The new wave of anti-Jewish boycott activities in Germany, reported yesterday from Berlin, can be taken as an indication that the economic situation within Germany is growing more and more serious.
Whenever dissatisfaction is shown in various sections in Germany, anti-Jewish action is artificially stirred up for the purpose of diverting anger from the government toward the Jews. This old scheme is being used now, apparently upon signal from Dr. Goebbels.
Addressing fifteen thousand functionaries of the Nazi party last Friday, Goebbels again bitterly attacked the Jews. He stated that “it is world Jewry that separates Germany from the world.” The Nazi press, which is carefully watched by foreign correspondents in Berlin and also by leading diplomats abroad, was ordered to refrain from quoting this anti-Jewish outburst of Herr Goebbels. The fifteen thousand Nazi functionaries, however, left Berlin to spread Goebbels’s words throughout the country.
Given the lead by Goebbels, these fifteen thousand Nazi officials will now be the ones to “explain” to the dissatisfied Germans that “if not for the Jews, Germany would long ago have been recognized by the world.”
The renewed full-powered anti-Jewish boycott campaign in Germany coincides with the repeated instructions issued by Dr. Schacht, economic dictator of Germany, not to discriminate against Jews in commerce. In the fight between Dr. Goebbels and Dr. Schacht the Jews are the element exposed to unwished attention.
The attacks on Jewish stores, reported from numerous towns, make it clear there is no ground for optimism as to the future of the Jews in Germany even under Schacht. These attacks show that the Jews in Germany are still living on a volcano, the eruptions of which cannot be prognosticated.
The hopes entertained that the Jews will be let alone in commerce in Germany are somewhat shattered now by the new campaign against Jewish firms. This campaign recalls again the first days of the anti-Jewish boycott when Nazi pickets were stationed in front of each Jewish store, preventing non-Nazis from entering.
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.
