Sir Barnett Janner, British Jewish leader, drew attention in the House of Commons today to a proposed motion which referred to the “grave consequence of the rise of neo-Nazism in West Germany in the elections in Hesse and Bavaria” where the extremist National Democratic Party won Parliamentary seats for the first time this month.
Sir Barnett told the House that despite the statements of the “new Nazi party” that it has no “sinister intent,” a very serious situation had arisen in West Germany. He asserted that “precisely the same argument was used by the Nazis when they came to power, with disastrous results to civilization.”
Replying to Sir Barnett, Richard Crossman, a Labor deputy who is House leader, said that anyone who remembered the events of the 1920’s when the Nazis were a negligible group in precisely that part of Bavaria would have a “macabre feeling” at seeing German history “apparently repeating itself.” He added, however, that “one should not jump to that conclusion.” He said that there would soon be a foreign affairs debate in the House and the issue could be discussed them.
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.
