- Headline
-
Hitler Has Thrown A Boomerang
- Publication Date
- Saturday, April 1, 1933
- Historical Event
-
Nazis Boycott Jewish Businesses
This database includes 4,061 articles about this event - Article Type
- Location
- Page Section and Number
- 6
- Author/Byline
- Philadelphia Inquirer
- Article Text
- (From the Philadelphia Inquirer)
The utter stupidity of the Nazi crusade against the Jews is as conspicuous as its cruelty. In giving it official support the Chancellor asserts that "the Jews themselves must recognize that what he ca[sic] the war upon Germany"— in other words, the protests from abroad—will hit them "with all its rigor." The boycott of the Jewish professional and business classes is the Hitler retort to these protests. He is trying to make the rest of the world believe that the salvation of the German Jews from destruction depends upon its silence. But it is already clear that his policy will prove a boomerang.
In the first place, this unbridled persecution will have disastrous results in the Reich itself. The Jewish element in the German life is too important to be suppressed in this r thless[sic] fashion. Business men are even now alarmed at the injury it will do to trade, both domestic and foreign. An economic war of this kind will spread far beyond the boundaries Hitler fancies he has fixed for it. The sharp fall in stocks on the Berlin Exchange is one significant illustration. No doubt the success of the Nazis in the election was partly due to the discouragement which hard times always bring, creating a desire to try something else, however dubious. If this something else turns out to be disastrous, there will inevitably be a reaction in popular feeling.
The comments of the German press should give Hitler pause. The Deutsche Allegemeine Zeitung, which speaks especially for big business, points to the danger of hitting the innocent and the guilty without distinction. The Vossische Zeitung warns of the danger to the German economic situation. It points out that thousands of Germans would be thrown out of work if the great Jewish department stores were forced to close. Now whatever degree of censorship the Government may be able to exercise upon the press, it can hardly hope to silence all criticism. And public opinion will certainly be influenced by press comment.
Hitler might also consider the effect of his crusade upon German foreign trade. A boycott against German goods has already been organized in London. It may extend elsewhere, either openly or tacitly. The Nazis have entered upon a path the end of which they can not foresee. Yes, their leader has decidedly thrown a boomerang. - History Unfolded Contributor
- Steven B.
- Location of Research
- Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com)
Learn More about this Historical Event: Nazis Boycott Jewish Businesses
- The Boycott of Jewish Businesses (The Holocaust: A Learning Site for Students)
- Boycott of Jewish Businesses (Encyclopedia Article)
Bibliography
Friedländer, Saul. Nazi Germany and the Jews. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.
Schleunes, Karl A. The Twisted Road to Auschwitz: Nazi Policy Toward German Jews, 1933–1939. Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1970.
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