In the sixth of a series of articles by Pat McGrady on Nazi activities in the United States, published in the Jewish Daily Bulletin, an unfortunate error was made with reference to The American Guardian, a weekly journal published in Oklahoma City. Mr. McGrady referred to that publication as the organ of the ‘Minute Men,’ "very much opposed to the present ‘capitalist rule’ in Washington," and added that the paper "professes to be for the laboring classes, and is an outspoken defender of Hitler’s Germany."
Mr. McGrady, who is usually a very careful and dependable reporter, confused some of his copious notes on the various Fascist and near-Fascist "Minute Men" and thus described. The American Guardian erroneously.
An investigation of a number of issues of The American Guardian reveals the fact that it is a vigorous, well-edited Socialist publication, which has consistently and courageously voiced its opposition to Hitlerism and Fascism, and which has denounced anti-Jewish persecutions under the Nazi regime. The American Guardian is edited by Mr. Oscar Ameringer, whose striking signed articles leave no doubt as to the policy of his journal toward the menace of Hitlerism. The motto of The American Guardian, published in each issue on its first page, reads: "Our Country: Not the richest and most powerful on earth, but the leader in all that’s good, true and beautiful on earth."
We deeply regret the unfortunate error which crept into Mr. McGrady’s article with regard to The American Guardian.
BIRO-BIDJAN
The Soviet government has proclaimed Biro-Bidjan, Siberia, a Jewish autonomous unit. President Kalinin, who is regarded as the father of the idea of a Jewish autonomous state in the Soviet Republic, had frequently discussed the project of establishing in Siberia a Jewish autonomous state. It was at first believed that the Biro-Bidjan scheme was conceived for the purpose of offsetting the successful settlement of Jews in Palestine and the Zionist ideal of rehabilitating the ancient Jewish homeland.
Thousands of Jews have been sent to Biro-Bidjan during the past few years from the regions that formerly constituted the Jewish Pale of Settlement. A number of Jews from Lithuania also went there a few years ago in quost of a new home and new opportunities. A large number of those Jews have since returned, disillusioned. They found the prevailing conditions there insufficiently attractive to induce them to remain and to build the new Jewish "state." The Jews who went to Biro-Bidjan lacked the enthusiasm and the pioneer spirit of the Zionists who have gone to Palestine not only to improve their material position but also to satisfy the idealistic urge to rebuild Israel’s old homestead, and to live there a full, Jewish life. As soon as material conditions changed for the better in other parts of Soviet Russia, the Jews who had undertaken the long journey to Siberia in the hope of finding a new opportunity to earn a livelihood, returned to their old homes. The Jews from Lithuania also came back. At the present time, it is estimated, there are about twelve thousand Jews amidst a population of fifty thousand in the Biro-Bidjan region.
The creation of Biro-Bidjan as an autonomous Jewish unit is a friendly gesture to the Jews on the part of the Soviet government which has gone out of its way to aid Jewish colonization in other parts of Russia. The Soviet government thus tried to remedy the wrong committed by the Tsarist government which, in addition to other anti-Jewish disabilities and discriminations, kept the Jews from owning and tilling the soil. The Soviet policy was a constructive, humane measure worthy of praise.
The Biro-Bidjan scheme is not likely to prove successful. As there is no official anti-Semitism now in Soviet Russia, there is no reason why the Jews should segregate themselves in the wilds of Siberia, and build up a territory that requires sacrifices and pioneering, and that may serve as the scene of new conflicts in the Far East. The sentimental incentive is lacking in the Russian Jews to build up Biro-Bidjan. Nor is the material advantage in Biro-Bidjan magnetic enough to draw there a ### voluntary immigration of ###
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.
