In a fifteen-minute speech over Radio Station WEAF last night, Congressman Emanuel Celler reviewed the history of Nazi persecution of the Jews and bitterly arraigned the American Olympic Committee for its recent decision to accept the invitation of Germany to participate in the 1936 Olympics at Berlin.
Charging that Avery Brundage, chairman of the Amateur Athletic Union and the American Olympic Committee, either failed to investigate conditions in Germany or was a "willing dupe" of the Nazis, Mr. Celler expressed the hope that the A. A. U., at its December convention would reconsider the decision.
Mr. Celler contrasted the treatment given the Nazi regime by the American Olympic Committee with that accorded Germany by the State Department.
"It is interesting to note," he declared, "that the attitude of our State Department toward the Nazis is quite different from that of the American Olympic Committee. Its policy, for example, has been most hostile to Germany. Our Secretary of State has rebuffed, time and again, the German Ambassador in his requests for consideration in the Administration’s tariff reciprocity program.
FAITH LOST
The reason for these repeated rebuffs, Mr. Celler pointed out, is that the Administration "has no faith in the pledges of the Nazi government.
"Germany’s punishment," the Congressman said, "is trade isolation by our Administration. Its effect is more deadly than the boycott. Unlike the American Olympic Committee, our State Department is not afraid to slap the Nazi Government in the face."
Referring to Hitler, Goebbels and Goering as a "trinity of intolerance and hate," Mr. Celler characterized them as "the type who would put iron weights in their boxing gloves; they would deliberately spike an opposing player. To expect sportsmanship from them is impossible, for they obtained power by treachery, violence and bloodshed. To regard these men as true guardians of sports, to turn the Olympic games over to their administration, is to invite the possibility that the Olympic games shall be befouled."
Mr. Celler expressed strong condemnation of Germany also with respect to its treatment 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.
