Anti-Nazi boycott of 1933 matchbook cover

The Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights (originally the American League for the Defense of Jewish Rights) was founded in 1933 by

Samuel Untermyer Samuel J. Untermyer (March 6, 1858 – March 16, 1940) was a prominent American lawyer and civic leader. He is also remembered for bequeathing his Yonkers, New York estate, now known as Untermyer Park, to the people of New York State. Life S ...

to enact an economic

boycott A boycott is an act of nonviolent, voluntary abstention from a product, person, organization, or country as an expression of protest. It is usually for moral, social, political, or environmental reasons. The purpose of a boycott is to inflict som ...

against

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...

Founding

A champion for Jewish rights, Samuel Untermyer was among the most outspoken critics of the Hitler regime, advocating an international boycott of Germany through the

League of Nations The League of Nations (french: link=no, Société des Nations ) was the first worldwide intergovernmental organisation whose principal mission was to maintain world peace. It was founded on 10 January 1920 by the Paris Peace Conference that ...

. He led the league until his retirement in 1938, remaining involved in its activities until his death in 1940. Throughout the 1930s, allied with groups such as the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

, the league tried to persuade American businesses to stop purchasing merchandise from Germany, exposing the ones that continued selling Nazi-made goods in their bulletin. They also tried to stop Americans from visiting Germany, thereby stopping any money from coming in. Among its many boycotts were ones against the 1936 Olympics in

Berlin Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...

and the Schmeling –

Louis Louis may refer to: * Louis (coin) * Louis (given name), origin and several individuals with this name * Louis (surname) * Louis (singer), Serbian singer * HMS ''Louis'', two ships of the Royal Navy See also Derived or associated terms * Lewis ( ...

boxing match in 1938. They also lobbied the United States government, asking it to investigate various things, including pro-Nazi

propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded ...

activities in the U.S. by organizations such as ''Welt-Dienst/World Service'' founded by

Ulrich Fleischhauer Ulrich Fleischhauer (14 July 1876 – 20 October 1960) (Pseudonyms ''Ulrich Bodung'', and ''Israel Fryman'') was a leading publisher of antisemitic books and news articles reporting on a perceived Judeo-Masonic conspiracy theory and "nefarious pl ...

. The League also tried to educate the public through talks on radio and by distributing printed material. It also provided information to Martin Dies and his

House Un-American Activities Committee The House Committee on Un-American Activities (HCUA), popularly dubbed the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC), was an investigative committee of the United States House of Representatives, created in 1938 to investigate alleged disloy ...

James Sheldon Era

The League, under the new leadership of James H. Sheldon, a former professor at

Boston University Boston University (BU) is a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. The university is nonsectarian, but has a historical affiliation with the United Methodist Church. It was founded in 1839 by Methodists with its original campu ...

, changed its mission to directly investigate right-wing propaganda groups. Among them were the Christian Front of Father Coughlin, the

Christian Mobilizers Joseph Elsberry McWilliams (1904 – 1996) was an American right-wing political figure of the 1940s, and the principal defendant in the federal Smith Act sedition trial of 1944. Biography McWilliams was born in 1904 to a poor pioneer family in Hi ...

of Joseph McWilliams and the American First of

Gerald L. K. Smith Gerald Lyman Kenneth Smith (February 27, 1898 – April 15, 1976) was an American clergyman, politician and organizer known for his populist and far-right demagoguery. A leader of the populist Share Our Wealth movement during the Great Depressio ...

. They had also begun to support the civil rights movement voicing their approval for the Fair Employment Practice Commission ( FEPC) and various other anti-discrimination laws. In 1945 it filed a lawsuit against

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

to have its tax-exempt status revoked for discrimination against Jews. After World War Two the League also unsuccessfully tried to have the Nuremberg court prosecute the

Grand Mufti of Jerusalem The Grand Mufti of Jerusalem is the Sunni Muslim cleric in charge of Jerusalem's Islamic holy places, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque. The position was created by the British military government led by Ronald Storrs in 1918.See Islamic Leadership i ...

for having aided Hitler during the war. The League was able to successfully combat the resurgence of hate groups in the U.S. by infiltrating the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to the KKK or the Klan, is an American white supremacist, right-wing terrorist, and hate group whose primary targets are African Americans, Jews, Latinos, Asian Americans, Native Americans, and ...

. It was also instrumental in shutting down the

Columbians Colombians ( es, Colombianos) are people identified with the country of Colombia. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Colombians, several (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the sourc ...

, an Atlanta, Georgia-based group

hate group A hate group is a social group that advocates and practices hatred, hostility, or violence towards members of a race (human classification), race, Ethnic group, ethnicity, nation, religion, gender, gender identity, sexual orientation, or any o ...

, by hiring

Stetson Kennedy William Stetson Kennedy (October 5, 1916 – August 27, 2011) was an American author, folklorist and human rights activist. One of the pioneer folklore collectors during the first half of the 20th century, he is remembered for having infiltrated t ...

to infiltrate the group. The league continued its investigation and exposure activities through the 1950s. Through the 1960s and the first half of the 1970s, the league continued to maintain an office on 46th street in New York, but it served mostly as a repository, with information flowing in but minimal action being taken. The League terminated in 1975 with the death of its head, James H. Sheldon.

References

External links

FBI Data about the League

Records of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights
at the Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University, New York {{Authority control World War II resistance movements Boycotts of Nazi Germany Jewish-American history Anti-fascist organizations in the United States 1933 establishments in the United States 1975 disestablishments in the United States Jewish organizations based in the United States Organizations established in 1933 Organizations disestablished in 1975

Founding

James Sheldon Era

Archives

References

External links