A warning that three known hatemongers are among the five officers of the newly-established “America First of Massachussets” was issued to the state convention of the Massachusetts Federation of Labor.
Julius Bernstein, executive secretary of the Labor Committee to Combat Intolerance, told the convention: “This group was launched in such a manner as to indicate it to be merely a super-patriotic organization with an isolationist program. Actually it is a sample of the new deceptive tactics of the hatemongers. It is an example of the subtle methods now used by the hatemongers to win support and allies in previously inaccessible areas.”
Mr. Bernstein charged that three of the five announced members of the group’s executive committee “are well-known supporters and distributors of the vicious materials produced by the hate-your-neighbor organizations.” This material, he said, included the anti-Semitic literature of Gerald L. K. Smith, Joe Kamp and Merwin K. Hart.
“Their new super-nationalist group.” Mr. Bernstein warned, “is merely a cover to reach new people for their hate propaganda by exploiting current issues of the day.”
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