German-American leaders joined tonight in denouncing Reich persecution of Jews in a broadcast over Station WNYC. Speakers scheduled were Victor Ridder, publisher of the New Yorker Staats-Zeitung und Herold; and Special Sessions Justice Gustave M.M. Wieboldt, and also Representative Hamilton Fish.
Mr. Ridder, in an address at the West Side Institutional Synagogue last night, appealed to Americans, particularly Jews and German-Americans, to prevent the spread of racial prejudice and animosity in the United States. Drawing a distinction between the German people and the rulers of the Third Reich, he declared that outside of “a few fanatical Bund members” German-Americans opposed race hatred and were shocked at events in Germany.
The New York Times, commenting editorially on Mr. Ridder’s address, said that “we must not permit events in Europe to stir up antagonisms among Americans.” The editorial said that American public opinion repudiated Nazism, but not German culture of German-speaking people. “We are combating a set of hateful ideas, not a race,” it declared.
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