A spokesman for the Jewish United Fund said today that a ruling on whether the Nazi National Socialist Party in Chicago required a bond to march in a Chicago neighborhood had been postponed by a federal district judge. But the ruling was expected late today.
The spokesman said that the American Civil Liberties Union, which applied to federal Judge George Leighton to dismiss a Chicago Park District requirement of a bond for the Nazis to march, had introduced new arguments at the hearing this morning which led the judge to delay his decision. The tiny Nazi Party has said that if it gets permission to march in Marquette Park in a racially-volatile district of Chicago, it would cancel its plans to hold the much publicized march in suburban Skokie home of 7000 Holocaust survivors next Sunday.
The Public Affairs Committee (PAC) of the Jewish United Fund, an umbrella agency for 34 Chicago Jewish organizations, is coordinating a “massive but peaceful” counter-demonstration in Skokie. Other Jewish organizations, including the Jewish War Veterans and the Jewish Defense League, have indicated plans to send demonstrators to the Skokie event. Whether at this late date, the Jewish organizations, including the PAC could cancel their protest appearances in Skokie, if the Nazis cancel their march, remained uncertain. Gov. James Thompson has promised to send National Guard units to Skokie if the Nazis do march.
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.
