The first anti-Semitic incident of its kind in England occurred yesterday when a fifteen-foot iron cross inscribed “Perish Judea” was erected in the center of a London park and the oil-soaked rags in which the cross was wrapped were set on fire, making the inscription visible throughout the district in which the park is located.
Fascists are suspected of being responsible for the incident, although the actual offenders are unknown.
Police and onlookers rushed to the scene and extinguished the fire. The cross and remnants of the rags which surrounded it were removed to police headquarters in the hope that they would yield some clue to those who placed them in the park. Witnesses volunteered the information that they had seen Fascists wearing uniforms decorated with swastikas bring the cross to the park in a motor truck.
Simultaneous reports from Manchester and Leeds state that the anti-Semitic movement in those cities is assuming a bolder character. Leaflets and posters calling for the expulsion of Jews from England as during the Middle Ages are being widely distributed in both cities. The Jewish population of Leeds numbers about 30,000.
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.
