Formation of the new Herenigde Nasionale Volkspartei, comprising followers of ex-Premier Gen. J.B.M. Hertzog and Dr. D.F. Malan, is causing considerable concern to the Jewish community in the Union of South Africa because its structure is a racial bloc composed exclusively of Afrikaanders.
While the new party has not formally stated its attitude towards Jews, Dr. Malan is definitely known to be anti-Semitic, while Gen. Hertzog has never been overly friendly to Jews.
Members of the party have accused the Jews of fomenting the present war. One of its leaders, A.J. Werts, has accused the South African Government of not wanting peace because Britain did not want it and Britain was opposed to peace because of a “powerful Jewish group in Britain.”
At the same time, party members have been attacking the South African Board of Jewish Deputies, representative Jewish body in the Union. At a nationalist meeting in Kuruman speakers accused the Board of being one of the bodies through which Afrikaanders were spied upon and committed to concentration camps without hearings.
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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.
