An appeal to the Jewish youth of England to refrain from engaging in clashes with British Fascists was made today over the signatures of Chief Rabbi Joseph Hertz, Neville Laski, president of the Board of Jewish Deputies, and Leonard Montefiore, president of the Anglo-Jewish Association. The appeal draws attention to “the grave situation which has arisen from the recent disturbances between Jews and Fascists. Without any desire to fix responsibility for the street fighting, the signers of the appeal express conviction that no matter what the provocation, Jewish participation in “such disturbances brings discredit upon the Anglo-Jewish community and can only be harmful to the great cause.”
Sir Oswald Mosley, in an interview with the Jewish Chronicle, emphasizes at length that the British Fascist organization which he heads is not anti-Semitic. He stressed the instructions issued to its members forbidding them even to mention “Jew”. Moreover, all British citizens can be enrolled as members of his organization, he said, including Jews.
He expressed his belief that the anti-Semitic policy of the National Socialists in Germany was a mistake which the British Fascists most emphatically would not follow. He hoped that the Jewish attacks in Germany would cease soon.
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.
