Community tensions arising out of synagogue bombings and other anti-Jewish outbreaks in the South have not changed the “fundamental good relations” between Southern Jews and their neighbors, the president of B’nai B’rith said here today. “There is no real rupture in the religious harmony and interaction of the Southern community that have made it comfortable for Jews to live there,” Philip M. Klutznick reported to the 115th annual meeting of B’nai B’rith.
He warned, however, that “the Southern atmosphere will be clouded with anti-Semitic tensions so long as organized Jew-baiting movements are free to exploit the South’s dilemma over desegregation.” “The anti-Semite and the ‘hate mail’ publisher fish in troubled waters,” Mr. Klutznick added. “The special upheaval that has been sweeping across the South is tailored to the disruptive patterns of the professional bigot.” He said that much of the hate literature now being distributed throughout the South is “carpet bagging stuff–Northern in origin and trying to disguise itself with a Southern accent.”
In his presidential report which covered the gamut of Jewish affairs. Mr. Klutznick proposed a $300,000 expansion program for B’nai B’rith’s adult Jewish education services.
Maurice Bisgyer of Washington, executive vice president of B’nai B’rith, was honored for his two decades of service in that post. Mr. Klutznick presented him with the B’nai B’rith President’s Medal for “lasting contributions to Jewish life.” Friends and associates also presented a contribution of $40,000 to the B’nai B’rith National Youth Services Appeal in recognition of his 40-year career in Jewish affairs.
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.
