Edward J. Smythe, notorious anti-Semitic and anti-Catholic propagandist who was tried for sedition during the second World War, died here yesterday at the age of 63.
Smythe, who was denounced in Congress in 1941 as a representative of the “worst forms of un-Americanism operating an anti-Catholic and anti-Jewish racket,” distributed large quantities of Nazi propaganda in this country and otherwise cooperated with the German American Bund and the Ku Klax Klan. His sedition trial ended without a decision when the presiding judge died and the government failed to press for a new trial. He was recently given a year’s suspended sentence for using the mails to defraud.
JTA has documented Jewish history in real-time for over a century. Keep our journalism strong by joining us in supporting independent, award-winning reporting.
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.