December 7 marks the 80th anniversary of the surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service on the US naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu. The attack led to America's formal entry into World War II. What ensued would have a profound impact on Jews everywhere, including the American Jewish community. Three examples:
1. A SILENCING OF AMERICA'S MOST VOCAL ANTISEMITES
Adolf Hitler's declaration of war on the United States 4 days after the assault on Pearl Harbor led to the dissolution of the 800,000-member isolationist and antisemitic "America First Committee." The AFC's leading public spokesman, the aviator hero Charles Lindbergh, delivered a speech in Des Moines 3 months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, calling out the British, American Jews, and the Roosevelt Administration for agitating America toward war. His pro-Nazi sentiments earned him a special "Fuhrer Medal" in Berlin from Nazi Field Marshal Hermann Goering.
Another virulent public antisemite of the pre-war period was Roman Catholic Father Charles Coughlin of Detroit, whose weekly radio program on 36 stations attracted millions of listeners. In his broadcasts, Coughlin called FDR's New Deal policies, including Social Security, the "Jew Deal." It was not until May 1942 that Catholic Church authorities finally silenced Coughlin's hate filled tirades.
1. A SILENCING OF AMERICA'S MOST VOCAL ANTISEMITES
Adolf Hitler's declaration of war on the United States 4 days after the assault on Pearl Harbor led to the dissolution of the 800,000-member isolationist and antisemitic "America First Committee." The AFC's leading public spokesman, the aviator hero Charles Lindbergh, delivered a speech in Des Moines 3 months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, calling out the British, American Jews, and the Roosevelt Administration for agitating America toward war. His pro-Nazi sentiments earned him a special "Fuhrer Medal" in Berlin from Nazi Field Marshal Hermann Goering.
Another virulent public antisemite of the pre-war period was Roman Catholic Father Charles Coughlin of Detroit, whose weekly radio program on 36 stations attracted millions of listeners. In his broadcasts, Coughlin called FDR's New Deal policies, including Social Security, the "Jew Deal." It was not until May 1942 that Catholic Church authorities finally silenced Coughlin's hate filled tirades.
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