The Iskra News Agency, mouthpiece of the Polish Legion, officially denied today the reports that the new government party headed by Colonel Adam Koc, commander of the legion, would demand curtailment of Jewish rights.
The new party, to begin functioning soon with the support of a strong group of General Rydz-Smigly’s followers, advocates an authoritarian form of government in Poland, including some of the features of Nazism and Italian Fascism.
Little importance was attached here to a report in the Berlin Tageblatt from Warsaw that the Polish Government would proclaim on Nov. 11,
anniversary of Poland’s independence, racial legislation against Jews, drawing specific distinctions between them and “Aryan” national minorities.
Apparently, the Tageblatt confused the discredited reports that Col. Koc’s party would ask curtailment of Jewish rights with an intention of the government to issue legislation to this effect.
The purposes of the new party, for which the name Union of Work for the State has been suggested, were outlined in a memorandum submitted to government leaders. Parliamentary democracy was rejected in the statement and a new political organization proposed, which would be headed by General Rydz-Smigly and have its own militia like the Nazi storm troops.
The authoritarian system was held the only one possible because of Poland’s location between Germany and Russia, her unemployment and her large proportion of national minorities, particularly the Jews.
The Polish storm troops, which would stand as the bulwark behind the authoritarian leader, would be recruited from labor unions and parliamentary associations. The political organization is to include men and women of all shades of opinion.
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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.