Declaring he had documentary evidence that the various organizations in the United States with anti-Semitic leanings, disunited until recently, had joined hands, the Rev. Edward L. Israel, rabbi of Har Sinai Temple, warned his congregation that a “juggernaut” of Fascism is moving inexorably into America.
He criticized those who did not take seriously the recent “expose” of Fascism in America in which Maj-Gen. Smedley D. Butler figured, and scored the press which, he claimed, had treated the Butler testimony flippantly.
Aided by the Nazi party in Germany, the rabbi asserted, a definite Fascist organization is being built up. He read a letter, the source of which he did not reveal, which contained the gist of the charges made by General Butler and which, he said, was written a month before the former Marine officer took the stand.
Back of the movement, the rabbi continued, was “obviously a wealthy reactionary group trying to retard economic recovery in America through the establishment of a dictatorship.”
A Season of Big Decisions. From the Knesset campaign to American midterms, Jewish communities are weighing what comes next. Help JTA keep delivering the deeper context.
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.
