Jewish Leaders in Britain Meet with Government on Fascist Incitement

A delegation of the Board of Deputies of British Jews, headed by its president, Sir Barnett Janner, and including Chief Rabbi Israel Brodie, met today with Home Secretary Henry Brooke to discuss “the meetings and activities of neo-fascist groups in this country, and the working of the Public Order Act.”

The members of the delegation expressed their anxiety about the disorders which occurred at recent meetings of fascist groups, and urged that steps be taken either under the present law, or by means of amending legislation, to prohibit the holding in the future of meetings of a racist, provocative character. The Home Secretary thanked the deputation for putting their case before him, and agreed to consider what they had said.

Chief Rabbi Brodie, meanwhile, circularized today all synagogues in Britain, urging that special memorial prayers be recited during services Saturday morning “as a stern protest” against the recent wave of anti-Semitic meetings held here by various groups. The Chief Rabbi’s message declared:

“The evil which we all thought was completely discredited if not exorcised has raised its ugly head again. And in England, of all places. Nazi slogans and Nazi propaganda breathing rabid anti-Semitism and racial prejudice have been uttered from the platform of Trafalgar Square in the heart of the Capital.

“Most sections of the nation condemned these blasphemous and unpatriotic manifestations, and have rightly demanded that the authorities take the strongest steps to prevent any resurgence of that ideology which was responsible for the terrible catastrophe which cost so many millions of human lives.

“It is our solemn duty,” the Chief Rabbi declared, “to remember those who were the victims of the Nazis, not only in tribute to their martyrdom, but as a stern protest against permitting the revival of an evil which wrought such overwhelming destruction upon humanity.”