The New York World’s Fair press department today made public the following telegram from Grover Whalen, president of the fair corporation, to Samuel Untermyer, president of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League, who had protested against inviting Germany to the fair:
“Telegram received. Invitations to foreign nations to participate New York World’s Fair 1939 were issued by the President through the State Department under an act of Congress requesting the president of the United States to invite nations having diplomatic relations with this country to participate in the fair. Matter of invitations to foreign nations being entirely in hands of Federal Government are therefore beyond our control.”
Dr. Joseph Tenenbaum and B.C. Vladeck, heads of the Joint Boycott Council, which comprises the American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee, issued a statement saying the council had been negotiating with Mr. Whalen since October and had threatened that the fair grounds would be picketed if Germany were represented.
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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.
