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Denying that his firm, the New York Merchandising Company, dealt in German products unless it were absolutely unavoidable, Philip Maslansky, president, yesterday bitterly protested against picketing activities of the Anti-Nazi Minute Men of America.
“Our company,” he informed the Jewish Daily Bulletin, “Has lost big customers throughout the country because it has so completely cut off German goods. We have gone to Czechoslovakia, Poland, Japan and all over the world to find substitutes for German products.”
Maslansky, whose place of business is at 32 West Twenty-third street, is the son of Rabbi Zvei Hirsh Maslansky of Brooklyn.
Edgar H. Burman, commander-in-chief of the Minute Men, who supervised the picketing, said his organization found that while the importing firm had cut its purchases from Germany down to more than one-third of the last year’s total, Maslansky was still buying considerable Nazi merchandise.
The picketing started yesterday. Members of the anti-Nazi unit paraded in front of the building, carrying signs that read:
“For Humanity’s Sake, Don’t Buy German Goods. The New York Merchandising Company Sells Nazi Goods. Cooperate With the Anti-Nazi Minute Men of America, 100% American, Non-Political, Non-Sectarian.”
Maslansky, a prominent figure in Jewish activities, said his organization had formerly specialized in German goods, but was now boycotting all Reich products whenever substitutes could be found.
He admitted receiving several cases of German gloves recently, but explained he was forced to make the purchase because there were no possible substitutes. He said he was now trying to have Polish glove manufacturers make up gloves for his firm to replace the German product. He declared it was absolutely necessary for the company to use Hamburg as a shipping center, but that no goods that came to his company was being shipped on Nazi boats.
During the picketing a block of wood fell from a second-story window of the building which the firm occupies. Glass was shattered and Fred A. Victor, of 150 Fifth avenue, was injured. Officials of the company said it was an accident. Victor was not among the picketers.
“All the news concerning Jews” is faithfully and promptly reported in the Jewish Daily Bulletin — the only Jewish daily newspaper printed in English.
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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.
