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16

DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE end The Legal Chronicle

The Anti-Semitic "Mother's Racket"

The close observer of thine
anti-Semitic in this country has
always been aware of the large
number of middle-aged women
that have been a part and parcel
of the Coughlinite Christian
Front Movement. Of late—with
Coughlin and the Christian Front
going underground—these groups
of women, organized as various
"mother" groups, have taken the
leadership in the fight to under-
mine democracy ; they have con-
sistently echoed the Nazi propa-
ganda line and they have been
anti-British, anti-Russian a n d
anti-Semitic.
Like most subversive groups,
they invariably use names that
include such words as "Amer-
ican," "patriotic" and "Chris-
tian." Such "mothers" groups
have sprung up in many Amer-
ican cities. Although in many
cases, they are autonomous, sep-
arate groups, they are neverthe-
less linked together by a common
program of action, and more
specifically by a continual •nter-
change of letters among the lead-
ers, and of literature and speak-
ers. All of these groups are
loyal supporters of Father
Coughlin, Gerald K. Smith and
the indicted seditionists now on
trial in Washington. And they
all make political capital of the
very natural anxiety felt by
every mother with children in
the service.
A very interesting survey of
this subversive group appears in
the July issue of the Women's
Home Companion, an article en-
titled, "The Mother Racket." It
names six of these un-American
"mothers" groups as the most
influential: The Mothers of
Sons Forum; We, the Mothers,
Mobilize for America, Inc.;
American Mothers; Loyal Amer-
ican Mothers; National Blue Star
Mothers of America (formerly
Crusading Mothers of Philadel-
phia), and Mothers and Daugh-
ters of Pennsylvania.
The Mothers of Sons Forum
was founded in Cincinnati in
1939 by Mrs. Josephine Mahler,
to keep America out of war. By
June, 1940, she had 65,000
names on petitions against en-
actment of the Selective Service
Act. The present leader is Mrs.
Lucinda Benge, rabidly isolation-
ist, more worried about the mo-
tives of our Allies and what she
calls the "Russian menace" than
enemy ideologies. Though not
specific, she claims a large num-
ber of active members, a large
number of inactive ones who
contribute funds which enable
Mrs. Benge to visit other leaders,
hire halls and print pamphlets.
We, the Mothers, Mobilize for
America, Inc., of Chicago, one
of the largest of these groups, is
led by Mrs. Lyrl C. Van Hyning,
who sees her followers as "rather
stupid" women who "will work
hard for me, and, that's what is
important." Among her favorite
projects are: "Women's Voice,"
an eight-page monthly publica-
tion for 20,000 subscribers; an
impeach-the-President movement;
and an attempt to get members
and friends of We, the Mothers,
elected as delegates to the Re-

publican Convention, to help
nominate what is called a "na-
tionalist" candidate for the Pres-
idency, who will be isolationist,
anti-British, anti-Russian. Typ-
ical example of this group's ac-
tivities is the letter that was
sent to parents of the American
boys who died when the destroy-
er, Reuben James, was sunk by
a submarine off Newfoundland
in 1941. The letter, addressed to
each parent, urged that "the real
murderers" of their boy, "the
men who violated the Constitu-
tion of the United States by
sending him into the war zone,"
be called to account.
American Mothers in Detroit
was formerly known as Mothers
of the U.S.A., led by Mrs. Rose
Farber. The new national chair-
man is Mrs. Beatrice Knowles,
whose home serves as an office
for the distribution of mimeo-
graphed hate leaflets, among
them the pamphlets of Gerald
L. K. Smith, to a mailing list
which, she claims, includes be-
tween 35,000 and 54,000 names.
Voluntary contributions pay for
this and the trips to Washington,
D. C., which Mrs. Knowles makes
every few months. Rationing,
price ceilings, draft of manpow-
er and the teaching of tolerance
in the schools are policies against
which Mrs. Knowles takes a firm
stand. She is a friend of Mrs.
Katherine Sutter, the motivating
spirit behind the 50 women in
Flint, Michigan, who compose the
Loyal American Mothers, which
follows the Coughlin-Smith line.
The National Blue Star Moth-
ers of America, in Philadelphia,
(not to be confused with the
Blue Star Mothers of America),
is led by Mrs. Catherine Brown;
the secretary is Mrs. Lillian
Parks. Anti-British, anti-Russian,
anti-Semitic, the members hold
small, restricted meetings which
rail against the President, the
United Nations, and rationing.
Both Mrs. Brown and Mrs. Parks
were seen with Gerald L. K.
Smith at his rallies in St. Louis
and Baltimore. They arranged
two speaking engagements in
Philadelphia for America First
Leaders. At his meetings, Smith
asks war mothers to write the
word, "mother," on the enve-
lopes containing their donations,
thus building up a mailing list
of potential National Blue Star
Mothers.
Mothers and Daughters of
Pennsylvania is a Philadelphia or-
ganization functioning mainly
through a news letter edited by
Irene Thorne Murphy, former
Coughlinite and secretary of
America First.
Mrs. Agnes Waters represents
many of the above groups before
congressional c o m m i t tees in
Washington. She has a campaign
under way to have herself elect-
ed President of the Unted States.
Her platform : "Let us demand
that this was be stopped at once.
Let's keep a clothes-line handy
in every little back yard to hang
the traitors, or a gun." She ad-
vocates getting "these traitors
out of office . . . (by) . . . shoot-
ing them out. This would be
easier than to fool with elec-

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tions."
There is no way of comPuting
the actual membership of these
racketeering groups, but they
have a sizeable number of sup-
porters throughout the country,
many perhaps unaware of their
true purpose.
Thousands of women, on the
other hand, are enrolled in the
bona fide "mothers" organiza-
tions, such as the Blue Star
Mothers of America, American
WAC Mothers, Navy Mothers,
Mothers of World War II, and
Mothers of Men in Service
(MOMS) of America. These
groups do excellent work, pro-
viding canteens, camp services
and programs of recreation for
the men in service hospitals.
They also man blood donor cen-
ters, help the Red Cross and the
USO, sell war bonds. These
mothers are aiding the war ef-
fort, doing all they can to bring
the war to a speedy, but vic-
torious end.
Patriotic wives, mothers and
sisters of veterans seeking to aid
the war effort should investigate
"mothers" groups before they
join them, lest they be exploited
by professional leaders in hatred
who grind their own political
axes and play the enemy's propo-
ganda game with the help of
the unwary. One sure and easy
way to investigate these groups
is to check with your local
J.W.V. post, or the Ladies' Aux-
iliary.

JWV

Continued from page 3

be found in the war records of
every country in the world, in-
cluding even those in which the
Jew for centuries was not per-
mitted to bear arms. In the
United States, the only nation
in the world that has never dis-
criminated against Jews in the
armed forces, there is an organ-
ized symbol to refute the monu-
mental lie that the Jew doesn't
fight for his country. That sym-
bol is the Jewish War Veterans
of the United States which in the
48 years since it was created
has held fast to the ideals of the
founders.
With sonic 500,000 Jewish men
now in service, the Jewish War
Veterans of the U.S. enters into
a new and even more vital phase
of its life. Along with the Amer-
ican Legion, the Veterans of For-
eign Wars and other veteran or-
ganizations it supported the
"G.I. Bill of Rights," the re-
cently enacted legislation that
provides postwar rights for the
ten million Americans now in
service.
Besides its regular membership
in over 300 posts throughout the
country, the Jewish War Veter-
ans now has a service member-
ship classification of over 70,000
men now in service. Already,
three new posts composed en-
tirely of veterans of the second
World War have been formed
and others are in process of or-
ganization.
With sonic of its membership
—including the past National
Commanders, Lt. Col. William
Berman and Lt. Corn. Abraham
Kraditor—once again in service,
the rest of the membership of
the J.W.V. is playing its part
on the home front--selling war
bonds (for which the organiza-
tion and the Lodies Auxiliary
has been commended by the
Treasury Department), giving
blood to the Red Cross, holding
various Civilian Defense posts,
and cooperating with the Jewish
Welfare Board and USO in serv-
ing the recreation needs of the
men in service.
Planning for the postwar, the
J.W.V. has entered into two co-
operative ventures of great im-
portance. It has joined with the
Jewish Welfare Board in the
joint sponsorship of a program
of relief and rehabilitation for
the returned veterans. And it
has joined harids with the four
other leading national - Jewish
civic protective agencies — the
American Jewish Committee, the
American Jewish Congress, the
Anti-Defamation League of Bnai
Brith and the Jewish Labor Com-
mittee—in the National Com-
munity Relations Advisory Coun-
cil, a central unifying agency in
the field of civic protection. The
J.W.V. is, of course, also an ac-
tive member of the American
Jewish Conference.

BUY WAR BONDS

July 28, 1944

Jewish Committee Joins with Conference in
Sponsoring Meeting for Hungarian Jewry

The American Jewish Commit-
tee will join with the American
Jewish Conference and other
Jewish groups in the sponsorship
of 21 "unity mass meeting" in
behalf of the Hungarian Jews to
be held in New York, within the
next week or 10 days, it was
announced yesterday by Dr. John
Slawson, executive vice presi-
dent of the American Jewish
Committee.
"The urgency of the plight of
the Hungarian Jews and the
pressing need for unified action
in their behalf," said Dr. Slaw-
son, "maims it imperative that
all Jewish organizations should
collaborate in this great mass
demonstration a n d coordinate
their activities in behalf of the
Hungarian Jews who are being
threatened with complete anni-
hilation by the Nazi Government.
"We hope," continued Dr.
Slawson, "that this step in col-
laboration in behalf of the Hun-
garian Jews will be a forerunner
of a unified program by Jewish
organizations joined together on
the In
humanitarian
grounds. The work of the indi-
vidual Jewish organizations, val-
uable as it has been, must now
be reinforced by joint effort.

Announcement Made

The Committee also made a
public announcement of its re-
cent efforts in behalf of the
Hungarian Jews:
1. Three (lays after the Ger-
man occupation of Hungary on
March 20, the Committee asked
Secretary of State Hull to initi-
ate steps for a joint statement
by the governments of Great
Britain, Russia and the United
States to reaffirm earlier pledges
of full punishment for all those
guilty of initiating or participat-
ing in inhuman treatment of
civilians.
The following day,
President Roosevelt issued such
a warning.
2. On March 24, Lord Halifax,
British Ambassador to the Unit-
ed States, was asked to convey-
the same request to his govern-
ment. Following acknowledgment
from Lord Halifax that he for-
warded the request to Anthony
Eden, British Foreign Minister,
Mr. Eden, speaking before the
House of Commons, on March 30,
associated the British Govern-
ment with President Roosevelt's
earlier warning.
•
3. On June 1, representatives
of the Committee had an audi-
ence with Andrei A. Gromyko,
Soviet Ambassador to the Unit-
ed States, at which time he was
requested to transmit to Mar-
shall Stalin the hope, that with
the Soviet troops nearing Hun-
gary's border, he would warn
the Hungarian people of the
certain retribution that would
follow harm done to the Jews
of Hungary.

Taylor, special United states rep.
resentative to the Vatican, it
was arranged that Nits Taylor
would use his good offices with
the Pope in behalf of the Jews
of Hungary. The Pope shortly
thereafter addressed a person al
appeal to Admiral Horthy, R t, .
g
ent of Hungary, asking him to
do everything in his p ower to
aid all those persecuted on ac.
count of either race or religio n,
5. During this entire pe riod .
the Committee worked closely
with officials of the War Refu-
gee Board making available valu•
able background information and
arranging several conferences be.
tween the officers of the War
Refugee Board and individuals
wh o could be helpful in focusing
public opinion in behalf of the
Hungarian Jews. The Commit-
tee cooperated with former Gov-
ernor Alfred E. Smith, who se-
cured 74 prominent signatures
from outstanding American non.
Jews to a statement condemning
the Hungarian Government and
asking the United Nations to re-
peat their warning to the Nazis
and their satellites against par-
ticipating in crimes against the
Jews.
With Judge Proskauer out of
New York, the American Jewish
Committee, said Dr. Slawson will
be represented on the planning
and program committee of the
mass meeting by David Sher, a
member of its administrative
committee.

"I YEAS CONSTIPATED
FOR MANY YEARS!

Now I'm 'Regular' Every,

Morning!"

Constipated? Then here's an un-
solicited letter you'll want to read:

"I'd been troubled with er, aa na con sti.
pation for many years. Wa• taking lam.
fives and pills all the time, and feeling
very weak and run down. 3 months ago, I
began eating KELLOGG'S ALL-BRAN
daily. Now, I have a regular, natural
movement every morning, which helps me
feel my beat!" Mr. Samuel P. Blank 292
Kings Highway, Brooklyn. New York.

What is this seeming magic of
KELLOGG'S ALL-BRAN? Scien-
tists say it's because KELLOGG'S
ALL BRAN can really "get at"

-

a common cause of constipa-

tion — namely, lack of sufficient
"cellulosic" elements in the diet.
KELLOGG'S ALL-BRAN is one
of Nature's most effective sources
of these elements, which help the

Pope Addresses Horthy

friendly colonic flora fluff up
and prepare the colonic wastes
for easy, natural elimination.
KELLOGG'S ALL-BRAN is not
a purgative! Doesn't work by
"sweeping out." It's a gentle-act-
ing, "regulating" food!
If you have constipation of this
type, eat KELLOGG'S ALL-
BRAN or several ALL-BRAN
muffins regularly. Drink plenty of

4. Following a conference be-
tween Judge Joseph M. Pros-
kauer, president of the American
Jewish Committee, and Myron

reliP!: Insist on genuine ALL-
A) RAN, made only by Kellogg's in
Battle Creek.

water. See if you don't find lasting

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Remember the
Destruction
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o

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A Call to the Synagogues to Mobilize for the l e a ich
National Fund on Tisha b'Ab

This is the time for all synagogues to arrange for speakers
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