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ZEEB ROAD, ANN ARbOB, Ml 48106 18 BEDFORD ROW, LONDON WCl R 4EJ, ENGLAND 8001713 CJTTE3, [HAILES THE fe:nE.<rC5v. YIDDISH UAILY PRESS REACTION TQ THE RISE ur- r'AZISr-W 13'30-1933. THE 0HI3 STATE L^I^rRSITY, PH.D., 1979 CDPR. 1979 EUTTER, CHARLES UnivefsiW Microfilms International so o n . z e e b r o a d ,a n n a r b o r ,m i 4sio6 (c; 1979 CHARLES CUTTER ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE AMERICAN YIDDISH DAILY PRESS REACTION TO THE PISE OF NAZISM, 1930-1933 DISSERTATION Presented in Partial Rilfillrrent of the Requirements for the Do^roe Doctor of Philosophy In the Graduate School of the Ohio State University Ly Charles Cutter, B.A., B.R.E., M.A., M.L.S. ***** The Ohio State University 1979 Reading Committee: Approved By Robert Ghazan, Ph. D, Marc L. Raphaelj Ph. D. Alan D. Reyerchen, Ph. D. AdviserT T am deeply indebted to many Individuals who have helped me during the course of my work. First and foremost, T must thank Professors Robert Chazan and Marc L. Raphael who have guided this study since Its Inception. My thanks also go to Dr. Ilathan Kaganoff of the American Jewish historical Society, whose critical comments on both substance aud style are incorporated throughout this dissertation. T also acknowledge with thanks the financial assistance that I received from the Memorial Pbundatlon for Jewish Culture, finally, In dedicating this study to my wife Ruchamah, and to my children Rahel, Kovl, Yosef, and Azl, I wish to make public, if only In this small way, the enormous private debt T owe them for their helpfulness, encouragement, patience, a nd nerser vera nce. ii VITA April 1, 1936 Born - Brooklyn, New York 1957............. B.A., B.Ii.E., Yeshiva University, New York City, New York 1964............. H.A., Hunter College, New York City, New York 1967.......... M.L.S., Pratt Institute, Brooklyn, New York 1969-1976......... Jewish Studies Bibliographer, Ohio State University Library, Columbus, Ohio 1976- present Judaica Librarian, BranBeis University Library, Waltham, Massachusetts( Lecturer, Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandels University, Waltham, Massachusetts PUBLICATIONS Introduction to Jewish Bibliography: Syllabus and Bibll o^traphy. Waltham, Massachusetts I Department of Near Eastern and Judaic Studies, Brandels University, 1978. FIELDS OF STUDY Major Pleldj Jewish History Studies in Medieval Jewish History. Professors Zvi Ankorl and Robert Chazan Studies in Modern Jewish History. Professor Robert Chazan Studies in American History. Professors H. Bremner and W. Van Tine 111. TABLE OF CONTENTS Page ACKNOWLEDGMENTS .......................................... 11 VITA...................................................... Ill LIST OF TABLES.......... ....... .......................... v INTRODUCTION; Notes on Sources ........................... 1 Chapter I. Turning Points, 1930-1933 ........ 6 II. Evaluation of Hitler and Nazism, 1930-1933 ....... 40 III. German Jewry, 1930-1933 .......... 83 IV. The Protest Movement and the Boycott Movement In the United States , 1933 Protest .......... 138 Boycott ............ 175 V. The Refugees, 1930-1933 The Problem ............................... 199 Attempts at a Solution ......................... 219 VI, Summary and Conclusions ..................... 242 BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES ....... 253 BIBLIOGRAPHY ........................................... 259 Iv LIST OF TABLES lahlfl. Eaga. X # LiS'trl'bU'bXOn 86 2. Occupational Distribution ................... 88 3. Commercial Activities of German Jews (1933 Census) ....... 88 4. Representation of Jews in German Industry .............. 91 5. Representation of Jews in German Professions.. ......... 92 6. Voting Patterns ............. 99 7. Occupational Structure of the Jewish Refugee Community in Paris .......... ^^5 INTRODUCTION NOIES ON SOURCES The Jewish world was shocked by Hitler's appointment as chancellor on January 3, 1933. It found it hard to comprehend how a nation as cultured as the Germans could embrace Nazism and elevate a demagogue like Hitler to the helm of government. I will not attempt in this study to summarize world Jewish reaction to the events which led to Hitler's appointment and the effect it had, particularly on the German Jewish community. Rather, I >A11 limit the study to an analysis of the reaction of the Yiddish speaking segment of the American Jewish community to the events in Germany and an assessment of the situation as it was mirrored in the Yiddish daily press of the period. lo better understand why I chose to study American Yiddish press reaction, it is necessary to discuss this segment of the American Jewish community and the Yiddish language press. Beginning with the eighties of the past century, east European Jews began to flock to the shores of the United States in ever growing numbers. Some immigrants sought political freedom and escape from persecution. Others came to the Goldine Amerike in search of better economic opportunities. Over two million east European Jews had arrived in the United States prior to the enactment of the Immigration Acts of 1921 and I92U. These immigrants constituted a majority of the Jewish 1 community and imprinted on it the powerful stamp of eastern Europe’s Yiddish language and culture. They founded the "Jewish" labor unions and were active in various Jewish cultural, benevolent, and political organizations. With the passage of time, they became active in various secular organizations as well.^ The Yiddish newspapers, as Kordecai Soltes pointed out in his study, occupied an important position as molders of Jewish public opinion. Their news columns, feature articles, and editorials contained a wealth of information concerning current Jewish events, Jewish life, and culture. They mirrored and gave expression to Jewish public opinion on 2 matters of concern to American and world Jewry, The importance of the Yiddish newspaper to its readers can be gleaned from the following recollection of a Jewish immigrant about the Yiddish press. He states : "Everyone reads a Yiddish paper, even those who knew little more than alef-bet. There were seldom many books in the average immigrant's home, but the Yiddish taper came in every day. After dinner our family would read some interesting items aloud. Not to take a naper was to confess jTOU were a barbarian. For ordinary Jews who worked in the shops or ran little stores, the Yiddish paper was their tie, perhaos only tie, with a the outside world." The New York City daily press was chosen for analysis because New York City was the major center of the American Yiddish press and of Yiddish culture in the United States. In addition, here the press was born at the end of the nineteenth century and here it continued to develop and mature in the twentieth century. Jews throughout the United States subscribed to at least one New York City Yiddish newspaper or to one of 3 its local editions. The Pbrward. for instance, published nine local and regional editions in 1932. The New York City Yiddish press also set the tone for the various local Yiddish language papers. The Yiddish press began to suffer from a decline in circulation in the period following World War I. This decline may be attriluted in part to the drastic reduction in the number of Yiddish speaking immigrants who arrived in the United States after 1921. Nevertheless, if one takes into considera tion the fact that the actual number of readers of newspapers is consider ably greater than the total number of copies which are sold, one must conclude that a considerable number of individuals continued to read the Yiddish press in the thirties. "The circulation figures of the Yiddish dailies," as Soltes noted in his study a decade earlier, "would have to be augmented by about seventy-five percent to obtain the actual number of readers. Thus, in 1933» based on a combined circulation of 381»2^2 copies of the Jewish Day (Tog), the Jewish Horning Journal (Morgen Zhornal), the Jewish Daily Forward (Fbrverts), and the Horning fleiheit, one can conclude that approximately two-thirds of a million Individuals read 4 Yiddish newspapers. T have consulted the four newspapers for this study.