The Marquess of Londonderry, most active friend of Germany, in high places in Britain, regrets anti-Semitic utterances like those of Julius Streicher, but finds excuse for much of the Nazi anti-Jewish legislation. His views are expressed in the book, “Ourselves and Germany,” published today and reported from London by the New York Times.
Lord Londonderry says he “cannot but regret” anti-Semitic utterances which “offend our more refined feelings in this country.” His book reproduces a letter written to Joachim von Ribbentrop, now Reich Foreign Minister, in February, 1936.
“I should be wrong,” he wrote, “if I minimized in any way the anxiety here in relation to your policy toward the Jews. There is the feeling that we do not like persecution, but in addition there is the material feeling that you are taking on a tremendous force which is capable of having repercussions all over the world and which can be nothing but antagonistic to some of your most proper legitimate aspirations.
“As I told you, I have no great affection for the Jews. It is possible to trace their participation in most of those international disturbances which have created so much havoc in different countries, but, on the other hand, one can find many Jews strongly ranged on the other side who have done their best with the wealth at their disposal and also by their influence to counteract those malevolent, mischievous activities of fellow-Jews.”
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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.
