The allegations that Adolph Hitler, Nationalist Socialist leader of Germany had commissioned him to form an American branch of the Nazi organization were termed sheer fabrication by John Franklin Carter, former newspaperman and State Department employe, in an interview with a representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, at the same time that he affirmed that he is organizing a new national party aimed at supplanting the Socialist Party, whose failure he attributes “to the predominance of Jewish, German and other foreign elements.”
Mr. Carter, who was associated with the “New York Times” news and book review staff, returned to the United States last week from Europe. To the representative of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, he denied a Berlin despatch declaring that he had been commissioned to implant Hitlerism in America.
Questioned directly whether or not his new national party is to be aimed at the Jews, Mr. Carter replied in the negative stating that the new party “aims at the social and economic reconstruction of the United States and having such a platform certainly draws no racial lines whatever.”
He claimed among supporters for his party Bernard Baruch, noted Jewish industrialist, and Messrs, Simon and Schuster, the book publishers.
“Ours is a progressive party,” he asserted. “appealing mainly to the small community. It is meant to supplant the Socialist Party whose failure I attribute to both its name and personnel. By personnel I mean the predominance of Jewish, German and other foreign elements.”
Mr. Carter’s attention was drawn to a passage in his book “Man Is War,” published in 1926, from which the inference may be drawn that if he is not the organizer of an attempted restoration of the defunct Ku Klux Klan, at least he is in sympathy with its purposes.
“That intimation,” Mr. Carter asserted, “can well be thrown into the waste basket.” As an indication of the fact that he is not anti-Semitic, Mr. Carter told that he had refused an invitation for support from a Swastika organization which he had discarded.
The passage in his book referred to declared: “That the problem of the American Jew is little different from that of the Jew elsewhere is demonstrated by a recent speech of the Imperial Wizard, Grans, of the Ku Klux Klan. Recent attempts to interest American Jews in Zionism, as well as the Ku Klux Klan agitation, reveal what extraordinary viewpoints are
maintained. That is, that the duty of the Jews is to defend their exclusiveness against the Gentiles, but that the duty of the Gentiles is to abolish any exclusiveness against the Jews. Such opinions, if sincerely held, can only produce turmoil. As a matter of fact, they have.”
Mr. Cater admitted that while abroad he had “a good introduction to leaders of the National Socialists.” He did not see Adolph Hitler, but he mentioned interviews with Captain Herman Goering, Nazi president of the dissolved Reichstag and Ernst von Hamstaengel, Nazi leader in Munich.
The Jewish question was not discussed at all by Captain Goering, according to Mr. Carter.
He asserted that it is his belief on the basis of personal observation “strengthened by the authority of various authentic sources,” that the Hitlerites have radically modified their stand toward the Jews.
He stated further that “young German Jews, defying the dictates of their elders and the saner elements of their group, are aligning themselves with the Hitlerites, because they yearn for expression of their idealism, now that the chieftain is moderating his anti-Semitic zeal. And no objections whatever are raised by Hitler himself.”
That the Hitlerites have modified their attitude toward the Jews can be corroborated, Mr. Carter said, by Henri de Jouvenal, Jr., of Jewish extraction, who is the editor of “Le Journal” and Edgar Ansel Mowrer, Berlin correspondent of the “Chicago Daily News.” The latter is just completing a work on Hitler and the Nazi movement.
Mr. Carter served in the Eastern Division of the State Department. He also served the Institute of Politics of Williamstown, and the “London Daily Chronicle,” whose Rome correspondent he was.
Statement of the ownership, Management, Circulation, etc., Required by the act of congress of August 24, 1912, Of the Jewish Daily Bulletin, published daily at 125 E. 46th St., New York, N. Y., for October 1, 1932.
County of New York ss.
State of New York
Before me a notary public in and for the State and county aforesaid, personally appeared J. M. Reisler, who having been duly sworn according to law, deposes and says that she is the business manager of The Jewish Daily Bulletin and that the following is to the best of he knowledge and belief, a true statement of the ownership, management etc., of the aforesaid publication for the date shown in the above caption, required by the Act of August 24, 1912, to wit:
1. That the names and addresses of the publisher, editor, managing editor, and business managers are:
Publisher, Jewish Daily Bulletin, Inc., 125 E. 46th St., N. Y. C.
Editor, Ber Smolar, 125 E. 46th St., N. Y. C.
Managing Editor, Jacob Landau, 125 E. 46th St., N. Y. C.
Business Manager, J. M. Reisler, 125 E. 46th St., N. Y. C.
2. That the owner is: The Jewish Daily Bulletin Co., Inc., 125 E. 46th St., N. Y. C.
Jacob Landau, 125 E. 46th St., N. Y. C.
3. That the known bondholders, mortgagees, and other security holders owning or holding one per cent or more of total amount of bonds, mortgages, or other securities are: None.
4. That the two paragraphs next above, giving the names of the owners, stockholders and security holders, if any, contain not only the list of stockholders and security holders as they appear upon the books of the company, but also in cases where the stockholder or security holder appears upon the books of the company as trustee or in any other fiduciary relation, the name of the person, or corporation for whom such trustee in action is given: also that the said two paragraphs contain statements embracing affiant’s full knowledge and belief as to the circumstances and conditions under which stockholders and security holders who do not appear upon the books of the company as trustee, hold stock and securities in a capacity other than of a bona fide owner; and this affiant has no reason to believe that any other person, association, or corporation has any interest, direct or indirect, in the said stock, bonds or other securities than as so stated by him.
5. That the average number of copies of each issue of this publication sold or distributed, through the mails or otherwise, to paid subscribers during the six months preceding the date shown above is 6.675.
J. M. REISLER,
Business Manager
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 30th day of September, 1932.
(Seal) Israel S. Cohen.
My commission expires March 30, 1934.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
