Sir Oswald Mosley, British fascist leader, addressed a gathering of students and teachers today at the State University of New York here under heavy police guard. A few students picketed in front of the hall in which he spoke but there were no demonstrations or disturbances during Mosley’s address. University officials praised the decorum of the audience which packed the hall to hear the speaker.
On his arrival here this morning, Mosley was met by students carrying placards reading “No Nazis Here,” and “Keep Our City Clean.” At the airport, Mosley told reporters that “I have never been and am not an anti-Semite. I’ve never attacked any man’s race, birth or religion.” Then he added: “Jewish interests were trying to get us into a war with Germany, not in a British but a Jewish quarrel.” He said among the ‘remarkable things” Hitler accomplished was that “he solved the unemployment problem.”
Asked why Jews regarded him as another Hitler, he replied that this was because Jews were “very excitable and very hysterical. I don’t blame them because of the trouble they have experienced.” If he ever came to power, he said, “Jews would in no way be affected if they obey the laws. There would be no discrimination against Jews.”
Mosley was the first of a series of speakers on a program organized by the Students Association to provide students presentations of all shades of political opinion. Student Association officials defended their choice of Mosley with the assertion it was “very difficult” to find a fascist who could give a “dispassionate” analysis of that ideology. They added that the invitation did not constitute an endorsement of Mosley’s views.
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.
