Dr. Hjalmar Schacht, president of the Deutsche Reichsbank, in his statement announcing the German moratorium and suspended cash payments on all her foreign debts for six months, concludes thus:
“A spirit of compromise, patience and goodwill are essential if the world is to escape a new economic relapse. Let Germany’s goodwill be met by equal goodwill in foreign countries.”
The London Times, commenting on Dr. Schacht’s explanation, charges Germany with “a direct breach of good faith” and refers to Dr. Schacht’s defense of Germany’s stand as “reminiscent of the murderer who having lain both his parents pleaded for mercy on the ground that he was an orphan.”
“It is really impossible to avoid the conclusion,” writes the London Times, “that the reversal of Germany’s trade balance since the beginning of the year has been the direct result of her inflationary domestic policy and of the retaliatory measures provoked by her treatment of the Jewish population within her borders—both factors for which she must be held responsible— even if no account is taken of the more sinister implications of her increasing imports.
“In pursuing this course the German Government have been willfully neglectful of their good name. By allowing a forced default upon their international obligations they have shattered the remains of their credit.”
Dr. Schacht’s plea for a spirit of goodwill, “if the world is to escape a new economic relapse,” sounds like a brazen mockery in the light of events since Germany fell under the sway of Hitler. His concluding sentence, “Let Germany’s goodwill be met by equal goodwill in foreign countries,” is typical of Hitlerite arrogance.
Nazi Germany has now defaulted on her international obligations to her creditors. But ever since Hitler came into power, Germany has defaulted on her human obligations as a civilized nation. Her moral default has led to her financial default.
The end of Hitlerism is approaching rapidly.
MAX BAER AND THE NAZIS
Max Baer, the new world heavyweight champion, is of German Jewish origin. In old Russia and in Germany the myth was circulated that Jews were cowards and physical weaklings,
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.
