Representatives of religious, political and civic groups organized here today into a city-wide anti-Fascist committee to combat the Nazism in Milwaukee and arrange to aid victims of German Fascism.
The Rev. Ralph Compere, pastor of the People’s Church, which has congregations in Milwaukee and West Allis, was named committee chairman. Mrs. Helen Cooper was chosen as secretary treasurer and Dr. Eleanore Cushing-Lippitt, organization chairman.
The committee will distribute complimentary copies of the “Brown Book of the Hitler Terror” among libraries and educational institutions throughout the State.
On May 10 the committee is to sponsor a free speech and press rally to mark the first anniversary of the bonfires held throughout Germany in which books by Jews, liberals, radicals and other anti-Nazis were cast ito flames.
An effort also will be made to line up churches to set aside a Sunday closest that date for sermons on German literary classics and for protests against destruction of such works by Nazis.
COMMITTEE NAMED
A sub-committee on finance was also appointed at today’s meeting, composed of Dr. Abraham Bender, Mrs. Sylvia Becker and Rose Schnell. Howard Marks and Isadore Horwitz were named to a committee on education and publicity. Walter Rieben and Paul Kaufman were appointed to the general committee.
Mr. Kaufman, also chairman of the Antifaschistische Aktion von Wisconsin, German anti-Nazi organization of this city, announced that this group likewise will press a drive against the growth of Fascist feeling among Milwaukee Germans. The Aktion is now recruiting delegates of German societies throughout the city as members to fight the Friends of the New Germany, the Stahlhelm and other Nazi movements in Milwaukee.
Attempts by the Friends of the New Germany to work into the good graces of old, established German societies have been rebuffed. In only one case has the organization been able to swing a joint meeting with a non-Nazi German group, Kaufman said. This was with the Technischer Verein, of which George Froboese, secretary of the “Friends,” is also a member.
A sharp setback for the “Friends” was indicated here in the failure of the organization to follow up the first issue of its Wisconsin Beobachter with subsequent numbers, originally published as a bi-weekly.
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.
