Preoccupation of South African parties with the political issues of the war, especially the neutrality question, has left less time for anti-Semitic agitation, it is pointed out in the monthly report of the South African Board of Deputies.
The attempt to drag the Jews into the neutrality controversy is cited in the report, as well as Dr. D.F. Malan’s anti-Jewish references at the Bloemfontein Congress of the Nationalist Party and the resolution of the Transvaal Congress reaffirming the exclusion of Jews from membership in the party.
Discussing reported negotiations for a reunion of followers of General Hertzog, former Prime Minister, and of Dr. Malan, the report makes appreciative reference to General Hertzog’s staunch upholding of the principle of national unity and of the equality of all European citizens of this country.
“It is difficult to believe,” the report comments, “that General Hertzog and his principal supporters should now depart from those principles and adopt any sort of anti-Semitic program. The occasion of the reunion of the Nationalist Party provided an opportunity — if the leaders had foresight and statesmanship — to remove a blot upon South African politics.
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.
