Plans for the celebration of German Day on Sunday collapsed yesterday with announcement of the resignation of Rev. William Popcke from the chairmanship of the United German Societies, the suspension of the affair by the mayor, the disappearance of Heinz Spanknoebel, and the failure of the German-American Conference to lay plans for a de-Nazi-ized German Day in the near future.
The Rev. Wililam Popcke, acting president of the United German Societies, whose plans for the celebration of German Day next Sunday were banned by Mayor O’Brien on Wednesday, yesterday told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he had resigned from the chairmanship of the organization. He declared that as far as he could see no celebration was planned in lieu of that projected for the 165th Regiment Armory.
“It would be impossible,” Rev. Popcke said, “for any one to oppose the mayor.”
The minister said that he personally considers every race, creed, and nation on the basis of equality.
“I did not know for whom I was acting,” he said. “You newspapermen know this man Spanknoebel far better than I do.”
SPANKNOEBEL DISAPPEARS
Heinz Spanknoebel, Nazi propagandist who threw the United German Societies in turmoil, inspired the suspension of German Day celebrations, and disappeared before Mayor O’Brien had called a hearing on the demonstration’s ban Wednesday, was reported yesterday on the high seas bound for his native Germany.
Although the Hamburg-American Line declared that there had been no record of Spanknoebel’s sailing aboard the “Deutschland”, which left the pier at midnight, Wednesday, it was admitted that he might have booked passage after the ship had cleared the harbor. Hamburg
American Line employees insisted upon learning the identity of callers yesterday, before they issued information regarding the reported Spanknoebel sailing.
According to reports, Erich Wiegand, assistant to Spanknoebel, accompanied the Nazi agent on the return voyage and it is believed that a number of the 35 men who accompanied Spanknoebel to the United States last July were also in the entourage.
“The Friends of New Germany,” the propagandist organization which was controlled by Spanknoebel and his lieutenants, were not answering the telephone yesterday, a fact which was construed as further evidence of the departure of the propagandist leaders.
Three hours before the reported sailing of the Nazi group, Mayor John P. O’Brien had announced that his ban on German Day festivities, planned for next Sunday at the 165th Regiment Armory, will stand.
MAYOR O’BRIEN’S DECISION
After an afternoon’s debate at the city hall in which the United German Societies were scored for permitting Nazi agitators to assume command of the organization, the mayor directed a letter to Rev. William Popcke, acting president of the U. G. S., in which he declared, “I shall not permit any property controlled by the city to be used for a meeting which would result in disorder, in sowing dissension between the various elements of this cosmopolitan community, and in permitting alien agitators to transfer to this soil the discussion of questions which have already in Germany resulted in discord, disorder, and death.”
“In the face of your failure to show that this meeting was likely to be a peaceful assemblage, I am convinced that I should adhere to the position which I have taken. Accordingly, I will not permit the proposed meeting to be held in the armory Sunday evening,” the mayor wrote.
CLIMAXES HECTIC CAREER
Spanknoebel’s reported departure climaxes a career in the United States which has caused much discord among German American groups. Before the ascendancy of Adolf Hitler to power in Germany, Spanknoebel was understood to have conducted a campaign for the brown leader among German voters in this country.
Following Hitler’s rise Spanknoebel continued his activities among German American organizations in an effort to sway opinion Nazi-ward. He was withdrawn a few months after German elections; but he returned to New York in July of this year to begin a greater campaign than ever for his leader.
Spanknoebel was the publisher of a number of Nazi newspapers in the United States. According to the testimony of German editors in this country, he attempted to coerce editors into printing propaganda favorable to Hitler. He is said to have presented credentials from the Nazi pressestelle in Berlin authorizing this work.
DICKSTEIN COMMITTEE NAMED
From Washington came news that Representative Samuel Dickstein, Chairman of the House Committee on Immigration and Naturalization, has named his sub-committee to investigate Nazi activities in the United States. The committee is composed of: Samuel Dickstein of New York, chairman; John H. Kerr, No. Carolina; Mell G. Underwood, Ohio; Eugene B. Crowe, Indiana; Martin Dies, Texas; Charles Kramer, California; J. Will Taylor, Tennessee; Benjamin Focht, Pennsylvania, and Everett M. Dirksen, Illinois.
The committee, in calling upon the public for information regarding Nazi propaganda and organization activities, announced that its first meeting will take place on November 14 in their rooms at the capital.
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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.
