Many prominent Jews today sent messages of condolence on the death of Jean Cardinal Verdier, expressing gratitude for the attitude he had taken against Nazi persecution. Cardinal Verdier, who died yesterday at the age of 76, was a vigorous opponent of Nazi racial theories. On Nov. 20, 1959, he bitterly denounced anti-Semitic persecution in Germany and called Nazi racial theories “a defiance of sane observation of facts, of true science and of the spiritual traditions of the universe.” On May 8, 1959, he told a Jewish delegation: “We will always be with you because we believe in the triumph of the rights of the individual, in family and social relations, and appeasement of international relations.”
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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.