United States History

A Concise Unit On the Holocaust

 

 

Being that the typical American textbook survey of United States history is only allowed a very limited space in dealing with any issue (textbooks will contain material in lengths varying from several paragraphs to generally not more than three pages), and given that the teaching of the Holocaust is mandated by the State of Illinois, this lesson plan will serve as a supplement to district-purchased resources in expanding student access to information directly relating to United States involvement during and after the Shoah.

 

Historical Context:  The Holocaust, a term popularized by Nobel Laureate and Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel, was one of several genocides carried out in the 20th Century.  Wiesel used the term, which means a wholly burnt offering or sacrifice, to refer to the period 1933-45 when the Nazis and their collaborators deliberately and intentionally murdered 2/3 of European Jewry as well as perhaps six million non-Jews.  However, the events of the Shoah did not take place across Europe and North Africa without a tremendous amount of ambivalence from a tremendous amount of people.  As the German war machine swept across the European continent, the Allies focused on winning the war, at all costs.  The by-product of this strategy was the loss of 12 million lives in the Nazi camps and by Nazi hands in the ghettos, forests, and killing fields.  But was it solely at Nazi hands?

 

Rationale To Teach:  The Shoah (Hebrew for catastrophe) stands as one of the most heinous acts of the 20th Century.  It is an event that has shocked the world both in the horrors that were perpetrated against its victims, but sadly too, for the fact that its symptoms still exist and impede the world’s ability to truly learn from its lessons.  It is unique in many regards; it also continues to be both misinterpreted and misrepresented.  Today, American society is full of people who don’t want to get involved, those who look the other way at injustice, or simply mind their own affairs.  When faced with a problem it is much easier to turn away and melt into what we consider normalcy – there we generally don’t find the types of controversies that make us uneasy.  American teenagers need to find a reason to care, to shake free from their me-centered tendencies.  This unit gives them a chance to see what silence and/or indifference can reap.

 

Materials:

 

·        Incorporating Holocaust Studies into Your Existing Courses8

·        Guidelines for Teaching About the Holocaust (may be printed from http://www.ushmm.org/education/foreducators/teachabo/part_2.pdf).

·        Additional web resources:

1.      http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/holo.html:  Comprehensive Holocaust site, complete with several articles concerning the United States and the Holocaust, including such varied topics as IBM’s involvement, the Louis/Schmeling boxing match, and why the Allies didn’t bomb Auschwitz.

2.      http://www.ushmm.org:  Site of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.  Comprehensive, with several on-line exhibits, as well as teacher materials and ideas.

3.      http://www.yad-vashem.org.il/about_holocaust/faqs/home_faq.html:  Subsection of the Yad Vashem (Israel’s museum for Holocaust study and documentation) dealing with several frequently asked questions.  The entire site is a wealth of information.

 

Pre-Teaching (5 minutes):  Towards the end of the period preceding the teaching of the Holocaust, the teacher should assign the class to read whatever material on the Shoah is covered in the textbook.  The instructor might also wish to assign any study questions pertaining to this topic, whether the evaluation comes from an end-of-chapter exercise, or questions dealing with maps, photos, or short readings within the main body of text.  Students should have some degree of prior knowledge before beginning the principal study of the Holocaust.

 

Procedure (up to three class periods):  As students enter the classroom, they should be able to view the following definition of the term genocide, either written on the chalkboard or as an overhead film.

 

Generally speaking, genocide does not necessarily mean the immediate destruction of a nation, except when accomplished by mass killings of all members of a nation. It is intended rather to signify a coordinated plan of different actions aiming at the destruction of essential foundations of the life of national groups, with the aim of annihilating the groups themselves. The objectives of such a plan would be disintegration of the political and social institutions, of culture, language, national feelings, religion, and the economic existence of national groups, and the destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity, and even the lives of the individuals belonging to such groups. Genocide is directed against the national group as an entity, and the actions involved are directed against individuals, not in their individual capacity, but as members of the national group.    ~ Raphael Lemkin.9

 

 

Questions:

 

1.      What is your first impression of this definition of genocide?

 

2.      What does “coordinated plan” mean to you?

 

3.      What does “destruction of the personal security, liberty, health, dignity” mean to you? 

 

4.      How is one defined as a member of a “national group”?

 

5.      How does the above definition tie in with last night’s reading assignment on the Holocaust?

 

In the context of US history, there haven’t been many “textbook encounters” with Jews -- perhaps in the colonial period when religious freedom was discussed, or again in the latter-19th Century when European immigration was taught, but by-and-large Jews don’t get a lot of “ink” in American history textbooks.  Yet, we know that they have been prevalent in the thoughts of Americans at times, and particularly during the 1930’s.  Consider this information from the period and from public opinion polls of that era:

 

  1. There is much evidence of American antisemitism throughout the 1920’s.
  2. American antisemitism intensified with the Great Depression of 1929.
  3. In 1939, 41% of Americans believed Jews had too much power.
    1. Of those, 10% favored Jewish deportation.
    2. 50% would never vote for a Jewish presidential candidate.
    3. 33% questioned Jewish patriotism.
    4. 33% endorsed antisemitism.
  4. There were 120+ antisemitic groups operating in the USA in 1930’s.10

 

So what is an antisemite?  What does the term mean?  Historically, Jews have been hated for the following reasons (there are many reasons – the following are the main ones, in no particular order):

 

  1. Economic factors
  2. The need for scapegoats
  3. Ethnic hatred
  4. Xenophobia (dislike of foreigners, racism)
  5. Resentment of Jewish affluence and professional success
  6. Religious bigotry11

 

In fact, it can be said somewhat universally that at one time or another, nearly every one of the world’s greatest powers that has had a large Jewish population has regarded this group, which never constituted more than a small percentage of the total national population, as an enemy.12  Consider – antisemites have not opposed Jews because Jews are affluent (poor Jews have also been hated) or strong (weak Jews also seem to invite antisemitic bullying) or have unpleasant personalities (kindly Jews are hated, too)…  Antisemites have hated Jews because Jews are Jewish.13

 

There are four basic causes for the Jewish challenge to the views of non-Jews:

 

  1. For thousands of years, Jews have cleaved to the idea of the one true God, of their law as set forth in the Torah, and of peoplehood, evidenced today in the form of the state of Israel.  All of these have caused separation from non-Jews whether religiously, socially, or politically.
  2. Jews have been charged with the task of spreading “ethical monotheism” to the world.  This has brought them into conflict with other religions and political entities.
  3. It was God who commissioned the Jews to do the above.  For those who don’t believe in God, or for those who feel that Christianity or Islam has superseded the Jews’ “choseness”, this is a problem.
  4. As a result of the Jews call to a higher standard, they have tended to live higher quality lives (economically, educationally, socially, relationally) than their non-Jewish contemporaries.14

 

If the above are true (or perceived as true) statements, then we can see how the seeds of the Holocaust might be planted, and indeed planted in any society at any time.  The most curious thing about antisemitism is that it even exists in areas where there are no Jews.15

 

Questions:

 

1.      What does hate need to survive?

 

2.      Why do people hate? 

 

3.      Is there a social group in your area or school, or that you know of, that you feel is generally disliked? 

 

4.      What qualities does this group possess, or seem to possess, that irritates the rest of society to the point where they would discriminate or cause emotional or physical duress?  Of the named qualities, which are real and which are ascribed (pinned on them by outsiders)?

 

5.      What role does, or should, government play in stopping hate?  Where is the line of telling people what they can and can’t think, infringing on freedom of speech, etc.?

 

6.      Do you think people are influenced by hate/anti-hate as spread by celebrities (both in the political and entertainment arenas)?

 

 

Activity:  Divide the class into four groups.  Each group will be given a reading assignment overnight (how long the previous discussion took will dictate how long student get to start their reading in class).  The groups will meet together at the beginning of class the next day to discuss their reading and make a short presentation to the rest of the class.  The reading groups and materials to be covered are:

 

Breckinridge Long (1881-1958)

Memo from Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long, to State Dept. Officials

 

Fallen Hero:  Charles Lindbergh in the 1940’s

Lindbergh Said To Regret Misperceptions Over Jews

 

Chapter 6:  Henry Ford and the Nazis

 

The International Jew:  Anti-Semitism from the Roaring Twenties Revived on the Web

Isolationism and Antisemitism

 

When students return to class the next day, they should be given a sheet of poster board or butcher paper and some magic markers.  Each group should fill out the following basic information, and be ready to present to the class after about 20-25 minutes of work time.

 

  1. Who was the main person/main people the story was about?
  2. How did they come to be in a position of influence in America?
  3. What did they do that worked against the Jews of Europe?
  4. Were they directly or indirectly responsible for antisemitism in their period?
  5. What were the methods they used to sway public opinion?
  6. In your opinion, was United States policy toward the European Jews affected by this person’s/these people’s actions?
  7. Could this person/these people have been positive influences in their position?  That is, what were the choices they could have made, contrary to what they actually did?

 

Presentations should run around five minutes, with a few minutes after for questions either from the instructor or other reading groups.

 

Evaluation:  As stated earlier, any textbook questions assigned as pre-teaching can be used.  In-class participation should be considered, as should the group report.  For additional grades, the instructor might consider assigning the following list of vocabulary words (which may or may not be in the typical US history text) – all answers should of course be in the context of the Shoah; any of the following terms are easily defined using the major Holocaust websites listed above in the Materials section:

 

  1. Wagner-Rogers Legislation
  2. War Refugee Board
  3. Righteous Gentiles
  4. United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration
  5. Kindertransport
  6. Displaced Persons Camps
  7. Palestine
  8. White Paper
  9. Reparations
  10. Revisionists
  11. United States Holocaust Memorial Council
  12. United Nations Genocide Convention

 

NOTE:  If time allows, the following day the class might view the videotape “America and the Holocaust”.16

Breckinridge Long (1881 -1958)People & Events
Breckinridge Long (1881 -1958)


During the horrifying years of the Holocaust, while the Nazis were killing thousands of Jews a day, the U.S. State Department official in charge of matters concerning European refugees was Breckinridge Long, an extreme nativist with a particular suspicion of Eastern Europeans. To make matters worse, Long's views were shared by many of his subordinates, most of whom showed themselves to be indifferent to the tragedy unfolding in Europe. One Treasury Department official would later call them an American "underground movement...to let the Jews be killed." Long himself was extremely paranoid and came to believe not only that he was constantly under attack from "the communists, extreme radicals, Jewish professional agitators, [and] refugee enthusiasts," but that his colleagues were conspiring against him as well. It's not surprising that with men like Long in control, very little would be done to help the Jews in Europe.

Long's political career had begun during World War I when he had served as an assistant secretary of state to President Woodrow Wilson. In 1920 he left the State Department to run for the Senate, but like many other Democratic candidates, he was defeated in an election that turned into a landslide Republican victory. In 1933, in return for Long's election campaign support, the newly-elected president, Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Long as his ambassador to Italy, a position Long held for three years, but not without controversy. Many observers felt Long was overtly pro-Mussolini, and they criticized him for advising the president against imposing an embargo on oil shipments to Italy in retaliation for Mussolini's invasion of Ethiopia.

In 1940 Long was back at the State Department, this time as assistant secretary in charge of the Visa Division. By the middle of the year, Long had managed to reverse a 1938 Roosevelt initiative that had somewhat eased the extremely restrictive immigration policies of the Great Depression years. Under the pretext that Nazi spies were hiding among the refugees seeking admission to the U.S., Long designed a secret policy to tighten the immigration requirements, effectively slashing admissions by half. A year later, Long's department cut refugee immigration once more, this time reducing admission to about a quarter of the relevant quotas. A regulation known as the "relatives rule" was responsible for the reductions. It required any applicant with relatives in German, Russian, or Italian territory to pass an extremely arduous security test. At the same time, all would-be immigrants were required to undergo a very thorough security review by inter-departmental committees. If the committees gave an applicant an unfavorable review, a visa was refused.

Perhaps the most appalling contribution Long made to the restrictive immigration policy during the war was an intra-department memo he circulated in June 1940. He wrote: "We can delay and effectively stop for a temporary period of indefinite length the number of immigrants into the United States. We could do this by simply advising our consuls to put every obstacle in the way and to require additional evidence and to resort to various administrative devices which would postpone and postpone and postpone the granting of the visas." The effects of Long's delaying tactics made refugee aid workers despair. One of them wrote: "We cannot continue to let these tragic people [German Jews] go on hoping that if they comply with every requirement, if they get all the special documents required...if they nerve themselves for the final interview at the Consulate, they may just possibly be the lucky ones to get visas when we know that practically no one is granted visas in Germany today." Ultimately, the effect of the immigration policies set by Long's department was that, during American involvement in the war, 90 percent of the quota places available to immigrants from countries under German and Italian control were never filled. If they had been, an additional 190,000 people could have escaped the atrocities being committed by the Nazis.

Various other initiatives to save Europe's Jews met with obstruction from Long. For example, in April 1943, Gerhart Riegner, the World Jewish Congress representative in Geneva, suggested a plan to save thousands of French and Rumanian Jews. Even after the proposal had the support of the president, Long and his subordinates delayed acting on it for eight months. Long obstructed rescue efforts again in November 1943, when the House was considering a resolution that would establish a separate government agency charged with rescuing refugees. In a closed hearing on the matter, Long gave testimony that was peppered with inaccuracies. He greatly exaggerated the number of refugees to have reached the U.S. since Hitler came to power. He also claimed that everything that could be done to save the Jews was being done. Long's presentation effectively crippled support for the measure, but only for a time. Eventually publication of his testimony revealed the apathy and even callous attitude of Long and his associates.

In January 1944 before the resolution for a rescue agency came to a vote, President Roosevelt established the War Refugee Board, which relieved the State Department of responsibility for rescue efforts. The Board had some success in rescuing Jews and may have been responsible for saving as many as 200,000 lives. Long left the State Department at the end of 1944. He devoted much of the rest of his life to breeding race horses and died 14 years later at his luxurious home in Laurel, Maryland.

 

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX90.html

Memo from Assistant Secretary of State Breckinridge Long, to State Department Officials dated June 26, 1940, outlining effective ways to obstruct the granting of U.S. visas.

 

 

A-B - Mr. Berle

PA/D Mr. Dunn

 

Attached is a memorandum from Mr. Warren. I discussed the matter with him on the basis of this memorandum. There are two possibilities and I will discuss each category briefly.

 

Non-immigrants

 

Their entry into the United States can be made to depend upon prior authorization by the Department. This would mean that the consuls would be divested of discretion and that all requests for nonimmigrant visas (temporary visitor and transit visas) be passed upon here. It is quite feasible and can be done instantly. It will permit the Department to effectively control the immigration of persons in this category and private instructions can be given the Visa Division as to nationalities which should not be admitted as well as to individuals who are to be excluded.

 

This must be done for universal application and could not be done as regards Germany, for instance, or Russia, for instance, or any other one government because it would first, invite retaliation and second, would probably be a violation of some of our treaty arrangements. The retaliation clause is in connection with Germany because it could mean the closing of our offices in almost all of Europe.

 

Immigrants

 

We can delay and effectively stop for a temporary period of indefinite length the number of immigrants into the United States. We could do this by simply advising our consuls, to put every obstacle in the way and to require additional evidence and to resort to various administrative devices which would postpone and postpone and postpone the granting of the visas. However, this could only be temporary. In order to make it more definite It would have to be done by suspension of the rules under the law by the issuance of a proclamation of emergency--which I take it we are not yet ready to proclaim.

 

Summing Up

 

We can effectively control non-immigrants by prohibiting the issuance of visas unless the consent of the Department to obtained in advance for universal application.

 

We can temporarily prevent the number of immigrants from certain localities such as Cuba, Mexico and other places of origin of German intending immigrants by simply raising administrative obstacles.

 

The Department will be prepared to take these two steps immediately upon the decision but emphasis must be placed on the fact that discrimination must not be practiced and with the additional thought that in case a suspension of the regulations should be proclaimed under the need of an emergency, it would be universally applicable and would affect refugees from England.

 

The Canadian situation and travel across that border we can handle through an exception to the general rule and so advise our consuls In Canada.

 

 

http://www.brandywinesources.com/1901-1945/1940DOCAnti-immigrationMemo.htm

Fallen Hero: Charles Lindbergh in the 1940s


In 1935, after enduring a three-year ordeal involving the kidnapping and murder of their first born son and the trial of the man accused of committing the crime, Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh chose to flee the country that had made them national icons. Charles, whose battles with the media over issues of privacy were long-standing, confided to a friend that, "We Americans are a primitive people. ...Americans seem to have little respect for the law or the rights of others." The Lindberghs found sanctuary in the English countryside. Two years later, they moved again, this time to a tiny island off the northwest coast of France. One reason for their choice of locales was so Charles could work more closely with Dr. Alexis Carrel, a Nobel-prize-winning French scientist.

Carrel was regarded as a brilliant medical pioneer for his work in suturing small blood vessels during surgery and in transplanting organs. Lindbergh was eager to discuss with him the potential for successfully operating on a defective human heart. Anne's sister, Elisabeth, had recently suffered a heart attack that permanently damaged her heart's valves. Lindbergh, ever the mechanical wizard, came up with an idea for a heart pump that he revealed to Carrel. Carrel was impressed. The two men collaborated on research and published a book together in 1938, "The Culture of Organs."

In addition to being an innovator in the field of medicine, Carrel held some quite controversial views on the nature of man. A 1935 interview quoted him as saying, "There is no escaping the fact that men were definitely not created equal..." Carrel was in favor of eliminating from society criminals, the insane, and any others who, in his view, weakened civilization's foundation. Lindbergh was taken with Carrel's ideas and thought he had "the most stimulating mind I have ever met." Such notions concerning the superiority of one race over another, and the metering out of society's "weaker" members sounded to some too closely related to the ideas being promoted by Adolf Hitler's Nazi party in Germany.

The Lindberghs had seen the effect of Nazism on a revitalized Germany in 1936. That year, Charles was asked by the American military attaché in Berlin to report on the state of Germany's military aviation program. While in Germany, Charles and Anne attended the Summer Olympic games as the special guests of Field Marshal Hermann Goering, the head of the German military air force, the Luftwaffe. Lindbergh toured German factories, took the controls of state-of-the-art bombers, and noted the multiplying airfields. He visited Germany twice during the next two years. With each visit, he became more impressed with the German military and the German people. He was soon convinced that no other power in Europe could stand up to Germany in the event of war. "The organized vitality of Germany was what most impressed me: the unceasing activity of the people, and the convinced dictatorial direction to create the new factories, airfields, and research laboratories...," Lindbergh recalled in "Autobiography of Values." His wife drew similar conclusions. "...I have never in my life been so conscious of such a directed force. It is thrilling when seen manifested in the energy, pride, and morale of the people--especially the young people," she wrote in "The Flower and the Nettle." By 1938, the Lindberghs were making plans to move to Berlin.

In October 1938, Lindbergh was presented by Goering, on behalf of the Fuehrer, the Service Cross of the German Eagle for his contributions to aviation. News of Nazi persecution of Jews had been filtering out of Germany for some time, and many people were repulsed by the sight of an American hero wearing a Nazi decoration. Lindbergh, by all appearances, considered the medal to be just another commendation. No different than all the others. Many considered this attitude to be naive, at best. Others saw it as an outright acceptance of Nazi policies. Less than a month after the presenting of the medal, the Nazis orchestrated a brutal assault on Jews that came to be known as Kristallnacht, the night of broken glass. Nazis and their sympathizers smashed the windows of Jewish businesses, burned homes and synagogues, and left scores dead. Between 20,000 and 30,000 Jews were arrested and sent to concentration camps. The Lindberghs decided to cancel their plans to move to Germany.

Having returned to America in April 1939, Lindbergh turned his attention toward keeping his country out of a war in Europe. At the time, most Americans shared his isolationist views. Germany invaded Poland five months later, drawing Britain and France into the war. Two weeks later, Lindbergh delivered his first nationwide radio address in which he urged America to remain neutral. In the speech he criticized President Roosevelt, who believed the Nazis must be stopped in their conquest of Europe. Lindbergh saw Nazi victory as certain and thought America's attention should be placed elsewhere. "These wars in Europe are not wars in which our civilization is defending itself against some Asiatic intruder... This is not a question of banding together to defend the white race against foreign invasion." Building on his belief that "racial strength is vital," Lindbergh published an article in Reader's Digest stating, "That our civilization depends on a Western wall of race and arms which can hold back... the infiltration of inferior blood."

As Germany pushed on into France and began its Blitzkrieg bombardment of England, Americans began to alter their isolationist views. One group, however, had no such change of heart. The America First Committee was the most powerful isolationist group in the country. Its 850,000 members came from all professions and backgrounds. The AFC was headed by Robert E. Wood, head of Sears Roebuck. Impressed by what they had heard from Charles Lindbergh, the AFC invited him to join their executive committee. Lindbergh accepted the invitation, but insisted on drawing no salary. He also insisted on writing his own speeches and would not submit them for approval. One such speech was given in Des Moines, Iowa, on September 11, 1941.

With his hero status already greatly tarnished by his philosophical and political beliefs, Lindbergh delivered a speech in Des Moines that fully knocked him off his pedestal. Announcing that it was time to "name names," Lindbergh decided to identify what he saw as the pressure groups pushing the U.S. into war against Germany. "The three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt Administration." Of the Jews, he went on to say, "Instead of agitating for war, Jews in this country should be opposing it in every way, for they will be the first to feel its consequences. Their greatest danger to this country lies in their large ownership and influence in our motion pictures, our press, our radio and our government." The speech was met with outrage from numerous quarters. Lindbergh was denounced as an anti-Semite. His mother-in-law and sister-in-law publicly opposed his views. Civic and corporate organizations cut all ties and affiliations with him. His name was even removed from the water tower in his hometown of Little Falls, Minnesota.

All debate surrounding U.S. war policy came to an end on December 8, 1941, the day after Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. The United States was now at war on two fronts: in Europe and in the Pacific. Despite having resigned his military commission in 1939, Lindbergh was eager to fight for his country. FDR wouldn't hear of it. "You can't have an officer leading men who thinks we're licked before we start...,"said the President. Rejected by Roosevelt, Lindbergh worked as a private consultant to Henry Ford (a man who'd drawn fire for his own anti-Semitic views. Ford was manufacturing B-24 bombers in a Michigan plant. In 1943, Lindbergh convinced United Aircraft to send him to the Pacific as an observer. His work there involved a good deal more than observation though. Lindbergh flew more than 50 combat missions, including one in which he brought down an enemy fighter. The 42-year-old Lindbergh often bested men half his age in feats demanding intense physical ability. Drawing on his extraordinary piloting skills, Lindbergh instructed others on how to conserve fuel and extend their flying range by up to 500 miles.

By August 1945, both Japan and Germany had been soundly defeated. Evidence of Nazi atrocities against Jews shocked the world. Still, Lindbergh refused to admit he was wrong in his assessment of the Nazis. He did indicate, however, that his real hope during the war had been that Hitler and Russian leader, Joseph Stalin, would destroy each other and leave the world safe for the "preservers of Western civilization." He began to speak of the misuse of power as the greatest threat facing mankind. In a 1945 speech he said, "History is full of its misuse. There is no better example than Nazi Germany. Power without moral force to guide it invariably ends in the destruction of the people who wield it. Power...must be backed by morality..."

To millions of one-time admirers, Charles Lindbergh's luster had been fatally tainted by his words and associations during the 1930's and early 1940's. Historian William O'Neill spoke for many Americans when he offered the opinion that "In promoting appeasement and military unpreparedness, Lindbergh damaged his country to a greater degree than any other private citizen in modern times. That he meant well makes no difference." It would be years before the words Lindbergh and hero were again uttered in the same breath.

 

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/lindbergh/sfeature/fallen.html

Lindbergh Said to Regret Misperceptions Over Jews

April 20, 1980 By HERBER MITGANG

Charles A. Lindbergh, the idol of American aviation whose name became synonymous with isolationism on the eve of World War II, in later life regretted that he was perceived as being anti-Semitic, according to his wife. He was appalled when he saw the survivors of a concentration camp in Germany after the war. And as early as 1941, a few weeks before Pearl Harbor, he and his wife discussed and approved the idea of an independent homeland for the Jewish people similar to what would eventually become the state of Israel.

These points emerge in "War Within and Without: The Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1939-1944," to be published as a Helen and Kurt Wolff Book/Harcourt Brace Jovanovich on April 28, and in an interview with the author, whose husband died in 1974.

"Charles was a stubborn Swede, you know," Mrs. Lindbergh, 73, said good-naturedly, "and he himself never felt the need to explain his feelings about where he stood and about past statements. But I feel free now to elaborate on his actual attitudes. He never wanted to be regarded as a hero or leader, and he never had political ambitions. His prewar isolationist speeches were given in all sincerity for what he thought was the good of the country and the world.

Mrs. Lindbergh concedes that she is now looking at events with the benefit of hindsight, that she has gained objectivity, and that she is now able to admit her own and her husband's mistakes. She says that she can understand the Roosevelt Administration's "misinterpretation" of Lindbergh's prewar role. But she also believes that some of his prophecies were correct.

"He felt that the Soviet Union would come out of the war with the greatest territorial gains - and that was prophetic," she said, in the course of an interview in the office of her publisher, Helen Wolff. "but he was wrong in saying that Britain could not survive in a war with Germany. He was unaware of the fact that the Nazi codes were broken, or of the existence of radar. What he feared was that aerial bombing could cause great destruction in a war. Of course, he did not know about the existence of concentration camps."

In the introduction of her book -"it took me two years to write the introduction because I read everything I could that he and others had said, and the histories of the period" - she says that on May 7, 1945, her husband was on a naval technical mission. He was driven to Norhausen, the German underground factory for V-1 and v-2 rockets. Nearby, he saw Camp Dora, where concentration-camp victims were used as forced labor.

"It was here that he faced for the first time the horrifying remains of the Nazi death factories, about which he wrote in his wartime journals: 'Here was a place where men and life and death had reached the lowest form of degradation. How could any reward in national progress even faintly justify the establishment and operation of such a place?' 'It seemed impossible that men - civilized men - could degenerate to such a level.' "

Mrs. Lindbergh added, "He was accused of being anti-Semitic, but in the 45 years I lived with him I never heard him make a remark against the Jews, not a crack or joke, and neither did any of our children."

In the unretouched diaries in the book, the notation for Nov. 24, 1941, covers a private conversation between the Lindberghs about the need for the Jews having "a land of their own." Although pessimistic about the prospect, she quotes him as saying that it "must be worked at." On the subject of anti-Semitism, she adds: "He talks absolutely the way I feel, that it isn't only what happens to the Jews but what happens to the people who Jew-bait. How it degrades a man or a nation. War is clean, but the other is disease."

The diaries disclose that she was deeply disturbed about his speech made on Sept 11, 1941, in Des Moines, where he said, "the three most important groups who have been pressing this country toward war are the British, the Jewish and the Roosevelt Administration." In the same speech, he said, "no person with a sense of the dignity of mankind can condone the persecution of the Jewish race in Germany."

In the interview, Mrs. Lindbergh said she tried to stop him from making the Des Moines speech, and that she toned it down. "I told him he would be attacked, and he was. but his aim was to speak from the point of view of what air damage would do in destroying .Europe and causing deaths. he thought he was dealing with facts, not emotions. He did not realize the explosive power of his remakes, like the" - "penumbra of a bomb."

Mrs. Lindbergh said that she had been working on the diaries - this is the fifth to be published - for 10 years. Some of the writing had been in her home in Connecticut, in Hawaii and in her son's home in Switzerland. "I don't plan to continue with the diaries," she said, "but I may turn next to essays. I'm not happy when I'm not writing." her books are published by her friend Mrs. Wolff, who, with her late husband, Kurt, were outstanding publishers in Germany and elsewhere in Europe before coming to the United States because of Hitler's racial laws.

 

http://www.charleslindbergh.com/ny/105.asp

CHAPTER SIX

Henry Ford and the Nazis


I would like to outline the importance attached by high [Nazi] officials to respect the desire and maintain the good will of "Ford," and by "Ford" I mean your father, yourself, and the Ford Motor Company, Dearborn. (Josiah E. Dubois, Jr, Generals in Grey Suits, London: The Bodley Head, 1953, p. 250.)


Henry Ford is often seen to be something of an enigma among the Wall Street elite. For many years in the 20s and 30s Ford was popularly known as an enemy of the financial establishment. Ford accused Morgan and others of using war and revolution as a road to profit and their influence in social systems as a means of personal advancement. By 1938 Henry Ford, in his public statements, had divided financiers into two classes: those who profited from war and used their influence to bring about war for profit, and the "constructive" financiers. Among the latter group he now included the House of Morgan. During a 1938 New York Times interview1 Ford averred that:

Somebody once said that sixty families have directed the destinies of the nation. It might well be said that if somebody would focus the spotlight on twenty-five persons who handle the nation's finances, the world's real warmakers would be brought into bold relief.

The Times reporter asked Ford how he equated this assessment with his long-standing criticism of the House of Morgan, to which Ford replied:

There is a constructive and a destructive Wall Street. The House of Morgan represents the constructive. I have known Mr. Morgan for many years. He backed and supported Thomas Edison, who was also my good friend ....

After expounding on the evils of limited agricultural production — allegedly brought about by Wall Street — Ford continued,

... if these financiers had their way we'd be in a war now. They want war because they make money out of such conflict — out of the human misery that wars bring.

On the other hand, when we probe behind these public statements we find that Henry Ford and son Edsel Ford have been in the forefront of American businessmen who try to walk both sides of every ideological fence in search of profit. Using Ford's own criteria, the Fords are among the "destructive" elements.

It was Henry Ford who in the 1930s built the Soviet Union's first modern automobile plant (located at Gorki) and which in the 50s and 60s produced the trucks used by the North Vietnamese to carry weapons and munitions for use against Americans.2 At about the same time, Henry Ford was also the most famous of Hitler's foreign backers, and he was rewarded in the 1930s for this long-lasting support with the highest Nazi decoration for foreigners.

This Nazi favor aroused a storm of controversy in the United States and ultimately degenerated into an exchange of diplomatic notes between the German Government and the State Department. While Ford publicly protested that he did not like totalitarian governments, we find in practice that Ford knowingly profited from both sides of World War II — from French and German plants producing vehicles at a profit for the Wehrmacht, and from U.S. plants building vehicles at a profit for the U.S. Army.

Henry Ford's protestations of innocence suggest, as we shall see in this chapter, that he did not approve of Jewish financiers profiting from war (as some have), but if anti-Semitic Morgan3 and Ford profited from war that was acceptable, moral and "constructive."


Henry Ford: Hitler's First Foreign Backer

On December 20, 1922 the New York Times reported4 that automobile manufacturer Henry Ford was financing Adolph Hitler's nationalist and anti-Semitic movements in Munich. Simultaneously, the Berlin newspaper Berliner Tageblatt appealed to the American Ambassador in Berlin to investigate and halt Henry Ford's intervention into German domestic affairs. It was reported that Hitler's foreign backers had furnished a "spacious headquarters" with a "host of highly paid lieutenants and officials." Henry Ford's portrait was prominently displayed on the walls of Hitler's personal office:

The wall behind his desk in Hitler's private office is decorated with a large picture of Henry Ford. In the antechamber there is a large table covered with books, nearly all of which are a translation of a book written and published by Henry Ford.5

The same New York Times report commented that the previous Sunday Hitler had reviewed,

The so-called Storming Battalion.., 1,000 young men in brand new uniforms and armed with revolvers and blackjacks, while Hitler and his henchmen drove around in two powerful brand-new autos.

The Times made a clear distinction between the German monarchist parties and Hitler's anti-Semitic fascist party. Henry Ford, it was noted, ignored the Hohenzollern monarchists and put his money into the Hitlerite revolutionary movement.

These Ford funds were used by Hitler to foment the Bavarian rebellion. The rebellion failed, and Hitler was captured and subsequently brought to trial. In February 1923 at the trial, vice president Auer of the Bavarian Diet testified:

The Bavarian Diet has long had the information that the Hitler movement was partly financed by an American anti-Semitic chief, who is Henry Ford. Mr. Ford's interest in the Bavarian anti-Semitic movement began a year ago when one of Mr. Ford's agents, seeking to sell tractors, came in contact with Diedrich Eichart, the notorious Pan-German. Shortly after, Herr Eichart asked Mr. Ford's agent for financial aid. The agent returned to America and immediately Mr. Ford's money began coming to Munich.

Herr Hitler openly boasts of Mr. Ford's support and praises Mr. Ford as a great individualist and a great anti-Semite. A photograph of Mr. Ford hangs in Herr Hitler's quarters, which is the center of monarchist movement.6

Hitler received a mild and comfortable prison sentence for his Bavarian revolutionary activities. The rest from more active pursuits enabled him to write Mein Kampf. Henry Ford's book, The International Jew, earlier circulated by the Nazis, was translated by them into a dozen languages, and Hitler utilized sections of the book verbatim in writing Mein Kampf.7

We shall see later that Hitler's backing in the late 20s and early 30s came from the chemical, steel, and electrical industry cartels, rather than directly from individual industrialists. In 1928 Henry Ford merged his German assets with those of the I.G. Farben chemical cartel. A substantial holding, 40 percent of Ford Motor A.G. of Germany, was transferred to I.G. Farben; Carl Bosch of I.G. Farben became head of Ford A.G. Motor in Germany. Simultaneously, in the United States Edsel Ford joined the board of American I.G. Farben. (See Chapter Two.)

Henry Ford Receives a Nazi Medal

A decade later, in August 1938 — after Hitler had achieved power with the aid of the cartels — Henry Ford received the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, a Nazi decoration for distinguished foreigners. The New York Times reported it was the first time the Grand Cross had been awarded in the United States and was to celebrate Henry Ford's 75th birthday.8

The decoration raised a storm of criticism within Zionist circles in the U.S. Ford backed off to the extent of publicly meeting with Rabbi Leo Franklin of Detroit to express his sympathy for the plight of German Jews:

My acceptance of a medal from the German people [said Ford] does not, as some people seem to think, involve any sympathy on my part with Nazism. Those who have known me for many years realize that anything that breeds hate is repulsive to me.9

The Nazi medal issue was picked up in a Cleveland speech by Secretary of Interior Harold Ickes. Ickes criticized both Henry Ford and Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh for accepting Nazi medals. The curious part of the Ickes speech, made at a Cleveland Zionist Society banquet, was his criticism of "wealthy Jews" and their acquisition and use of wealth:

A mistake made by a non-Jewish millionaire reflects upon him alone, but a false step made by a Jewish man of wealth reflects upon his whole race. This is harsh and unjust, but it is a fact that must be faced.10

Perhaps Ickes was tangentially referring to the roles of the Warburgs in the I.G. Farben cartel: Warburgs were on the board of I.G. Farben in the U.S. and Germany. In 1938 the Warburgs were being ejected by the Nazis from Germany. Other German Jews, such as the Oppenheim bankers, made their peace with the Nazis and were granted "honorary Aryan status."


Ford Motor Company Assists the German War Effort

A post-war Congressional subcommittee investigating American support for the Nazi military effort described the manner in which the Nazis succeeded in obtaining U.S. technical and financial assistance as "quite fantastic.11 Among other evidence the Committee was shown a memorandum prepared in the offices of Ford-Werke A.G. on November 25, 1941, written by Dr. H. F. Albert to R. H. Schmidt, then president of the board of Ford-Werke A.G. The memo cited the advantages of having a majority of the German firm held by Ford Motor Company in Detroit. German Ford had been able to exchange Ford parts for rubber and critical war materials needed in 1938 and 1939 "and they would not have been able to do that if Ford had not been owned by the United States." Further, with a majority American interest German Ford would "more easily be able to step in and dominate the Ford holdings throughout Europe." It was even reported to the Committee that two top German Ford officials had been in a bitter personal feud about who was to control Ford of England, such "that one of them finally got up and left the room in disgust."

According to evidence presented to the Committee, Ford-Werke A.G. was technically transformed in the late 1930s into a German company. All vehicles and their parts were produced in Germany, by German workers using German materials under German direction and exported to European and overseas territories of the United States and Great Britain. Any needed foreign raw materials, rubber and nonferrous metals, were obtained through the American Ford Company. American influence had been more or less converted into a supporting position (Hilfsstellung) for the German Ford plants.

At the outbreak of the war Ford-Werke placed itself at the disposal of the Wehrmacht for armament production. It was assumed by the Nazis that as long as Ford-Werke A.G. had an American majority, it would be possible to bring the remaining European Ford companies under German influence — i.e., that of Ford-Werke A.G. — and so execute Nazi "Greater European" policies in the Ford plants in Amsterdam, Antwerp, Paris, Budapest, Bucharest, and Copenhagen:

A majority, even if only a small one, of Americans is essential for the transmittal of the newest American models, as well as American production and sales methods. With the abolition of the American majority, this advantage, as well as the intervention of the Ford Motor Company to obtain raw materials and exports, would be lost, and the German plant would practically only be worth its machine capacity.12

And, of course, this kind of strict neutrality, taking an international rather than a national viewpoint, had earlier paid off for Ford Motor Company in the Soviet Union, where Ford was held in high regard as the ultimate of technical and economic efficiency to be achieved by the Stak-hanovites.

In July 1942 word filtered back to Washington from Ford of France about Ford's activities on behalf of the German war effort in Europe. The incriminating information was promptly buried and even today only part of the known documentation can be traced in Washington.

We do know, however, that the U.S. Consul General in Algeria had possession of a letter from Maurice Dollfuss of French Ford — who claimed to be the first Frenchman to go to Berlin after the fall of France — to Edsel Ford about a plan by which Ford Motor could contribute to the Nazi war effort. French Ford was able to produce 20 trucks a day for the Wehrmacht, which [wrote Dollfuss] is better than,

... our less fortunate French competitors are doing. The reason is that our trucks are in very large demand by the German authorities and I believe that as long as the war goes on and at least for some period of time, all that we shall produce will be taken by the German authorities .... I will satisfy myself by telling you that... the attitude you have taken, together with your father, of strict neutrality, has been an invaluable asset for the production of your companies in Europe.13

Dollfuss disclosed that profits from this German business were already 1.6 million francs, and net profits for 1941 were no less than 58,000,000 francs — because the Germans paid promptly for Ford's output. On receipt of this news Edsel Ford cabled:

Delighted to hear you are making progress. Your letters most interesting. Fully realize great handicap you are working under. Hope you and family well. Regards.

s/ Edsel Ford14

Although there is evidence that European plants owned by Wall Street interests were not bombed by the U.S. Air Force in World War II, this restriction apparently did not reach the British Bombing Command. In March 1942 the Royal Air Force bombed the Ford plant at Poissy, France. A subsequent letter from Edsel Ford to Ford General Manager Sorenson about this RAF raid commented, "Photographs of the plant on fire were published in American newspapers but fortunately no reference was made to the Ford Motor Company.15 In any event, the Vichy government paid Ford Motor Company 38 million francs as compensation for damage done to the Poissy plant. This was not reported in the U.S. press and would hardly be appreciated by those Americans at war with Naziism. Dubois asserts that these private messages from Ford in Europe were passed to Edsel Ford by Assistant Secretary of State Breckenridge Long. This was the same Secretary Long who one year later suppressed private messages through the State Department concerning the extermination of Jews in Europe. 16 Disclosure of those messages conceivably could have been used to assist those desperate people.

A U.S. Air Force bombing intelligence report written in 1943 noted that,

Principal wartime activities [of the Ford plant] are probably manufacture of light trucks and of spare parts for all the Ford trucks and cars in service in Axis Europe (including captured Russian Molotovs).16

The Russian Molotovs were of course manufactured by the Ford-built works at Gorki, Russia. In France during the war, passenger automobile production was entirely replaced by military vehicles and for this purpose three large additional buildings were added to the Poissy factory. The main building contained about 500 machine tools, "all imported from the United States and including a fair sprinkling of the more complex types, such as Gleason gear cutters, Bullard automatics and Ingersoll borers.17

Ford also extended its wartime activities into North Africa. In December 1941 a new Ford Company, Ford-Afrique, was registered in France and granted all the rights of the former Ford Motor Company, Ltd. of England in Algeria, Tunisia, French Morocco, French Equatorial, and French West Africa. North Africa was not accessible to British Ford so this new Ford Company — registered in German-occupied France — was organized to fill the gap. The directors were pro-Nazi and included Maurice Dollfuss (Edsel Ford's correspondent) and Roger Messis (described by the U.S. Algiers Consul General as "known to this office by repute as unscrupulous, is stated to be a 100 percent pro-German")18

The U.S. Consul General also reported that propaganda was common in Algiers about

... the collaboration of French-German-American capital and the questionable sincerity of the American war effort, [there] is already pointing an accusing finger at a transaction Which has been for long a subject of discussion in commercial circles.19

In brief, there is documentary evidence that Ford Motor Company worked on both sides of World War II. If the Nazi industrialists brought to trial at Nuremburg were guilty of crimes against mankind, then so must be their fellow collaborators in the Ford family, Henry and Edsel Ford. However, the Ford story was concealed by Washington — apparently like almost everything else that could touch upon the name and sustenance of the Wall Street financial elite.

 

Footnotes:

1June 4, 1938, 2:2.

2A list of these Gorki vehicles and their model numbers is in Antony G. Sutton, National Suicide: Military Aid to the Soviet Union, (New York: Arlington House Publishers, 1973), Table 7-2, p. 125.

3The House of Morgan was known for its anti-Semitic views.

4Page 2, Column 8.

5Ibid.

6Jonathan Leonard, The Tragedy of Henry Ford, (New York: G.P. Putnam's Sons, 1932), p. 208. Also see U.S. State Department Decimal File, National Archives Microcopy M 336, Roll 80, Document 862.00S/6, "Money sources of Hitler," a report from the U.S. Embassy in Berlin.

7On this see Keith Sward, The Legend of Henry Ford, (New York: Rinehart & Co, 1948), p. 139.

8New York Times, August l, 1938.

9Ibid., December 1, 1938, 12:2.

10Ibid., December 19, 1938, 5:3.

11Elimination of German Resources, p. 656.

12Elimination of German Resources, pp. 657-8.

13Josiah E. Dubois, Jr., Generals in Grey Suits, (London: The Bodley Head, 1958), p. 248.

14Ibid., p. 249.

15Ibid., p. 251.

16Ibid.

17U.S. Army Air Force, Aiming point report No I.E.2, May 29, 1943.

18U.S. State Department Decimal File, 800/61o.1.

19Ibid.

 

http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/chapter_06.htm

 

The International Jew:
Anti-Semitism from the Roaring Twenties Revived on the Web

Introduction

Though some present-day bigots have flocked to newer ideologies such as denial of the Holocaust, much anti-Semitism still revolves around the basic conspiratorial ideas expressed by older anti-Semitic texts. By offering older texts at their Web sites, today. s haters demonstrate the longevity of their beliefs, thereby legitimizing them to both dedicated followers and potential recruits.

Due to the fame of its publisher, Henry Ford Sr., The International Jew, a four-volume anti-Semitic work first published in the 1920s, has been a particularly powerful tool for haters trying to validate their hostile beliefs. Though Ford publicly apologized twice for publishing The International Jew, online anti-Semites continue to use his name to promote it.

The Dearborn Independent

The Dearborn  Publishing Company published The Dearborn Independent newspaper. At the peak of its popularity, the Dearborn, Michigan paper, owned by auto magnate Henry Ford Sr., boasted a circulation of 700,000. The Dearborn Independent first attacked Jews in its May 22, 1920 issue and continued to do so in 91 subsequent editions.

Many of the paper's anti-Semitic articles were reprinted by the Dearborn Publishing Company in four paper-bound volumes: The International Jew, the World. s Foremost Problem (November, 1920); Jewish Activities in the United States (April, 1921); Jewish Influences in American Life (November, 1921); and Aspects of Jewish Power in the United States (May, 1922). Collectively known as The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, these volumes were later published in a variety of languages and disseminated widely in the United States and abroad.

For decades, The International Jew has been in the public domain. It can be reprinted by anyone who wishes to do so. In the late 1950s, anti-Semite Gerald L.K. Smith edited and published an abridged version of The International Jew culled from the original Dearborn Independent articles. The complete text of Smith's version now is easily found at many hate sites on the World Wide Web.

The International Jew and The Protocols

Having heard in advance about the Dearborn Publishing Company's plan to attack Jews, E.G. Pipp, editor of The Dearborn Independent, resigned in disgust in April, 1920, and was replaced by William J. Cameron. Ernest Liebold, Henry Ford Sr.. s personal secretary, began to collect anti-Semitic material. Liebold passed this material to Cameron, who oversaw the articles that compose The International Jew, likely writing many of them himself. "When we get through with the Jews," Liebold was quoted in court as saying, "there won't be one of them who will dare raise his head in public."

A version of The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, the most notorious political forgery of modern times, found its way into Liebold's hands. Taken by the gullible as the confidential minutes of a meeting of Jewish leaders, The Protocols has consistently been held up by anti-Semites as proof that Jews are plotting to take over the world. Even though it has been thoroughly discredited, The Protocols continues to circulate among anti-Semites.

Liebold passed the text of The Protocols on to Cameron, who modernized Brasol's translation and used it as the foundation for The International Jew. Each of the chapters in Gerald L.K. Smith's version of the International Jew begins with a quotation from The Protocols, and one chapter "An Introduction to the Jewish Protocols is devoted to it entirely. One Dearborn Independent article lauded The Protocols as "too terribly real for fiction, too well-sustained for speculation, too deep in its knowledge of the secret springs of life for forgery." "The only statement I care to make about the Protocols is that they fit in with what is going on," Ford stated in 1921. "They have fitted the world situation up to this time. They fit it now."

The International Jew and Jewish Control

The International Jew portrayed Jews as monolithic, malicious schemers plotting to control the planet. "If there is one quality that attracts Jews, it is power," the book stated. "Wherever the seat of power may be, thither they swarm obsequiously."

The Dearborn Independent saw Jews as carrying out "revolutionary programs to break up the present control of society." These "revolutionary programs" revolve around economic control: the Jewish plan is "to control the world, not by territorial acquisition, not by military aggression, not by governmental subjugation, but by control of the machinery of commerce and exchange." According to The International Jew, "it is not merely that there are a few Jews among international financial controllers; it is that these world-controllers are exclusively Jews." The book claimed that "the motion picture influence of the United States, of the whole world, is exclusively under the control, moral and financial, of the Jewish manipulators of the public mind."

The International Jew did not portray Jews as individuals, but as a single-minded, calculating cabal. Conflict among Jews, no matter how real, was painted as a sly trick, part of the Jewish plot. Even the conflict between socialist Jews and capitalist Jews was denied. Jewish socialists and Jewish businesspeople were believed to be working in tandem, "with Jewish capital at one end of the Gentile working scheme putting the screws on the manufacturers, and with Jewish agitators and disruptionists and subversives at the other end of the Gentile working scheme putting the screws on the workmen."

In fact, like other people, Jews involve themselves in non-religious and professional activity as individuals, not as Jews. The number of Jews involved in a particular field bears no relationship to "Jewish power" or "Jewish control" of that industry. Jews do not act in concert with other Jews in the same business simply because they happen to be Jewish.

The International Jew also attacked Jews for speaking out about injustice and defending their constitutional rights. " Jewish rights seemed to be summed up in the right to banish everything from their sight and hearing that suggests Christianity or its Founder," it commented. In fact, these so-called "Attacks on Christianity" were reasonable Jewish objections to governmental expressions of Christianity which clearly violated the separation between church and state enshrined in the Constitution.

According to The International Jew, demonstrably true Jewish accounts of pogroms in Russia were nothing but fabrications. "This propaganda of pogroms . . thousands upon thousands of Jews killed. . amounts to nothing except as it illustrates the gullibility of the Press," the book stated. "No one believes this propaganda and governments regularly disprove it." Such statements foreshadowed the pernicious lies spread today by Holocaust deniers.

The International Jew blamed nearly all the troubles it saw in American society on Jews. "Whichever way you turn to trace the harmful streams of influence that flow through society, you come upon a group of Jews," it claimed. Even problems with the "national pastime" were attributed to Jewish influence: "If fans wish to know the trouble with American baseball, they have it in three words too much Jew."

The Sapiro Trial and Ford's Apology

Jews and others were outraged by The International Jew, and Ford received thousands of complaints. In September 1920, the Central Conference of American Rabbis, the National Council of Jewish Women and B'nai B'rith asked ADL to counteract Ford's work. The League released a pamphlet, The Poison Pen, that targeted the Dearborn Independent and the men behind The International Jew. More than 100 prominent citizens, including President Woodrow Wilson, former Presidents Taft and Roosevelt, W.E.B. DuBois, Clarence Darrow, and William Jennings Bryan, signed The Perils of Racial Prejudice, a statement that urged "all those who are molders of public opinion" to "strike at" The International Jew, which it characterized as "un-American, un-Christian agitation."

Prominent lawyer Samuel Untermeyer penned a widely-published statement describing the pernicious effects of the distribution of The International Jew. He wrote:

Wherever there was a Ford car there was a Ford agency not far away, and wherever there was a Ford agency these vile libelous books in the language of the country were to be found. They, coupled with the magic name of Ford, have done more than could be undone in a century to sow, spread and ripen the poisonous seeds of anti-Semitism and race hatred. These articles are so fantastic and so naïve in their incredible fantasy that they read like the work of a lunatic, and but for the authority of the Ford name they would have never seen the light of day and would have been quite harmless if they had. With that name they spread like wildfire and became the Bible of every anti-Semite&

Despite these complaints, The Dearborn Independent continued to attack Jews, even after the publication of the articles that constitute The International Jew. In 1927, the paper printed accusations that Jewish lawyer Aaron Sapiro and a group of Jewish bankers and merchants were seeking to control the nation's wheat farming'sapiro sued for defamation; his case came to trial in Detroit. Though Sapiro's suit was directed personally at Ford, Cameron testified for many days, claiming full responsibility for the articles. He even went so far as to assert that Ford had never heard of Sapiro. This lie was swiftly exposed when James M. Miller, a former Dearborn Independent employee, swore under oath that Ford had told him he intended to expose Sapiro.

Just before Ford was to take the stand, he was injured in an auto accident. While he recovered, Ford operatives demanded a mistrial after a juror spoke to a news reporter. Following the declaration of a mistrial, Ford issued public statements and apologies to individuals and Jews as a group. On July 16, 1927, an out-of-court settlement of the Sapiro suit was announced.

Though Ford apologized for The International Jew and closed the Dearborn Independent, he later accepted the Grand Cross of the German Eagle from Hitler's Nazi government in July, 1938. Some remain skeptical of his apology, claiming that Ford himself neither wrote nor personally signed it.

Ford again expressed his concern about the circulation of The International Jew following America's entry into the war against Germany, for The Protocols had become a staple of Nazi propaganda. In a 1942 letter to Sigmund Livingston, then ADL national chairman, Ford wrote, "I do not subscribe to or support, directly or indirectly, any agitation which would promote antagonism against my Jewish fellow citizens." He pointed out that he "destroyed copies" of The International Jew when he first apologized and had refused to give "permission or sanction to anyone to use my name as sponsoring such publication, or being the accredited author thereof."

In the decades following Ford's death in 1947, what was once a privately-owned business became a corporation owned in large part by the public. Since then, the Ford family and the Ford Motor Company have engaged in numerous projects and endeavors in the public interest, including many that have been supportive of Jewish concerns. Ford's grandson, Henry Ford II, consistently supported Jewish charities and cultural organizations. In 1997, for example, the Ford Motor Company sponsored the first screening of Steven Spielberg's "Schindler's List," commercial-free, on national network television.

Conclusion

As founder and owner of the Ford Motor Company, Henry Ford Sr. made a positive, lasting contribution to American industry and culture, providing mobility to millions with his inexpensive automobiles. Yet these accomplishments are marred by another of his legacies: his viciously anti-Semitic publication, the International Jew. While that series of books once reached thousands, its reach is now even greater on the Internet. Today, The International Jew can touch a whole new generation, connected to hate via the information superhighway.

This report was originally issued in July 1999.

© 2000 Anti-Defamation League

 

http://www.adl.org/special_reports/ij/print.asp

Incorporating Holocaust Studies
into Your Existing Courses

The Holocaust can be effectively integrated into various existing courses within the school curriculum. This section presents sample rationale statements and methodological approaches for incorporating a study of the Holocaust in seven different courses. Each course synopsis constitutes a mere fraction of the various rationales and approaches currently used by educators. Often, the rationales and methods listed under one course can be applied as well to other courses.

United States History:

Although the history of the United States is introduced at various grade levels throughout most school curricula, all states require students to take a course in United States history at the high school level. Including a study of the Holocaust into U.S. History courses can encourage students to:

Since most history and social studies teachers in the United States rely upon standard textbooks, they can incorporate the Holocaust into regular units of study such as the Great Depression, World War II, and the Cold War. Questions which introduce Holocaust studies into these subject areas include:

The Great Depression:

How did the U.S. respond to the Depression? How were U.S. electorial politics influenced by the Depression? What were the immediate consequences of the Depression on the European economic and political system established by the Versailles Treaty of 1919? What was the impact of the Depression upon the electoral strength of the Nazi party in Germany? Was the Depression a contributing factor to the Nazis' rise to power?

World War II:

What was the relationship between the U.S. and Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1939? How did the actions of Nazi Germany influence U.S. foreign policy? What was the response of the U.S. Government and non-governmental organizations to the unfolding events of the Holocaust? What was the role of the U.S. in the war crimes trials?

The Cold War:

How did the rivalries between the World War II allies influence American attitudes toward former Nazis? What was the position of America's European allies toward members of the former Nazi regime?

World History:

Although various aspects of world history are incorporated throughout school curricula, most students are not required to take World History courses. It is in the context of World History courses, however, that the Holocaust is generally taught. Inclusion of the Holocaust in a World History course helps students to:

Once again, since most teachers of European history rely upon standard textbooks and a chronological approach, teachers may wish to incorporate the Holocaust into the following, standardized units of study in European History: the Aftermath of World War I; the Rise of Dictators; the World at War, 1939-45, and the Consequences of War. Questions which introduce Holocaust studies into these subject areas include:

The Aftermath of World War I:

What role did the Versailles Treaty play in the restructuring of European and world politics? How did the reconfiguration of Europe following World War I influence German national politics in the period 1919-33?

The Rise of the Dictators:

What factors led to the rise of totalitarian regimes in Europe in the period between the two world wars? How was antisemitism used by the Nazis and other regimes (Hungary, Romania, U.S.S.R.) to justify totalitarian measures?

The World at War, 1939-45:

Why has the Holocaust often been called a "war within the war?" How did the Holocaust affect Nazi military decisions? Why might it be "easier" to commit genocidal acts during wartime than during a period of relative peace?

The Consequences of War:

What was the connection between World War II and the formation of the State of Israel? Was a new strain of international morality introduced with the convening of the Nuremberg Tribunals? How did the Cold War impact the fate of former Nazis?

World Cultures:

A course on World Cultures incorporates knowledge from both the humanities and the social sciences into a study of cultural patterns and social institutions of various societies. A study of the Holocaust in a World Cultures course helps students:

Government:

Government courses at the high school level usually focus on understanding the U.S. political system, comparative studies of various governments, and the international relationship of nations. The Holocaust can be incorporated into a study of government in order to demonstrate how the development of public policy can become directed to genocidal ends when dissent and debate are silenced. Inclusion of Holocaust studies in Government courses helps students:

Contemporary World Problems:

Many schools include a Contemporary World Problems course at the senior high level which allows students to conduct an in-depth study of a topic such as genocide. The focus is usually on what constitutes genocide, and areas of investigation include various preconditions, patterns, consequences, and methods of intervention and prevention of genocide. A study of the Holocaust in Contemporary World Problems curricula can help students to:

Literature:

Literature is read in English classes across grade levels and is also used to enhance and strengthen social studies and science courses. The literature curriculum is generally organized thematically or around categories such as American Literature, British Literature, European Literature, and World Literature. Literature, is capable of providing thought-provoking perspectives on a myriad of subjects and concerns which can engage students in ways that standard textbooks and essays do not.

Holocaust literature encompasses a variety of literary genres including novels, short stories, drama, poetry, diaries, and memoirs. This broad spectrum gives teachers a wide range of curriculum choices. Because Holocaust literature derives from a true-to-life epic in human history, its stories reveal basic truths about human nature, and provide adolescent readers with credible models of heroism and dignity. At the same time, it compels them to confront the reality of the human capacity for evil.

Because so many of the stories intersect with issues in students' own lives, Holocaust literature can inspire a commitment to reject indifference to human suffering, and can instruct them about relevant social issues such as the effects of intolerance and elitism. Studying literary responses to the Holocaust helps students:

Art and Art History:

One of the goals for studying art history is to enable students to understand the role of art in society. The Holocaust can be incorporated into a study of art and art history to illuminate how the Nazis used art for propagandistic purposes, and how victims used artistic expression to communicate their protest, despair, and/or hope. A study of art during the Holocaust helps students:

Conclusion:

A study of the Holocaust can be effectively integrated into any number of subject areas. Sample curricula and lesson plans, currently in use around the country, have been collected by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum and are available for reference purposes. For further information on the range of materials available, and how to acquire copies of these materials for your own use in developing or enhancing study units on the Holocaust, please contact the Education Department, United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, 100 Raoul Wallenberg Place, SW, Washington, DC 20024; telephone: (202) 488-0400.

References:

Oliner, Pearl M. and Samuel P. Oliner. "Righteous People in the Holocaust." Genocide: A Critical Bibliographic Review. Edited by Israel Charny. London and New York: Mansell Publishing and Facts on File, respectively, 1991.

Totten, Samuel. "The Personal Face of Genocide: Words of Witnesses in the Classroom." Special Issue of the Social Science Record ("Genocide: Issues, Approaches, Resources") 24, 2 (1987): 63-67.

Acknowledgements

Primary authors:

William S. Parsons, Director of Education amp; Visitor Services, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum (U.S.H.M.M.); and Samuel Totten, Assistant Professor of Curriculum and Instruction, University of Arkansas, Fayetteville

We would also like to acknowledge editorial suggestions made by:

Helen Fagin, Chair, U.S. Holocaust Memorial Council Education Committee;

Sara J. Bloomfield, Associate Museum Director for Public Programs;

Alice M. Greenwald, Consultant (U.S.H.M.M.);

Stephen Feinberg, Social Studies Department Chairman, Wayland Middle School, Wayland, MA;

William R. Fernekes, Social Studies Supervisor, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, Flemington, NJ;

Grace M. Caporino, Advanced Placement English Teacher, Carmel High School, Carmel, NY; and

Kristy L. Brosius, Resource Center Coordinator (U.S.H.M.M.).

(Courtesy of the U.S. Holocaust Museum, Washington, D.C.)

The primary mission of the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum is to promote education about the history of the Holocaust and its implications for our lives today.

 

http://www.humanitas-international.org/holocaust/incorphs.htm

References:

 

  1. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/holocaust/peopleevents/pandeAMEX90.html.  Accessed August 2, 2004.
  2. http://www.brandywinesources.com/1901-1945/1940DOCAnti-immigrationMemo.htm.  Accessed August 2, 2004.
  3. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/Lindbergh/sfeature/fallen/html.  Accessed August 2, 2004.
  4. http://www.charleslindbergh.com/ny/105.asp.  Accessed August 2, 2004.
  5. http://www.reformed-theology.org/html/books/wall_street/chapter_06.htm.  Accessed August 4, 2004.
  6. http://www.adl.org/special_reports/ij/print.asp.  Accessed August 2, 2004.
  7. http://motlc/wiesenthal.com/text/x33/xm3343.html.  Accessed August 2, 2004.
  8. http://www.humanitas-international.org/holocaust/incorphs.htm.  Accessed August 2, 2004.
  9. http://www.ushmm.org/conscience/index.utp?content=whatis/whatis.php.  Accessed August 3, 2004.
  10. Lefkovitz, Elliot.  Various lectures delivered as curriculum for “Encountering the Holocaust”, Spertus College, Chicago.
  11. Prager, Dennis, and Joseph Telushkin.  Why The Jews?  The Reason For Antisemitism.  Simon and Schuster:  New York, 2003.  Page 20.
  12. ibid.
  13. ibid, page 22.
  14. ibid, page 22-3.
  15. Lefkovitz, Elliot.  Various lectures delivered as curriculum for “Encountering the Holocaust”, Spertus College, Chicago.
  16. America and the Holocaust.  Koch Vision/Shanachie Video, 1995.  ASIN# 6303402526