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Coughlin Organ Distorts Rabbi Silver Statement on War

November 1, 1939
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Distortion of a statement by Rabbi Abba Hillel Silver in Charles E. Coughlin’s Social Justice Magazine was revealed here today.

Social Justice, in its issue dated Oct. 30. quoted Rabbi Silver as saying in a Sermon at the Cleveland Temple: “If there is to be such a (peace) conference it should be stipulated in advance that …. the rights of the Jewish minorities shall be given first consideration,” and then stated: “In other words, Rabbi Silver believes that, unless the Jewish question can be solved, the war must go on — even though this might mean the slaughter of thousands and millions of Christians.”

What Rabbi Silver actually said, as quoted by the Cleveland Plain-Dealer of Oct. 9, was: “If there is to be a conference it should be stipulated in advance that the just claims of free and independent Czecho-Slovakia, Austria and Poland and the rights of the Jewish minorities must be given first consideration. There will never be peace in Europe until these rights are firmly established.”

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