The walls of Bad Gastein, the famous Austrian resort, were plastered with anti-Semitic posters and the inscription “Judaea Verecke! Judaea Perish!” stared all visitors in the face, declared I. D. Morrison, prominent Zionist and communal worker who returned recently from a trip abroad, in a statement issued to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency yesterday.
Prompt action, however, was taken by the liberal-minded leaders of the Bad Gastein community and the realization in particular that Jewish visitors would leave the resort led to the prompt removal of the objectionable posters, Mr. Morrison said.
He expressed the view that the present phase of the anti-Semitic movement in Central Europe, particularly in Germany, is more menacing than ever before. “It is the militaristic, reactionary spirit which once more raises its head,” he said. “The Jew is openly accused of being a pacifist and internationalist and this is the most serious grievance held against him by the chauvinistic nationalistic forces.
“It is the same spirit which induced Bismarck, the founder of the German empire, when told that he could obtain Schleswig-Holstein without a war to make the characteristic reply that those who would fall in battle would in any event have to die within the next forty years,” according to Mr. Morrison.
“What transpires in Germany today is not only perilous to the Jews, but is a menace to progress and especially to the peace of the world,” Mr. Morrison concluded.
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.
