The North Hudson-East Bergen embroidery industry condemned today the West New York manufacturer who accepted and filled an order for embroidered swastika emblems.
Ralph Muentener, the manufacturer, said he did not “realize the implications” when he accepted the contract from a novelty firm in Chicago. He said he had been told that the swastikas were to be sold strictly “on an individual basis for souvenir purposes. There was never any indication that they would be used for political purposes and neither the German nor the American Nazi party was ever mentioned.”
Some 1, 500 such insignia were embroidered at the Muentener plant for consignment to novelty shops. The manufacturer called it “an unfortunate incident” and said “I will never make them again. “
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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.