A letter of good will has been addressed by Rabbi Solomon A. Fineberg, of Mount Vernon, chaplain of the Jewish War Veterans, to several hundred Nazi sympathizers and advertisers in the Deutsche Zeitung.
“Any study of the actual facts,” writes Rabbi Fineberg, “will reveal that Jews in America have no ill will whatever toward the Germans residing here. Vast sums have been spent, and are being spent now, by Jews in stores, restaurants, factories and all sorts of commercial enterprises owned or operated by Germans. Tens of thousands of Germans have been employed and will continue to be employed in industries or households owned by Jews.
“There is no boycott being conducted against German American citizens by any Jewish organization. Anyone who claims that such discrimination exists is using falsehood and fraud to foment trouble which can bring profit to no one, but to the despicable agitators who seek to bring about strife between Jews and Germans in this country.”
He concludes with a request that “if your commercial interests have been damaged in any way because of your German origin, and if you will communicate this information to our National Commander … we shall take prompt steps in your behalf.”
The statement was made in connection with the fortieth anniversary of the Jewish War Veterans Rabbi Fineberg also urged “the Jewish shirt organizations to go out of existence. We cannot fight Hitlerism while using its methods. A Jewish organization with fascist psychology is as bad as any other, and in such a contest we, the minority, are doomed.”
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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.
