He advised Jews to pay no attention to efforts to provoke an anti-Semitic movement in America.
In straightforward fashion, Father Coughlin discussed the question, declaring both Jews and Catholics suffer from an inferiority complex. He especially condemned efforts to discredit the present United States government administration as a Jewish regime. He ridiculed the fears of Jews that their participation in Federal affairs may create anti-Semitism.
LAUDS MORGENTHAU
The Jews are a part of the government, and therefore {SPAN}m###{/SPAN} take part in it, Father Coughlin stated, adding that they have no apologies to make for doing their duty.
He denied there are too many Jews in the Washington administration. Speaking of Secretary of the Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr., he emphasized his admiration for the man.
“I know Mr. Morgenthau better than ninety-nine per cent of the Jewish people,” he said. “He is the finest and ablest man in Washington. I honor him for his sincerity and his honesty.”
The priest declared he can not understand why Jews should have suspected him of bias when he first began to attack the international bankers. Having named non-Jews as well as the Jews, he blamed the Jews for acting as Catholics do when they consider every Catholic a saint and interpreting every attack on an individual Catholic as an attack on all Catholics.
TWO POINTS OF CRITICISM
“I find two points on which to criticize the Jews,” Father Coughlin continued. “Firstly, they emphasize the Jewishness of a person in public life, instead of soft-pedalling it, and, secondly, they apologize too much instead of taking their position for granted.”
He also took occasion again to condemn attempts to establish an embargo against Germany or to boycott German goods. The Germans, he maintains, are not responsible for what is happening in Germany. It is Hitler and the man back of him, Goering, whom this Catholic leader blames. Therefore, he told the interviewer, to boycott all Germans is to harm those who are not responsible for Nazi outrages.
“Why,” he asked, “should Cardinal Faulhaber and his brave group, who are the most effective fighters against Hitler in the churches of Germany, suffer from the boycott?”
What other solution would he propose? Father Coughlin answered with conviction that the methods pursued by Catholic and Protestant ministers are the only effective means, and he insisted that Jews should do likewise, that the rabbis should rise up from their pulpits and demand justice, #nsisting upon their citizenship and #ondemning all efforts to rob them of their rights.
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.
