Two hundred German Nazi sympathizers braved a cold rain Saturday night to gather in the Kreutzer Hall for the regular weekly meeting of the “Friends of Hitler.” The meeting, originally scheduled to be held at the Liederkranz Hall, was moved to the Kreutzer Hall after members of the Liederkranz Club objected to renting space to Hitler supporters. A large majority of members of the Liederkranz Club are Jewish, and insisted that future rentals of their auditorium to the “Friends of Hitler” be cancelled. Nazi demands for beer were rejected by the club on Monday in view of club restrictions against serving the beverage to any but members of the society.
The Nazi meeting opened with a vitriolic attack on the Jews by an extemporaneous speaker, who ridiculed the part taken by German Jewish soldiers in the World War. The speaker purported to have served in the German ranks from the outbreak of the war.
Speeches made during the evening equally denounced atrocity propaganda, which was stated to be the creation of French and Jewish publishers, and demanded unity among Germans both at home and abroad.
Special attention was called to Dr. Hjalmar Schacht’s denunciation of The New York Times’ reports on Jewish persecution in Germany.
“What are the American people to believe?” one speaker asked. “The atrocious lies and propaganda printed in pro-Jewish newspapers or the word of persons like Herr Schacht, who has just come from Germany?”
Outspoken resentment against the Jewish protest parade taking place Wednesday was expressed. The demonstration was described as an overt attempt to promote American boycott of German goods. One speaker facetiously declared that the boycott could have little effect on Germany’s foreign trade, because Germany has no foreign trade. The Versailles Treaty saw to that, he declared.
Speakers bewailed at length the “present humiliation” of Germany; and they stated that the only means of elevating Germany to a par with other countries was that of unified action under Hitler. The audience was called upon to subordinate individual state and party opinions to policies of the present administration.
The need of pro-Hitler sentiment among expatriates as well as among Germans at home was stressed. It was stated that Germans abroad could never hope to attain social parity with natives of their adopted country so long as Germany continued to be regarded as an inferior power.
The National-Socialist Party in the United States, which was “dissolved” one month ago, continues to operate in new headquarters at an undisclosed address. Regular Saturday night meetings will continue to be held in the Kreutzer Hall, which has been newly decorated. A large American flag and equally large black swastika enclosed by a white circle in a red field drape the windows behind the rostrum. A banner, running half the length of the hall, summons in German, “Awake, Germans!” The crowd closed each speech with a voiciferous “Hail Hitler!” The meeting was adjourned after the audience with the Nazi salute sang the Hitler anthem.
Much Nazi literature was distributed among the audience, while German Nazi papers and the Amerika’s Deutsche Post enjoyed extensive sales.
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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.
