An offer by the Jewish Representative Council of London, British boycott group, to the Nazi government to withdraw the anti-Nazi boycott, providing all rights were restored to the German Jews, was sharply condemned here yesterday in a statement issued by Samuel Untermyer, president of the Non – Sectarian Anti – Nazi League, following a meeting of the executive committee of the league.
Commenting on the offer which was signed by M. H. Davis and P. Horowitz, joint chairmen of the Council, Untermyer declared that the statement “is entirely at variance with the sentiment of Jews and non-Jews who realize the menace of Hitlerism to civilization.” The statement rejected “any compromise with Hitlerism.”
The full text of the Untermyer statement follows:
“We are not sufficiently familiar with the circumstances under which the London statement was made nor by what authority it was sent out, but we are thoroughly cognizant of the fact that such a statement is entirely at variance with the sentiment of Jews and non-Jews, of all racial and religious groups of this and other lands who have come to a full realization of the menace which Hitlerism offers to the peace of mankind and to the ideals of civilization.
“With that threat of rampant militarism, ruthless repression before us, there can be no thought of compromise or concession on the part of any section of the people that are subjected to the devastating onslaught of German tyranny.
“There can be no agreement with a power of darkness which has violated the rights of various elements of its citizenship, outside of the Jewish group, selecting as its objects of hatred all liberals, all labor leaders, all heads of the various Christian churches and indeed all of the elements of the German population which endeavored to cling to human and enlightened standards of social life.
“With principles of civilization itself at stake there can be no compromise on the boycott issue and we have so stated in our cables to the London boycott committee. We have in these communications made plain what should be obvious without any statement: that Hitlerism means an attack on the whole of civilization and that the issues involved in our resistance to this attack are bound up with the humanitarian interests of all racial and religious groups, all labor and progressive elements and all those who stand for principles of freedom of conscience and the free expression of ideas and beliefs.
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.
