Reacting to neo-Nazi gains in Bavaria, World Jewish Congress president Dr. Nahum Goldmann announced here today that the WJC’s Governing Council has been summoned to meet in London December 12-13 to consider future action. He added that he planned to go to Germany in December. He said that Jews had been worried by the success of the National Democratic Party in the Hesse elections two weeks ago.
“Thirty years ago, almost to the day, we created the World Jewish Congress to warn the world about the threat of Hitlerism. I do not say we are facing the same situation now — but we Jews and all concerned men — would be unwise to underestimate the current trend in Germany,” he declared. The election results in Hesse and Bavaria, Dr. Goldmann continued were “more a sign of discontent among a large section of Germans over lack of leadership rather than a rekindling of anti-Semitism on the Hitlerian pattern, but the world, and the Jewish people in particular, must be extremely watchful, for the Nazis of the early 30s were not considered dangerous at the outset.”
Among the world leaders who will attend the Governing Council sessions in London are Lord Sieff and Samuel Bronfman, vice-presidents of the World Jewish Congress and chairmen of the European and North American branches of the WJC.
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