Mexican Jewry was still astonished today at the boldness of Golden Shirt delegates who yesterday called upon Bernard S. Deutsch visiting New York Aldermanic head, to rebuke him for a recent criticism of anti-Semitism in Mexico.
As yet no official action has been taken against the anti-Jewish faction.
A few hours before he left for New York, Mr. Deutsch received nine Golden Shirts at his hotel. Mr. Deutsch said that the visit by the organization, which has been actively conducting an anti-Semitic campaign throughout the country, took him by surprise.
“But I used the interview,” Mr. Deutsch later declared, “to give them a lesson in the proper use of their energies and in social economics.”
WOULD END THEIR ACTIVITIES
“If I were to be in Mexico three weeks longer, I would do my best to end the activities of your organization, as I am sure it does not have the support of the government, which is following a noble policy of respect for minorities,” Mr. Deutsch said he told the Golden Shirts.
Still ignorant of the real purpose of their visit, he declared: “If they came to see me in the capacity of New York’s vice-mayor, they were driving at something very far-fetched. If they came to see me as a member of a Jewish organization with the view of seeking to impede Jews from coming to Mexico, they sought something that is far a field from my business, but which rests more with the Mexican government.
TURN TO USEFUL WORK
“I am here purely as a visitor, but I was glad to talk to them, not as a Jew but as a practical business man. I told them that men their age could employ their energies in a more useful manner.”
Mr. Deutsch said he told the Golden Shirts they were wasting time and energy that could be more usefully employed and which their country not only could use, but which is actually needed for the building up of the Mexican nation.
The Golden Shirts recited complaints against the Jews, alleging that they are monopolizing industry, paying miserable wages, and that the number of Jews in Mexico has mounted to at least 125,000.
Mr. Deutsch replied that reports show Mexico’s industry is booming and that the country has a multitude of industries which it did not have before. He pointed out that Mexican employers do not pay higher wages than Jewish employers and that Golden Shirt statistics are inaccurate inasmuch as there are not more than 12,000 Jews in Mexico.
INSPECTORS “SELL OUT” WORKERS
The New York Aldermanic President asked the Golden Shirts if they had heard of the minimum wage law recently promulgated by President Abelardo Rodriguez.
To this the Golden Shirts replied that the law is not effective because the inspectors “sell out” the workers.
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.
