Jewish Labor Committee Urges Recall of Berlin Symphony Conductor

The Jewish Labor Committee, representing more than a half-million Jewish workers in the AFL and CIO, and the New York City CIO Council denounced today the appearance of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra in this country under the direction of Herbert von Karajan, a former member of the Nazi party.

The two labor groups called upon the West German Government to demonstrate its “announced fidelity to democracy by immediately recalling von Karajan and other members of the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra who have been affiliated with the Nazis.” The joint statement also called upon “those whose consciences revolt against attendance at a concert under the baton of such a man” to exercise “their principles by remaining away.”