A fight over a song of an anti-Semitic nature has been engrossing the best minds of the republic the last few days, and causing dissension between the German Minister of the Interior and court authorities.
The story started at the well-known German resort Borkum on the North Sea, where an anti-Semitic song was very popular with the guests. The German Minister of the Interior, by a special order, prohibited the orchestra from giving this song. The local court, however, decided that the order of the Minister was unconstitutional and that any of the officials who tried to enforce it would be liable to fine.
The Minister, however, insisted that his order be carried out, whereupon the anti-Semitic leader Henning, a Member of Parliament, for the Voelkische Partei, stepped into the breach, assumed the duties of Commissar of the resort, and, being protected by Parliamentary immunity, ordered the orchestra to continue playing the song.
The song, which is known as the “Borkum Hymn,” has been popular at the resort for the past twenty years. During the war it was prohibited, but was recently revived.
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.
