“We have no comments to make,” Jewish leaders here replied today when asked by foreign correspondents to express their opinion on the new conscription law proclaimed yesterday, which bars Jews from the German army.
Keen disappointment is being voiced in Jewish circles because Adolf Hitler failed to refer to the Jewish question in his address before the Reichstag yesterday. Jewish leaders were certain that the Reichschancellor would take this occasion to announce the status of the Jews in Germany as far as their citizenship is concerned, especially since Minister of Interior Frick recently indicated that a new law defining the citizenship rights of the Jews was in preparation.
HELD AS ‘ENEMIES OF STATE’
The new conscription law which bars Jews from military service places the Jewish population in the same category as “enemies of the State, criminals and persons who do not possess German citizenship.”
While excluding them from the army, however, the new law provides that the Minister of War can draft ews in time of war “for any purpose he sees fit.”
The conscription law also prohibits German reserve soldiers from marrying Jewish women. Those violating this prohibition will never be promoted above the ranks of a private.
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.
