SOME time ago I commented on Mr. Lloyd George’s recent article in which he praised Hitler and state that “there is an impression that the Jew hunt has been called off.”
Mr. Lloyd George has received numerous letters of criticism from various people. Two of his answers have now been made public. In a letter to Mr. Isidore Wartski, of Bangor, he writes, in part, as follows:
“The cases you mention are certainly scandalous. When I get all the evidence, I will refer to the matter in my next article. I shall indeed be sorry if I have been misled as to there being an improvement in the condition of the Jewish population in Germany.”
He also addressed a letter to Mr. Philip Guedalla, the famous author, saying:
“I am sorry to hear that there is no foundation for the reports that reached me that Hitler was toning down his attack on Israel. I was under the impression that it was that savage Goering who was responsible for most of these ferocities, and that Hitler was gradually fighting him down. If you have any evidence to the contrary, I wish you would let me have it. His, what I call, quota arrangements for the professions I do not expect him to modify. Having regard for his followers I am afraid that is more than I can expect. I was thinking rather of outrages and the active and cruel persecutions which marked the first outburst.”
As a statesman and a publicist; Mr. Lloyd George should have made sure of his facts before rushing into print with his unwarranted apology for Hitler. His explanation that he was under the impression that Goering and not Hitler was responsible for most of the ferocities is unworthy of the British statesman. As the leader and dictator of Nazified Germany, Hitler is responsible for all the outrages that are being perpetrated by his regime.
What further evidence does Mr. Lloyd George want? If he only followed the authentic reports on the German atrocities now being committed in one form or another, as published in the leading newspapers of England, he could not have been ignorant of the shocking happenings in Hitlerland. Is it possible that Mr. Lloyd George was stirred to protest only by “outrages of the active and cruel persecutions which marked the first outburst” and that the cruel policy of vengeance and silent pogroms now methodically employed by the Nazis is insufficient to rouse his righteous indignation?
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.
