A significant number of militant Ku Klux Klan activists have broken away from the main bodies and, joined by known Nazis, are planning more drastic action than the standard Klan cross burnings and rallies. That is one of the findings of a six month long investigation by the American Jewish Committee into current Klan activities. Also reported were:
Dissatisfaction with “moderate” Klan leadership, leading, in one instance, to a suspected attempt to bomb The Temple, Nashville’s largest Reform Congregation, as well as to a plot to bomb a transmission tower belonging to a TV station supposedly Jewish-owned. Several Nashville Jewish businessmen were threatened with violence.
Increasing joint ventures with Nazi groups, one of which led to a charge that six Klansmen and Nazis had murdered five Communist Party workers.
The emergence of women in Ku Klux Klan activities. Initially, their presence was detected when a 50-year-old woman was taken into custody in Nashville and another was discovered in a prominent role among Alabama terrorists.
Intensification of Klan efforts in West Germany.
NOT AN ISOLATED PHENOMENON
The breaking off of militant activists from established Klan groups does not appear to be an isolated phenomenon, according to the AJCommittee Trends Analyses unit. In Catonsville, Maryland, Klansmen, unhappy with lack of militancy in the local Klan unit, formed their own group, the leadership of which was taken into custody and charged with intent to bomb the residence of the local NAACP official.
Reports from informed sources, the AJCommittee asserts, indicate that a similar situation is developing in Alabama, where Klansmen contemplate forming an independent group also committed to violence.
Recently, according to the AJCommittee, law enforcement officials in West Germany have expressed concern over the sharp increase in Invisible Empire Knights of Ku Klux Klan activity in Germany, where the Klan is attempting to recruit resident German neo-Nazis to their ranks in areas surrounding U.S. military bases.
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.
