News Brief

A mounting wave of indignation swept through the United States over the weekend at the recent pogroms in Germany, being reflected in the nation’s press and on the radio, by Christian and Jewish religious and lay organizations, and by individuals of national prominence.

Among prominent individuals issuing statements, under auspices of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America, were Herbert Hoover, Sinclair Lewis, Bishop Manning and William Green.

Following is a brief summary of the general reaction to the German developments:

Press: Newspapers in every part of the country published editorials condemning the savagery of the anti-Jewish excesses. New York newspapers, which had printed strong editorials on the day following the pogroms, devoted considerable space to excerpts from editorials in the provincial press. The N.Y. World Telegram, in its Saturday issue, published two cartoons on the subject, one by Rollin Kirby on the editorial page, which depicts a Teutonic monster labeled “The ‘Nordic’ Nazi” crushing Jews underfoot and which is captioned “No Radio Monster, but the Real Thing”; the other on a news page, by Talburt, captioned “Crown of Thorns,” and depicting the world bleeding under a crown of thorns comprising swastika symbols.

Radio: District Attorney Thomas E. Dewey and former Governor Alfred E. Smith were featured speakers on a broadcast over station YMCA Friday night, which is to be rebroadcast Monday night from records. Mr. Dewey appealed to world opinion to halt “the savagery of barbarism” behind “the bloody pogrom,” while Mr. Smith declared the challenge raised by the German developments “was not merely a Jewish question, a Catholic question, a Protestant question, but one which goes to the very foundation on which we have erected America.” The broadcast, entitled “Has Germany Gone Mad” was sponsored by the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League

Organizations: Twelve Catholic Bishops, the three organized religious groups of American Jewry and 17 major Protestant denominations endorsed a call by the National Conference of Jews and Christians to special prayers for the victims of racial and religious prejudices “throughout the world” next Saturday and Sunday. The Board of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, in convention at Atlantic City, addressed a request to the United States Government to make official protest to Germany against the riots. The resolution containing the request protested “such incredibly inhuman and unjustifiable deeds.”

Washington: While no official comment was forthcoming from the Government, Senator William H. King of Utah issued a statement urging severance of diplomatic relations with Germany. Secretary of State Cordell Hull called German Ambassador Hans Dieckhoff to the State Department yesterday for a 15-minute conversation, during which they were reported to have discussed the new measures against german Jews.

Meanwhile, police guards were posted about the German consulates here and in Boston following bombing threats over the telephone. The New York consulate was picketed by 70 members of the American League for Peace and Democracy, who carried placards bearing such legends as “murder is not government,” “murders of Jews and Catholics must stop,” and “no trade with gangsters and murderers.”

COUNCIL SEES VIOLENCE DIRECTED AGAINST ALL HUMANITY

Representatives of the American Jewish Committee, the American Jewish Congress, the B’nai B’rith and the Jewish Labor Committee, meeting as the General Council yesterday to consider developments in Germany, issued the following joint statement:

“The world is aghast at the latest news which has come from Germany. In the hour of their oppression we offer our fellow Jews in Germany the assurance of our deepest sympathy and understanding. In the midst of our grief, we derive a measure of solace from the fact that the world has come to realize that this barbarism directed against the Jews is violence against the whole of humanity. This reaction of the entire world is a recognition that we are here confronted with an issue which goes the persecution and torture of a particular minority, and that today it is civilization itself which is under attack. All American–Protestants, Catholics and Jews alike–have reacted to these hideous accounts from abroad as to a national calamity.”

STATEMENTS BY HOOVER, OTHERS

Excerpts of statements by noted men, as gathered by the Federal Council of Churches, follow:

Herbert Hoover: “I am glad again to evidence my own indignation and to join in an expression of public protest at the treatment of the Jews in Germany. It is not the German people at large who are to be blamed for this action. The blame is squarely up to the political agencies in power. These individuals are taking Germany back four hundred and fifty years in civilizations to Torquemanda’s expulsion of the Jews from Spain. They are bringing to Germany not alone the condemnation of the public opinion of the world. Those men are building their own condemnation by mankind for centuries to come. They are destroying every effort of the friends of the German people who have sought to be of aid to them.

Sinclair Lewis, novelist: “Nothing that Germany has ever done has aroused such horror or opposition as her present treatment of Jews. We all hope there will be enough protests to make her realize this.”

Bishop William T. Manning: “Such action as that which is now taking place in Germany is an open defiance of God and a shame to humanity. It is an amazing and shocking thing that in this day in which we are living such crimes can be permitted. They violate every principle not only of religion but of common humanity and decency and will stand condemned by every reputable government and by the whole civilized world. Such barbarous and inhuman acts cannot long continue. Any government guilty of such acts will fall through its own wickedness.”

William Green, president, American Federation of Labor: “I cannot express the deep sense of horror I experienced over the treatment accorded Jewish people in Germany. It is shocking to one’s sense of justice. It seems inconceivable that in this period in the development of modern civilization the Jewish people should be subjected to such inhuman treatment as press reports indicate. In the name and in behalf of the millions of members of the American Federation of Labor I register my vigorous protest against the barbarous and brutal treatment accorded the Jewish people in Germany.”