The American Jewish Congress and the United States Maccabi Association were the first organizations yesterday to register protest against America’s acceptance of the Nazi bid to the 1936 Berlin Olympic Games.
The storm of protest and indignation from Jewish and non-sectarian organizations that has been brewing for the past year and a half was expected to be ready to burst and inundate the country with righteous objections.
The American Jewish Congress addressed a request to the Board of Governors of the Amateur Athletic Union calling upon it to review the situation in Germany with regard to the free participation of the Jews in the Olympics at its convention in December. Their contention was based on the ground that the assurances given to the American Olympic Committee by Germany are not in accordance with the facts.
The protest, signed by Dr. Stephen S. Wise, honorary president, and Bernard S. Deutsch, president, requested further that an opportunity be accorded the American Jewish Congress to present publicly before the convention “full and incontrovertible evidence to the effect that Jews are not free to engage in athletics and sports on the same footing as the Nazi athletes.
The American Jewish Congress expressed great dismay at the decision of the A. O. C. to accept the Reich invitation. The Congress held that the A. A. U. has an inescapable responsibility to review the facts for itself and decide whether it shall qualify American athletes for the Olympics if they are held in Germany.
The A. A. U. went on record last November at its Pittsburg convention condemning the discrimination of German Jews in sports and taking the stand against acceptance of the bid to participate in the 1936 sport games. This body controls amateur track and field, wrestling, swimming, and many other sports and should it refuse to certify its members the American Olympic Committee could not possibly send a team abroad.
The United States Maccabi Association declared in a statement by David White, executive director of the movement in America, that no Maccabi members would participate in the tryouts and competition for the American team should the Olympics be held in Germany.
Charles L. Ornstein, one of the two Jewish members of the American Olympic Committee who delivered an impassioned plea against acceptance of the Olympic invitation at the A. O. C. meeting, said that the Jewish Welfare Board, whom he represents, would take the only logical stand and follow the lead of the
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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.
