Hadassah leaders from all parts of the country, representing 318, 000 members today started their four-day mid-winter national conference here with an address by Dr. Miriam K. Freund, president of the organization, devoted primarily to a plea for Congressional action against racial and religious hate and bigotry.
Emphasizing that it is imperative that Congress act at once to ban distribution of hate literature through the U.S. mails, Dr. Freund stated: “We feel it to be equally imperative for Congress to pass legislation that would make it unlawful for hate groups to solicit funds through the mails. We are gratified to know that bills containing both of these provisions are now pending before the Congress. These bills have our wholehearted support and we hope and urge that they will be enacted into law as swiftly as possible. This we consider to be a first duty of the 86th Congress. “
Dr. Freund stressed that “the time has come for every decent American to join in a campaign against hate and bigotry throughout the United States. In this campaign, it is up to the President of the United States to take the lead, ” she said. “We were gratified with President Eisenhower’s statement following the bombing of the synagogue in Atlanta, Georgia, last October. But this was last October. Must we wait until the outbreak of further violence before Presidential statements are issued on a condition as crucial as this? We need more statements by our President to rouse the American people against our enemies from within.
“We need more statements against hate and bigotry from the heads of Federal and State Executive Departments, from members of Congress, State Legislatures, educators, newspapers, radio and television stations. We must let the hate mongers in America know that there is no room for them here. We must let the hatemongers know that decent Americans are on the march against bigotry and violence.”
Dr. Freund asserted that the increasing distribution of hate literature throughout the United States “betrays an apathy on the part of Americans toward this crucial problem.” This, she added, must be remedied “through a total effort, spearheaded by the leaders of our nation as well as by organizations that are alive to the grave threat this condition poses to the United States. We cannot afford to let this situation go unchallenged. We cannot afford to let a brigade of bigots undermine American freedom and defame the American image at home and abroad. “
Mrs. Alexander M. Dushkin, chairman of the Hadassah Council in Israel, addressing the session, paid tribute to Hadassah members for all they “have done and are doing” to help Israel. In discussing the anticipated arrival of 100, 000 new immigrants in Israel from Eastern Europe, Mrs Dushkin declared that Hadassah facilities are now being readied to help meet the medical and vocational education needs of the newcomers.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.
