A campaign to spread “a gospel of pro-Semitism” to acquaint America with the contributions of the Jews was urged on the District Grand Lodge Number One of B’nai B’rith, international Jewish fraternal order, by Horace R. Cohen in his presidential report at the first session of the District’s convention at the Hotel Commodore yesterday.
Attorney General John J. Bennett, Judge Ferdinand Pecora and Richard E. Gutstadt of the Anti-Defamation League were the chief speakers at a banquet at the hotel last night in connection with the convention which will end today.
Officers elected yesterday were: Charles Horowitz, president; Wilfred Feiga, Worcester, Mass., Emil Rubinstein, Buffalo and Isidore Marcus, Toronto, vice-presidents; Lawrence White, New Haven, Conn. secretary and William Tasher, New York City, treasurer.
In his report, Mr. Cohen pointed out that “the great reservoirs, the well-springs of Jewish life are drying up, here by persecution and pogroms and there by official anti-religious policy.
“All too many so-called Jews are satisfied to sit back in smug self-complacency, relying for security upon the democratic principles propounded by the constitution of their country. Permit me to point out that a similar attitude on the part of our German brethren as a whole probably contributed materially to their downfall.”
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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.
