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Players Guild Will Represent Any Person Affected by Acts of Anti-semitism

January 14, 1944
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Members of the National Lawyers Guild, in cooperation with the National Committee to Combat Anti-Semitism, have agreed to represent any person affected by any act of anti-Semitism throughout the United States. This was announced today in a joint statement issued by the National Committee to Combat Anti-Semitism, and the Guild.

The National Lawyers Guild, of which Robert W. Kenny, the Attorney General of California, is national president, is sending a notice to that effect to Guild chapters throughout the country, and the appropriate machinery is being set up. Invitations have also gone out to all other Bar Associations to similarly volunteer the Services of their membership.

The National Committee to Combat Anti-Semitism, which is “dedicated to the preposition that anti-Semitism in any of its forms is fascism, is repugnant to the ideals of our democracy, and must be eliminated to safeguard the American way of life,” is sponsored by several hundred prominent leaders in various fields. They include Harold Inkes, Governor Olin D. Johnston, Prof. Emmanuel Chapman of Fordham University, Thomas Mann, Congressman Emanuel Caller, Wm. J. Shieffelin and others.

BI-PARTISAN BILL PROHIBITING ANTI-SEMITIC WRITINGS INTRODUCED

A bill making it a misdemeanor to publish or cause to be published any false written or printed material promoting hatred of any group because of race, color, or creed, was introduced in the New York State Legislature under bi-partisan sponsorship. Sponsors of the bill are Arthur H. Wicks, Kingston Republican, who heads the Senate Finance Committee, and Irwin Steingut, Democratic minority leader in the Assembly.

In a joint statement, they said that the bill, patterned after a bill recently adopted in Massachusetts, was aimed “at the individuals and domestic organizations who receive their inspiration and instructions from enemy nations to stir up discord and distrust among our people.”

George Marshall, chairman of the National Federation for Constitutional Liberties, in a statement issued here today said: “Commissioner William B. Herlands in making his special report on anti-Semitic activities in the Greater New York area, has done both New York and the nation a valuable service.” The report is not only a careful and thorough job of collecting essential preliminary information; it places these increasingly alarming activities in their proper focus as a part of work inspired by anti-American individuals and organizations using Nazi propaganda and techniques of ‘divide and conquer.”

“On the basis of Herlands’ significant preliminary investigation, it is essential that further and even more thorough-going investigation be made of all organizations and individuals in the Greater New York area whose activities aid our country’s enemies,” commented Mr. Marshall. Those groups and persons found guilty should be prosecuted to the full extent of the municipal ordinances and the State and federal statute.

MASS-MEETING AGAINST INTOLERANCE WILL BE HELD TOMORROW

Speakers of every religious faith and representatives of labor and government will address the “Keep Anti-Semitism Out of New York” rally to be held on Saturday, at Carnegie Hall under the auspices of the Council Against Intolerance in America. Dr. Henry Smith Leiper of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ in America will be chairman. The speakers will include Rabbi Stephen S. Wise, Bishop Francis J. McConnell, and Newbold Marris, president of the Council of the City of New York.

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