Special laws closely resembling the anti-Jewish regulations of Nazi Germany are suggested for the United States in an editorial “Is There A Jewish Problem?” published here in the German-language newspaper Der Staats-Anzeiger.
Declaring that he is “against wild anti-Semitic agitation because nothing good is usually achieved by it,” the writer of the three-column editorial, H. Dralle, urges solving the Jewish problem in America “in a sensible way.” He cites a number of Jewish “sins” and then suggests the promulgation of a law, the text of which reads:
“Any person who acquired United States” citizenship by birth or naturalization, but who at the same time also belongs – because of religious or nationalistic reasons – to another nation or national group which is advocating and developing dangerous principles, is automatically put under the special law which provides that:
“1. A person falling under the above law is not to occupy any public or advisory post in Government or State offices. Nor is he to hold any position in the court system.
“2. A doctor belonging to the category of persons for whom this law is intended is to treat patients of his nationality only. The same is to be applied to lawyers, bankers and dentists. Such a person should serve in the army and navy as a soldier of the lowest rank only.
“3. People against whom this law is proclaimed are not to be owners or partners of large business enterprises in America. Those possessing property and capital valued at more than $500,000 should have their belongings gradually confiscated for the State within a period of ten years after the issuance of the law.
“4. A person falling under this law may be permitted to engage in small trade, artisanship or landwork. He cannot, however, possess or manage more than two such small enterprises.
“5. A person affected by this law may by act of law sever his connections with the national group to which he belongs.”
Providing punishment by imprisonment from two to fifteen years for violating the above “law,” the author concludes his editorial with a “promise” that in his forth-coming articles he will suggest two more “laws” dealing in similar vein with regard to vacations and clothing.
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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.
