Charges Some Jews Refuse Employment to Own Race; Prejudice in Industry Serious

That Jews themselves, in some instances, refuse to employ members of their own race and that a very serious situation of discrimination against Jews in employment exists today, were charges made by Heywood Broun, newspaper columnist, in the course of an address delivered Sunday afternoon, at a meeting of the Women’s Association of the American Jewish Congress, held at the B’nai Jeshurun Community House.

Basing his charges on an investigation conducted by him, of the employment situation, Mr. Broun asserted that it is the duty of every group in the community to unite in combatting this prejudice against the Jews, based on purely religious grounds. The problem of fighting this discrimination, he asserted, is not a specifically Jewish problem, but the manifest duty of every group living under a professed democratic regime.

“The favorite method of practicing discrimination in the colleges is through the psychological test,” Mr. Broun asserted. “If your name is Rosenblum, you are not psychologically fit. Another favorite method employed is to distribute the student body geographically—that is, to apportion so many students to a certain section. That is a lie too. It is a way of saying, ‘We don’t want so many Jews’.”

That religious classification in employment is the beginning of religious discrimination which is resulting in a twentieth century Marranoism was the charge made by Rabbi J. X. Cohen, Assistant Rabbi of the Free Synagogue. He called upon the Women’s Association of the American Jewish Congress to create the agency for breaking down religious discrimination against Jews. Leo M. Glassman, former newspaper correspondent, spoke on the religious repression in Russia. Mr. Stephen S. Wise, president of the Women’s Association, presided at the meeting.