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THE SOUTHERN ISRAELITE
Eace Hat
Friday, October 21, 19M
The Southern Israelite
rmbUehed weekly by Southern Newspaper Enterprises, IN Court
U*4 St, N E„ Atlanta X, Georgia, TR. 6 X249, TR. 8 X246 Second
clnaa putaft paid at Atlanta, Ga. Yearly subecrlptlon five dollars.
The Southern Israelite tnvitea literary contributions and correspond
once but is not to bo considered as sharing the views expressed by
writers. DEADLINE is 5 PJL, FRIDAY, but material received earlier
will have a much better chance of publication.
Adolph Rosenberg, Editor and Publisher
Gustav Oppenheimer, Sylvia Kletzky,
Kathleen Nease, Jennie Loeh
JOURNALISTIC AFFILIATIONS
AMERICAN JEWISH PRESS ASSN
JEWISH TELEGRAPHIC AGENCY
SEVEN ARTS FEATURES
GEORGIA PRESS ASSOCIATION
WHAT THE PRESS IS SAYING
A Digest of Contemporary Opinion
Foul Stream of Bias
Election time is always seized upon by hate propagandists as
an occasion to advance their evil ends—but this year ha£ seen an
outpouring of organized bias and bigotry unequalled since the days
of Hitler’s Bund. Catholics, Jews and other minority groups are
accused of being in a plot “steal” the Presidency. Chain letters
call on their recipients in the name of the Ku Klux Klan to form
"vigilante” groupSj and those hard perennials of hatred, the anti-
Semitic "protocols of the Elders of Zion” and its equally spurious
counterpart, the anti-Catholic “Oath of the Knights of Columbus,”
have turned up at meetings held in dingy rooms all over the coun
try . . . Both of these evil documents are forgeries. One was used
by Hitler and his minions in the “American” Nazi Bund, and the
other was widely distributed by the Ku Klux Klan 40 years ago in
order to induce people to buy cheap bed sheets and pillow cases
made over into expensive Klan robes. Both documents are forgeries,
and have been so denounced, repeatedly, by courts and Congres
sional investigating committees, but bigots and hate mongers have
never worried much about circulating lies . . .
DR. JAMES H. SHELDON, American Examiner
Christians and Jews
This book was originally published in 1950 under the title.
“The Foot of Pride.” ... A re-reading of the book confirms one
in the opinion that it is probably the best one-volume study of
anti-Semitism that has yet appeared in the English language. It is
superably written, it is fully documented, and it is enormously per
suasive. That the author is a devout Catholic himself only adds to
the effectiveness of his argument. Not only does the book deserve
the careful reading of every Jew, but also that of every American
who is interested in coming to grips with the problems of racism,
anti-religious prejudice, and the church-state relationship . . . Per
haps the three greatest anti-Semites of all times were former Jews:
St Paul, St John, and “a monk, a converted Jew, named Theobald,”
who “concocted . the murdeous lie” of the Jewish use of the blood
of Gentile children for ritualistic purpose. Mr. Hay calls this lie
“the most powerful instrument of hate propaganda that has ever
been invented . . .”
CHARLES ANGOFF, Reviewing “Europe and the Jews.”
(By Malcolm Hay, Beacon Press, Boston) in the Jewish
Exponent.
Why “Old” Testament?
. . Recently I wrote to Mr. Claude Montefiore that the title
of his recent book “The' Old Testament and After” is very unfort
unate. From its inception the term “Old Testament” had the im
plication of a testament decayed, abrogated and displaced. Paul
originated this doctrine, but Judaism denies the Christian dogma of
the abrogation of the Torah and it refuses to acknowledge another
Testament as the successor to its revelation. To Judaism the Torah
is the “only” one. It is ever new, ever fresh, ever relevant. The
term “Old Testament” is distinctly Christological and its use is a
tacit admission of the Christian claim that the Hebrew Bible has
been supplanted by the Gospels. I have long ago made it a prac
tice to refer to the Hebrew Scriptures as “The Bible” and to the
Christian writings as “The Gospels.” (Note: Thomas Paine, in his
"Age of Reason,” made a similar distinction. - Editor).
RABBI JOSEPH UTSCHEN, The Jewish Spectator
TOPIC OF THE DAY
—W UP—
By DAVID BENARONE
Honoring Noble Denmark
New York City and other leading American communities pro
claimed the week of October 14 to October 20 “Denmark Week” in
honor of the current visit here of the King and Queen of that noble
nation, King Frederik IX and Queen Ingrid.
The Jews of America should have a special reason to be in the
forefront of this celebration and it is good to know that the Ameri
can Jewish Committee did not forget that on April 9, 1940—when
Denmark was occupied by the Nazis, the brother of the present
King, Christian X of blessed memory, saved the 9,000 Danish Jews
by defying Hitler. On his birthday, September 27, 1942, Christian
X publicly declared that should the Jews of his country be com
pelled to wear the yellow star of David, he, the royal family and
the royal household would immediately wear it all the time.
As a symbol of appreciation to Denmark, the American Jewish
Committee presented the King and Queen with a beautiful silver
Menorab engraved with these words:
“With everlasting thanksgiving to the Throne and People of
Denmark for saving with heroic determination the entire Jewish
community of their country.”
Anti-Catholic Upheavals in the US
By HARRY SIMONHOFF
Columnist, Jewish Flordian, Miami
Minority groups are watching
the Presidential election with
deep interest. To them John F
Kennedy is a symbolic figure
They experience a sense of ela
tion at the prospect of a member
of a minority religion reaching
out for the Presidency. But they
also suffer from a certain frus
tration on hearing about the
bigotry and hate unleashed
against a candidate on account of
the religion he professes.
Each minority is inclined to
think that it alone has encounter
ed the tyranny of the majority
Few Jews realize that when the
Federal Constitution was draft
ed, Catholics were permitted to
vote only in Maryland, Delaware,
and Pennsylvania. Compared
with the treatment meted out to
Catholics at’various times in the
United States, the Jewish mi
nority, by no means secure from
harassment, has almost enjoyed
a picnic.
PERSECUTION and BIGOTRY:
The colonists brought over from
England their hatred of “Pop
ery,” a vulgarism commonly used
in the 17th and 18th centuries.
The laws of few Colonies per
mitted the settlement of Catho
lics. These restrictions and disa
bilities recall the treatment of
Jews in Europe for 1,000 years.
English Catholics were arrested
and fined for not attending Pro
testant services, for keeping arms
in their homes, for educating
their children abroad, for using
schoolmasters of their own faith,
for making converts, for bury
ing the dead in their own church
yards To ease these burdens
Ixird Baltimore founded Mary
land a? a Catholic refuge. The
liberal charier permitted the en
trance of other Christian deno
minations. which soon became
strong enough to abolish for a
::me the .voting franchise of
"Papists "
The founding fathers, includ
ing George Washington, were in
clined to give no sanction to
bigotry. The Constitution guar
anteed every one freedom to
worship in his own fashion. Yet
hatred of Catholicism continued
to flourish. Resentment against
Irish immigrants was especially
vicious. In 1834, the Ursuline
Convent of Charlestown, Massa
chusetts, was burned by a mob,
with the authorities and police
looking on. No one was convicted
except a boy, who the Governor
immediately pardoned.
VIOLENCE and BLOODSHED
In Philadelphia, native Protest
ants made furious attacks upon
Irish neighborhoods. The Mili
tary and Marines were called out
to protect life and property. Riots
lasting for days resulted in
bloodshed and loss of life to both
sides. Fire consumed 54 homes;
JEWISH CALENDAR
•HANUKAH
Wed., Dec. 14
(First Day)
Wed., Dec. 21
(Last Day)
•PURIM
Thurs., March 2
•PASSOVER
Sat., April 1
Irish stores were rifled Catholic
churches and school houses, a
seminary, library, and priest’s
dwelling were all burned to the
ground. Cannons had to be posted
in the streets, and soldiers order
ed to fire on mobsters before
order could be restored Murder
and anarchy, pillage and arson
broke out in New York, Balti
more, Brooklyn, Buffalo, Louis
ville, Kentucky, Sidney, Ohio,
Bath and Bangor Maine. “For
48 hours,” a St Louis newspaper
reported, “The City has been the
scene of one of the most appall
ing riots that has ever taken
place in the country Men have
been butchered like cattle, prop
erty destroyed, and anarchy re
igned supreme. The military
and police have thus far been
unable to check the onward
march of lawlessness and crime ”
MARIA MONK and SAMUEL F.
B. MORSE: The public was now
in a receptive mood for a series
of trashy books, calculated to in
flame anti-Catholic passions. The
vilest screed among them was:
Awful Disclosures of Maria
Monk, as Exhibited in a Narra
tive of Her Sufferings, During a
Residence of Five Years as a
Novice, and During Two Years
as a Black Nun, in the Hotel
Deau Nunnery at Montreal. Peo
ple swallowed greedily the sala
cious details of orgies in con
vents. with priests participating,
of young nuns disappearing in
mysterious subterranean pass
ages, their babies destroyed in
quicklime. At the invitation of
the Bishop, representative Pro
testants of New York went to
investigate the Montreal Con
vent and interview 21 year old
Maria Monk, already on the road
to infamy and prostitution. But
the public paid little attention to
their objective report which
branded the infamous book a
pack of lies. Aroused emotions
seldom listen to the voice of rea
son.
The upper level of intolerant
Protestant nativists received in
tellectual stimulus from the in
ventor of the telegraph. Samuel
F. B. Morse, open minded to
scientific investigations but a
bigot in religious and social
thinking, wrote a book that re
ported every libel and slander
leveled against the Church of
Rome since the Reformation. The
prestige of the great inventor
gave authority and credence to
his Foreign Conspiracy Against
the Liberties of the^ United
States. The situation was now
ripe for politicians to exploit
public gullibility. Religious pre
judice galvanized political action.
KNOW NOTHING PARTY: Out
of the moribund Whig Party, the
Grand Council of the United
States of North America arose. A
secret organization, it had the
ritual, grips, password and oath
always dear to American Yo-
kelry. Members invariably an
swered all questions “I don’t
know ” Branded Know Nothings,
th£y battened on the puerile need
of belonging to a secret band.
They stirred up the dormant
instincts of native bigotry against
"Romanism”; they would have
had the gates of America closed
to large scale immigration; they
sought to impose a 21 year wait
for citizenship; they preached the
dogma of hate toward the alien
Coming out openly as the Ameri
can Party, they mushroomed
rapidly and elected governors
and congressmen. In 1855, New
York, Massachusetts, Ohio and
Connecticut legislated some
spiteful anti-Catholic measures
Backing Millard Filmore for the
presidency, they piled up 814.534
votes and lost.
There is no telling into what
depths fanaticism and intolerance
would have plunged the nation
had the temper of the times not
veered towards abolishing sla
very and preserving the Union
Know Nothingism was checked
and soon drowned in the titanic
blood bath of Civil War. The two
subsequent anti-Catholic move
ments of A.P.A. and K.K.K
never attained the hysteria or
momentum of “Know Nothing-
ism.” Had the warped, narrow
heads prevailed, the American
Union would have congealed into
a provincial ochlocracy, with an
established church, closed to the
surge of vast immigration that
enabled the United States to be
come the leading world power
within a century.
(1st Day)
SaL, April 8
(Last Day)
•Holiday begins
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