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Passion Play’s Presentation by Jewish Produc-
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Morris Gest. Ignoring Protest of American Jewish Committee
President, Says He Prefers Audience and Critics to Pass
Judgment; Heartlessness Which Will Never Be
Forgotten. Louis Marshall Wires Producer
Coca-Cola Bottling Co.
560 Edgewood Ave., N. E.
■h—c^yWnrtir hTLr^.^. --y • —- . » • • 1 - ■ -" J
New York (J. T. A.).—The presen
tation of the Freiburg Passion Play,
scheduled to be opened at the Hippo
drome in New Vork, according to an
announcement by Morris Gest, was
viewed as an act of “astounding heart-
lessness’ on the part of an American
Jew, leading to the stirring of anti-
Jewish prejudice.
An exchange of letters and tele
grams between Louis Marshall, presi
dent of the American Jewish Commit
tee and Morris Gest, well known pro
ducer, made public through the Jew
ish Telegraphic Agency yesterday
brought to light a spirited controversy
on the subject.
Immediately upon the announce
ment by Mr. r?0 st of his intention to
stage, with the assistance of David
Belasco, the Freiburg Passion Play
at the Hippodrome, Mr. Marshall
wrote to the producer protesting
against the project, both from the
point of view of “millions of good
Christians who believe that the pre
sentation of such a play is a vulgari
zation of what they regard as sacred”
and from the point of view of Ameri
can Jews who believe that such pre
sentation would “furnish material to
our ignorant defamers and add fuel to
the tlame of prejudice and bigotry.”
Mr. Gest, who ignored Mr. Mar
shall's letter as well as a subsequent
one when no reply was received, de
fied the President of the American
Jewish Committee by declaring in a
telegram under date of April IT, that
he prefers the first night audience
and the critics to pass judgment.
It was this attitude which Mr. Mar
shall termed “an astounding heart-
lessness which will never he forgot
ten.” The President of the American
Jewish Committee, recalling the agi
tation over the production of Cecil
de Mille’s “King of Kings” and the
ensuing wave of anti-Jewish prejudice,
argued that Morris Gest as an Amer
ican Jew should abstain from staging
the Passion Play.
Following two letters dated April
2 and April 12, Mr. Marshall wired
to Mr. best on April 17 insisting upon
a reply. Mr. Gest’s telegraphic reply
read: "1 have refrained from answer
ing you so far because I prefer to
have the opening night audience and
the critics of the leading newspapers
who represent the fairminded public
of New York pass judgment upon the
religious pageant. Personally I do not
find it offensive. Did I feel so I would
not sponsor its presentation.”
Mr. Marshall replied on April 18th
by telegram:
I regret to say that your telegram
is most unsatisfactory. When the wel
fare and peace of mind of an entire
people are involved it is presumptuous
for you to ignore the experience of
the past and to disregard the harm
which but recently followed the pre
sentation of a moving picture play
portraying the same subject as that
which you are now seeking to exploit
and which will occasion great mental
agony and deep humiliation to thou
sands of estimable men and women.
Your purpose to permit those who
may share your indifference to the
feelings of your fellowmen to pass
judgment upon your action after the
seeds of mischief have been sown
without giving the slightest consid
eration to the opinions and sentiments
of those directly affected evinces an
astounding heartlessness on your part
which will never be forgotten.”
Mr. Marshall’s letter to Mr. Gest on
April 2nd, read:
“From the rotogravure section of
Sunday’s Times I observe that you
intend to present the Freiburg Pas
sion Play at the Century Theatre in
the latter part of this month.
“I hope that this is not true, be
cause I am confident that if this play
is enacted, it will, as plays of this
kind always do, result in a recrudes
cence of anti-Semitism. That has been
the story of ‘Oberammergau,’ of the
recent moving picture ‘The King of
Kings,’ and in respect to the passion
plays of medieval times. The average
theatregoer is emotional, does not
possess an accurate historic back
ground, nor is he capable of differen
tiating between fact and fancy.
“The Jewish people, as you should
know, have suffered for centuries
from the reaction occasioned by plays
of this character and by the story on
which they are founded. I remember
as a school boy in my native city of
Syracuse the treatment that I re
ceived from my schoolmates at this
season of the year, although ordi
narily our relations were of the
friendliest, solely because of the im
pression made upon their minds from
hearing the story’ read at the opening
exercises of the school.
“Moreover, there are millions of
good Christians who believe that the
presentation of such a play is a ' u ^'
garization of what they T regard a?
sacred. Why should >’ou give offence
to this religious sentiment? «ri>
should you, a Jew, contribute to the
dissemination of ill-will and hatreo
against your own people? Why shou<
you furnish material to our ignorant
defamer and add fuel to the flame
of prejudice and bigotry? I had an op
portunity to see a private vie^ 0
the picture ‘The King of Kings, an
was informed of the comments ma e
after the performance by those *
viewed the production at the variou-
motion picture theatres. I can ' e ^
well understand from what I sa^ ' v •
it was that the immediate effect *
to inspire hatred and detestation ♦
the Jews of this day, of whom >
are one, on the part of those unt
ing people who were carried a " a -
their anger. i.- Vi are
“There are some subjects wmc
not for the stage and nobody s
know’ better than you that, '' ®
this play is regarded as blasphe
or mischievous, it should ne'er