Israelis are protesting vigorously against the nomination of Wolfgang Wick, of Austria, for the office of world president of the International Rotary Clubs. They say that Wick, who will stand for election at the Rotary convention in New Orleans shortly, has a Nazi record.
According to MK Hillel Zeidel, of the Independent Liberal Party, Wick became an active member of the Nazi Party in 1933, wrote a book on the Nazi movement in Switzerland and served as Commissar for Nazi industry in Austria during World War II. Zeidel has urged Israeli Rotarians to protest his nomination and to threaten to quit the world-wide fraternity of businessmen if Wick is elected.
Lucien Harris, Governor of the Israeli Rotary Club, has already cabled Rotary International headquarters in Evanston, III, that Wick’s Nazi past disqualifies him from office, Zeidel has also asked the Weizmann institute of Science to withdraw an invitation sent to Wick to attend the dedication of the new French House at the Institute in Rehovoth. The invitation apparently was sent before the information on Wick’s alleged Nazi activities was disclosed here.
Israelis are not the only ones protesting. Dutch Rotarians have reportedly threatened to break away from the international organization if Wick is elected and Belgian and Swiss Rotarians are said to be actively opposed to his nomination.
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.
