The blame for the anti-Jewish manifestations in Germany, which began with the desecration of the Cologne synagogue on Christmas Eve, was laid here by Dr. Joachim Prinz, president of the American Jewish Congress, to “the apathy and indifference of large sections of the German people.”
Dr. Prinz, who just returned from a visit to Germany, was one of the principal speakers at a Town Hall meeting here held last night at which the cause and cure of the worldwide anti-Semitic manifestations were discussed. Jack I. Fishbein, editor and publisher of The Sentinel, a Chicago English-Jewish weekly publication, was another principal speaker.
Mr. Fishbein, who is president of the American Jewish Press Association, told the audience that “American Jews bear no grudge against Germany or Chancellor Adenauer.” He stressed that “We have every reason to hate the nation that murdered 6, 000, 000 of our kinsmen, but despite this, we bear no blind grudge.” The audience included numerous leaders of non-Jewish religious and lay organizations.
The meeting served to lay down a positive program of action which asked West Germany to “root out ex-Nazis from official posts in the German government; teach Germany’s youth the facts about Hitler’s crimes against humanity; punish anti-Semitic hoodlums and hatemongers in Germany swiftly; expand efforts to halt ultra-nationalist propaganda in Germany and enlarge programs to document Nazi persecutions and promote democratic values.” The program also urged Jews to write the Chicago Board of Education suggesting that it strengthen its Human Relations program and institute adequate study of the Hitler period.
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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.
