Congressional leaders today threw their support in favor of the resolution adopted Monday by the Massachusetts House of Representatives in protest against the wave of religious persecution sweeping through Germany and gave impetus to a drive to withdraw United States participation in the Olympic Games to be held in Berlin next year.
Representative John W. McCormack of Massachusetts, chairman of the House committee which investigated Nazi and other un-American activities in the United States, said that the resolution passed by the House of Representatives of his state represents “the opinion entertained by every decent-thinking person, without regard to race, color or creed.
“What the Massachusetts House of Representatives has done represents what should be a part of the law of nations,” Mr. McCormack declared.
Members of Congress are receiving petitions from all sections of the country requesting action on behalf of persecuted Catholics, Jews and other minority groups in Germany. Many of the petitions call for United States withdrawal from the Olympics.
Senator Peter G. Gerry’s suggestion that American sportsmen give serious consideration to withdrawing from the Olympics because of Nazi activities against Jews and Catholics is being lauded by Congressional leaders.
The senator from Rhode Island, in making his suggestion on the floor of the Senate, had said that “in view of the turmoil involved, with the different races and religious involved among the contestants competing in the Olympic Games, there might be some bad feeling engendered.
Among those who supported Senator Gerry’s position was Senator David I. Walsh of Massachusetts who expressed the belief on the Senate floor that the Rhode Islander’s suggestion “should be given very serious consideration” not only by sportsmen but by the State Department as well.
Rep. Emanuel Celler of New York is drafting a bill calling for withdrawal of United States participation in the Olympics.
A number of Congressional leaders privately expressed the belief that it is up to the sportsmen of the nation to make the final decision as to whether this country should participate.
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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.
