A vigorous reply to various anti-Jewish allegations made by anti-Semitic agitators in England is given by Sidney Salomon, press officer of the board of Deputies of British Jews, in his recently published book, “The Jews of Britain — The Truth.”
Mr. Salomon first examines Jews in relation to world politics and shows that the Jew, as a Jew, “plays no part in international politics,” being, first and foremost, a loyal citizen of the country in which he lives. so far as the often-made allegation of Jewish domination in world finance is concerned, Mr. Salomon declares that “the international financial Jew is not half so solid a figure as the international anti-Semite.” He shows that in great Britain the Jews have a relatively small influence in banking, that there is not a single Jew among the directors of the bank of England, that no Jewish banking house is represented on its board, and that there are only three Jews out of the 150 directors of the “Big Five” banks, while the other clearing house banks have no Jewish directors.
After disposing of the accusations made against the Jews in connection with the rise of Bolshevism and those as a result of the notorious “Protocols of the Elders of Zion,” Mr. Salomon turns to an analysis of the position of the Jews of England. He points out that “today (1938) there are twenty Jewish M.P.’s divided almost equally between the three parties; nine are Conservatives, five Liberals, and six Labor. This is clear enough evidence of the unbiased part the Jewish Community, viewed as a whole, plays in political life, and shows how, so far from being wedded to one political creed, individual Jews, like their fellow-citizens of other faiths, hold different political views. And even more striking, and a tribute to the fair-mindedness of the English people, is the fact that none of those Members sit for constituencies in which there is a strong proportion of Jewish voters. In some it is doubtful if there are any Jews at all. Of the twenty Cabinet Ministers, only one, Mr. L. Hore-Belisha, is of the Jewish faith. Another Jew, Sir Philip Sassoon, occupies a post in the government, that of first commissioner for works. Of the 300 privy Councillors, only five are Jews, and these of course include the two already mentioned.
Mr. Salomon also examines the Jewish population figures in Great Britain. He states that “the actual figure, as far as can reasonably be ascertained, is about 330,000 — or 0.69 per cent. of the total population of this country.
“It is perfectly true that there are no exact figures, but the reason for that is that there is no official religious census in this country. The figures which follow are compiled by estimating the number of births, marriages and deaths, which is the usual method adopted for compiling statistics of this nature.
“London has the largest Jewish population, namely, 183,000. In greater London, with a population of 8,000,000, the proportion of Jews to the general population is only 2.8 per cent. The city with the next largest Jewish population is Manchester, with a Jewish population of some 35,000 — much the same proportion to the total as London. The only city which contains a larger Jewish population in proportion to its general population is Leeds, with about 30,000 to a general population of 480,000 — that is to say, 6.3 per cent.
“There are Jewish citizens in almost every town in the United Kingdom. In 60 towns the Jewish population is under 700, and in 54 towns it is under 500. The suggestion of a Jewish problem is, therefore, fantastic.
“In the British Empire overseas, there are some 300,000 Jews. There are in Canada 170,000, the cities with the largest Jewish population being Montreal with some 45,000, and Toronto with 47,000. Next comes South Africa, which, with Rhodesia, has some 70,000 Jews. In Australia and New Zealand there are some 28,000.”
Mr. Salomon further deals with other attacks on Jewry and, in part two of the book, with Jewish contributions to literature and art, medicine, stage and sport.
The book is also supplied with an appendix on leading dates in Anglo-Jewish history.
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