Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Culture

From The Archives: Brodsky Calls Nazi Flag A Pirate Flag; Frees The Bremen Riot 5

The following article was published on the front page above the fold on September 7, 1935 — a little over a month after the July 26 Bremen incident.

Brodsky Calls Nazi Flag A Pirate Flag; Frees The Bremen Riot 5

Magistrate Louis Brodsky freed yesterday the five youth who were arrested for tearing down the Nazi flag on the Bremen ship. In so doing, the judge also released a written decision sharply attacking the bloody Hitler regime.

Judge Louis Brodsky Image by Historical Jewish Press (JPress) of the NLI & TAU

In his decision he compares the German ships to those of pirates, marauders, and the Nazi flag to a skull and crossbones of the pirate ships hanging with chutzpah from their masts.

The released are Arthur Blair, William Bailey, William Howe, Vincent McCormick and George Blackwell.

Edward Darlet, one of the eight arrestees in the “Bremen Riot,” was freed of charges of having torn down the Nazi flag. However, he was remanded before the grand jury on the charge of having a pair of brass knuckles on him. Three other arrested youths — Robert Rice, who says he is the son of acclaimed playwright Elmer Rice; Tony Albus, and John Wilson — were found guilty on the charges of disorderly conduct for rioting next to the pier. Brodsky gave them a suspended sentence, however, meaning they were released from any prison sentence.

The hearing took place sometime prior, in the West Side Court. Only yesterday had Brodsky presented his decision. The written decision was read in traffic court, where Brodsky is currently holding court sessions:

“I was called to duty to decide on these events — the tearing down of the Nazi flag from the mast of the Bremen ship. The accused as well as other American citizens consider the Nazi flag to be an emblem affronting godly American ideals, especially the right to live freely. The regime, represented by the swastika, supports a merciless war against religion, against freedoms. The regime steals the elemental rights from people solely on the grounds of their background and religious beliefs.

“The regime has oppressed and persecuted professions, stripped citizens of their right to education, to earn a living, and has drowned the culture in a swamp. It is an international danger. In short, it is an attempt to retreat mankind to prehistoric primitive days of old.”

Translated by Chana Pollack.

Read the previous III parts of the Bremen saga:

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you move on, I wanted to ask you to support the Forward’s award-winning journalism during our High Holiday Monthly Donor Drive.

If you’ve turned to the Forward in the past 12 months to better understand the world around you, we hope you will support us with a gift now. Your support has a direct impact, giving us the resources we need to report from Israel and around the U.S., across college campuses, and wherever there is news of importance to American Jews.

Make a monthly or one-time gift and support Jewish journalism throughout 5785. The first six months of your monthly gift will be matched for twice the investment in independent Jewish journalism. 

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.

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 credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link 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.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.