NAZI BRUTALITY

Wairarapa Times-Age, 27 September 1938, Page 6

NAZI BRUTALITY

PROTEST BY JEWISH RABBI IN AUCKLAND SATANIC FORCES THREATENING CIVILISATION (By Telegraph—Press Association.) AUCKLAND. September 26. A strong protest against what he described as the brutality and inhumanity of the Nazi philosophy was made by the Rev Alexander Astor when addressing a large gathering at the Synagogue. Mr Astor was speaking at a special service in celebration of the beginning of the new Jewish year 5699. “Many an expectation on which we had counted has turned out a bitter disappointment,” said Mr Astor. “It was not to be wondered at that, with the approach of a new year, our hearts were filled with anxiety. Retrospect upon the year that has now closed arouses many reflections which can hardly afford us a sense of cheerfulness or contentment.

“The world is pervaded with doubts and misgivings, with disquietude and despondency,” he added. “Never since the advent of Nazism in Germany has a year been so darkened by clouds that refuse to be lifted, and never has the panorama of a coming year promised less prospect of more favourable conditions.

“No one within whose soul there burns a spark of religion and humanity can contemplate without a feeling of horror the trend of events in the world today. Democracy, which it took centuries of hard struggle to win for the world, is again today battling for its existence. Clouds still hang low over Israel and occasional outbursts of sunshine in lands of freedom and justice serve only to intensify the gloom that exists in other countries; The bitter experiences through which we are passing have shattered our fondest dreams of a world united in love and brotherhood. » “The Satanic forces of Nazism are threatening the total collapse of civilisation,” he continued. “Its philosophy of brutal force and bloodshed denies God and all ethical teachings of religion. It recognises no right but that of the mailed fist. It knows not mercy cr compassion. It justifies oppression and it delights in the sufferings of its victims. Against this doctrine of brutality and inhumanity the Jewish people is a living protest. The spirit of Israel remains unshaken,” Mr Astor added. “We renew our imperishable faith in God and sound again the universal note in our liturgy proclaiming the dominion of God over all the world and praying for the ultimate victory of truth and justice.” Special prayers for peace in the present critical world situation were offered.