connections with the Byoir firm.
“Soon after the expose of Carl Byoir & Associates at the recent investigation of Nazi propaganda by the Congressional committee,” his statement said in part, “Rabbi Louis D. Gross, learning that Carl Byoir is a Jew, the son of Russian Jewish parents, vigorously denounced Byoir as a traitor to the Jewish race, and scored Byoir’s claim that he was really acting in behalf of the Jews.”
STICKS UP FOR BYOIR
When this portion of the statement was read to David, he snorted.
“Speaking not as a brother but as an individual,” he said, “I shall continue to maintain my loyalty to Carl Byoir until it is proven beyond a shadow of doubt to my satisfaction that he actually is in Nazi employ. As matters now stand, I positively deny that he has such connections.”
More from Rabbi Gross’s statement:
“Pointing out that the daily press had carried stories about the connection with the Byoir concern of one David Gross, referred to as a brother of Dr. Gross, the rabbi explained that he knew nothing of David Gross’s connection with the Byoir concern until the expose at Washington, having been completely out of touch with him for the past four years. Upon being apprised of the situation, the editor of the Jewish Examiner immediately urged David Gross to sever his connection with Byoir To this David Gross declared that his only connection with the publicist was only that of a minor employe, a status little better than that of a clerk.”
BETTER THAN THAT
David took exception to the final phrase of the above paragraph.
“Little better than a clerk, eh?” he said. “How does he know what I do? The fact of the matter is, I’m a contact man for Byoir, and I consider Byoir a great friend of the Jews. Byoir and I are trying to end anti-Semitism once and for all. We don’t believe in the boycott. We feel the boycott is a temporary measure, and although it might accomplish its purpose for the time being, it wouldn’t solve the problem.”
Another except from the Rabbi Gross statement declares:
“Dr. Gross stated that . . . despite the fact that David Gross was not charged with any responsibility in the management of the Byoir concern, his status even as a clerk or scribbler placed him in a position of being a traitor to his people.”
This charge David vehemently denied.
“I am now and always shall continue to be a friend to the Jews,” he said.
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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.
