A resolution appealing to the world to intensify the boycott of German goods and services was adopted yesterday at the annual general meeting of the World Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi Council.
The resolution, introduced by Walter Citrine, general secretary of the British Trade Union Congress, condemned increasing persecution of minorities in Germany and charged the Reich with ceasing to respect treaties. It added that the Nazis were creating a gigantic war machine.
Mr. Citrine said that a large section of the British public was being misled by Reichsfuehrer Hitler’s peace proposals, declaring that his protestations of a desire for peace should be examined in the light of his “cruel acts of oppression, injustice and lawless tyranny.”
Nazi persecutions were also scored by Sir Norman Angell, holder of the Nobel Peace Prize, and Wickham Steed, former editor of The Times of London.
Messages were read from Samuel Untermyer, of New York, president of the League, and Sir Robert Mond, honorary president of the World Jewish Economic Federation.
A report by Philip Guedalla of the American Anti-Nazi League said United States imports from Germany declined 111,680,000 reichsmarks in the three years of Hitler’s rule.
“That the boycott is growing stronger.” the report stated, “is shown by the fact that the quantity of our purchases from Germany is becoming a smaller and smaller part of our total imports. In spite of the slight jump in German imports between 1934 and 1935, the total percentage fell from 4.2 to 3.8 per cent in that interval. While those from Germany rose 13 per cent since 1934, our total imports rose 23 per cent.”
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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.