32
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS — Friday, July 8, 1960 —
Rockwell Issue Nears Showdown; Sanity
Charge Made; Hearing Set for July 27
(Continued from Page 1)
"No American who remembers
the horror of Nazi bestiality
can react to Rockwell's words
with anything but complete and
utter repugnance."
The court hearing on Wednes-
day • was continued to July 27
for Rockwell and his followers.
Five other defendants were ex-
cused until Sept. 7.
Rockwell was obviously very
much disturbed by the prosecu-
tion theory that he was of
unsound mind. He had previous-
ly wanted to defend himself and
had not applied for legal aid
by the Civil Liberties Union.
The court appointed attorney
0. B. Parker to defend him.
Rockwell implied that he
would want to be observed by
his own alienist and therefore
requested continuance. T h e
judge granted three weeks and
Prosecutor Clark asked that
Rockwell place a bond of $1,000
for his reappearance. His de-
fense council argued that there
was no reason to doubt his re-
appearance in court, but the
judge ruled that a bond for
$300 would have to be posted.
Rockwell had great difficulty
in settling the issue, since the
bond companies did not con-
sider him trustworthy.
The Nazi group appeared in
court in civilian clothes, but
all of them wore the swastika
as a badge. Some of them were
still bruised and bandaged from
the beatings they took Sunday.
The United States Govern-
ment forbade Rockwell to hold
any more rallies on the Mall—
an area that attracted many
thousands of tourists here to
celebrate Independence Day.
The order was issued by Elmo
Bennett, administrative assist-
ant to Secretary of the Interior
Fred A. Seaton. It followed a
bloody melee on the Mall Sun-
day, when Rockwell and 12 of
his cohorts were arrested, some
were beaten, while five anti-
Nazi hecklers were also taken
into police custody. All those
arrested, including Rockwell,
were released on moderate bail
for hearings Wednesday on
charges of disorderly conduct.
Bennett told the Jewish Tel-
egraphic Agency that the order
against using the Mall for
speeches without a permit is
directed against anyone at
tempting to hold a meeting
there. Asked whether Rockwell
would be granted such a per-
mit, if he applied, Bennett stat-
ed flatly that permission would
be denied to Rockwell because
the type of preachments he ut-
ters in public are always likely
to incite to riot.
Promptly at his accustomed
hour of 2 p.m., Monday, Rock-
well and a dozen of his follow-
ers in uniform, featuring swas-
tika armbands, showed up at
his usual rallying point on the
Mall. He started by announcing
that he would exercise his "con-
stitutional right of free speech."
A police officer then served
him with the order froth the
Department of the Interior
which has jurisdiction over this
area—a square flanked by the
historic Archives Building.
Rockwell was told that he
could use one of two other loca-
tions in this city to exercise
"free speech." He chose the
nearest site, Judiciary Square,
a relatively isolated area seven
blocks away from the Mall.
By the t i m e Rockwell
r ea c h e d Judiciary Square
with his group now number-
- ing 20 men, including some
in civilian dress, about 25 anti-
Nazis had gathered there.
Polic e, outnumbering the
combined number of Nazis.
and anti - Nazis, interposed
themselves between the two
sides. Rockwell, mounting a
red-painted tin bucket, start-
ed to speak. His platform,
banners and other public-rally
paraphernalia had been de-
stroyed in Sunday's fighting.
As Rockwell started shouting
"Ladies and Gentlemen — and
Jews," the anti-Nazis began hiss-
ing, booing, and yelling anti-
Nazi slogans. He tried for an
hour and a half to speak, but
never uttered more than two
or three words without being
outshouted by the anti-Nazis.
The police allowed the latter to
reply to every one of Rock-
well's attempted insults and
jibes. Finally, Rockwell gave
up. He and his group departed.
Unlike Sunday, there had been
no fighting.
A number of brownshirted
Nazis were severely beaten at
Rockwell's rally Sunday. Rock-
well himself hid under the
speakers platform at the first
sign of violence, but his "Dep-
uty Commander," Kenneth J.
V. Morgan, was injured. Police
were compelled to set up riot
control conditions and to sepa-
rate the estimated 50 persons
who were exchanging blows.
Rockwell's Nazis evidently
got the worst of the fight, and
some required medical atten-
tion. The Chief of the Wash-
ington Park Police and the
Chief Prosecutor for the Dis-
trict of Columbia were present.
A number of Israeli tourists in
Washington and local Jews be-
came involved in the brawl.
Witnesses described the brawl
as reminiscent of the street
fighting in Berlin, in the early
1930s, between anti-Nazis and
the adherents of Hitler.
Before the fighting started,
two Jews were arrested for
heckling Rockwell. One "storm-
trooper" was arrested by Armed
Forces police for purposes of
an identification check on his
duty status. He was released,
having established that he has
been discharged from the serv-
ice.
In the course of the fighting,
the Nazi banner was trampled.
An SS pennant, with skull and
crossbones insignia of the SS
troops of Hitler Germany, was
ripped from its standard.
The Jew-baiting reached such
a point that veteran police offi-
cers said it was "absurd to con-
sider such hateful threats and
abuse" of the public to be legiti-
mate "free speech." There was
also resentment on the part of
police to Nazi attempts to arro-
gate to themselves police power
in a para-military formation
guarding Rockwell and restrict-
ing the public in part of the
park.
The police, however, sought
to behave objectively against
all infractions considered
breaches of the peace.
District of Columbia avothor-
ities last week also dumped
the theory that Nazi George
Lincoln Rockwell had full
constitutional rights to abuse
Jews at public meetings but
that the victims had no free
speech rights to reply.
Chester Gray, Chief Corpora-
tion Counsel for the District of
Columbia, ordered disinissal of
charges against Larry Selinker,
22-year-old Brandeis University
graduate who had been arrested
for "loud talking" during one
of Rockwell's anti - Semitic ha-
rangues in a public park. Gray
ruled that Selinker was "just
exercising h i s constitutional
right to free speech."
Maurice Friedman, attorney
for Selinger, said he hoped the
ruling would help to "clarify
the confusion over freedom of
speech which has enabled Rock-
well's Nazi gang to exploit and
abuse the First Amendment in
a manner never intended by the
founding fathers. Asserting that
it was "deplorable" that charges
had been brought against his
client, the attorney said that the
charges indicated "a double
Around the
A Digest of World Jewish Happenings, from
Dispatches of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency and Other
standard in which First Amend- News-Gathering Media.
ment free .speech rights were
freely accorded to Rockivell but
denied any client who was sub-
ject to arrest."
Jewish organizations in the
nation's capital expressed ap-
preciation Tuesday of the de-
cision by the Department of
Interior to end Rockwell's
speechmaking o n Washing-
ton's strategically located
Mall, by declaring the area
off limits for public assem-
blies. However, some Jewish
organizations considered this
far from being an adequate
solution of the problem pre-
sented by the activities of the
self-styled Nazi commander.
Isaac Franck, executive direc-
tor of the Jewish Community
Council of Greater Washington,
stated Tuesday that the decision
of the Interior Department was
"sound and judicious." He said
the Community Council had dis-
cussed this matter with officials
of the department on several
occasions and had made avail-
able documentation which help-
ed arriving at this decision.
ADL, although considering
the new location as the lesser
of two evils, takes the position
that it presents no solution.
Hermann Edelberg, director of
ADL's Washington office, said
Rockwell was guilty of inciting
riots and should be punished.
"If it is a crime to incite riots
on the Mall, it is a crime to do
so in Judiciary Park," he stated.
The ADL feels that Rockwell
has raised a serious question
about his mental stability. "It
is inconceivable that an Ameri-
can can raise the banner of the
Nazi party and wave the swas-
tika, the cruelest symbol of
murder and evil the modern
world has known, and still pre-
tend to be sane."
A somewhat similar position
was taken by the Jewish War
Veterans, their spokesman said
Tuesday. The JWV was grati-
fied by the order of the Depart-
ment of Interior, which com-
pelled Rockwell to shift his ral-
lies from a location frequented
by a great number of tourists,
to one practically deserted on
Sundays and holidays. Never-
theleSs, the JWV feels Rockwell
should not be permitted to
speak publicly at all, since this
is an abuse of the First Amend-
ment. The organization will con-
tinue to act in this spirit, its
spokesman said.
A number of Jews involved
in Sunday's riots, when the an-
gry crowd charged the Nazis
and inflicted physical punish-
ment on them, received anony-
mous phone calls Monday
threatening their lives. Their
names and addresses were pub-
lished in the local papers in
connection with their being
charged with disorderly con-
duct.
Jewish Veterans Hold
Rally in Union Square
NEW YORK, (JTA) — More
than 1,000 New Yorkers Mon-
day attended an Independence
Day celebration here in Union
Square—the area denied for a
proposed rally by George Rock-
well, leader of the American
Nazi Party. The celebration had
been organized by the Jewish
War Veterans of the United
States.
New York State Assembly-
man Irwin Brownstein, one of
the men responsible for obtain-
ing an order from Mayor 'Robert
F. Wagner, forbidding the Rock-
well meeting in Union Square,
was among the speakers. All of
the speakers condemned all
forms of totalitarianism, and
assailed Rockwell's Nazi senti-
ments.
Police were out in strength
to prevent any attacks that
might have been made by local
adherents of Rockwell. How-
ever, the patriotic celebration
was unmarred.
Europe
ROME — Luigi Medici, Minister of Public Education, ruled
that candidates for admission to, or for degrees from, public
institutions who are of the Jewish or Seventh Day Adventists
faiths would no longer be required to take oral examinations
on the Sabbath . . Complaints were filed with the Italian
Foreign Ministry against the practice of Arab consular officials
here in crossing out in passports of Italian nationals applying
for visit to Arab countries passport validations for Israel.
FRANKFURT Dr. Erich Schmidt-Leichner, German
criminal lawyer, denied reports that he would undertake the
defense of Adolf Eichmann before an Israel court in Jerusalem.
HAMBURG — The 6,620-ton motor freighter, "Alon," built
under the reparations agreement for Zim-Israel Lines, was
launched here at the H. C. Stuelcken Sohn shipyards . . . The
Research Center for the History of National Socialism will be
reopened and resume its activities after a four-year lapse, having
closed in 1956 "due to a shortage of qualified staff."
LONDON — Two 10-year-old French boys, Jacques Picard
and Isaac Isacovitch, won the annual International Bible Quiz
for Children held here, Switzerland taking second place . . .
The Czechoslovak government has granted a special subsidy
to the Prague Jewish community for restoration of the old
Jewish cemetery, the . Czechoslovak News Agency reported. It
said the former Regina Palace Hotel at Marienbad in northern
Bohemia will be converted into a home for aged Jews.
BONN — Chancellor Konrad Adenauer strongly endorsed
a proposal of the American Jewish Committee that leading West
German educators be invited to the United States to exchange
views with American educators in the teaching of civic respon-
sibility in West German schools when he received Jacob Blau-
stein, honorary president of the American Jewish Committee.
KARLSRUHE, Germany.—Dr. Kurt Knittel, administrator of
the Karlsruhe public school system, was suspended from office
by the State Ministry of Education of this Province of Baden-
Wurttemberg, have been publicly accused of having headed the
classes for instruction of the SS Nazi guards at the Auschwitz
Concentration Camp during the war.
VIENNA — A Polish court at Przemysl has sentenced to
death Jan Szpontak, former leader of the Ukrainian national
movement, for participating in the mass killings of Jews in the
area of Rzeszow, Poland, in 1944 and 1945.
AMSTERDAM—Trade between The Netherlands and Israel
in 1959 reached a total of 96,700,000 guilders (about $26,000,-
000)—almost double the 1958 total. Israel's exports to The
Netherlands amounted to $7,000,000. Dutch exports to Israel
totaled $19,000,000.
United States
CHICAGO—More than 60 Israeli firms are represented here
at the Israel exhibit of the International Trade Fair.
WASHINGTON — Israel development programs were de-
scribed to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee by Israel
Foreign Minister Golda Meir, who was guest at a luncheon
tendered by Chairman J. W. Fulbright, Arkansas Democrat,
who said later that a "friendly, informal atmosphere prevailed,"
and that Arab-Israel relations were covered in broad context.
NEW YORK—Thirty American college and university
students sailed from New York aboard the S. S. Zion, to pursue
a one-year study program at the Hebrew University of Jeru-
salem.
ATLANTIC CITY—Augustine A. Repetto, Atlantic City
Prosecutor, reported that two teen-agers who admitted defacing
homes of Jewish residents in Absecon were members of an
organization calling itself the Junior Ku Klux Klan.
BRIDGEPORT, Conn.—Sixty-day jail sentences were imposed
on two men convicted of vandalism in smearing swastikas on
the Beth Israel Synagogue in Norwalk on Feb. 1. Superior Court
Judge Joseph W. Bogdanski passed the sentences on Harold L.
Fahy, 23, of Norwalk and William Arnold, 22, of Greenwich.
They had faced maximum terms of 20 years imprisonment and
$5,000 fines.
Israel
JERUSALEM—Seventeen basalt stones, hewn near Tiberias
and polished to a glossy black, have been placed over the tomb
of Theodor Herzl in Jerusalem to form a composite tombstone
which will be officially unveiled July 15 during observance
of the centenary of Herzl's birth . . . The Kenyon archaeological
expedition in the Jordan-held Old City of Jerusalem will carry out
excavations in the razed Jewish quarter and not in the Wailing
Wall area . . . Rationing of water will be implemented soon in
Israel's southern half because the nation's water supply is
approaching a "disastrously" low level on account of last winter's
inadequate rainfall, the Israel Water Authority announced . . .
Communications Minister Yitzhak Ben-Aharon told the Israel
Parliament a special allocation of 33,000,000 pounds ($18,300,-
000) would be used to develop Israel's transport system, includ-
ing_ reconstruction of Lydda International Airport to adapt it to
handle jetliners, and he estimated the cost of this job at nearly
$10,000,000, the work to be completed early in 1961 • . . The
Knesset passed a 1,690,000,000 pound ($940,000,000) budget for
1960-61, retroactive to April 1, the start of Israel's fiscal year
.. The Jerusalem Municipal Council accepted a gift of $70,000
from Mrs. Harry Sacher of London to establish a park in the
new government offices area . . . Panama's Minister of Agri-
culture Amilcar Tribaldos, on a visit here, has asked Israel
to send an irrigation expert to Panama to advise his ministry
• • • The Rockefeller Foundation has made an additional $30,000
grant to Tel Hashomer Hospital for its research on blood
solvents as a factor in hereditary illnesses . . . The National
Insurance Fund will spend about 75,000,000 pounds ($41,667•,000)
this year in benefits to insured persons, mostly in old age and
survivors' benefits . . . Nearly a half-million Israel schoolchil-
dren downed pencils and books to start their summer vacation
on June 30.
Latin America
MEXICO CITY—A new building to house the Mexican-
Israel Cultural Institute was officially opened here, the Minister
of Education, Jaime Torres Bodet, Senator Moreno Sanchez,
Israel Ambassador Mordechai Schneerson, senior government
officials and Jewish community leaders, attending the ceremonies.