Leon Lawrence Lewis (September 5, 1888 – May 21, 1954) was an American attorney, the first national secretary of the

Anti-Defamation League The Anti-Defamation League (ADL), formerly known as the Anti-Defamation League of B'nai B'rith, is an international Jewish non-governmental organization based in the United States specializing in civil rights law. It was founded in late Septe ...

, the national director of

B'nai B'rith B'nai B'rith International (, from he, בְּנֵי בְּרִית, translit=b'né brit, lit=Children of the Covenant) is a Jewish service organization. B'nai B'rith states that it is committed to the security and continuity of the Jewish peopl ...

, the founder and first executive director of the Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee, and a key figure in the spy operations that infiltrated American Nazi organizations in the 1930s and early 1940s. The Nazis referred to Lewis as "the most dangerous Jew in Los Angeles."

Early life

Lewis was the son of Edward and Rachel Lewis, German Jewish immigrants who migrated to Wisconsin. He grew up in Milwaukee and attended the

University of Wisconsin A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...

and

George Washington University , mottoeng = "God is Our Trust" , established = , type = Private federally chartered research university , academic_affiliations = , endowment = $2.8 billion (2022) , preside ...

. Lewis received a J.D. degree from the

University of Chicago Law School The University of Chicago Law School is the law school of the University of Chicago, a private research university in Chicago, Illinois. It is consistently ranked among the best and most prestigious law schools in the world, and has many dist ...

in 1913.

Career

After graduating from law school, Lewis accepted the position of national secretary of the

, and began to work on discrimination cases in the Midwest. When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Lewis enlisted and served in the Army infantry and Army intelligence in Germany, France, and England during and after the war, rising to the rank of major. In 1919 he returned to the U.S. and resumed his work fighting

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

for the ADL in Chicago and other parts of the Midwestern United States. Lewis and his family moved to Los Angeles in the late 1920s, where he founded the Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee (later known as the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee), from which he launched a major anti-Nazi spy ring and intelligence gathering operation, receiving funding from all of the Hollywood studio moguls and working in cooperation with local and federal authorities. With help from his assistant

Joseph Roos Joseph Roos (December 10, 1908 – December 11, 1999) was an American journalist, publicist, and Hollywood story editor. He wrote hundreds of radio scripts and won a Peabody Award. He fought against discrimination and was well-known for his wor ...

, Lewis' work as spymaster resulted in the successful prosecution of multiple American Nazis before and during World War II, and the prevention of many acts of Nazi sabotage and assassinations on the West Coast of the United States. Lewis served as executive director of the Community Relations Committee for 17 years, after which he returned to his law practice.

Personal life

Lewis married Ruth Lowenberg in 1920, and the couple had two daughters, Rosemary Mazlo (1922–1980) and Claire Read (1928–2015). He died of a heart attack on May 21, 1954 in

Pacific Palisades, California Pacific Palisades is a neighborhood in the Westside Los Angeles, Westside region of Los Angeles, California, situated about west of Downtown Los Angeles. Pacific Palisades was formally founded in 1921 by a Chautauqua, Methodist organization, an ...

Legacy

Lewis' personal and professional papers are archived in the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee Collection held in the University Library at

California State University, Northridge California State University, Northridge (CSUN or Cal State Northridge) is a public university in the Northridge neighborhood of Los Angeles, California. With a total enrollment of 38,551 students (as of Fall 2021), it has the second largest un ...

In popular culture

Leon Lewis is featured in the 2022 podcast ''

Rachel Maddow Rachel Anne Maddow (, ; born April 1, 1973) is an American television news program host and liberal political commentator. Maddow hosts ''The Rachel Maddow Show'', a weekly television show on MSNBC, and serves as the cable network's special eve ...

Presents: Ultra'' for his heroic role in exposing the plot by the Silver Shirts and other heavily armed pro-Nazi groups in the U.S. to overthrow the federal government and install a fascist regime.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Leon L. 1888 births 1954 deaths Lawyers from Chicago People from Los Angeles People from Hurley, Wisconsin Military personnel from Milwaukee University of Wisconsin–Madison alumni George Washington University alumni University of Chicago Law School alumni United States Army personnel of World War I Jewish American attorneys Anti-Defamation League members