From The Archives: How Mayor La Guardia Laughed Off The Nazis
Circa 1935: New York City mayor Fiorello Henry La Guardia (1882 – 1947) sits in the studios of WHOM radio, delivering an address, in Italian, to the people of New York. Image by Hulton Archive / Stringer
The following article was published on the front page above the fold on July 31, 1935 — five days after the Bremen incident.
Berliners Send Protest Of Damaged Swastika Flag On The Bremen Ship To Governor Lehman
On July 30, the State Department received an official protest of the Nazi government in Berlin against the fact that the swastika, the Hitler flag, was torn down several days ago off the Bremen ship in New York’s harbor. When a riot broke out aboard, Berlin demanded that those who participated in the rioting be arrested and punished.
From the Forward, July 31, 1935: Berliner Protest Image by Historical Jewish Press (JPress) of the NLI & TAU
The Berlin protest was sent directly to New York’s governor, Herbert Lehman.
The State Department, meanwhile, refused to issue any statement on the Nazi protest.
From the Forward, July 31, 1935: Berliner Protest Image by Historical Jewish Press (JPress) of the NLI & TAU
New York City’s mayor, Fiorello La Guardia, who is currently in Washington, told journalists the following regarding the ship incident:
“Truly, what does Berlin intend? That we’ll be silenced? The guilty have already been arrested.”
La Guardia smiled and added:
“In New York there is order throughout, and the fact is, a policeman named ‘Solomon’ stood in front of the German flag and saved it from the rioters.”
With this protest the Nazi government says that German honor is strongly insulted and Germany demands “compensation.”
Translated by Chana Pollack.
Read Part III of the Saga:
The Forward is free to read, but it isn’t free to produce
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and polarized discourse.
This is a great time to support independent Jewish journalism you rely on. Make a Passover gift today!
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Make a Passover Gift Today!
Dive In
-
Culture In Pope Francis, a voice for interfaith dialogue and against antisemitism
-
Culture How an Israeli dance company shaped a Catholic school boy’s life
-
Culture How Abraham Lincoln in a kippah wound up making a $250,000 deal on ‘Shark Tank’
-
Books What is ‘Zionism without Zion?’ New history asks, but can’t answer
Most Popular
- 1
News Student protesters being deported are not ‘martyrs and heroes,’ says former antisemitism envoy
- 2
News Who is Alan Garber, the Jewish Harvard president who stood up to Trump over antisemitism?
- 3
Fast Forward Suspected arsonist intended to beat Gov. Josh Shapiro with a sledgehammer, investigators say
- 4
Opinion What Jewish university presidents say: Trump is exploiting campus antisemitism, not fighting it
In Case You Missed It
-
Fast Forward FSU shooting suspect used neo-Nazi imagery on social media, ADL finds
-
Fast Forward Pope Francis’ final speech called for ceasefire and hostage release in Gaza war
-
Opinion Shackled, imprisoned and subjected to false accusations, Kilmar Abrego Garcia recalls the fate of Captain Alfred Dreyfus
-
Opinion The dangerous Nazi legend behind Trump’s ruthless grab for power
-
Shop the Forward Store
100% of profits support our journalism
Republish This Story
Please read before republishing
We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines.
You must comply with the following:
- Credit the Forward
- Retain our pixel
- Preserve our canonical link in Google search
- Add a noindex tag in Google search
See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.
To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.