General U.S. Grant, 3rd, who had indicated a change of mind on anti-Jewish material he had distributed, today refused to make public a promised report on the matter.
The issue arose several months ago, when Gen. Grant, commander of the Military Order of the Loyal Legion, descendants of Civil War veterans, issued the defamatory material in the organization’s publication. After much discussion of the issue, Gen. Grant on Sept. 7 promised the Jewish War Veterans he would report on the “probable” falsity of the anti-Jewish article at an Oct. 8 convention of the Loyal Legion.
Asked for a copy of the report, Gen. Grant stated that it was “an internal matter for our own organization only, and not available to the press.” He would say only that he read into the record his letter to the JWV stating that the controversial material was “probably false.”
The Anti-Defamation League of B’nai B’rith has charged that, since Gen. Grant endorsed and distributed the article, “Abraham Lincoln and the Rothschilds,” it has been exploited by professional anti-Semites. Gen. Grant’s important position as chairman of the U.S. Civil War Centennial Commission has been cited as lending authority to the anti-Jewish attacks.
An issue was raised as to whether Gen. Grant made an adequate repudiation. Herman Edelsberg, Washington ADL director, has stated that “the sad fact is that a notorious anti-Semitic canard, which until recently was circulated anonymously in the gutter, is now being circulated by professional anti-Semites on the authority of Gen. Grant.”
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.
