Historically Yours- La Guardia, The Jews And Hitler
In 1922, Republican New York Congressman Fiorello La Guardia ran for
reelection and was opposed by a Tammany-backed Jewish candidate.
Sensing the opportunity to drive a wedge between La Guardia and his
Jewish supporters, the opposition circulated a flier in the Jewish
tenements calling La Guardia “a pronounced Jew hater.”
La Guardia fought back in a most unusual manner. He imposed one condition,
namely, that the entire debate be spoken exclusively in Yiddish.
Completely stunned, his opponent could not accept the proposal.
La Guardia, nicknamed the Little Flower (he was 5’2”) won reelection. La
Guardia was born in 1882 in Greenwich Village to his parents of
different religions. His Catholic father was Achille Luigi Carlo La
Guardia and his observant Jewish mother was Irene Lazzato Coen. To
maintain their heritage within the home, Achille spoke Italian to
Fiorello while Irene spoke to him in Yiddish. La Guardia became fluent
in both languages. Fiorello had earned a great reputation as a young
attorney among the Lower East Side’s immigrant Jewish garment workers
by representing many of them in court without charge. He also became
an early advocate for Jewish rights.
In 1934, as the newly elected Mayor of New York City, La Guardia
became an early, staunch foe of Adolph Hitler and the Nazi regime,
calling Hitler a “perverted maniac.” La Guardia warned in 1934 that
Hitler’s program is the “complete annihilation of the Jews in
Germany.” The German government called La Guardia a “Dirty Talmud
Jew.” On March 6, 1937, Secretary of State Cordell Hull complained to
President Roosevelt, saying that the New York Mayor’s conduct was
hurting German-American relations and Hull also apologized to the
German Embassy. Roosevelt not only refused to silence La Guardia, but
he privately agreed with him.
In 1937, a scandal erupted involving the sale of bootleg
contraceptives to students at several New York high schools. The
German press blamed the “Jew La Guardia” for this immorality. La
Guardia fired back that the only city official competent to deal with
the German press allegation was the Deputy Sanitation Commissioner in
charge of sewage disposal. In 1938, at a rally at Madison Square
Garden of 20,000 Jewish supporters against Hitler and his Fascist
anti-Semitic government, La Guardia called Hitler and his Nazi regime
a great threat to world peace in the face of indifference to human
rights violations abroad and growing isolation at home. He urged the
world to face up to the Nazis and confront Hitler. Unfortunately, the
world was not yet ready to listen to the Little Flower. One of the
most beloved and colorful American politicians, La Guardia is fondly
remembered reading the comic strip over the radio to New York/New
Jersey children (including myself as a child) during the citywide
newspaper strike.
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