German diplomats and officials assigned to Canada, as well as immigrants from Germany, should be carefully screened to make sure they are not, and were not Nazis, said Leon Crestohl, Jewish deputy for a Montreal division, during a Parliamentary debate on immigration.
Many of the German consular officials recently accredited to various countries “are suspected of being men indoctrinated with the Nazi and totalitarian philosophy, and men who were formerly connected with the Nazi Party in Germany, ” Mr. Crestohl stated. Citing news reports, he said that some of the men in the German diplomatic corps “formerly worked with American anti-Semites to promote Nazi propaganda, ” and that last January of the 252 members in the diplomatic service, 151 had served under Von Ribbentrop, 130 of them having been members of the Nazi Party.
“The greatest caution should be taken to safeguard this country from the influences which may penetrate from the Fascist right as well as from the Communistic left, ” the Montreal Jewish deputy declared. “We want neither of these evil influences to impede or interfere with the development of our country upon its democratic foundations, on which it has flourished and will continue to flourish, making it one of the greatest democracies in the world. “
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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.