Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia was awarded a medal for promotion of Christian-Jewish understanding at the Waldorf-Astoria last night, and in accepting it voiced the hope that need for such an award would soon vanish.
Receiving the American Hebrew’s 1936 award, New York’s mayor, whose “chamber of horrors” proposal created an international furor, declared:
“I think you will all believe this. If I had deliberated, perhaps I would not have said some of the things that I do say, and shall continue to say.
“It is almost unbelievable, now, isn’t it, that we should have an occasion of this kind in the Year of Our Lord 1937, that a man should be given a medal for doing something that it should not be necessary to mention. Just think of it. Conditions are so bad that if one resents, and protests, and seeks to bring about a better understanding, it is the subject of discussion.”
He continued:
“I hope the time will come when you will run out of candidates for the medal. I hope the time will come when it will seem strange to award a medal to someone who has brought better understanding between Jews and Christians.”
Asserting persecution of minorities anywhere in the world was “absolutely unnecessary,” Mr. LaGuardia said. “It does not take a strong Government or a brave man to persecute a weak minority.”
He pledged continuance of his fight against oppression of either individuals or minorities and remarked: “There is no Ersatz for justice.”
Presentation of the award, decided upon by a committee of distinguished Gentile and Jewish leaders, was made at a banquet attended by more than 900 Catholics, Protestants and Jews, including prominent persons in politics, civic life, religion and business. Henry Morgenthau Sr. presided. Presentation was made by Charles H. Tuttle, former United States Attorney. Other speakers included Samuel Untermyer, Father Joseph N. Moody of Cathedral College, Mrs. Sidney C. Borg and Sidney Hillman.
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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.
