Feb. 15, 1921, on this day Jewish leaders in the city of
Detroit issued a challenge to automaker and newspaper publisher Henry Ford
over his writings in his own paper the Dearborn Independent that was very anti-Semitic
and his statements that he was just working towards world peace.
“It is not through dislike of the Jews,” Ford told the Boston
American on Feb 12, 1921. “Not because of Anti-Semitism, but because Jews to
cooperate with the Gentiles and bring about world peace our paper is being used to
expose Jewish Propaganda”
The Jewish leaders in Detroit felt strongly this had not been even
close to denouncing Anti-Semitism. In fact, Rabbi
Leo Franklin who was acting as spokesman for the three groups was at one time a
close friend of Ford. The automaker had cultivated a friendship with the rabbi.
Franklin was the rabbi at the Temple Beth El, the most prominent temple in
Detroit. From this position, Franklin had reached out across the interfaith
barrier and held Sunday morning services for interfaith groups. His community
work made him among the most famous Jewish leaders in the U.S. in the early 20th
Century.
Ford and Franklin lived on the same block in Detroit in the teens
and in 1913 Ford offered a new Model T for his pastoral duties every year,
which Franklin gratefully accepted. The two men spoke frequently, and Franklin
basically was one of the men who had generally open access to Ford.
Franklin considered Ford both a friend and an ally to the Jews
so it came as a stunning shock when Ford started publishing his anti-Jewish
articles in the Dearborn Independent. As the head of the Anti-defamation League
in Detroit Franklin approached Ford regarding these articles. Ford remained stubborn
about what he was publishing and so Franklin ended their association by returning
the most recent Model T. Ford was genuinely shocked writing to Franklin, “I
thought you were one of the good Jews.”
On Feb. 14 after Ford’s interview with the Boston American
Franklin said, “Mr. Ford's fallacious declaration that, ‘We are not Anti-Semitic’
must contemplate on his part colossal credulity on the part of the American
public.”
Franklin went on to say that Ford was being duplicitous saying
he would have signed a statement on Anti-Semitism, or that his employing 5,000
men of Jewish descent proved he did not hate Jews if he continued to write the
articles justifying the persecution of Jews.
“The chief viciousness of Mr. Ford’s writing lies in how he
published his latest article in the Dearborn Independent the same day his
interview appeared in the American,” stated Franklin. “We must conclude that
his provocative statement is against his reported feelings.”
Unfortunately, the protest and Leo Franklin’s personal
outreach did not impact Ford. He went on to print millions of copies of the “International
Jew” over the next few years. These writings were foundational in the beliefs
of the Nazis.
In 1931, two years before he became the German chancellor,
Adolf Hitler gave an interview to a Detroit News reporter in his Munich office,
which featured a large portrait of Ford over the desk of the future führer. The
reporter asked about the photo.
“I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration,” Hitler told the News.
Franklin and other Detroit Jewish leaders were willing to pay
for proof of any of the accusations Ford was making in his articles in the
Dearborn Independent or that would be included in the; ‘International Jew’. No one
took them up on the challenge.
In 1927 Ford lost a libel suit over the articles but argued
that even with his byline on the articles, and his ownership of the Dearborn
Independent he was not responsible for the stories.
“The International Jew,” sold well around the world before
World War II and continues to sell today.
Photo Header: Rabbi Leo Franklin, Ford's Pamphlet, Henry Ford
Sources:
https://www.newspapers.com/image/352857609/?terms=%22Jewish%20Groups%22&match=1&clipping_id=118690213
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-government/henry-ford-and-jews-story-dearborn-didnt-want-told
https://www.newspapers.com/image/368021849/?terms=%22Henry%20Ford%22&match=1
No comments:
Post a Comment