http://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c8wh2s6q No online items Guide to the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee Collection, Part 2 Special Collections & Archives University Library California State University, Northridge 18111 Nordhoff Street Northridge, CA 91330-8326 URL: https://library.csun.edu/SCA Contact: https://library.csun.edu/SCA/Contact © Copyright 2020 Special Collections & Archives. All rights reserved. Guide to the Jewish Federation URB.CRC2 1 Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committ... Contributing Institution: Special Collections & Archives Title: Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee Collection, Part 2 Creator: Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. Community Relations Committee Identifier/Call Number: URB.CRC2 Extent: 124.32 linear feet Date (inclusive): Circa 1920-1950 Abstract: In response to the spread of organized anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1930s, leaders of Los Angeles' Jewish community formed a special defense organization known as the Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee. The committee later changed its name to the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee. The collection documents the committee's efforts to combat prejudice and educate the public through cooperation with both Jewish and non-Jewish groups, from its formation in 1933 through the early 1990s. It consists primarily of administrative records, documentation of fact finding and community relations activities. Part 2 of the collection continues the documentation of the CRC's activities under the leadership of Leon Lewis through the end of his tenure in 1946. Language of Material: English,German Historical Note: In response to the spread of organized anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1930s spearheaded by domestic groups like the Ku Klux Klan and international ones like the propaganda arm of Hitler's Third Reich in Germany, leaders of Los Angeles' Jewish community formed a special defense organization known as the Los Angeles Community Relations Committee. The committee's purpose was to work with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai B'rith, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the American Jewish Congress, the Council of Jewish Women, and other Zionist organizations to fight anti-Semitism in the United States. Mendel Silberberg, a respected community leader and motion picture industry attorney, served as the first chairman of Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee, which consisted of approximately forty representatives from various Jewish organizations. The committee adopted the strategy set forth by the ADL in 1933 for combating "un-Americanism," which was to infiltrate and expose pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic organizations and, if necessary, turn the information over to federal government agencies. The Community Relations Committee met on a biweekly basis to set policy and report on right wing activities in Los Angeles. It had subcommittees on research and fact-finding, public relations, legal and legislative matters, internal Jewish relations, interfaith activities, and education. The Committee maintained close relationships with other like-minded groups, even sharing an office suite with the Southern California Anti-Defamation Council during the 1940s. The Committee collected a massive amount of propaganda literature, primarily from anti-Semitic, pro-Nazi, and other right wing organizations. Undercover agents and informants were recruited from the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, and planted among suspect groups in the Los Angeles area. The Americanism Committee of the Los Angeles County Council of the American Legion presented information gathered by the Community Relations Committee to the House Un-American Activities Committee (also known as the Dies Committee or HUAC), showing the connections between local groups including the American German Bund, Friends of the New Germany, and the German government in Europe. The Committee's work in the 1930s was so effective that both the AJC and ADL considered it their Los Angeles branch. The committee also worked closely with national Jewish groups such as the American Jewish Committee and United Jewish Welfare Fund to fight the Nazi threat, and to coordinate Jewish civic defense activities nationwide. It provided information on right wing activities to the FBI, military and naval intelligence, and state and federal government prosecutors. The evidence they gathered and reports they wrote were used in trials involving naturalization proceedings, sedition and espionage. In 1938, Joseph Roos, a newspaperman and screenwriter who had served as a volunteer informant, joined the Community Relations Committee's staff. He set up a master file system for the committee's records, and edited the CRC's News Letter, which provided "intelligence" news reports and analysis of propaganda to committee, government officials, teachers, churchmen, influential journalists, and radio commentators across the United States. Radio broadcaster Walter Winchell and newspaper columnist Drew Pearson obtained many of their sensational "scoops" about American extremist groups from the News Letter. Under the News Research Service, Roos also directed the CRC's Radio Project and produced news releases and newspaper columns. The last issue of this noteworthy publication went to press on December 7, 1941. With the United States' entry into World War II, the Committee's intelligence gathering activities and investigative journalism were superseded by new activities with patriotic organizations, veterans groups, inter-faith religious Guide to the Jewish Federation URB.CRC2 2 Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committ... organizations, and local schools and colleges to combat rising bigotry and discrimination. In 1941 the committee changed its name to the Community Relations Committee (CRC) of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. At war's end, the CRC again reorganized itself in an attempt to better serve the larger Los Angeles community. Some of the most important issues the CRC addressed in the post-World War II period included resettlement of refugees from Eastern Europe on the West Coast, de-nazification in Germany, immigration legislation, religion in public schools, communism, civil liberties, discrimination in housing, fair employment practices, inter-racial relations, stereotyping in the motion picture industry and religious tolerance. The CRC also kept in close contact with the motion picture and television industries in an attempt to limit the cast stereotyping of Jews and other ethnic groups. Scope and Contents Part 2 of the CRC Collection documents the period circa 1920-1950, with the bulk of the material within the 1938-1946 range. The files contain the papers of both Executive Director Leon L. Lewis and Joseph Roos, Lewis's staff assistant, who took over the responsibility of maintaining the records of the JCC following Lewis' tenure. Roos was also placed in charge of informant debriefings, creating the Master File system, and wrote the newsletter of the News Research Service (NRS). The series, subseries and file structure of Part 2 is consistent with the arrangement found in Part 1 of the collection. The collection is divided into three major series: Administration (1938-circa 1949), Fact Finding and Community Relations (circa 1920-1950), and Leon L. Lewis (Personal and Law Practice) (1938-1945). Series I, Administration, is divided into five subseries. Subseries A, Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee (LAJC Committee) (1938-1946), consists of the incomplete minutes as well as correspondence between committee members and the executive secretary. It documents the JCC's subcommittee structure, which reflects the important areas of concern to the Jewish community. Subseries B, Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee - Executive Office (1938-circa 1949), consists of the correspondence, inter-office memoranda, and reports of staff members, as well as contact lists for mailings, and files of literature distributed from the JCC office. Much of the executive office correspondence related to fact-finding and community relations is filed in Series II. Subseries C, Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee - Supported Groups (1938-circa 1949), consists of materials pertaining to the cooperative community relations campaign undertaken with both Jewish and non-Jewish groups in the region. Subseries D, Los Angeles Jewish Community Council - Parenting/Funding Organizations (1938-1946), consists of materials that document the close ties developed with the Jewish Community Council during this period. Subseries E, Motion Picture Division (1938-1946), consists of materials that document the relationship between the JCC and the motion picture industry. The Hollywood Committee of earlier years became the Motion Picture Division in 1938 and played a major role in establishing the News Research Service, Inc. Series II, Fact Finding and Community Relations, is divided into eleven subseries. Subseries A, Complaints, Inquiries and Investigations (Complaints) (1938-1946), consists of materials that document the investigations of individual complaints received about anti-Semitism and discrimination in the Jewish community. Subseries B, Court Cases and Legislative Hearings (Cases & Hearings) (1935-1946), consists of materials that document the JCC's participation in several legal and legislative activities, and