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{{one source|date=May 2017}}
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American Jewish Anti-Bolshevism describes the [[anti-communist]] views of certain American Jews after the [[February Revolution]] and [[October Revolution]], a time that was also called the [[Red Scare]]. These views were mainly held by affluent American Jews. American Jewish leaders, such as [[Louis Marshall]] and [[Cyrus Adler]], attempted to avoid contact with Bolsheviks and some actively engaged in ant-Bolshevik [[propaganda]].<ref name=Szajkowski1974a> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 194</ref> [[Otto H. Kahn]] and other affluent Jews also took anti-Bolshevik stances. This position and those Jews that held it were supported by non-Jews as well, such as [[Theodore Roosevelt]], [[Francis H. Sisson]], [[Cornelius Vanderbilt]], [[Adolph Lewisohn]], [[Mortimer L. Schiff]], and [[Felix M. Warburg]].<ref name=Szajkowski1974a /> <ref> Roosevelt, Theordore. 1918. Bolshevism and Applied Anti-Bolshevism. The Outlook, pg. 92 </ref> <ref> Ruotsila, Markku. 2001. British and American Anti-communism Before the Cold War. England: Routledge </ref> Many Jews took part in non-Bolshevik organizations to help [[Russia]].<ref name=Szajkowski1974a />
American Jewish Anti-Bolshevism during the [[Russian Revolution]] describes the [[anti-communist]] views of certain American Jews after the [[February Revolution]] and [[October Revolution]], a time that was also called the [[Red Scare]]. These views were mainly held by affluent American Jews. American Jewish leaders, such as [[Louis Marshall]] and [[Cyrus Adler]], attempted to avoid contact with Bolsheviks and some actively engaged in ant-Bolshevik [[propaganda]]; many Jews took part in anti-Bolshevik organization to help.<ref name=Szajkowski1974a> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 193</ref>


==Background==
==Background==


According to Zosa Szajkowski, writing in 1974: “American Jews did not look as one man upon the event of 1917-1918; nor did they adopt a unanimous attitude to the Red Scare in 1919-1920”.<ref> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg.5 </ref> Most American Jews during the Red Scare held the view German anti-semitism was less direct than the Russian variety.<ref name=Goldberg> Goldberg, Israel. 1954. The Jews in America. New York: The World Publishing Company, pg. 241-2 </ref> Israel Goldberg wrote, “Countless thousands of Jews in America had felt the Russian knout, in one form or another, on their own skins”. <ref name= Goldberg /> To these refugees, the Russian Revolution seemed like starting point of socialist democracy at home.<ref> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.8 </ref> According to Richard Gid Powers writing in 1995, “Commisnism’s influence among the poorer Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe alarmed the wealthier, more established German Jewish community. Their instrument for fighting Jewish communism was the American Jewish Committee, founded in [1906] in large part to check the spread of radicalism among poorer Jews.” <ref name=Powersa> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.46-47 </ref> Powers describes how members of the American Jewish Committee reacted as they realized that anti-Semitic anticommunist were beginning to believe that the entire Russian Revolution was a product of Jewish work <ref name=Powersa />.
Bolshevism had a strong pull on poorer Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe because they remembered Antisemitism from their homelands<ref name=Goldberg> Goldberg, Israel. 1954. The Jews in America. New York: The World Publishing Company, pg. 241-2 </ref> and because they saw the Russian Revoluton as a starting point of socialist democracy,<ref> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.8 </ref> which disturbed the wealthier, more established Jewish communities. These wealthier communities relied on official organizations in part to prevent the spread of radicalism to poorer Jewish communities and to check fears of [[Jewish Bolshevism]].<ref name=Powersa> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.46-47 </ref>


==American Jewish Anti-Bolshevik Organizations during the First Red Scare==
==American Jewish Anti-Bolshevik Organizations during the First Red Scare==


===The Russian Information Bureau===
===The Russian Information Bureau===
The Russian Information Bureau was located in the [[Woolworth Building]] at 233 Broadway, Lower Manhattan, and it was an extension to the [[Russian Liberation Committee]] <ref> Wes, Marinus A. 1990. Michael Rostovtzeff, Historian in Exile. Stuttgart: F. Steiner, pg. 50</ref><ref name=Kennana> Kennan, George F. 1958. Soviet-American Relations, 1917-1920 Volume 2: The Decision to Intervene. Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press, pg. 322-23 </ref> The Russian Information Bureau produced anti-Bolshevik propaganda in the United States immediately during the first years of the Red Scare<ref name=Kennana />, and it was organized and directed by [[Arkady Joseph Sack]], a Russian Jewish immigrant.<ref name= Szajkowski1974b> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 194</ref> Sack created the Bureau after the February Revolution; however, it was until after the October Revolution when Jews became more active in the organization.<ref name= Szajkowski1974b /> The Bureau was also closely liked with Russian Embassy in Washington and the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce.<ref name=Kennana /> After November 1917, the Bureau included Louis Marshall, [[Jacob Schiff]], [[Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman]], [[Oscar S. Straus]], and [[Stephen S. Wise]] as honorary advisers<ref name= Szajkowski1974b /> (other notable honorary advisers were: Theodore Roosevelt, [[Edward N. Hurley]], [[Nicholas Murray Butler]], [[ Lawrence F. Abbot]], [[Charles A Coffin]], [[ Darwin Kingsley]], [[Samuel McRoberts]], and [[Charles H. Sabin]]). <ref>Roberts, Priscilla. 1997. Jewish Bankers, Russia, and the Soviet Union, 1900-1940: The Case of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. American Jewish archives 49(1-2):9-37, pg. 34</ref><ref name=Kennana /> Sack published numerous newspaper articles between 1917 and 1922 on the February Revolution, October Revolution, Bolshevism, and the role of peasants and Jews in the Bolshevik party. Also, Sack published the periodical, ''[[ Struggling Russia]]'', beginning March 22, 1919 through the Bureau.<ref name=Szajkowskic> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 195</ref> Additionally, the Bureau published other anti-Bolshevik books, pamphlets, leaflets, and press releases by numerous authors including Sack.<ref name=Szajkowskic /> Sack and the Bureau were the object of criticism from liberals and radicals; however, he was praised by [[John Spargo]] when he wrote:<ref name=Szajkowskic /> <blockquote> <p>Sack has been a regiment by himself; he has been a whole army of propagandists compressed and concentrated in a single human form. What he has done, there are few of us who really can appreciate to the full.<p> <p>John Spargo, Spargo to J. G. Phelps, Stokes Papers pg. 58 </blockquote> Close to the end of the first Red Scare, Sack lost financial support from the former Russian Embassy, and by 1921 Sack and the Bureau suffered from a lack of funding Close to the end of the first Red Scare, Sack lost financial support from the former Russian Embassy, and by 1921 Sack and the Bureau suffered from a lack of funding.<ref name=Szajkowskic /> During this year, Sack is quoted in Bolshevism Due For Crash, Says Anti-Red Agent, a ''[[Times-Picayune]]'' article from January 31: <ref> Sack, Arkady Joseph. Bolshevism Due For Crash, Says Anti-Red Agent </ref> {{quote |text=The situation within Bolshevist Russia is critical. The economic life of the country is destroyed, according even to the Bolshevist official data. According to number 235 of the official Bolshevist daily, Pravda, which contains a comparative table of manufacturing outputs for the first half of the year of 1920, as compared with corresponding period of 1914, the present output of iron in Bolshevist Russia is only 12 percent of the output before the war; steel, 4 percent; cotton, 20 percent; coal, 25 percent. The area under cultivation is only 24 percent as compared with land cultivated in 1914.}} By June 1922, the Russian Information Bureau closed.<ref name=Szajkowskid> Szajkowski, Zosa.1977. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 3. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 165 </ref> After the Bureau’s closing, Marshall wrote to Sack:<ref name=Szajkowskid /> {{quote |text=I sincerely hope that your cherished hopes for the regeneration of Russia and for the overthrow of the twin tyrannies, Tsarism and Bolshevism, may soon be realized… | author=Louis Marshall}}
The Russian Information Bureau was located in the [[Woolworth Building]] at 233 Broadway, Lower Manhattan, and it was an extension to the [[Russian Liberation Committee]] <ref> Wes, Marinus A. 1990. Michael Rostovtzeff, Historian in Exile. Stuttgart: F. Steiner, pg. 50</ref><ref name=Kennana> Kennan, George F. 1958. Soviet-American Relations, 1917-1920 Volume 2: The Decision to Intervene. Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press, pg. 322-23 </ref> The Russian Information Bureau produced anti-Bolshevik propaganda in the United States immediately during the first years of the Red Scare; the Bureau was closely linked with the Russian Embassy in Washingon and the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce.<ref name=Kennana /> It was organized and directed by [[Arkady Joseph Sack]], a Russian Jewish immigrant, and after November 1917, the Bureau included Louis Marshall, [[Jacob Schiff]], [[Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman]], [[Oscar S. Straus]], and [[Stephen S. Wise]] as honorary advisers<ref name= Szajkowski1974b> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 194</ref> (other notable honorary advisers were: Theodore Roosevelt, [[Edward N. Hurley]], [[Nicholas Murray Butler]], [[ Lawrence F. Abbot]], [[Charles A Coffin]], [[ Darwin Kingsley]], [[Samuel McRoberts]], and [[Charles H. Sabin]]).<ref name=Kennana /><ref>Roberts, Priscilla. 1997. Jewish Bankers, Russia, and the Soviet Union, 1900-1940: The Case of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. American Jewish archives 49(1-2):9-37, pg. 34</ref> Sack published the periodical, ''[[ Struggling Russia]]'', beginning March 22, 1919 through the Bureau, and the Bureau, additionally, published other anti-Bolshevik books, pamphlets, leaflets, and press releases by numerous authors including Sack.<ref name=Szajkowskic> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 195</ref> The Bureau supported [[Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak]] and [[Anton Ivanovich Denikin]], who were both high ranking Tsarist military officials in the [[White Movement]] during the [[Russian Civil War]], and criticized the normalization of both political and economic relations between the United States Government and Bolshevik Russia.<ref name=Szajkowskic /> By June 1922, the Russian Information Bureau closed.<ref>Roberts, Priscilla. 1997. Jewish Bankers, Russia, and the Soviet Union, 1900-1940: The Case of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. American Jewish archives 49(1-2):9-37, pg.25 </ref>


===The American Jewish Committee ===
===The American Jewish Committee ===
{{Main|American Jewish Committee}}
{{Main|American Jewish Committee}}
The members of the [[American Jewish Committee]], which was formed in 1906<ref name=Lederhendlera> Lederhendler, Eli. 2017. American Jewry: A New Story. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pg.192 </ref>, also dealt with the first Red Scare. Some members were also honorary advisors of the Russian Information Bureau, such as Louis Marshall and Jacob H. Schiff.<ref>Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 194</ref> During the Russian Revolution, the Committee worked to prevent the association of all Jews with [[Communism]], and it was led by Louis Marshall.<ref name=Powersa> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.46-47 </ref> In 1918, Schiff wrote to Marshall that they should take Sack’s warnings about the perceived Jewish involvement in the Bolshevik party and the results of this perception both in Russia and in the United States seriously by writing:<ref name=Szajkowskie> Szajowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 196 </ref> {{quote |text="dark days may indeed be in store for our coreligionists in Russia. But what is even worse, the danger exists even in our own country, that this tale of the Jews being back of the Bolshevik movement…may find considerable credence, which if we can, we should prevent." |author=Jacob H. Schiff}} The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee, likewise, on September 24th, 1918 discussed a proposal with the following suggestions:<ref> Szajowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 196-97 </ref>
The members of the [[American Jewish Committee]], which was formed in 1906<ref name=Lederhendlera> Lederhendler, Eli. 2017. American Jewry: A New Story. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pg.192 </ref>, also dealt with the first Red Scare. During the Russian Revolution, the Committee worked to prevent the association of all Jews with [[Communism]], and it was led by Louis Marshall.<ref name=Powersa> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.46-47 </ref> In 1918, Schiff wrote to Marshall that they should take Sack’s warnings about the perceived Jewish involvement in the Bolshevik party and the results of this perception both in Russia and in the United States seriously by writing:<ref name=Szajkowskie> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 196 </ref> {{quote |text="dark days may indeed be in store for our coreligionists in Russia. But what is even worse, the danger exists even in our own country, that this tale of the Jews being back of the Bolshevik movement…may find considerable credence, which if we can, we should prevent." |author=Jacob H. Schiff}} In response, the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee on September 24th, 1918 discussed a proposal with the following suggestions:<ref> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 196-97 </ref>


# Starting a publicity campaign to inform the public about the current situation in Russia.
# Starting a publicity campaign to inform the public about the current situation in Russia.
Line 29: Line 24:
# Consulting [[Boris Alexandrovich Bakhmeteff]] on these matters
# Consulting [[Boris Alexandrovich Bakhmeteff]] on these matters


During this same meeting, it was decided that a special committee, including Louis Marshall, Cyrus Adler, and Oscar S. Straus be formed with the authorization to make disbursements out of the American Jewish Committee’s Emergency Trust Fund.<ref name=Szajkowskif> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 197 </ref>
During this same meeting, it was decided that a special committee, including Louis Marshall, Cyrus Adler, and Oscar S. Straus be formed with the authorization to make disbursements out of the American Jewish Committee’s Emergency Trust Fund.<ref name=Szajkowskif> Szajowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 197 </ref> [[Judah Leon Magnes]] decided to resign from the Executive Committee because the stance that the Committee took on Russia.<ref name=Szajkowskif /> Magnes believed that the Bolshevik party was an improvement over Tsardom. <ref name=Powersa /> The American Jewish Committee received coverage in the ''[[New-York Tribune]]'' and the ''[[Chicago Yidisher Kurier]]'' in relation to Magnes resignation. In response to this coverage, the American Jewish Committee denied the accusations of being against certain Jews made against it.<ref name=Szajkowskif /> The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee discussed the positions of A. J. Sack and Harry Schneiderman on whether to admit that Jews were Bolsheviks in Russia at their meeting held on October 20, 1918.<ref name=Szajkowskig> Szajowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 198 </ref> Strauss informed the Executive Committee that Bakhmeteff believed that it would be unjust to claim that Russian Jews were greatly sympathetic with the Bolshevik part.<ref name=Szajkowskig /> The Committee decided to write a statement by the American Jewish Committee that would be issued by the State Department.<ref name=Szajkowskig /> The statement was called “The Jews and the Bolshevik Party”.<ref name=Szajowskih> Szajowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 199 </ref> <ref name=AJCa> American Jewish Committee, Adler files </ref>

====Publicity Campaign and Public Statement====

The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee discussed the positions of A. J. Sack and Harry Schneiderman on whether to admit that Jews were Bolsheviks in Russia at their meeting held on October 20, 1918, and the Committee decided to write a statement by the American Jewish Committee that would be issued by the State Department.<ref name=Szajkowskig> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 198 </ref> The statement was called “The Jews and the Bolshevik Party”.<ref name=Szajkowskih> Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 199 </ref> <ref name=AJCa> American Jewish Committee, Adler files </ref>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
<p>The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee deem it a duty to associate themselves most closely with the view of the Secretary of State and to express their horror and detestation of the mob tyranny incompatible with the ideas of a republican democracy which is now exercised by the Bolshevik government as being destructive of life, property and the political and personal rights of the individual. …All those political parties which sought to bring about reforms in Russia drew much of their strength and intellect from among the Jews, who had the most to gain from any amelioration of the political system. Jews were as prominent among the conservative reforms parties, such as the Cadets, as among the extreme radicals. …The Lenin-Trotsky Cabinet has several members of Jewish ancestry…which led to the erroneous assumption that the Jews of Russia were identified with this bloodthirsty and irresponsible group. The Jews of Russia in overwhelming proportion are not in sympathy with the doctrines and much less with the methods of the Bolsheviki. Lenin gas said of the Bund, which is a radical labor organization composed of Jews that they are worse that the Cadets. There are insistent reports that in many localities Jews are the victims of outrages at the hands of the Bolsheviki as bad if not worse than those suffered at the hands of the autocratic government. There are also reports that the Bolsheviki leaders have made vain attempts to range the Jews on their side by offering them government support for their theatres, schools and publishing enterprises.The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee have sincerely at heart the welfare of the Russian people and have full confidence in the ultimate emergence of Russia as one of the greatest democracies in the family of nations. The Committee are profoundly appreciative of the fact that one of the first acts of the Russian people after the Revolution was the emancipation of the five million Jews of Russia. They would, therefore, regards as a great calamity both to the Jews of Russia and to the future of Russia itself, the general acceptance of the erroneous idea that the Jews of Russia, as such, countenance the misdeeds of the Bolsheviki. While there are Jews identified with the Bolsheviki movement, this is merely because Jews are affiliated with all parties in Russia. …It is as unjust and unreasonable to infer from the prominence of some individuals Jews in the Bolshevik peart that the Jews of Russia subscribe to it, as to infer the contrary from the isolated fact that a Jewish girl attempted to assassinate Lenin. Such an inference if generally accepted would be eagerly seized upon by the reactionary elements of Russia who would once again make of the Jews a scapegoat for all the wrong suffered by Russia because of Bolshevik misrule. As the main body of the Jews are ranged on the side of law and order in Russia, this would be a great calamity and would help to defer the realization of the hopes of those who are working for the early creation in Russia of an orderly, democratic government.<p> <p> The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee, AJC Archives, Adler files <ref name=Szajowskih />
<p>The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee deem it a duty to associate themselves most closely with the view of the Secretary of State and to express their horror and detestation of the mob tyranny incompatible with the ideas of a republican democracy which is now exercised by the Bolshevik government as being destructive of life, property and the political and personal rights of the individual. …All those political parties which sought to bring about reforms in Russia drew much of their strength and intellect from among the Jews, who had the most to gain from any amelioration of the political system. Jews were as prominent among the conservative reforms parties, such as the Cadets, as among the extreme radicals. …The Lenin-Trotsky Cabinet has several members of Jewish ancestry…which led to the erroneous assumption that the Jews of Russia were identified with this bloodthirsty and irresponsible group. The Jews of Russia in overwhelming proportion are not in sympathy with the doctrines and much less with the methods of the Bolsheviki. Lenin gas said of the Bund, which is a radical labor organization composed of Jews that they are worse that the Cadets. There are insistent reports that in many localities Jews are the victims of outrages at the hands of the Bolsheviki as bad if not worse than those suffered at the hands of the autocratic government. There are also reports that the Bolsheviki leaders have made vain attempts to range the Jews on their side by offering them government support for their theatres, schools and publishing enterprises.The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee have sincerely at heart the welfare of the Russian people and have full confidence in the ultimate emergence of Russia as one of the greatest democracies in the family of nations. The Committee are profoundly appreciative of the fact that one of the first acts of the Russian people after the Revolution was the emancipation of the five million Jews of Russia. They would, therefore, regards as a great calamity both to the Jews of Russia and to the future of Russia itself, the general acceptance of the erroneous idea that the Jews of Russia, as such, countenance the misdeeds of the Bolsheviki. While there are Jews identified with the Bolsheviki movement, this is merely because Jews are affiliated with all parties in Russia. …It is as unjust and unreasonable to infer from the prominence of some individuals Jews in the Bolshevik peart that the Jews of Russia subscribe to it, as to infer the contrary from the isolated fact that a Jewish girl attempted to assassinate Lenin. Such an inference if generally accepted would be eagerly seized upon by the reactionary elements of Russia who would once again make of the Jews a scapegoat for all the wrong suffered by Russia because of Bolshevik misrule. As the main body of the Jews are ranged on the side of law and order in Russia, this would be a great calamity and would help to defer the realization of the hopes of those who are working for the early creation in Russia of an orderly, democratic government.<p> <p> The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee, AJC Archives, Adler files <ref name=Szajkowskih />
</blockquote>
</blockquote>


Line 38: Line 37:
<p>In view of the earnest desire of the people of the United States to befriend the Russian people and lend them all possible assistance in their struggle to reconstruct their nation upon the principles of democracy and self-government, and acting therefore solely in the interests of the Russian people themselves, this Government feels that it cannot be silent or refrain from expressing its horror at this existing terrorism. Furthermore, it believes that in order successfully to check the further increase of the indiscriminate slaughter of Russian citizens all civilized nations should register their abhorrence of such barbarism.<p><p> State Department Statement, AJC Archives, Adler Files<ref name=Szajkowskig /><p>
<p>In view of the earnest desire of the people of the United States to befriend the Russian people and lend them all possible assistance in their struggle to reconstruct their nation upon the principles of democracy and self-government, and acting therefore solely in the interests of the Russian people themselves, this Government feels that it cannot be silent or refrain from expressing its horror at this existing terrorism. Furthermore, it believes that in order successfully to check the further increase of the indiscriminate slaughter of Russian citizens all civilized nations should register their abhorrence of such barbarism.<p><p> State Department Statement, AJC Archives, Adler Files<ref name=Szajkowskig /><p>
</blockquote>
</blockquote>

Throughout the decade, the Committee had to return to the topic of Jewish participation in the Bolshevik party in part because of the high rate of participation of Jews that were [[American Communists]].<ref> Gerrits, Andre. 2011. The myth of Jewish communism: a historical interpretation. New York: P.I.E. Peter Lang, pg. 96 </ref>


==Central Figures==
==Central Figures==
Line 44: Line 45:
{{Main|Louis Marshall}}
{{Main|Louis Marshall}}


In 1919 during the Overman Committee hearings, Marshall was called on as a witness as a member of the anti-Bolshevik Russian community. <ref> McFadden, David W. 1993. Alternative paths : Soviets and Americans, 1917-1920. New York: Oxford University Press, pg.296 </ref>.On December 1, 1920, the American Jewish Committee along with other major Jewish organizations published statements to rebut [[Henry Ford]]’s antisemitic propaganda that blamed the economic troubles of the world on Jews.<ref name=Powersb> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.48 </ref> Their reply statement not only attacked Ford but incorporated a denial of the view that Jews were dominantly the cause of Bolshevism and a broader attack on Bolshevism. <ref > Szajowski, Zosa. 1974.Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 200 </ref> Throughout the decade, the Committee had to return to the topic of Jewish participation in the Bolshevik party in part because of the high rate of participation of Jews that were [[American Communists]].<ref> Gerrits, Andre. 2011. The myth of Jewish communism: a historical interpretation. New York: P.I.E. Peter Lang, pg. 96 </ref>
In 1919 during the Overman Committee hearings, Marshall was called on as a witness as a member of the anti-Bolshevik Russian community. <ref> McFadden, David W. 1993. Alternative paths : Soviets and Americans, 1917-1920. New York: Oxford University Press, pg.296 </ref> In 1920, Marshall was accused of being the head of an American Jewish plot in the anti-Semitic articles written in the ''[[Dearborn Independent]]''.<ref name=Powersb> Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.48 </ref> In reaction, Marshall organized a unified protest against the ''Dearborn Independent'', including Woodrow Wilson and [[William Howard Taft]], and he also convinced the [[Federal Council of Churches]] to no longer financially support Ford.<ref name=Powersb />.


===Arkady Joseph Sack===
==Controversies==


Arkady Josephy Sack was the director of the Russian Information Bureau from its opening until its closing. He published articles, periodicals, and books between 1917 and 1922 on the February Revolution, October Revolution, Bolshevism, Russia and the role of peasants and Jews in the Bolshevik party.
===Henry Ford and Anti-Semitism===
====Selected Publications====
{{Main article|Dearborn Independent}}
Sack, A. J. 1918. The birth of the Russian democracy. New York city: Russian Information Bureau.
⚫
In the June 12th edition of the ''[[Dearborn Independent]]'', which was owned by Henry Ford, in 1920, the front page asked "The Jewish Question - Fact of Fancy?"<ref> Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 129 </ref> The issue was focused on the "new" German Jewish community, whom the articles accused of tribalism and causing misfortune; the article received backlash from American Jewish press and the American Jewish Committee in defense of all Jews.<ref> Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 133 </ref>


Sack, A. J. 1919. Struggling Russia. New York: Russian Information Bureau.
⚫
===Resignation of Judah Leon Magnes===
{{Main article|Judah Leon Magnes}}


Sack, A. J. 2001 [original print 1919]. Democracy and Bolshevism. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Vol 84 (1), pp. 102 - 107.
In response to the American Jewish Committee's rejection of claims that asserted a connection between Jews and Bolshevism and its support of President Woodrow Wilson's desire to restore order in Russia, Judah Leon Magnes resigned from the Committee <ref> Kotzin, Daniel P. 2010. Judah L. Magnes: An American Jewish Nonconformist. New York: Syracuse University Press, pg. 153-54 </ref> The New York ''Tribune'' used Magnes' resignation to attack radicals, and the Chicago ''Yidisher Kurier'' used it to criticize the American Jewish Committee.<ref name=Szajkowskif />


==References:==
==Controversies==


⚫
===Resignation of Judah Leon Magnes===
⚫
{{Reflist}}


[[Judah Leon Magnes]] was a rabbi<ref>Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg.136 </ref>, brother-in-law to Louis Marshal<ref name=Silver>Silver, M. M. 2013. Louis Marshall and the rise of Jewish ethnicity in America : a biography.Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, pg. 334 </ref> and member of the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee until 1918.<ref name=Kotzin> Kotzin, Daniel P. 2010. Judah L. Magnes: An American Jewish Nonconformist. New York: Syracuse University Press, pg. 153-54 </ref> In that year, Magnes resigned when the Committee rejected any connections between Jews and Bolshevism and when supported President Woodrow Wilson's desire to restore order in Russia.<ref name=Kotzin /> Pro- and anti-Bolshevik newspapers used his resignation to support their views. The New York ''Tribune'' used his resignation to write the headline "Bolshevik Talk Forces Magnes Out,"<ref name=Silver /> and the Chicago ''Yidisher Kurier'' used it to criticize the American Jewish Committee.<ref name=Szajkowskif />


===Anti-Semitic Articles in the ''Dearborn Indepenent''===
{{Main article|The_Dearborn_Independent#Antisemitic_articles}}
⚫
In the June 12th edition of the ''[[Dearborn Independent]]'', which was owned by Henry Ford, in 1920, the front page asked "The Jewish Question - Fact of Fancy?"<ref> Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 129 </ref> The issue was focused on the "new" German Jewish community, whom the articles accused of tribalism and causing misfortune; the article received backlash from American Jewish press.<ref> Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 133 </ref> The anti-Semitic articles of the ''[[Dearborn Independent]]'' were later complied into an anthology by the Dearnborn Publishing Company titled, ''The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem'', which was met by outrage from the Louis Marshall and Cyrus Adler, members of the American Jewish Committee.<ref> Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 144-45 </ref> The Committee made its first formal response in November 1920 by publishing a pamphlet titled ''The "Protocols" Bolshevism and Jews: An Address to Their Fellow-Citizens by American Jewish Organizations''.<ref> Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 147-48 </ref>


==Bibliography==
==See also==
*[[Red Scare]]
*[[First Red Scare]]
*[[Second Red Scare]]
*[[McCarthyism]]


==References==
American Jewish Committee, Adler files.


⚫
{{Reflist}}
Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs

Gerrits, Andre. 2011. The myth of Jewish communism: a historical interpretation. New York: P.I.E. Peter Lang.

Goldberg, Israel. 1954. The Jews in America. New York: The World Publishing Company.

Kennan, George F. 1958. Soviet-American Relations, 1917-1920 Volume 2: The Decision to Intervene. Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press.

Lederhendler, Eli. 2017. American Jewry: A New Story. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

McFadden, David W. 1993. Alternative paths : Soviets and Americans, 1917-1920. New York: Oxford University Press.

Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press.

Roberts, Priscilla. 1997. Jewish Bankers, Russia, and the Soviet Union, 1900-1940: The Case of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. American Jewish archives 49(1-2):9-37.

Roosevelt, Theordore. 1918. Bolshevism and Applied Anti-Bolshevism. The Outlook.

Ruotsila, Markku. 2001. British and American Anti-communism Before the Cold War. England: Routledge.

Sack, Arkady Joseph. Bolshevism Due For Crash, Says Anti-Red Agent

Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub.


Wes, Marinus A. 1990. Michael Rostovtzeff, Historian in Exile. Stuttgart: F. Steiner.




Latest revision as of 12:56, 20 May 2017


American Jewish Anti-Bolshevism during the Russian Revolution describes the anti-communist views of certain American Jews after the February Revolution and October Revolution, a time that was also called the Red Scare. These views were mainly held by affluent American Jews. American Jewish leaders, such as Louis Marshall and Cyrus Adler, attempted to avoid contact with Bolsheviks and some actively engaged in ant-Bolshevik propaganda; many Jews took part in anti-Bolshevik organization to help.[1]

Background

[edit]

Bolshevism had a strong pull on poorer Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe because they remembered Antisemitism from their homelands[2] and because they saw the Russian Revoluton as a starting point of socialist democracy,[3] which disturbed the wealthier, more established Jewish communities. These wealthier communities relied on official organizations in part to prevent the spread of radicalism to poorer Jewish communities and to check fears of Jewish Bolshevism.[4]

American Jewish Anti-Bolshevik Organizations during the First Red Scare

[edit]

The Russian Information Bureau

[edit]

The Russian Information Bureau was located in the Woolworth Building at 233 Broadway, Lower Manhattan, and it was an extension to the Russian Liberation Committee [5][6] The Russian Information Bureau produced anti-Bolshevik propaganda in the United States immediately during the first years of the Red Scare; the Bureau was closely linked with the Russian Embassy in Washingon and the American-Russian Chamber of Commerce.[6] It was organized and directed by Arkady Joseph Sack, a Russian Jewish immigrant, and after November 1917, the Bureau included Louis Marshall, Jacob Schiff, Edwin Robert Anderson Seligman, Oscar S. Straus, and Stephen S. Wise as honorary advisers[7] (other notable honorary advisers were: Theodore Roosevelt, Edward N. Hurley, Nicholas Murray Butler, Lawrence F. Abbot, Charles A Coffin, Darwin Kingsley, Samuel McRoberts, and Charles H. Sabin).[6][8] Sack published the periodical, Struggling Russia, beginning March 22, 1919 through the Bureau, and the Bureau, additionally, published other anti-Bolshevik books, pamphlets, leaflets, and press releases by numerous authors including Sack.[9] The Bureau supported Alexander Vasilyevich Kolchak and Anton Ivanovich Denikin, who were both high ranking Tsarist military officials in the White Movement during the Russian Civil War, and criticized the normalization of both political and economic relations between the United States Government and Bolshevik Russia.[9] By June 1922, the Russian Information Bureau closed.[10]

The American Jewish Committee

[edit]
Main article: American Jewish Committee

The members of the American Jewish Committee, which was formed in 1906[11], also dealt with the first Red Scare. During the Russian Revolution, the Committee worked to prevent the association of all Jews with Communism, and it was led by Louis Marshall.[4] In 1918, Schiff wrote to Marshall that they should take Sack’s warnings about the perceived Jewish involvement in the Bolshevik party and the results of this perception both in Russia and in the United States seriously by writing:[12]

"dark days may indeed be in store for our coreligionists in Russia. But what is even worse, the danger exists even in our own country, that this tale of the Jews being back of the Bolshevik movement…may find considerable credence, which if we can, we should prevent."

— Jacob H. Schiff

In response, the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee on September 24th, 1918 discussed a proposal with the following suggestions:[13]

  1. Starting a publicity campaign to inform the public about the current situation in Russia.
  2. Issuing a statement on behalf of the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee that stated that most Jews in Russia were not sympathetic with the Bolsheviks despite the fact that some of Bolshevik leaders were Jews.
  3. Writing a letter to President Woodrow Wilson to support his appeal for restoring order in Russia
  4. Consulting Boris Alexandrovich Bakhmeteff on these matters

During this same meeting, it was decided that a special committee, including Louis Marshall, Cyrus Adler, and Oscar S. Straus be formed with the authorization to make disbursements out of the American Jewish Committee’s Emergency Trust Fund.[14]

Publicity Campaign and Public Statement

[edit]

The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee discussed the positions of A. J. Sack and Harry Schneiderman on whether to admit that Jews were Bolsheviks in Russia at their meeting held on October 20, 1918, and the Committee decided to write a statement by the American Jewish Committee that would be issued by the State Department.[15] The statement was called “The Jews and the Bolshevik Party”.[16] [17]

The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee deem it a duty to associate themselves most closely with the view of the Secretary of State and to express their horror and detestation of the mob tyranny incompatible with the ideas of a republican democracy which is now exercised by the Bolshevik government as being destructive of life, property and the political and personal rights of the individual. …All those political parties which sought to bring about reforms in Russia drew much of their strength and intellect from among the Jews, who had the most to gain from any amelioration of the political system. Jews were as prominent among the conservative reforms parties, such as the Cadets, as among the extreme radicals. …The Lenin-Trotsky Cabinet has several members of Jewish ancestry…which led to the erroneous assumption that the Jews of Russia were identified with this bloodthirsty and irresponsible group. The Jews of Russia in overwhelming proportion are not in sympathy with the doctrines and much less with the methods of the Bolsheviki. Lenin gas said of the Bund, which is a radical labor organization composed of Jews that they are worse that the Cadets. There are insistent reports that in many localities Jews are the victims of outrages at the hands of the Bolsheviki as bad if not worse than those suffered at the hands of the autocratic government. There are also reports that the Bolsheviki leaders have made vain attempts to range the Jews on their side by offering them government support for their theatres, schools and publishing enterprises.The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee have sincerely at heart the welfare of the Russian people and have full confidence in the ultimate emergence of Russia as one of the greatest democracies in the family of nations. The Committee are profoundly appreciative of the fact that one of the first acts of the Russian people after the Revolution was the emancipation of the five million Jews of Russia. They would, therefore, regards as a great calamity both to the Jews of Russia and to the future of Russia itself, the general acceptance of the erroneous idea that the Jews of Russia, as such, countenance the misdeeds of the Bolsheviki. While there are Jews identified with the Bolsheviki movement, this is merely because Jews are affiliated with all parties in Russia. …It is as unjust and unreasonable to infer from the prominence of some individuals Jews in the Bolshevik peart that the Jews of Russia subscribe to it, as to infer the contrary from the isolated fact that a Jewish girl attempted to assassinate Lenin. Such an inference if generally accepted would be eagerly seized upon by the reactionary elements of Russia who would once again make of the Jews a scapegoat for all the wrong suffered by Russia because of Bolshevik misrule. As the main body of the Jews are ranged on the side of law and order in Russia, this would be a great calamity and would help to defer the realization of the hopes of those who are working for the early creation in Russia of an orderly, democratic government.

The Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee, AJC Archives, Adler files [16]

The previous statement was issued together with the support of the State Department and the following statement was sent by telegram to all American ambassadors and ministers in the Allied and neutral countries along with the American Jewish Committee's statment:[15] [17]

In view of the earnest desire of the people of the United States to befriend the Russian people and lend them all possible assistance in their struggle to reconstruct their nation upon the principles of democracy and self-government, and acting therefore solely in the interests of the Russian people themselves, this Government feels that it cannot be silent or refrain from expressing its horror at this existing terrorism. Furthermore, it believes that in order successfully to check the further increase of the indiscriminate slaughter of Russian citizens all civilized nations should register their abhorrence of such barbarism.

State Department Statement, AJC Archives, Adler Files[15]

Throughout the decade, the Committee had to return to the topic of Jewish participation in the Bolshevik party in part because of the high rate of participation of Jews that were American Communists.[18]

Central Figures

[edit]

Louis Marshall

[edit]
Main article: Louis Marshall

In 1919 during the Overman Committee hearings, Marshall was called on as a witness as a member of the anti-Bolshevik Russian community. [19] In 1920, Marshall was accused of being the head of an American Jewish plot in the anti-Semitic articles written in the Dearborn Independent.[20] In reaction, Marshall organized a unified protest against the Dearborn Independent, including Woodrow Wilson and William Howard Taft, and he also convinced the Federal Council of Churches to no longer financially support Ford.[20].

Arkady Joseph Sack

[edit]

Arkady Josephy Sack was the director of the Russian Information Bureau from its opening until its closing. He published articles, periodicals, and books between 1917 and 1922 on the February Revolution, October Revolution, Bolshevism, Russia and the role of peasants and Jews in the Bolshevik party.

Selected Publications

[edit]

Sack, A. J. 1918. The birth of the Russian democracy. New York city: Russian Information Bureau.

Sack, A. J. 1919. Struggling Russia. New York: Russian Information Bureau.

Sack, A. J. 2001 [original print 1919]. Democracy and Bolshevism. The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science Vol 84 (1), pp. 102 - 107.

Controversies

[edit]

Resignation of Judah Leon Magnes

[edit]

Judah Leon Magnes was a rabbi[21], brother-in-law to Louis Marshal[22] and member of the Executive Committee of the American Jewish Committee until 1918.[23] In that year, Magnes resigned when the Committee rejected any connections between Jews and Bolshevism and when supported President Woodrow Wilson's desire to restore order in Russia.[23] Pro- and anti-Bolshevik newspapers used his resignation to support their views. The New York Tribune used his resignation to write the headline "Bolshevik Talk Forces Magnes Out,"[22] and the Chicago Yidisher Kurier used it to criticize the American Jewish Committee.[14]

Anti-Semitic Articles in the Dearborn Indepenent

[edit]
Main article: The_Dearborn_Independent § Antisemitic_articles

In the June 12th edition of the Dearborn Independent, which was owned by Henry Ford, in 1920, the front page asked "The Jewish Question - Fact of Fancy?"[24] The issue was focused on the "new" German Jewish community, whom the articles accused of tribalism and causing misfortune; the article received backlash from American Jewish press.[25] The anti-Semitic articles of the Dearborn Independent were later complied into an anthology by the Dearnborn Publishing Company titled, The International Jew: The World's Foremost Problem, which was met by outrage from the Louis Marshall and Cyrus Adler, members of the American Jewish Committee.[26] The Committee made its first formal response in November 1920 by publishing a pamphlet titled The "Protocols" Bolshevism and Jews: An Address to Their Fellow-Citizens by American Jewish Organizations.[27]

See also

[edit]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 193
  2. ^ Goldberg, Israel. 1954. The Jews in America. New York: The World Publishing Company, pg. 241-2
  3. ^ Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.8
  4. ^ a b Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.46-47
  5. ^ Wes, Marinus A. 1990. Michael Rostovtzeff, Historian in Exile. Stuttgart: F. Steiner, pg. 50
  6. ^ a b c Kennan, George F. 1958. Soviet-American Relations, 1917-1920 Volume 2: The Decision to Intervene. Princeton New Jersey: Princeton University Press, pg. 322-23
  7. ^ Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 194
  8. ^ Roberts, Priscilla. 1997. Jewish Bankers, Russia, and the Soviet Union, 1900-1940: The Case of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. American Jewish archives 49(1-2):9-37, pg. 34
  9. ^ a b Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 195
  10. ^ Roberts, Priscilla. 1997. Jewish Bankers, Russia, and the Soviet Union, 1900-1940: The Case of Kuhn, Loeb and Company. American Jewish archives 49(1-2):9-37, pg.25
  11. ^ Lederhendler, Eli. 2017. American Jewry: A New Story. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, pg.192
  12. ^ Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 196
  13. ^ Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg 196-97
  14. ^ a b Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 197
  15. ^ a b c Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 198
  16. ^ a b Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Commumism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Pub, pg. 199
  17. ^ a b American Jewish Committee, Adler files
  18. ^ Gerrits, Andre. 2011. The myth of Jewish communism: a historical interpretation. New York: P.I.E. Peter Lang, pg. 96
  19. ^ McFadden, David W. 1993. Alternative paths : Soviets and Americans, 1917-1920. New York: Oxford University Press, pg.296
  20. ^ a b Powers, Richard Gid. 1995. Not Without Honor: The History of American Anticommunism. New York, New York: The Free Press, pg.48
  21. ^ Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg.136
  22. ^ a b Silver, M. M. 2013. Louis Marshall and the rise of Jewish ethnicity in America : a biography.Syracuse, New York : Syracuse University Press, pg. 334
  23. ^ a b Kotzin, Daniel P. 2010. Judah L. Magnes: An American Jewish Nonconformist. New York: Syracuse University Press, pg. 153-54
  24. ^ Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 129
  25. ^ Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 133
  26. ^ Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 144-45
  27. ^ Baldwin, Neil. 2001. Henry Ford and the Jews. New York: PublicAffairs, pg. 147-48





Jewish Anti-Red Reactions during Red Scare

[edit]

Feeling the need to protect Jews both at home and abroad, some American Jews reacted with anti-Bolshevism. The American Jewish Committee took an anti-Bolshevik stance during this period and fought to ensure that Jews were not directly associated with Bolshevism.[1] Another organization, the Russian Information Bureau with ties to Russian government[2]

  1. ^ Szajkowski, Zosa. 1974. Jews, Wars, and Communism Volume 2. New York: Ktav Publishing House, Inc, pg.196-201
  2. ^ Kennan, George F. 1958. Soviet-American Relations, 1917-1920. Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University Press, pg.322
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