Jewish War Veterans Charged with Exaggerating Reports on U.S. Nazis

An assertion by an agent for the Jewish War Veterans that there were 75 to 100 “hard core” Nazis living in Chicago was strongly contradicted today by the Anti-Defamation League midwest office and the Chicago Police Security section.

Herman Hornsby, the JWV informant, told a city-wide press conference that he had found a large active Nazi front under the name of “Fighting American Nationalists.” He said the group distributed most of its literature to students in Chicago high schools.

Police Sergeant Burton Lovely of the Security Section, calling Hornsby’s report “greatly exaggerated,” said that “no more than five or six Nazis are known in this area.” William Pinsley, ADL Midwest Director of Fact-Finding, estimated that six to ten Nazis were busy in the Chicago area. He also declared that Hornsby had “completely exaggerated” the situation.

Oscar Shabat, director of human relations for the Chicago Board of Education, reported that an investigation of the schools mentioned by Hornsby had failed to uncover any new evidence of Nazi infiltration. He said that several weeks ago, one boy at the Prosser high school aroused the wrath of fellow students by trying to distribute Nazi literature.

The ADL official criticized the Jewish War Veterans for making the Nazi group front page news. He said that while the group did exist, “they are operating on a shoe string and their members have considerable inability to promote anything approaching a serious mass movement.”

The Sentinel of Chicago, in an editorial by J.L. Fishbein, its editor, also denounced the Jewish War Veterans. “We defy the Jewish War Veterans to present their story before any competent committee of community leaders, including our law enforcement and Jewish defense agencies,” Mr. Fishbein wrote. He challenged the JWV to deny the truth of the charges by the ADL and the Chicago police that the JWV had exaggerated the significance of Nazi activities in the Chicago area.