“This List Not Complete” Minnesota’s Jewish Resistance to the Silver Legion of America, 1936–1940

Sarah Atwood

During the 1920s and 1930s, a fascist groups began taking root sympathetic audience within Min- global economic crisis gave rise to throughout the United States. Minne- nesota. While the precise number fascism. Discrimination and violence sota was no exception. of members and sympathizers is based on racial, ethnic, and religious One of these groups, the Silver difficult to determine, the state’s Jews identities spread throughout Europe. Legion (commonly referred to as the perceived a threat. Through various Xenophobic, white supremacist, and Silver Shirts), found a particularly anti-​Semitic ideologies and pro-​Nazi methods, including surveillance of Silver Shirts activity, the Anti-​ Defamation Council of Minnesota (renamed the Minnesota Jewish Council in 1939 and today known as the Jewish Community Relations Council) mobilized to combat the Silver Shirts and other forms of orga- nized anti-Semitism​ in the state and throughout the Midwest.

Though Jews had been living in Minnesota since the mid-​nineteenth century, the end of World War I marked the beginning of a decades-​ long period during which Jews faced discrimination and exclusion from both formal and informal cultural and economic networks. Fears and hardship brought on by the Great Depression exacerbated underlying racial and religious tensions. In the 1920s, Minnesota’s Ku Klux Klan targeted Jews, Catholics, and immi- grants, as well as people of color. An increase in nativist sentiment, in part a reaction to the Russian Rev- olution of 1917, also resulted in the immigration quota system of 1924. Among the immigrant groups who were adversely affected by the quotas, Jews who had arrived in large num- bers from Eastern Europe from the Prominent religious leaders publicly espoused anti-Semitic sentiments in the 1930s, adding 1880s to the early 1920s, were singled to the climate of intolerance in Minnesota. This undated photo can be found in the files of the out, partly because of their perceived Jewish Community Relations Council of Minnesota at MNHS. connection with communism. In 1934 Local 574 of the International The rise of National Socialism the German American Bund and Brother­hood of Teamsters, led by (Nazism) in Germany led to a prolifer- the Silver Legion, boasted sizeable Trotskyist Communists, waged a ation of pro-​Nazi organizations in the memberships—​20,000 and 15,000, successful series of strikes in Minne- United States. These groups offered respectively, with approximately apolis that challenged the Citizens an outlet for some Americans’ a hundred thousand additional Alliance, an anti-​union group that fears and frustrations by focusing sympathizers each. Three smaller represented employers. The strikes on a simple scapegoat: the Jews, organizations were headquartered triggered charges that Minnesota with whom they associated both in Minnesota: the Christian Vigilan- had been overrun by “Red menace” exploitative capitalism and socialist-​ tes of Minneapolis, which existed agitators seeking violent revolution. communist radicalism. A 1941 briefly between 1935 and 1936; the Furthermore, a number of promi- survey by the American Council of Pro-​Christian American Society, nent local religious leaders publicly Public Affairs documented the pres- established in 1936 but likely defunct espoused anti-​Semitic sentiments, ence of more than 121 anti-​Semitic by 1941; and the White Shirts in Vir- adding to the climate of anti-​ organizations nationally. Several of ginia, established in 1938 and still Semitism in Minnesota.1 the surveyed groups, particularly active at the time of the 1941 study.

WINTER 2018–19 143 The prevalence of such organizations to the Silver Shirts being dubbed the sent a chilling reminder to American “most vocal, most wild-​eyed, and in Jews that their safety and well-​being some ways most dangerous” of all the were under serious threat.2 Shirts movements.3 The Silver Legion of America was Pelley’s message of anti-Semitism​ founded in 1933 by William Dudley resonated with Americans anxious Pelley, a journalist, novelist, and one-​ about changes in the cultural and time Hollywood screenwriter turned political landscape of the United Christian mystic. While not explicitly States. As Pelley parlayed his emerg- anti-​Catholic, the organization leaned ing worldview into a career as an Protestant and former Klan members author and speaker, he found an gravitated to it. (See sidebar.) A 1934 enthusiastic and growing audi- American Civil Liberties Union book- ence among anti-Semites​ . National let ominously warned readers that, Silver Shirts membership grew despite his mysticism, “Pelley is no rapidly, with the largest numbers in fool, no accident; he is a clever manip- Silver Legion founder William Dudley Pelley the Upper Midwest and the West. ulator of mobs with a distinct talent with anti-Semitic literature. Though Silver Legion membership for popular appeal, and a purpose so was impossible to gauge, 1934 esti- single and violent that it carries a con- group made up of representatives of mates by the American Civil Liberties viction of sincerity.” Despite Pelley’s old and respected American fami- Union placed national membership wish to frame his organization as a lies, his virulent anti-​Semitism led between 75,000 and 2 million.

“Buy Gentile” cartoon, a sample of the anti-Semitic literature collected by the Anti-Defamation Council of Minnesota in the 1930s.

144 MINNESOTA HISTORY The strange career of William Dudley Pelley

Adolf Hitler’s ascent to power in Germany in 1933 was also the catalyst for a new chapter in the quixotic life of journalist, novel- ist, and one-​time Hollywood screenwriter-turned-​ ​mystic William Dudley Pelley (1885–1965). During a particularly challenging period of his writing career, Pelley claimed to have experienced a transformative “seven minutes in eternity,” during which he ascended to a heavenly plane and was granted the gifts of clairvoyance and divination. In 1929 he published accounts of his experiences in a spiritualist journal and moved to Asheville, North Carolina. Here Pelley founded a publishing company, Galahad Press, and a small college in order to spread his spiritual teachings, which were based upon his purported travels to celes- tial planes, where he communicated with prominent, though deceased, historical figures.1 As early as 1931, Pelley was an avowed anti-​Semite who claimed Jews were inhabited by demons. His corresponding racial and spiritual taxonomy placed Christians of European ancestry at the top of a hierarchy, while Jews, Native Americans, and African Americans were situated below. Pelley extended his spiritualism to a material plane, forming the Silver Legion as a paramilitary organization that would bring about “spiritual and political renewal,” and declaring: “The Hitler Movement in Germany started from a sign painter making a speech from the top of a barrel. It is not too early to begin casting up our slates.”2 Pelley’s invocation of Nazism was clear in his choice of uni- form: “a shirt of Silver, with the great scarlet ‘L’ emblazoned on your banner and over your heart, standing for Love, Loyalty, and Portrait of Pelley wearing the silver shirt, 1933. Liberation,” which called to mind the paramilitary group that supported Hitler’s rise to power, dubbed the Brown Shirts for their brown uniforms. According to Silver Shirts rhetoric, Jews Pelley disbanded the Silver Shirts after the attack on Pearl were, at best, unwanted citizens and, at worst, subhuman; it Harbor. He continued to publish anti-​government statements was no coincidence that Pelley’s plan for American Jews should in his magazine, Roll Call, which alarmed the House Un-​American include relocation to designated Beth Havens, cities governed by Activities Committee. Pelley was charged and convicted of rabbis within every state.3 11 counts of high treason and sedition and was sentenced to Pelley saw Hitler’s rise as fulfillment of a prophesy wherein 15 years in prison. After serving eight years, he was paroled and Pelley would subsequently create a Christian militia to save the released in 1950. He continued to publish books and pamphlets United States from upcoming political and spiritual chaos. Silver on his mystical philosophy. Pelley died on June 30, 1965. Shirts recruits were to be “of reasonably sound health and not afraid to risk your life and limb for your country,” and they must Notes take the oath of the “True Christian Soldier.”4 1. Travis Hoke, Shirts!: A Survey of the New ‘Shirt’ Organizations in the Pelley’s shift from mystic to anti-​Semitic firebrand, though United States Seeking a Fascist Dictatorship (New York: American Civil Liber- buttressed by contemporary frustrations, satisfied certain psy- ties Union, 1934), 12; Donald S. Strong, Organized Anti-​Semitism in America: chological needs, according to one historian of the Protestant far The Rise of Group Prejudice During the Decade 1930–40 (Washington, DC: right in the 1930s: American Council on Public Affairs, 1941), 52. 2. Hoke, Shirts!, 12; Strong, Organized Anti-​Semitism in America, 46; Bradley W. Hart, Hitler’s American Friends: The Third Reich’s Supporters in the Spiritualism did not provide adequate expression for Pelley’s United States (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2018). Pelley’s declarations that desires. Anti-​Semitism, on the other hand, salved his feelings the Silver Legion had no ties to the Nazis or other groups such as the of inadequacy by offering delusions of grandeur. He would Friends of the New Germany (what eventually became the German Ameri- lead a nationwide movement of Silver-​Shirted men to drive can Bund), paired with the group’s secrecy, only heightened fears about Nazism in the United States. the Jews and revolutionaries from power! He would be the 3. Leo P. Ribuffo, The Old Christian Right: The Protestant Far Right from the savior of his country! Here was a channel not only for exter- Great Depression to the Cold War (Philadelphia: Temple University, 1983), 70. nalizing his aggressions but also for releasing the bitterness 4. Ribuffo, The Old Christian Right, 70; Hart, Hitler’s American Friends, 54. generated by years of frustration.5 5. Strong, Organized Anti-​Semitism in America, 47.

WINTER 2018–19 145 Pelley’s message of anti-Semitism resonated with Americans anxious about changes in the cultural and political landscape of the United States.

Contemporary scholarship now ment ramped up in spring 1936, the Though some argued they were places peak national numbers closer Jewish community mobilized by merely a small group of silver-​shirted to 15,000 members, with 100,000 forming the Anti-Defamation​ Coun- charlatans, Silver Shirts’ presence was sympathizers. Locally, a 1936 dossier cil of Minnesota, an informal group nevertheless alarming to the Jewish on Pelley’s activity named the Univer- consisting of anti-defamation​ leagues community, particularly as Pelley sity of Minnesota as one site where a from around the state, dedicated to claimed a membership of 6,000 in group known as Swastika, a campus investigating the state’s profascist Minnesota. Sevareid’s work made contingent of the Silver Shirts, had climate. The public also took notice, painfully clear that ignoring Silver existed as early as 1934.4 thanks to a six-​part exposé in the Min- Shirts would not dissuade them. Bad press that exposed a 1934 neapolis Journal written by a young Journalist and publicist Edward congressional investigation into arms reporter fresh out of the University Schwartz later recalled in an oral dealing by the Silver Shirts, coupled of Minnesota named Arnold Eric history interview, “This was one of with Pelley’s indictment in North Sevareid.6 the worst Jew-hating​ communities Carolina over allegations of stock Intrigued by a tip from com- in the world through the 1930s and fraud, temporarily stalled the upward munist acquaintances, Sevareid into the 1940s, and if it wasn’t for membership trajectory. By August proposed and received permission the finger of publicity from fellows 1935, Pelley had resumed activity, this from his editor to investigate local like Eric Sevareid and his remarkable time incorporating newly created Silver Shirts activity. Sevareid later series on the Silver Shirts, no atten- local councils of safety, which would recalled his experience “was like tion would have been called to it.” be placed throughout the country. He Alice going down the rabbit hole While it would be another two years also announced that the Silver Legion into the world of the Mad Hatter. after the publication of Sevareid’s was getting into politics. Pelley would I spent hair-​raising evenings in the articles before the Silver Shirts once seek the presidency in 1936 under the parlors of middle-​class citizens who again captured Minnesota’s attention, banner of the Christian Party. Women worshipped a man named William Jewish communities throughout the were not able to join the Silver Shirts Dudley Pelley.” Published in Septem- state covertly began the momentous but were able to join the Christian ber 1936, Sevareid’s series was the first project of mapping and monitoring Party and did so in Minnesota. Pelley major coverage of anti-​Semitic fascist Minnesota’s Silver Legion.8 garnered few votes, but his presiden- activity in the state. The Minneapo- Within one month of Sevareid’s tial campaign put him back in the lis Journal framed the features as a exposé, the Anti-​Defamation Coun- spotlight. During the campaign he “semi-​humorous exposé of ridiculous cil dispatched Charles I. Cooper, met Roy Zachary, a talented organizer, crackpots who were befuddling other- former president of the Minneap- orator, and outspoken anti-​Semite. wise upright citizens,” Sevareid wrote olis chapter of the Jewish fraternal Pelley made Zachary his second-​ in his autobiography. He protested to organization B’nai B’rith, as well as in-­​command, and Zachary began his editors, saying he wished for the an undercover informant identified traveling nationwide representing stories to serve as a “cry of alarm.” in documents only as SLW to gather the Silver Shirts cause.5 Instead the articles contained little intelligence about Silver Shirts more than patronizing anecdotes infrastructure. Their sources were about Silver Shirts members and their local reporters, prominent figures A receptive audience conspiracies. This approach to the in the Jewish community, and other and a vocal opposition exposé was commercially popular for undercover informants. Intelligence In Minnesota, the group found a the Journal. Still, Sevareid received gathered included “a list of names, receptive audience as well as a vocal numerous threats from Silver Shirts obtained from the automobile plates opposition. As Silver Shirts recruit- sympathizers.7 of those cars that were constantly in

146 MINNESOTA HISTORY order to provide daily updates on the paint a bleak portrait of Minnesota’s group’s activities, and Cooper posed anti-​Semitic network, though little as a congregant of the First Baptist information remains about how the Church in downtown Minneapolis to names were gathered or what, exactly, garner favor with its pastor, William were the criteria for inclusion.10 Bell Riley. Riley, with a congregation Page after page of the roster of more than 7,000, was particularly identifies potential suspects, most notorious among local Jews through- of whom called Minnesota home. out the 1930s for his anti-​Semitic From avowed anti-Semites​ to those diatribes. In 1940, Riley held a public ambivalent about Jews to anti-​ meeting during which he directed his interventionists adamantly opposed congregation to vote only for Chris- to US involvement in World War II, tians in the upcoming election.9 the records contain a spectrum of Though Cooper and SLW’s inves- actors who held diverse attitudes. tigational records disappear during Some were included merely for mak- 1937, the two likely continued to ing remarks that were interpreted quietly add to the rosters of sus- as pro-​German or for associating pected and confirmed anti-​Semites, with an anti-​Semitic preacher. All Charles I. Cooper which were recorded on index cards told, the lists provide a scattered and and later typed up as lists. Cumu- unwieldy archive; yet they illuminate attendance, at secret [Silver Shirts] latively, the multiple lists and a how Jewish Minnesotans proactively meetings.” During this time, SLW voluminous card catalog of suspected monitored anti-​Semitic activity and marauded as a burgeoning anti-​ anti-​Semites gathered by Jewish com- networks. While it is now nearly Semite and prospective Silver Shirt in munity members during this period impossible to gauge what portion of people named in the index truly did Undeterred, national Silver wish for the removal or subordina- Shirts recruiter Roy Zachary made tion of Jewish Americans, the sheer appearances in Minneapolis on July number of names underscores the 29 and August 2, 1938. His speeches insidiousness of anti-Semitism​ in referenced far-​fetched conspiracies, Jewish life. One list with more than such as aviator (and noted anti-​ 500 names closes with the decla- interventionist) Charles Lindbergh’s ration: “This list not complete”—​a child being kidnapped and eventu- haunting reminder that more names ally murdered by Jews and a Jewish could be added and that ongoing takeover of the American monetary commitment was needed to fight system. Zachary also criticized Team- anti-​Semitism within the state.11 sters Local 574, calling an all-​out war on militant labor and disparaging “the alien forces that are seeking The return of the Silver Shirts to undermine our constitutional Nineteen thirty-​eight brought government, take away our right of deepening tensions as economic free speech and deprive us of our uncertainty and political upheaval liberty.”13 escalated. Despite New Deal measures Subsequent publicity about these to relieve unemployment, the Amer- meetings led to increased public scru- ican economy experienced a severe tiny and concern about Minnesota’s slump in 1937–38. The threat of war Silver Shirts. The managers of the became more real as Hitler’s armies Ark Lodge Auditorium and the Royal occupied Austria in March 1938 and Arcanum Hall, both located off Lake four months later annexed the Sude- Street, on the 3000 block of First tenland (primarily German-​speaking Avenue South, the Minneapolis sites areas of Czechoslovakia that had once of Zachary’s July and August meet- been part of Austria). Stimulated ings, claimed to be unaware that they National Silver Shirts recruiter Roy Zachary, as by fear and perhaps nationalistic had rented space to the Silver Shirts. portrayed in Minneapolis Star, October 1938. pride, profascist groups proliferated After receiving unsavory recognition nationwide. In Minnesota, the Silver from the press, the managers of both fair-​minded Christian citizens of our Shirts began aggressively organizing venues declared that the group was state pertaining to the dangers that once again in the spring of 1938. This no longer welcome on their premises. lurk in such un-​American organiza- time, both the press and the public Unfazed, Silver Shirts found other tions as the Silvershirt [sic] Legion.” took notice, observing links between places to meet. At summer’s end, The Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis the KKK and the Silver Shirts: “The the Minneapolis Tribune reported: Star, Minneapolis Tribune, Minnesota spirit of the old Ku Klux Klan is being “A number of persons, men and Leader, and American Jewish World revived in Minneapolis, with a new women, assumed the responsibility (published in the Twin Cities) also name and a new kind of shirt,” an at the conclusion of the meeting of featured anti–Silver Shirts editorials, article in the Minneapolis Journal pro- forming councils, and plans will be satires, and news reports.15 claimed. Minneapolis mayor George E. begun immediately for a mass meet- Readers weighed in with letters to Leach acknowledged the group’s ing to be held within a month.”14 the editor, arguing that the public was resurgence and proactively banned The Anti-​Defamation Council of responsible for protecting democracy “anti-​American parades,” meaning Minnesota responded to the swelling by rejecting anti-​Semitism. “This is events associated with Nazism and presence of Silver Shirts by reissuing America and it is un-​American to fascism. The ordinance reflected Sevareid’s 1936 newspaper articles form class or religions distinctions. Leach’s “desire to prevent Silver as the pamphlet “A Reporter Tells . . . It is a shame to insult splendid Shirts, Black Shirts or any other anti-​ the Truth about the Silver Shirts: An citizens who have always stood and American organization from gaining Exposé of Un-​American Activities worked for the best there is in Amer- a foothold in Minneapolis” and was to in Minneapolis.” In so doing, the ica,” wrote a correspondent to the be enforced by the chief of police.12 organization hoped “to enlighten the Minneapolis Tribune who signed the

148 MINNESOTA HISTORY “Hate-​crusade rackets cannot stand publicity. They fade when stripped of their mystery and secrecy.” letter, “A Non-​Jew.” Another person retorted, “Which is the bigger sap, called for vigilance in exposing the the press or the joiner, is too fine a Silver Shirts: “Hate-​crusade rackets distinction to be argued, as is also the cannot stand publicity. They fade question of who are the more danger- when stripped of their mystery and ous ‘witch-​hunters’—​the Silver Shirts secrecy. . . . That is a job, not just and such, or the ardent crusaders who for Jews, but for all of us.” Organi- propose to harry them.”16 zations, too, responded with public The press did no favors dispelling declarations against the Silver Shirts, rumors that prominent businessmen including Masonic officials and the were sympathetic to the Silver Shirts. general executive boards of Locals In fact, news­paper coverage of the 30 and 183 of the Cleaners and Dyers summer 1938 meetings in Minne- Union. Others, however, criticized the apolis reported the invitation-​only local press for providing free public- attendance of leading businessmen, A 1938 pamphlet containing Eric Severeid’s ity for the fascist group. One writer including George K. Belden, pres- 1936 newspaper articles was distributed to ident of Associated Industries of lodge members of the fraternal group B’nai Minneapolis (the rebranded succes- Ark Lodge Auditorium at First Avenue South B’rith by the Jewish Anti-Defamation Council and Thirty-First Street East, in Minneapolis, sor of the Citizens Alliance, whose to give to Christian friends. was the site of Silver Shirts meetings in the anti-​union grip on the city had ended summer of 1938. thanks to the 1934 Teamsters strike). Albert I. Gordon, a union negoti- ator and rabbi of the Minneapolis synagogue Adath Jeshurun, wrote an open letter in August to the directors of Associated Industries. Gordon inquired into the organi- zation’s attitude toward the Silver Shirts, whose overt anti-Semitism,​ he wrote, appeared to counter Asso- ciated Industries’ professed aims: the “establishment of amicable rela- tionships between all the classes and groups of the city.” Gordon’s letter prompted public responses from both Belden and Associated Indus- tries condemning the Silver Shirts. Associated Industries publicly dis- avowed the Silver Shirts, describing them as “vicious, intolerant, and un-​American.”17 Further, the pronouncements by Belden and Associated Indus- tries did not quell all concern about Silver Shirts activity. Labor activists

WINTER 2018–19 149 also were alarmed and angered by Zachary’s attacks and Belden’s involve- ment with the group. The Trotskyist leadership of Teamsters Local 574 announced its resolve to confront the Silver Shirts and such organizations “in the open.” Local 574 spearheaded the Union Defense Guard, composed of 600 men from multiple unions. Though direct confrontation never occurred, this militia stood ready to break up Silver Shirts meetings and to thwart potential Silver Shirts raids on union headquarters.18 By August 1938, the Anti-​ Defamation Council had become entirely independent from B’nai B’rith and the other organizations from which it had sprung. The growth of the Silver Shirts and their ilk was the impetus for the newly indepen- dent organization’s work to surveil anti-​Semites and advocate on behalf of Jewish Minnesotans. During an informational meeting on August 12 attended by representatives from more than 60 Jewish organizations, the need to combat the “shirtists” was repeatedly cited. The 175 attendees were asked to report all instances of anti-​Semitism to the Anti-​ Defamation Council.19 The Silver Legion’s interest in Minnesota also intersected with the 1938 gubernatorial race between incumbent Farmer-​Labor candidate Elmer Benson and Republican Harold Silver Legion communique urging defeat of incumbent govenor Elmer Benson: “If it can’t be Stassen. In the months leading up to done with ballots, now, there must be bullets later!” the election, the Silver Shirts distrib- uted materials that urged violence if was defeated by Republican Harold an additional meeting. Just two days the Farmer-​Labor Party was victori- Stassen.20 later, Anti-​Defamation Council chair- ous in the statewide election. Readers In October, another Silver Shirts man Arthur Brin received word that of Liberation, the Silver Shirts news­ meeting was held in St. Paul. For two two Minneapolis police officers had paper, were advised, “If you don’t hours, approximately 200 attend- joined the Silver Shirts and a third want Jewish Communism with result- ees listened to Roy Zachary, the was a Silver Shirts recruiter.21 ing violence, blood-​shed and civil war Silver Shirts recruiter, lecture on an (and, of course, nobody does) get out impending “red dictatorship.” By at once and help defeat Benson and December, Anti-​Defamation Coun- New name, new director his criminal cohorts—​with Ballots. cil informant and secretary Charles In July 1939, the Anti-​Defamation If it can’t be done with ballots, now, Cooper, who had previously helped to Council legally incorporated and there must be bullets later!” Benson infiltrate the Silver Shirts, confirmed was renamed the Minnesota Jewish

150 MINNESOTA HISTORY Council, hiring attorney Samuel L. Scheiner believed because the Scheiner as its executive director. pamphlet was distributed under false Soon after his appointment, Scheiner pretenses and attempted to rile up wrote to Anti-Defamation​ League anti-​Semitic sentiment it represented officials in Chicago alerting them an unprecedented opening for strik- to an important development: the ing back at anti-​Semitism. Scheiner Minneapolis distributor of a Silver explained: “This is the first oppor- Shirts pamphlet had been tenta- tunity we have had to invoke the tively identified. Scheiner’s network criminal statutes against the leaders of confidential informants had of this organization and if possible reported that a US postal worker we do not want to ‘muff the ball.’ It is was assisting with the distribution extremely important that this matter of anti-​Semitic material, including be handled judiciously and cau- a curious pamphlet prominently tiously.” If the printer would identify featuring a Star of David on its cover. who had purchased the pamphlets, The pamphlet, falsely attributed to a the suspect might be charged for libel, real organization, the Committee for forgery, and “conspiracy to commit Relief of Jewish Refugees, was being and utter a forgery and libelous state- distributed throughout Minneapolis, ments.” The printer, however, signed Samuel L. Scheiner, long-time executive including outside of the courthouse. director of the Minnesota Jewish Council, a statement that he was unable to The forged pamphlet invoked sev- today known as the Jewish Community identify the customer who had made eral anti-​Semitic conspiracies and Relations Council. the pamphlets, concluding “that he explained how European Jewish is a stranger.” Meanwhile, the actual refugee resettlement was part of a they could monopolize the alcohol Committee for Relief of Jewish Refu- Jewish conspiracy to rule the nation. industry. The pamphlet also named gees placed ads in local newspapers The document called for the boycott prominent local Jews and businesses, offering a $100 reward for informa- of Gentile stores and attributed the hinting at their subversive role in a tion leading to the apprehension of repeal of Prohibition to Jews so that great Jewish conspiracy.22 the document’s distributors.23

Brass knuckles and fisticuffs

Tales of Jewish men (including gangsters) combatting the Silver recounted that at least three physical confrontations occurred Shirts using their fists rather than their wits have circulated in between the groups, though they were never covered in the the Jewish community (and in print) for decades, though there is media or referenced in Silver Shirts propaganda.2 little verifiable evidence to back up such stories. A 1992 Minne- Publicity about the physical fights between Silver Shirts and sota Public Radio documentary on anti-Semitism in Minneapolis Jews would likely have been shunned as a potential threat to the gives an account of a small group of young Jews who used physi- reputation of otherwise upstanding Jewish businessmen and cal force during sporadic confrontations with the Silver Shirts.1 professionals and further fuel for already prevalent anti-Jewish Attorney Joe Bard recalled joining a small group of Jewish sentiment. Though Jews generally agreed that anti-Semitism was businessmen and professionals called the Twenty Club. One of a danger to their sense of safety and livelihood, by no means had the members, a doctor, recruited Bard as part of a subset of six or a consensus emerged for how to deal with the Silver Shirts. seven members to strategize how to fend off the Silver Shirts by means of physical force. Bard recounted his shock when handed a set of brass knuckles, something he had never seen before. Notes Upon learning of their utility, Bard realized that the men were 1. For a recent example of such recounting, see Neal Gendler, “Hitler’s American Friends: Swastikas Carried Beside American Flags,” American truly preparing for a physical confrontation. The group prac- Jewish World, Oct. 17, 2018, 1, http://ajwnews.com/hitlers-american-friends/. ticed techniques for two months, then learned of a gathering on 2. John Biewen and Beth Friend, “No Jews Allowed,” radio documentary, Minneapolis’s Lake Street. Taking the Silver Shirts attendees by originally broadcast 1992, Anti-Semitism in Minneapolis History, Minne- surprise, the men, “with mogen dovids [stars of David] painted sota Public Radio, https://www.mprnews.org/story/2017/10/18/anti on our chests,” stormed the room and “swung at heads.” Bard _semitism_mpls_history.

WINTER 2018–19 151 No longer merely subject to the court of public opinion, the distribution of anti-​Semitic material, a hallmark of Silver Shirts activity, was deemed illegal.

Within days, Scheiner and his Blaisdell, Cyr’s lodging with the Blais- constitution provides for, and associates located an individual who dell family was a ruse; Cyr had been which is a distinguishing feature admitted distributing the material living with the Blaisdell family as an of the fundamental law of our to a man named Albert Cyr, one of undercover informant for the Min- land, one of its great cornerstones Scheiner’s undercover informants. nesota Jewish Council. The following essential to the peace and safety The suspect was T. G. Wooster, a day, Cyr witnessed Blaisdell’s 11-​year-​ of any community.26 familiar character who had appeared old son placing the anti-​Semitic in numerous documents about Min- literature into the unoccupied cars The verdict was lauded as a nesota’s Silver Shirts dating back to of nearby churchgoers, likely under momentous win. An editorial in the 1936. According to Jewish reports, the direction of his father. In addition local American Jewish World crowed he had seemed to be a relatively to identifying Wooster as the chief that previous judges had been “car- unremarkable member of the group. financier of the forged pamphlets, Cyr ried away by the mere sound of the Under the pretense of obtaining the now had gained additional evidence words ‘freedom of speech.’ Judge material in order to distribute it, in confirming another distributor of Larson’s opinion sets a precedent Scheiner’s undercover man finally Silver Shirts materials in Blaisdell and for judges to see the light behind the had gained firsthand knowledge of a means to further expose Minneso- sound. . . . No matter what legalistic the document’s origins. Scheiner ta’s Silver Shirts figureheads.25 appeals or decisions may follow this secured an affidavit from Cyr con- Cyr’s testimony would enable ruling, no one can reverse its moral firming that he had collected Silver charges to be brought against soundness.” No longer merely subject Shirts materials from Wooster, who Wooster, Blaisdell, and a third man to the court of public opinion, the not only acknowledged distributing involved with printing and distribut- distribution of anti-​Semitic material, the pamphlets but also was found ing the pamphlets, Cyrus Osterhus. a hallmark of Silver Shirts activity, with 500 copies in his possession. All three could have been charged was deemed illegal. Tracking down According to Cyr’s statement, with the distribution of libelous and the figureheads of the local move- Wooster boasted about subsidizing forged materials. Ultimately, Scheiner ment was surely a victory for the printing costs and noted “that vari- sought charges against Blaisdell for Minnesota Jewish Council. Yet despite ous women were distributing these distributing literature that was “likely these gains, anti-​Semitic acts associ- pamphlets in the City of St. Paul, as to create violence and a breach of ated with Silver Shirts sympathizers well as Minneapolis, by taking these the peace.” The Minneapolis Munic- continued.27 pamphlets and inserting them in ipal Court found Blaisdell guilty of Though popular accounts of newspapers that were left at the doors disorderly conduct and sentenced Minnesota’s Silver Shirts mark of various homes.”24 him to one month in the workhouse. their dissolution around 1938 when The following day Cyr returned In his memorandum, ruling judge Harold Stassen won the governor’s to Wooster’s residence under the William C. Larson concluded: race, the Minnesota Jewish Council’s pretense of picking up pamphlets records reveal that they remained to distribute. Cyr brought along There can be no more potent active within the state through 1940. George R. Blaisdell, from whom Cyr breeder of public disorder, than Scheiner himself was affected. In had been renting a room. Blaisdell’s a deliberate stirring up of class September 1939, while trying to previous association with the Silver against class, and race against purchase a home in St. Louis Park, Shirts had landed him on multiple race. That undermines the patri- he received an anonymous call to Minnesota Jewish Council lists and otic unity of our nation, and is in dissuade him. After investigating the reports about suspected anti-Semites.​ direct opposition to that tolerance neighborhood’s residents and cross-​ Unbeknownst to both Wooster and of race and religion which our checking against a list of suspected

152 MINNESOTA HISTORY sentenced to prison. Several other groups, however—​including spinoffs of the Christian Front—​continued to organize and raise funds to support the work of anti-Semitic​ figureheads. After eight years in prison, Pelley was released on parole and began pub- lishing his tracts once again. In 1950, nearly a decade after the Silver Shirts had dissolved, Scheiner remained vig- ilant in tracking Pelley. Using the alias Mrs. S. L. Schriner, he requested infor- mation related to Pelley’s reorganized publishing venture, Soulcraft Press.29 The memory of the Silver Shirts did not fade for those who lived through that era. Numerous oral histories gathered between 1967 and 1986 for the Jews in Minnesota Oral History Project are replete with testimonials that reference the role of anti-​Semitism during the 1930s. Twenty-​five years after the Silver Shirts’ dissolution, Rabbi Albert G. Minda recalled, “The Silver Shirts here in Minneapolis were creating a bad atmosphere, particularly for many young [Jewish] people who were born here and reared here, and wanted to stay on but found the doors barred.”30 Our understanding of how the By the end of 1939, Pelley’s publishing operations were in peril, detailed in this issue of Liberation. Silver Shirts and other anti-​Semites affected Jewish life in Minnesota is Silver Shirts obtained from Pelley’s that the suspect was “thrown out of made possible largely owing to the files, Scheiner was able to confirm the church.”28 records carefully collected by the the culprit had also been active in In 1940 Scheiner obtained Anti-​Defamation Council/Minnesota the Silver Legion. The following additional reports of individuals Jewish Council. Through the records month, a member of Stewart Presby- distributing anti-​Semitic materials kept of the organization’s diligent terian Church in south Minneapolis from their vehicles. He later received work during the 1930s, we can begin reported a congregant reciting Silver reports from a local priest that a to grasp the degree to which orga- Shirts propaganda. Confirming the branch of the anti-​Semitic, pro-​Nazi nized anti-​Semitism permeated the report’s veracity, Scheiner relayed Christian Front had been growing lives of Jewish Minnesotans. Scheiner the suspected individual’s previous considerably. and countless others acutely under- ties to the Silver Shirts as well as the Pelley officially disbanded the stood the dangerous potential of the suspect’s ties to local Evangelical min- Silver Legion of America in January Silver Shirts’ ideologies. Scheiner ister C. O. Stadsklev, known for his 1941, due in part to the increased declared in 1946: “Anti-​Semites frequent anti-​Semitic diatribes. Stew- scrutiny he was facing from the always use the cloak of anonymity to art Presbyterian’s minister promptly House Un-​American Activities protect their vicious, false, and scur- acknowledged Scheiner’s complaint Committee. The following year, Pel- rilous printed material, for they well and confirmed that he would ensure ley was convicted of sedition and know that their accusations will not

WINTER 2018–19 153 stand close scrutiny and investiga- Council on Public Affairs, 1941), 14, 30, 63, reporter (Eric Sevareid, “Silvershirts’ Dire Proph- tion.” Though Jews recognized that 141–43; Bradley W. Hart, Hitler’s American Friends: ecy Falls Flat; World Goes on with a Chuckle Over The Third Reich’s Supporters in the United States Plot, Minneapolis Journal, Sept. 16, 1936). lists of suspected anti-​Semites would (New York: St. Martin’s Press, 2018), 56. Strong’s 8. Sevareid, “Silvershirts Say Quarters are always be incomplete, their proactive 1941 study noted that estimates for the Bund of Bought by Morgenthau in Russia at 5 Cents fight against the Silver Shirts of the 25,000 were generous. Though several of the Each,” Minneapolis Journal, Sept. 15, 1936, 1, 6; documented organizations merely consisted of Edward P. Schwartz, interviewer Rhoda Lewin, 1930s sent a clear, enduring message the founder’s name and a mailing list, Strong’s 1976, Jews in Minnesota Oral History Project, that it is not enough to merely vilify research revealed a marked increase in anti-​ MNHS, 6. hatred. Instead, acts of intolerance Semitism. Contemporary estimates cited by Hart 9. Oct. 23, 1936, box 54, folder “Subversive and threats of violence must be taken estimates Bund membership at 20,000 at its Activities: Minneapolis, 1936,” JCRC, 2; Rapp, An peak with an additional 100,000 sympathizers Historical Overview of Anti-​Semitism in Minnesota, seriously and met with organized and Silver Legion membership as 15,000 at its 53–54, 111–19; Rutman, Defense and Development, opposition to ensure the safety and peak and an additional 100,000 sympathizers. 127. For more information on Charles I. Cooper’s well-​being not only of Jews, but of all 3. Strong, Organized Anti-​Semitism in America, work in Minnesota Jewish life, see: “Charles I. 53; Travis Hoke, Shirts!: A Survey of the New ‘Shirt’ Cooper Heads B’nai B’rith,” Minneapolis Tribune, Minnesotans.31 Organizations in the United States Seeking a Fas- Jan. 25, 1934, 5; “Jewish Group Honors Ex-​ cist Dictatorship (New York: American Civil Liber- Secretary at Dinner,” Minneapolis Morning ties Union, 1934), 8, 20. Tribune, Jan. 14, 1952, 17. 4. “William Dudley Pelley,” undated, box 40, 10. The index cards reside at the Berman folder “Pelley, William Dudley, undated, 1936 (1), Upper Midwest Jewish Archives at the University Notes 1938,” Jewish Community Relations Council of of Minnesota, and the lists are contained in the Minnesota papers (hereafter, JCRC), MNHS, 13; JCRC archives at MNHS. Today the JCRC records This article was made possible by the Arts and Leo P. Ribuffo, The Old Christian Right: The Protes- hold materials pertaining to its earliest itera- Cultural Heritage Fund through the vote of Min- tant Far Right from the Great Depression to the Cold tions as the Jewish Anti-Defamation​ Council of nesotans on November 4, 2008. War (Philadelphia: Temple University, 1983), 57; Minnesota and the Minnesota Jewish Council. 1. For more reading on the histories of Jews Hoke, Shirts!, 13, 16; Hart, Hitler’s American 11. List, “Minnesota Contacts,” box 40, folder in Minnesota see: Hyman Berman and Linda Friends, 56, 239. “Pelley, William Dudley, undated, 1936,” JCRC, 2. Mack Schloff, Jews in Minnesota (St. Paul: MNHS Silver Shirts activity at the University of Min- 12. “Silver Shirts Hear National Office,” Min- Press, 2002); Albert I. Gordon, Jews in Transition nesota was later confirmed by a suspected Silver neapolis Star, July 30, 1938, 4; “Un-​American,” (Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, Shirts member named Gibson Wright, in a report Minneapolis Journal, Aug. 4, 1938, 12; “Mayor 1949); Michael G. Rapp, “Samuel N. Deinard and by an undercover informant (SLW, Oct. 13, 1936, Explains Ban on ‘Shirts’ Parade,” Minneapolis the Unification of Jews in Minneapolis,” Minne- box 54, folder “Subversive Activities: Minneapo- Star, June 16, 1938, 13. sota History 43, no. 6 (Summer 1973): 213–21; lis, 1936,” JCRC, 2). 13. “Silver Shirts Hear National Office”; and Laura Weber, “From Exclusion to Integra- 5. Strong, Organized Anti-​Semitism in America, Palmer, Revolutionary Teamsters, 227. Silver Shirts tion: The Story of Jews in Minnesota,” MNopedia, 40; Sevareid’s series of 1936 articles published in meetings apparently did not warrant front-​page MNHS, http://www.mnopedia.org/exclusion the Minneapolis Journal refer to his conversations coverage in all newspapers, though local orga- -​integration-​story-​jews-​minnesota. with women active in Pelley’s publicly facing nizers’ names were included in back-​page write-​ Elizabeth Dorsey Hatle and Nancy M. Vail- Christian Party, though presumably these meet- ups. T. G. Wooster, who would again surface in lancourt, “One Flag, One School, One Language: ings corresponded with Silver Shirts activities 1939, was named as a local organizer, along with Minnesota’s Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s,” Minne- (“New Silver Shirt Clan With Incredible Credo his home address. Letter presumably from T. G. sota History, 61, no. 8 (Winter 2009/10): 363; Secretly Organized Here,” Minneapolis Journal, Wooster to Silver Shirts members and potential Bryan D. Palmer, Revolutionary Teamsters: The Sept. 11, 1936, 1, 14; “Silvershirts Meet Secretly members, July 23, 1938, box 41, folder “Pelley, Minneapolis Truckers’ Strikes of 1934 (Boston: Brill, Here But Come Out Openly in Pacific Coast William Dudley 1938–1940 (2),” JCRC. 2013), 106; Farrell Dobbs, Teamster Politics (New Drive,” Minneapolis Journal, Sept. 12, 1936, 1–2); 14. “Two Halls Barred to Silver Shirts,” Min- York: Pathfinder, 1975); Michael Gerald Rapp, An Hart, Hitler’s American Friends, 57–58. neapolis Tribune, Aug. 4, 1938, 4; “Silvershirts Historical Overview of Anti-​Semitism in Minnesota, 6. Laura Weber, “Jewish Community Rela- Hold Meeting,” Minneapolis Tribune, Aug. 3, 1938, 1920–1960—​with Particular Emphasis on Minneap- tions Council of Minnesota and the Dakotas,” 8; “Silvershirts Gather Again,” Minneapolis Star, olis and St. Paul (PhD diss., University of Minne- MNopedia, MNHS, http://www.mnopedia.org Aug. 3, 1938, 16. The “Two Halls” article notes, sota, 1977), 24–38. In addition to Riley, George /group/jewish-​community-​relations-​council “Many Masons are opposed to the purposes of Mecklenburg of Minneapolis’s Wesley Methodist -​minnesota-​and-​dakotas. the Silver Shirts and a trustee of the Ark Lodge Episcopal Church and evangelist Luke Radar of 7. Sevareid, “New Silver Shirt Clan”; Eric reported that he only knew ‘the hall was to be the River-​Lake Gospel Temple Lake Street in Sevareid, Not So Wild a Dream (New York: Athe- used for a series of patriotic meetings.’” The Minneapolis preached anti-​Semitic sermons on neum, 1976), 69–71; Joe Allen, “It Can’t Happen American Legion’s Bearcat chapter publicly local radio stations. Here? Confronting the Fascist Threat in the resolved that Nazi Bunds, Silver Shirts, the KKK, For an overview of anti-​Semitism in Minne- United States in the 1930s,” International Social- and other fascist organizations were not wel- apolis during this era, see Herbert Samuel ist Review 85 (2012), https://isreview.org/issue come in Minneapolis: “Bearcat Legion Post Rutman, Defense and Development: A History of /85/it-​cant-​happen-​here. Minnesota Silver Shirts Warns Bund, ‘Isms,’” Minneapolis Star, June 11, Minneapolis Jewry, 1930–1950 (PhD diss., Uni- purportedly began organizing in spring of 1936. 1983, 9. The Ark Lodge was at 3044 First Avenue versity of Minnesota, 1970), 127; Laura E. Weber, It’s unclear, both from Sevareid’s exposé and his South, and Royal Arcanum Hall’s address was “‘Gentiles Preferred’: Minneapolis Jews and memoir, just how many meetings he attended 3011 First Avenue South. Employment, 1920–50,” Minnesota History 58, with the Silver Shirts and how he attempted to 15. Joseph H. Schanfeld, “To the Members no. 5 (Spring 1991): 166–82. infiltrate and if he did so undercover; it is likely of the B’nai B’rith Lodges of the Twin Cities,” 2. Donald S. Strong, Organized Anti-Semitism​ that due to the reference of a Silver Shirt inquiring Sept. 11, 1938, box 41, folder “Pelley, William in America: The Rise of Group Prejudice During the if his real name would be made public that Seva- Dudley, 1938–40 (2)”, JCRC; “A Reporter Tells Decade 1930–40 (Washington, DC: American reid had, at some point, disclosed his status as a the Truth about the Silver Shirts: An Exposé of

154 MINNESOTA HISTORY Un-​American Activities in Minneapolis,” ed. Anti-​ 22. Rutman, Defense and Development, 129; Scheiner report confirmed information that the Defamation Council of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Samuel L. Scheiner to Sigmund Livingston, July Minnesota Jewish Council had secured four years 1938, box 41, JCRC; “Tide Against Silver Shirts 27, 1939, and Charles I. Cooper to Samuel earlier, and established an individual’s continued Mounts Here,” American Jewish World, Aug. 12, Scheiner, Aug. 16, 1939, both box 4, folder “Anti-​ involvement with the Silver Shirts. L. W. Holmes 1938, 1, 16. American Jewish World also publicized Jewish Pamphlet: Committee for Jewish Refu- of Minneapolis was allegedly distributing Silver that it obtained a list of those who attended pre- gees,” JCRC. Scheiner went on to serve as the Shirts materials; his name appears on JCRC’s vious Silver Shirts meetings, no doubt an attempt Minnesota Jewish Council’s executive director “Key List of Subversive Suspects,” 27. Scheiner to inhibit Silver Shirts recruitment and deter most years between 1939 and 1974. During the received an anonymous call that made clear curious parties from attending future events. same week the distributor of the Silver Shirts “it would not be healthy for me to move . . . for 16. “It Is Un-​American,” Minneapolis Tribune, pamphlet was identified, Manny Katz, who the reason that they did not want any Jews out Aug. 12, 1938, 16; “Hate Crusades,” Minneapolis owned a drugstore in Minneapolis, had anti-​ there.” He subsequently wrote a letter to the Journal, Aug. 17, 1938; “Attacks Continue on Silver Jewish circulars posted to the window of his Kelley-​How-​Thomson Company of Duluth, the Shirt Program Here,” American Jewish World, shop. Katz’s drugstore was also disliked for its suspect’s employer, to inquire about the busi- Aug. 19, 1938, 15; “Tide Against Silver Shirts low price on beer, making nearby beer parlors ness’s attitude toward Jews. Scheiner included Mounts Here,” 16; “Public Opinion Mounting resentful of the newfound competition from a the names of two Kelly-​How-​Thomson employ- Against Silver Shirts,” American Jewish World, drugstore. Scheiner and others suspected that ees whose names appeared in lists of suspected Aug. 16, 1938, 1, 16; O. C., “The Press and the Sil- the Silver Shirts had posted the anti-​Semitic anti-​Semites. ver Shirts,” Minneapolis Tribune, Aug. 25, 1938, 6. materials on Katz’s windows. (Samuel Scheiner, 29. Ribuffo, The Old Christian Right, 76; enve- 17. “Belden Tells of Attending Silvershirts,” Aug. 18, 1939, box 4, folder “Anti-​Jewish Pam- lope addressed to “Mrs. S. L. Schriner,” Apr. 17, Minneapolis Star, Aug. 4, 1938, 1–2; T. M. Greig, phlet: Committee for Jewish Refugees,” JCRC). 1950, box 41, folder “Pelley, William Dudley, “Silver Shirts’ Meeting Provokes Three Letters,” 23. Complaint Against Defendants, undated, 1941–1943,” JCRC; Samuel L. Scheiner, “Report,” Minneapolis Tribune, Aug. 5, 1938, 5; Weber, 3–4; Scheiner to Sigmund Livingston, Aug. 4, Jan. 26, 1940, and Samuel L. Scheiner, “Report,” “Gentiles Preferred,” 173. For more information 1939; Sigmund Livingston to Arthur Brin, Aug. 8, Mar. 22, 1940, both box 16, folder “Discrimina- on Gordon, see also Rutman, Defense and Devel- 1939; Cyrus Osterhus, Aug. 2, 1939; Samuel L. tion, General 1938–9 (1),” JCRC. opment, 67–68. Scheiner to Sigmund Livingston, July 27, 1938—​ 30. Rabbi Albert G. Minda, interviewer June 18. “Labor Blasts Silver Shirts,” Minneapolis all box 4, folder “Anti-​Jewish Pamphlet: Commit- Stern, July–Nov. 1968, Minneapolis, MN, Jews in Tribune, Aug. 14, 1938, 5. Both the Minneapolis tee for Jewish Refugees,” JCRC. Albert Cyr’s name Minnesota Oral History Project, MNHS, 28; Rut- Central Labor Union and American Legion of also appears in a 1934 article recounting that man, Defense and Development, 62. Minneapolis went on record during August 1938 Cyr and other organizers of an “America First” 31. Samuel L. Scheiner, Dec. 2, 1946, box 5, decrying the Silver Shirts and Bund: see “Legion parade had been overshadowed by 500 Commu- folder “Antisemitism: Minnesota undated,” JCRC; Denounces New Organization,” Minneapolis Tri- nist hecklers (“Parade Goes on Despite Taunts,” Linn Firestone, interviewer Jeanne Boutang, Oct. bune, Aug. 5, 1938, 5. Palmer, Revolutionary Team- Minneapolis Star, Apr. 30, 1934, 4). 15, 1984, United Jewish Fund and Council Oral sters, notes that the formation of the Union 24. Anonymous, box 54, folder “Subversive History Project, Jewish Historical Society of the Defense Guard would help to distance fascist Activities: Minneapolis, 1936,” JCRC: “Man of Upper Midwest, 13. Firestone discusses his work resistance from labor proper and thus thwart about sixty years. Very low grade mentality. This as an advocate for Jewish Minnesotans: “he saw charges of communism and potentially subdue man is only a front and has [sic] he knows noth- his job as somewhat more than reacting to these anti-​union violence (227–28). For a firsthand ing that the others do not know and receives his things [anti-​Semitism] and that’s why he went account of the role of the Union Defense Guard, orders daily when he turns over the money and into the schools, that (sic) why he went into the see Dobbs, Teamster Politics, 187–97. Also see Joe membership cards he may have.” Affidavit of correctional institutions.” Allen’s “It Can’t Happen Here?” Albert Cyr, taken by the Law Offices of Samuel L. 19. “175 Hear Report of Local Anti-​ Scheiner, July 27, 1939, 1, and Samuel L. Scheiner Defamation Council,” American Jewish World, to Sigmund Livingston, Aug. 4, 1939, both box 4, Image on p. 142, Jewish Community Relations Aug. 12, 1938, 7. folder “Anti-​Jewish Pamphlet: Committee for Council of Minnesota Papers, P445 (hereafter, 20. H. G., “Flash!” Silver Legion of America, Jewish Refugees,” JCRC. JCRC), Box 40, Folder: William Dudley Pelley, undated, box 41, folder “Pelley, William Dudley, 25. “Key List of Subversive Subjects,” box 40, undated, 1936 (1), MNHS Collections; p. 143, 1938–1940 (2),” JCRC. In 1934, a San Diego out- folder “Pelley, William Dudley, undated, 1936,” 6, 144 (bottom), JCRC, Box 40, Folder: Anti-​ post of the Silver Shirts had organized to outfit JCRC; Affidavit of Albert Cyr, 2. Semitism: Miscellaneous undated (13), MNHS members and seize city hall. In sworn testimony, 26. Complaint Against Defendants, undated, Collections; p. 144 (top), AP; p. 145, courtesy of it was revealed that members had secured box 4, folder “Anti-​Jewish Pamphlet: Committee Imgur; p. 147 (top), Hennepin County Library, ammunition in the case of a communist takeover for Jewish Refugees,” JCRC, 1; “Judge Raps Class Minneapolis Photograph Newspaper Collection; on May Day (Strong, Organized Anti-​Semitism in Hate,” American Jewish World, Sept. 15, 1939, 1, 16. p. 147 (bottom), JCRC, Box 40, Folder: William America, 50). Slightly more sophisticated than The actual Committee for Relief of Jewish Refu- Dudley Pelley, undated, 1936 (1), MNHS Collec- the Silver Shirts propaganda, but equally anti-​ gees was prepared to bring charges against tions; p. 148, ProQuest; p. 149 (top), p. 150, 153, Semitic, former Minnesota auditor Ray P. Chase’s Blaisdell, Osterhus, and Wooster both “individu- JCRC, Box 41, Folder: William Dudley Pelley, pamphlet “Communists or Cats Paws?” injected ally and as [presumable Silver Shirts] members.” 1938–41 (2), MNHS Collections; p. 149 (bottom), anti-​Semitic conspiracy theories into state poli- 27. D. A., “Open-​Eyed Justice,” American Jew- 151, MNHS Collections. tics. That both Chase, as establishment politi- ish World, Sept. 15, 1939, 4. cian, and the Silver Shirts articulated a desire to 28. Samuel L. Scheiner, “Report,” May 28, eliminate Jewish “influence” from state govern- 1940, box 15, folder “Discrimination, General, ment illuminated the degree to which anti-​ 1940 (4),” JCRC; Samuel Scheiner to Harry. W. Semitism had become fixed within Minnesota. Davis, Sept. 28, 1939, box 55, folder “Subversive 21. “200 Silver Shirts Show Up ‘Shirtless,’” Activities: Persons and Organizations, Rimmer-​ Minneapolis Tribune, Oct. 29, 1938; C. I. C, Sroga,” JCRC; Rapp, An Historical Overview of Anti-​ “Memo,” Dec. 2, 1938, and “Memo to Mr. Brin,” Semitism in Minnesota, 156–66; Samuel L. Dec. 5, 1938, box 41, folder “Pelley, William Dud- Scheiner, “Report,” Oct. 10, 1939, box 16, folder ley, 1938–1949 (2),” JCRC. “Discrimination, General 1938–9 (1),” JCRC. The

WINTER 2018–19 155

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