THE Feast of Weeks, Shabuoth, the birthday of the Torah, is celebrated by Jews throughout the world. This marks the anniversary of Israel’s spiritual birth as a nation. This also marks the anniversary of Israel’s moral contribution to mankind-the Ten Commandments-the Hebraic foundations of law, ethics and human rights.
In ancient times the Jews celebrated this joyful occasion by bringing to the sanctuary “the first fruits of wheat harvest.” In the Diaspora the Jews decorate their homes with flowers and plants in commemoration of the green mountain of Sinai where the Law was proclaimed and of the harvest festival in old Palestine.
The Ten Commandments and other Jewish doctrines enunciated by the prophets and sages of Israel, from which sprang also the Sermon on the Mount, are as vital a guide for human conduct today as at the time when they were first uttered. They embrace the ideals of social justice, of universal peace and the brotherhood of man.
THE DAWA MEETING
The German Americans, organized and directed by Hitlerite agents and propagandists, wrapped themselves in American flags and tried to give an impression that their DAWA mass demonstration at Madison Square Garden was an expression of Americanism. Many of these German Americans wore Nazi uniforms, sang the national Nazi hymn of hate, heiled Hitler and advocated an anti-Jewish boycott in this country.
“We are not Nazis,” said one of the speakers, “nor is this a Nazi meeting. This is an American organization. The same thing holds true of the German-American Protective Alliance, known as the DAWA… We are here tonight to protect ourselves, to protect the interests of the United States and to preserve the friendly relations existing between the United States and Germany.”
Another speaker said:
“We do not wish to bring race hatred or religious hatred into this country, but we demand the immediate cessation of this Jewish incitement against our old Fatherland and everything German. We demand immediate cessation of the boycott.”
Another speaker attacked William Green, president of the American Federation of Labor, and said three percent of America could not boycott twenty-five percent of America and the country whence they came.
The singing waiter, Joseph Schuster, addressing the “mass demonstration,” exclaimed as he pointed at the Nazi-clad guards:
“They are good enough Americans to apply, some day, their hands to the strangulation of Jewish domination of America.”
The German-American singing waiter also predicted that the time will come when German-Americans will not have to submit to abuses by everybody and when “nobody in New York will dare do anything against the will of German-Americans.”
George Sylvester Viereck, chief apologist in this country for Kaiser Wilhelm during and after the war, and now a Hitler enthusiast, said:
“Germany has passed through the throes of a revolution which completely changed her social, financial, political and economic structure. It was the most civilized, the most bloodless revolution in history… Hitler saved not only Germany but all Europe from being inundated by the red sea of Bolshevism.”
Hiding behind the American flag and behind hypocritical phrases of loyalty to the United States, the mass demonstration was conducted in the spirit of a Hitler meeting, under the emblem of the Nazi Swastika. While participants paid lip service to America, they enthusiastically saluted Hitler and manifested their allegiance to the German Nazis. They attacked and threatened some of the Americans who dared to express their indignation at the inhuman outrages perpetrated by the Hitler government. They threatened to impose the will of the so-called German-Americans upon the rest of the population here.
The mass demonstration at Madison Square Garden was a moral fiasco. The German-American sympathizers with Hitler and the un-American Germans filled the Garden. Many of them received their orders from Nazi agents to demonstrate against the Jews. The list of speakers was kept secret until the opening of the meeting.
They were hoping against hope until the last moment that some prominent Americans would accept their invitation to address the meeting. But no American in public life wanted to be identified with this demonstration. Even Congressman MacFadden sent his regrets.
The German-American pro-Nazis at this mass demonstration tried to give their answer to the “Case of Civilization Against Hitlerism,” presented in March at the Garden.
The speakers at the Nazi demonstration were: Reinhold Walter, Louis Zahne, H. O. Spier, Walter Kappe, W. L. McLaughlin, Herbert Schuch, George Sylvester Viereck and Joseph Schuster.
Among the speakers at the anti-Nazi meeting in March were: Alfred E. Smith, Mayor LaGuardia, Professor Raymond Moley, Roger Baldwin, Dr. Llewlys F. Baker, Dr. Arthur J. Brown, Arthur Garfield Hayes, Stanley High, Dr. John Haynes Holmes, Gustavus Kirby, Senator Millard E. Tydings, Michael Williams, Samuel Seabury, Matthew Woll, Miriam Beard, Dr. Stephen S. Wise, Bernard S. Deutsch, Abraham Cahan and Dr. Samuel Margoshes.
Is there any doubt as to which meeting voiced the feelings of America toward Hitlerism?
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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.
