Jews Angered by Media Exposure Given to Two Self-styled Nazis

Connecticut Jews are up in arms over the media exposure given two self-styled Nazis who were received briefly at the State Capitol recently and were later interviewed on a local television program in Nazi regalia complete with swastikas. Gov. Thomas Meskill stressed in a statement to the Hartford Jewish Ledger that the pair had no appointment with him, that he had no use for them and that “they have no place in our society.”

The two Nazis had gone to the capitol to leave a statement with the Governor calling for abandonment of the Administration’s “pro-Zionist” foreign policy and blaming Jews for the oil shortage. They were seen briefly by an aide to the Governor. Afterwards, they indulged in an anti-Semitic, anti-Black diatribe over WTIC, Channel 3, which covers most of Connecticut.

WTIC president Leonard J. Patricelli delivered an editorial on both the tv and radio outlets denouncing the Nazis for their “anti-American views.” Jerry Wagner, chairman of the Community Relations Committee of the Hartford Jewish Federation, commended Patricelli’s editorial but decried the fact that the Nazis were given public exposure in the first place.

In a statement issued through the Ledger, Wagner said. “We seriously question the value of a major tv outlet providing a forum for such utterances. However, we recognize that Channel 3 TV was motivated by a desire to expose this hate group. . . The organized Jewish community has long known of the existence of this lunatic-fringe group…. This group relies on public exposure to recruit those few persons always available, who are attracted by their swashbuckling and militant viewpoints. We intend to remain vigilant and to continue to oppose and counteract the efforts of this and like-minded groups,” Wagner said.