Government-inspired anti-Semitism in Poland and discrimination against the remnants of Polish Jewry were condemned by 74 American leaders in religion, labor. education, literature and civil rights in a statement announced today by the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations.
The statement, released by Rabbi Herschel Schachter, Conference president, called on the United States Government to “protest, officially and unofficially, publicly and privately, this new expression of state sponsored anti-Semitism.” The Polish Government was asked to “cease its anti-Jewish campaign which is a mockery of democratic ideals and a tragic denial of human rights.” The statement also called the “anti-Semitic, anti-Zionist” campaign of the Wladyslaw Gomulka regime “a scapegoat for popular discontent by leaders who find anti-Semitism a useful lever for gaining political power.”
The signers included I.W. Abel, president of the United Steelworkers of America; Matthew Ahmann, executive director of the National Catholic Conference for Interracial Justice; James Farmer, the Negro civil rights leader; John K. Galbraith, chairman of Americans for Democratic Action; Dr. Dana Greeley, president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of North America; Senators Fred Harris of Oklahoma and Jacob Javits of New York; Paul O’Dwyer, Democratic candidate for Senator from New York; President Leo McLaughlin of Fordham University; Bayard Rustin, executive director of the A. Philip Randolph Institute; Rex Stout, president of the Authors League of America; and Roy Wilkins, executive director of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
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.
