tice John F. Carew had approved the papers, the name of Ludwig Glaser was substituted for that of Carl Griesinger on the list of charter applicants.
This, in the opinion of Congressman Samuel Dickstein, will afford him an opportunity of convincing Justice Carew against approving the papers in their amended form. He plans to point out, at a special hearing, which he has asked the judge to call, that the organization is “un-American, undemocratic and subversive to this country.”
“The principal objection to the filing of the certificate of incorporation of the Friends of New Germany,” Dickstein said in a statement Friday, “is the fact that the avowed objects of the organization and its general ideology are repugnant to the principles of American democracy.
THE NAZI PLEDGE
“Every member of the organization, before being elected to membership, must sign a paper to the effect that he believes in the ‘leadership principle,’ which means that he believes in the principle that a leader shall be chosen with dictatorial powers over his followers in the same manner in which Hitler is the ‘leader’ of the German people.
“The ‘leader’ is unlimited in what he may do, and every member of the Friends of New Germany recognized Adolf Hitler as the leader of the German race, no matter where situated and irrespective of whether or not the member of the German race is an American citizen.
“Even American citizens born in the United States are to be deemed subject to the leadership of Mr. Hitler, or whoever may for the time being be the official ‘leader’ of the German people.
OFFICERS NOT ELECTED
“As a matter of fact it is this principle of leadership which is followed throughout in the organization and management of the Friends of New Germany. They do not elect officers in the manner in which the Membership Corporation Law of this state calls for the selection of officers and directors of membership corporations.
“The method of government is by the selection of a ‘national leader’ by a national convention, which ‘leader’ in turn appoints state leaders, etc.
“This is, of course, not the method of government provided for in our Membership Corporation Law, nor is it the established method of government of American Membership Corporations. It again shows a foreign method of selection based on the same philosophy and ideology which is responsible for the present form of government in Germany.”
Dickstein indicated further that he intends to go before Federal district attorneys to ask cancellation of the citizenship papers throughout the country of numerous recently naturalized citizens of German origin, on the ground that because of “mental reservations,” they did not take the oath of United States allegiance in good faith.
“We have examined hundreds of these men,” he said, “and the extent to which they hold a dual allegiance—to the United States in theory and to Hitler in fact—is amazing.”
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.
