The recent Argentine Government’s action to shut down the activities of the two extreme rightist organizations, Tacuara and Guardia Restauradora, only scratched the surface of neo-Nazi activities in this country, since there are 15 other neo-Nazi organizations “whose activities have not been curtailed,” Dr. Isaac Goldenberg, president of DAIA, central body of organized Argentine Jewry, warned here today.
Gloomy pictures of rampant anti-Semitism in this country were drawn here this morning when the DAIA convened its national three-day convention, with 150 delegates from 28 Argentine cities in attendance. The convention’s slogan, “Thirty Years Fight Against Nazism,” set the tone for the reports given the delegates by Dr. Goldenberg and by DAIA’s general secretary, Dr. Abraham Gorbatt.
Nazism here continues to be the “strong, impelling force behind all kinds of nationalist excesses,” warned Dr. Gorbatt. Attributing the country’s difficulties in general to the serious economic situation and unemployment, he said that the ultra-right wing organizations are exploiting these troubles to malign the Jewish population in this country as well as to undercut the popularity of Israeli.
CATHOLIC CHURCH CHARGED WITH INDIFFERENCE TO ANTI-SEMITISM
Dr. Gorbatt complained about the failure of the Catholic Church hierarchy in this country to pay sufficient attention to anti-Semitism. He charged that DAIA has been unable, after trying for months, to obtain an audience for discussing the problems with Antonio Cardinal Caggiano. DAIS’s relations with the Bierarchy, he said, “pose a tremendous problem.”
While DAIA has not been able to discuss the issues with the Cardinal, he reported a Catholic priest, the Rev. Julio Meinviell, “continues to spread his violently poisonous, anti Jewish bulletins, even sending his publications to Argentina’s military forces, with ecclesiastic license.” Argentina, he stated, is being “inundated” with Nazi literature, one recent “best seller” in this category being a locally issued version of the libelous canard, the “Protocols of the Elders of Zion.”
Dr. Goldenberg, in his opening address, said that DAIA must be more active not only in reacting to anti-Semitic developments but also in giving positive guidance to Argentine Jewry. At the same time he called for constant watch against the exciting anti-Jewish and pro Nazi groups which, he said, are now gaining their support from Egypt. “The Nazis cannot be tolerated, but must be fought constantly,” he said. He pointed out that there are two types of anti-Semitism here–one being “traditionalist.” the other linking the Jew with “the decadent middle class.” Both must be combated, he insisted.
Mark Turkow, Latin American representative of the World Jewish Congress, who has just returned from visits to 10 countries in this hemisphere, said that Mexico City and Buenos Aires are now principal distribution points for anti Semitic literature. Nazism, now, he said, has “a strong ally in the Arab League.” Many ex-Nazis who formerly found refuge in this country, he said, now make their headquarters in Cairo.
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