West Germany urged to stop neo-nazism

They came to speak with one voice
—the voice of anti-fascism —

By PHYLLIS CLARKE

W: CAME early and watch-
ed the large hall at the
x coum slowly fill up.
yore irl Sitting behind
aes me cern Over the attend-
: - If everyone says leave it
, J&s, what is it going to
she asked her friends.
| Shae ore and more con-
on Orontonians came and
ise fl a Seats until the hall
bone c €¢ with over 6,000 peo-
aia! atl the Meeting started
“Brin ead the signs, which réad,
| listine all nazi War criminals to
bore + Stop the new nazis
wes It is too late,” “There
nazismn a hew Germany with
man in th it.” They watched a
centrati € garb of a Hitler con-
ing - on camp inmate, carry-
Wito ae which read, ‘“‘Ausch-
child Million men, women and
ae murdered,” :
the e ae, had been called by
of Co ro Toronto Committee
neern with Neo-nazism in
- Originally the spon-
expected to precede
Adotpy a een a

aS Well,

oie.
sentatie® Platform were repre-
: a of various church
labor ae hic organizations and
ae They represented
Da. S section of the
; fie and the audience,
not ae largely Jewish, was
ned to this one group.

he F
bchiae MA ae to listen. But they
Speak ay to speak, and to
ANtitac,- Ue VOice, the voice of
Tascism, :
he

thre peeters Were from the
thee aus Political parties in
ins «se Of Commons. start-
eee B. Hales M.P.
Nservative) Outh—Progressive

Hal id ‘
Wh = Said that no Canadian
the 19 Perienced the evenis of
S and 1940's, when Eu-
ee world were en-
Of © monstrous twin
as : =
Walch ie and nazism, can
S revival with anything

ut
~ horror, He added that. he
Canadians

Woy, Sure young

ie cual determined to
hee a thing as nazism
eae - permitted again.
Of narig 188est factor in the rise
_ Said Hales, “was the

: aria Public. By the
00 late.” Nem seriously it

He

Country erred to those in this

) Poo} a who ignore or pooh-

? there Weg pettre, saying that

eros pee Nothing more dan-

P We ot Canada.

an ie be ready, he said_
that thig any action to be sure

again Pestilance will never
Worlg» loosed upon the
ole Ba} \

He spoke of the nazis in prac-
tice as being pain, blood, cruel-
ty, prejudice, the law of the
jungle. With nazis, “terror, bru-
tality and human debasement
become the order of the day.”

“I believe,’ he added, “that
Canadians must here and now
make it crystal clear that they
will “not tolerate the wicked
concepts in the nazi philosophy.
We must stand here and now
and be heard. We owe it to the
dead, to those survivors living
today and to generations of free
and peace-loving people to
come.”

He concluded by saying this
is the “duty which is ours to
uphold.” :

David Lewis, (South York,
NDP) followed. He spoke of
the tragedy that only 20 years
after the defeat of Hitler such
a meeting had to be called, urg-
ing that the mistakes that were
committed in the thirties riot be

repeated.
The mistakes, according to
Lewis, are: first, to regard

nazism as just another political
philosophy. “It is a moral crime
of indescribable dimensions. “Ft
is.-a political distortion . that
seeks ways and means of de-
stroying people.”

Second, was the mistake of
applying to nazism the concept
of freedom of speech. “They
use the liberties we provide in
order to increase their force to
destroy them.”

The third mistake, Lewis
said, was that decent, ordinary
men and women could not con-
ceive the barbarism that nazism
represented. He reminded the
audience that Hitler came to
power not only because of his
own eloquence, but because of
the vast financial support of the
big corporations, because the

democrats were so busy fight-
ing each other and not the main
danger,. and because of power
politics in relations between
states. :

Pointing out his general sup-
port for the public media of in-
formation being free of govern-
ment control, Lewis slashed: the
interview of the previous week
with Von Thadden as incom-
petent and despicable.

“Sunday gave Von Thadden a
chance to say he loves his chil-
dren and his dog. What mur-
derer does not?” he asked rhe-
torically. “They were giving
misinformation. They gave a
totally false picture of the man.
It was a shameful and incom-
petent performance.”

Lewis ended by reminding
the audience that the question
of resurgence of nazism was not
of concern to Jews only. “It is
the concern of the people and
the state of Poland, of Czecho-
slovakia, of the Soviet Union,
of Belgium, of France, of the
world, as we stand uneasily on
the brink of world destruction

-as a result of the nuclear threat.

Nothing could trigger it more

' quickly than the emergence of

nazis.” ‘
- He appealed to Canadians
everywhere, to all the world

not to forgive or forget, but to
make sure that Hitlerism will
not rise again. :

The final speaker was the
minister of immigration in the
Liberal cabinet, Jean Marchand.

His speech fell into two sec-
tions. The first was a pained,
and painful, explanation of gov-
ernment policy, wihch ignores
the fact that nazism is not and
should not be regarded as a
legitimate political trend. The
position, according to  Mar-
chand, is to allow people of all

The CBC’s interview with Adolph
Von Thadden (above), leader of
the neo-nazi, National Democra-
tic Party, touched off mounting
protests which included over
3,000 out in Toronto at the CBC
on Jan. 22 and the large public
rally called by the newly-formed
Metropolitan Toronto Committee
of Concern with Neo-nazism in
Germany, Jan. 29.

persuasions, nazi, Communist,
etc. to be allowed to enter Can-
ada for speaking engagements.
Of course, he added, the laws
of sedition and libel will be en-
forced. The audience gave this
part of his speech a cool re-
ception. :

Marchand put the blame for
the Von Thadden question com-
pletely on the CBC, which he
suggested does not always act
responsibly or in good taste, but
“one cannot legislate good
taste.”

Then the second Marchand
came forward in a demagogic
peroration expressing his abhor-

rence of nazism, denouncing the
National Democratic Party of
Germany as neo-nazi, and con-
gratulating the audience for its
alertness and concern.

“We have to denounce and
expose the nazis, alert the whole
Canadian population, the whole
world,”. he said. “Democracy re-
lies more on people themselves
than on the government.”

Following the ‘speakers a
Statement of Concern was read
which had already received the
support of Mayor William Den-
nison of Toronto, Mayor True
Davidson of the Borough of
East York, Mayor Jack Mould
of the Borough of York, church
leaders, professors, ethnic group
leaders, trade unionists like
David Archer, the president of
Ontario Federation of ~ Labor,
the Canadian Legion and others.

The statement is to be pre-

. sented to the consul-general of

the Federal Republic of Ger-
many in Toronto to be sent on
to his government, and to the
Hon. Paul Martin, Canadian
minister of external affairs.

It calls on the government in
Germany-toslaunch a wide edu-
cational program in the schools,
through mass: communication
media and in all organizations
against the resurgence of na-
zism. It asks that the govern-
ment of Canada join in this
message of concern.

It states that the lessons of
the past compel vigilance and
asks, in the name of humanity,
of democracy and peace, that
this be done now.

The thousands of concerned
rose and shouted “yes” to the
question of their support of this
statement, remaining standing
to sing “O Canada” to close a
magnificent demonstration of
anti-nazis in Toronto.

DEFENSE SECRETARY McNAMAR

oO

A IN A FAMILIAR POSE

A PENTAGON CONFERENCE

February 10, 1967—PACIFIC TRIBUNE—Page 3