The Louisville Courier-Journal has declared in an editorial that any American who repeats anti-Semitic rumors is “making himself an agent of Adolf Hitler” and “betraying his country.”
The editorial quoted Daniel A. Poling, international president of the Christian Endeavor, as declaring: “Civilization cannot persecute and survive. America cannot tolerate persecution and continue.” Discussing anti-Jewish rumors, the paper went on:
“These rumors are rife all around us. There is a particularly fantastic one which has been repeated in certain Wall Street quarters, to the effect that ‘all this aid-to-England stuff has been developed and put over by the Jews.’ The absurdity of such a statement does not prevent its repetition by people who call themselves educated and intelligent.
“The time has come when such rumors have got to be spiked, for the sake of American survival. We all should know enough about Nazi methods by now to recognize that the first move in the Hitler attack is the stirring up of hatred against the Jews. The pattern has been followed with perfect regularity in each and every one of the conquered countries. Each in turn fell for this old device. And yet with such an example in front of them, many Americans are falling for it all over again.
“The simple fact is that any American citizen who repeats ugly rumors about the Jews is making himself an agent of Adolf Hitler. He may profess to hate Hitler as much as the next man, but he is playing Hitler’s game just as effectively as if he were receiving money from the Nazi propaganda fund. Whatever his motives may be, the result of his action is the same: he is betraying his country.
“Dr. Poling is right. There is no use mincing words by talking about ‘race prejudice’ and ‘intolerance.’ It is Jew-baiting that is our danger. It is Jew-baiting that is the classic Nazi formula for dividing a nation in order to conquer it. We in America cannot afford the luxury of condemning any group of American citizens, when we need unity as never before. Watch the man who talks against the Jews. Whether he knows it or not, he is Hitler’s agent in America.”
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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.
