#nicole greenhouse

By Nicole Greenhouse, Archivist at the Center for Jewish History

Currently, I am working on a project to arrange and describe a 100 linear foot accretion to the American Jewish Congress Records (I-77) at the American Jewish Historical Society. As I work through the collection, I was struck by a run of the “Anti-Nazi Bulletin” that I found in a few boxes of the records. These serials are from a deaccession of materials from the Jacob Blaustein Library of the American Jewish Committee. They were likely added to the collection because a majority of the serials in the series are related to the American Jewish Congress and its activities. Although the “Anti-Nazi Bulletin” was not a project of the American Jewish Congress, the organization worked throughout its existence to combat anti-Semitism and discrimination.

The Anti-Nazi Bulletin, June 1939; American Jewish Congress, records; I-77; box 854; folder 15; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY, and Boston, MA.

In fact, the “Anti-Nazi Bulletin” was the publication of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights, founded in 1933. The aim of the organization under its first president, Samuel Untermyer, was to raise awareness of Nazi activities and sympathies in the United States and lead a boycott of Nazi goods. As public favor turned against Nazi Germany, the organization shifted its reporting on hate groups in the United States. For example, Wilhelm Kunze (national leader of the German-American Bund), August Klapprott, and Mathias Kohler, were arrested and convicted of violating a New Jersey state law that forbids the incitement of racial and religious hatred. Here they are depicted as hiding behind the guise of the Ku Klux Klan.

The Anti-Nazi Bulletin, September/October 1940; American Jewish Congress, records; I-77; box 854; folder 15; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY, and Boston, MA.

The artwork in the publications are striking, equating the rise of Nazism as a threat on democracy and therefore, American values. Uncle Sam often appears, literally stomping out fascism.

The Anti-Nazi Bulletin, July 1939; American Jewish Congress, records; I-77; box 854; folder 15; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY, and Boston, MA.

Other cartoons depict Nazi leaders infiltrating American activities to push out propaganda to unsuspecting audiences. The publication also uses the power of art to call out white supremacist groups, specifically the Ku Klux Klan, as Nazi sympathizers. Besides cartoons, the bulletin also published images from pro-Nazi activities in the United States. The following image in this post is the back cover of the June 1940 issue, of a Nazi rally on Randall’s Island in New York City.

The Anti-Nazi Bulletin, June 1940; American Jewish Congress, records; I-77; box 854; folder 15; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY, and Boston, MA.

Although these images were taken over 75 years ago, they are still highly relevant. White supremacists in the United States, as we saw in Charlottesville in August of this year, use Nazi symbols to disseminate hate against Jews, people of color, LGBTQ, and other minority groups. Using historical resources, we can learn from organizations like the Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights to combat fascism and anti-Semitism in the present day United States.

The Anti-Nazi Bulletin, September-October 1939; American Jewish Congress, records; I-77; box 854; folder 15; American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY, and Boston, MA.

Although this specific set of periodicals is currently unavailable for view in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room, while the collection is being processed, a run of the publication is held by another of the partner institutions, YIVO Institute for Jewish Research. You can view these materials in the Lillian Goldman Reading Room by logging into your Aeon account and requesting the item at this link: http://search.cjh.org/beta:CJH_SCOPE:CJH_ALEPH000022312. If you want to learn more about the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights, the records are held by the Rare Book and Manuscript Library at the Columbia University Library. The finding aid is here: http://findingaids.cul.columbia.edu/ead/nnc-rb/ldpd_4079169/. Stay tuned for more dispatches from the processing of the American Jewish Congress Records, the first 843 boxes are available for research: http://digifindingaids.cjh.org/?pID=365446