Anti-Semitism in the United States : $b Its history and causes — John Shaqi
Anti-Semitism in the United States : $b Its history and causesLevinger, Lee J. (Lee Joseph)
History
Anti-Semitism in the United States : $b Its history and causes
Levinger, Lee J. (Lee Joseph)
Antisemitism -- United States; Jews -- United States
As this tendency was not as public as the others, I give some proof
of its existence. It was discussed in Hearst’s International Magazine
in 1923 in a series of articles by the editor, Norman Hapgood; and in
the Bnai Brith Magazine of October and November, 1924, in two articles
by Jacob Spolansky, a former agent of the United States Department of
Justice, who was employed to hunt down radicals and if possible to find
Jews among them. As the most official statement, I quote Mr. Louis
Marshall, president of the American Jewish Committee, in his annual
report to that body, delivered November 13, 1921.[1]
The committee conducted an investigation with a view to discovering
the identity of those who instigated the attacks against the Jews
of America. It was found that they consisted of a group of Russian
emigrés who had wormed themselves into the confidence of some
Americans who, in turn, had succeeded in securing the assistance of
others whose co-operation was given either because they were gullible
and believed the fantastic inventions of men schooled in intrigue in
the Russian police system, or because they already cherished ill-will
against Jews and were ready to assist in any movement through which
they could satisfy real or fancied grudges.
In the report of the same body, October 19, 1919,[2] reference is made
to the hearing before the sub-committee of the Judiciary Committee of
the United States Senate in February 1919, when—
Dr. George Simons, who had been for a number of years in Russia,
testified regarding the alleged activities of Jews in the Bolshevist
movement in Russia and stated that the present conditions there are
due, in large part, to the activities of Yiddish agitators from the
East Side of New York City who went to Russia immediately following
the overthrow of the Czar. Dr. Simons stated further that the
Bolshevist movement in Russia was being supported financially and
morally by certain elements on the East Side of New York City.
There is, then, an anti-Semitic movement in America, and has been since
1919 or 1920. Its philosophy of racialism, exclusiveness and “hundred
per cent.” Americanism, is derived largely from the Voelkische
parties of Germany and other nations of Europe, which lay great stress
on Aryan race and especially on its Nordic or Teutonic branch. The
extreme of this position is found in the apparently well reasoned
position of Burton J. Hendricks, who attempts to prove that the Spanish
and German Jews were desirable because white, but that the Russian
Jews are undesirable immigrants because they are descended from the
Chazars, a Tartar tribe which embraced Judaism in the ninth century.
The premises of this writer seem untenable, and the conclusions do
not necessarily follow on them. Much of this anti-Semitic literature
and public action seems to be based on similar rationalizations of
intolerance, of group prejudice.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account