The present emergency is affording New Yorkers of all faiths and nationalities a “splendid” opportunity to create a new and better spirit of understanding, cooperation and friendliness, Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia declared today in a message endorsing Brotherhood Week, which will be observed throughout the country during the week of Washington’s Birthday, Feb. 15-22, under the auspices of the National Conference of Christians and Jews.
Noting an “increasing” demonstration of neighborliness on the part of all New Yorkers, the Mayor attributed the increase in part to the auxiliary organizations set up under the civilian defense program. “Men and women of all classes and all races and religious groups are forming new contacts with one another through their voluntary work as air raid wardens, fire wardens, or in any of the numerous other positions under this program,” he said.
“This period of national unity under a national emergency is a splendid time for us to increase the mutual understanding and sympathy of the manifold groups within our society, and the National Conference of Christians and Jews is to be congratulated on its foresight in its program to make such gains permanent,” the Mayor concluded.
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