zionist Organization, which is responsible for the views expressed in the Juedische Rundschau.

APPROVING A GHETTO

Similarly, criticism may be expected also of the suggestion by the Juedische Rundschau, that the Jews of Germany have cultural autonomy under control of the Nazi government. By reducing the Jewish demands to cultural autonomy only, instead of demanding full rights for German Jewry, the Zionist paper actually agrees to limiting the Jews of Germany to a ghetto life.

It is needless to say that the Jews of the world, fighting for the rights of the Jews in Germany, will never agree to the compromise which the Zionist organ in Berlin suggests. The slogan of world Jewry is that there can be no peace with Germany until the Jews are restored to their full and equal rights. Tolerating Jews in commerce is not enough. Limiting Jews to a cultural ghetto life is certainly something which is not in accordance with Jewish demands.

SANCTIONING THE NAZI POLICY

One can understand that a Jewish newspaper which appears in Germany may not be in a position fully to support the demands of world Jewry with regard to the full restoration of Jewish rights. This, however, does not justify any official Jewish organ to come out and to practically agree to the anti-Jewish limitations which exist in Germany. The last is exactly what the Juedische Rundschau has done.

By demanding only economic rights and cultural autonomy under Nazi control, the Juedische Rundschau actually sanctions the present Nazi policy of limiting the Jews to commerce and to their innercultural life. It does not demand anything more than the Jews of Germany “enjoy” anyway at present.

A DANGEROUS COMPROMISE

The Zionist organ in Berlin has long been criticized for its overtures to the Nazi regime. It has been suspected that these overtures are made merely in order to prevent any persecution of Zionism in Germany. Whether this suspicion is correct or not is actually not of importance. The important thing is that the Nazi government takes the Zionist overtures quite seriously, especially since the barter agreements were concluded between Palestine and Germany.

The American Jewish Congress and other Jewish organizations interested in fighting for the full restoration of Jewish rights in Germany should therefore be interested in letting the Nazi government feel that the opinion of the Juedische Rundschau is far from coinciding with the sentiments of the Jews of the world. The Jews of the world will never agree to see the German Jews limited to trading and to internal cultural ghetto life. The Jews of the world demand equality for German Jews in all spheres of life.

Any compromise suggested only weakens the fight which the Jews all over the world are conducting against the Nazi Reich in the hope of forcing the Nazi leaders to abandon the “Aryan paragraph” and to restore the Jews to their full rights.

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