A squad of anti-Nazi Minute Men of the United States distributed circulars yesterday afternoon in front of R. H. Macy & Co., charging that department store with buying German-made products despite assurances to the contrary.
The charges stated that R. H. Macy received forty-seven bundles of basketwear and sixteen cases of crockery-woodenware from Hamburg, Germany, which arrived on the S.S. Manhattan on June 14. The circulars contained the import manifests of German ships during the month of June and the early part of this month. The material was gathered from the Journal of Commerce.
Promptly at two o’clock a squad of six Minute Men, dressed in their blue and gold overseas caps, took positions on the corners of Thirty-fourth street, Sixth and Seventh avenues. The contingent was headed by Joseph Rosen, chairman of the Minute Men boycott committee.
Circulars were handed to all passers-by. No diminishing effect on the number of people entering the huge store was noticeable. Rosen announced that the distribution of the circulars would be peaceful and that no trouble was anticipated.
Asked why Macy’s was singled out for attack when names of many concerns were on the leaflets, Rosen declared that Macy had previously given assurances that its German office would be closed and that all purchase of Nazi-made merchandise would be stopped.
It was also revealed that as soon as arrangements will be completed, the Minute Men will formally picket the store. Rosen expects to have men picketing Macy within the next few days.
Paul Hollister, Macy publicity man, was inclined to take the whole matter lightly. He said that Macy’s German office was now closed and moved to Prague. The merchandise, which is creating all the furor, was made in Austria and Czechoslovakia, the publicity man stated.
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.
