Historical Note:
Scope and Contents
Arrangement of Materials:
Existence and Location of Copies
General
Conditions Governing Access
Conditions Governing Use
Accruals
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Preferred Citation
Processing Information
Contributing Institution:
Special Collections & Archives
Title: Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee
Collection, Part 3
Creator:
Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles. Community
Relations Committee
Identifier/Call Number: URB.CRC3
Extnet:
55.32 linear feet
Date (inclusive): 1933-1951
Abstract: In response to the spread of organized
anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1930s, leaders of Los Angeles' Jewish
community formed a special defense organization known as the Los Angeles Jewish Community
Committee. The committee later changed its name to the Jewish Federation Council of Greater
Los Angeles, Community Relations Committee. Part 3 of the collection continues the
documentation of CRC's activities under the leadership of Fred Herzberg through the end of
his tenure in 1950. Included are the records of Joseph Roos, who continued to serve as
assistant to Herzberg after Leon Lewis' tenure ended.
Language of Material: English,
German
Historical Note:
In response to the spread of organized anti-Semitism in the United States during the 1930s
spearheaded by domestic groups like the Ku Klux Klan and international ones like the
propaganda arm of Hitler's Third Reich in Germany, leaders of Los Angeles' Jewish community
formed a special defense organization known as the Los Angeles Community Relations
Committee. The committee's purpose was to work with the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), B'nai
B'rith, the American Jewish Committee (AJC), the American Jewish Congress, the Council of
Jewish Women, and other Zionist organizations to fight anti-Semitism in the United
States.
Mendel Silberberg, a respected community leader and motion picture industry attorney,
served as the first chairman of Los Angeles Jewish Community Committee, which consisted of
approximately forty representatives from various Jewish organizations. The committee adopted
the strategy set forth by the ADL in 1933 for combating "un-Americanism", which was to
infiltrate and expose pro-Nazi and anti-Semitic organizations and, if necessary, turn the
information over to federal government agencies. The Community Relations Committee met on a
biweekly basis to set policy and report on right wing activities in Los Angeles. It had
subcommittees on research and fact-finding, public relations, legal and legislative matters,
internal Jewish relations, interfaith activities, and education.
The Committee maintained close relationships with other like-minded groups, even sharing
an office suite with the Southern California Anti-Defamation Council during the 1940s. The
Committee collected a massive amount of propaganda literature, primarily from anti-Semitic,
pro-Nazi, and other right wing organizations. Undercover agents and informants were
recruited from the American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, and planted among suspect
groups in the Los Angeles area.
The Americanism Committee of the Los Angeles County Council of the American Legion
presented information gathered by the Community Relations Committee to the House Un-American
Activities Committee (also known as the Dies Committee or HUAC), showing the connections
between local groups including the American German Bund, Friends of the New Germany, and the
German government in Europe. The Committee's work in the 1930s was so effective that both
the AJC and ADL considered it their Los Angeles branch.
The committee also worked closely with national Jewish groups such as the American Jewish
Committee and United Jewish Welfare Fund to fight the Nazi threat, and to coordinate Jewish
civic defense activities nationwide. It provided information on right wing activities to the
FBI, military and naval intelligence, and state and federal government prosecutors. The
evidence they gathered and reports they wrote were used in trials involving naturalization
proceedings, sedition and espionage.
In 1938, Joseph Roos, a newspaperman and screenwriter who had served as a volunteer
informant, joined the Community Relations Committee's staff. He set up a master file system
for the committee's records, and edited the CRC's
News Letter,
which provided "intelligence" news reports and analysis of propaganda to committee,
government officials, teachers, churchmen, influential journalists, and radio commentators
across the United States. Radio broadcaster Walter Winchell and newspaper columnist Drew
Pearson obtained many of their sensational "scoops" about American extremist groups from the
News Letter. Under the News Research Service, Roos also
directed the CRC's Radio Project and produced news releases and newspaper columns. The last
issue of this noteworthy publication went to press on December 7, 1941.
With the United States' entry into World War II, the Committee's intelligence gathering
activities and investigative journalism were superseded by new activities with patriotic
organizations, veterans groups, inter-faith religious organizations, and local schools and
colleges to combat rising bigotry and discrimination. In 1941 the committee changed its name
to the Community Relations Committee (CRC) of the Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los
Angeles.
At war's end, the CRC again reorganized itself in an attempt to better serve the larger
Los Angeles community. Some of the most important issues the CRC addressed in the post-World
War II period included resettlement of refugees from Eastern Europe on the West Coast,
de-nazification in Germany, immigration legislation, religion in public schools, communism,
civil liberties, discrimination in housing, fair employment practices, inter-racial
relations, stereotyping in the motion picture industry and religious tolerance. The CRC also
kept in close contact with the motion picture and television industries in an attempt to
limit the cast stereotyping of Jews and other ethnic groups.
Scope and Contents
The
Jewish Federation Council of Greater Los Angeles, Community
Relations Committee Collection, Part 3,
continues the documentation of the CRC's
activities under the leadership of Fred Herzberg through the end of his tenure in 1950.
Included are the records of Joseph Roos, who continued to serve as assistant to Herzberg
after Leon Lewis's tenure ended. The records for the period 1933-1951 continue to reflect
the results of Roos's more systematic and thorough filing system and fact-finding
activities. Part 3 of the collection also documents the activities of various state CRCs.
The collection documents both the cooperation and divisions within the Jewish community of
issues and tactics to combat right wing movements and the process of working with and
through non-Jewish organizations. It has been arranged in two series:
Administration (1940-1950) and
Fact Finding and Community
Relations
(1933-1951).
Series I,
Administration, documents the expanded operations of
the executive office and the relationship between the Jewish Defense Agencies Coordinating
Committee, the Los Angeles Jewish Community Council, State Community Relations Committees
and Councils, and the motion picture industry. The series is divided into eight distinct
subseries which are arranged in alphabetical order and cover the period 1940-1950. Subseries
A,
Jewish Defense Agencies Coordinating Committee, Los Angeles
(JDACC)
(1945-1950), consists of minutes, reports and correspondence between the
executive office and the JDACC. Of special interest are the records on the merger between
the Southern California Region of the Anti-defamation League and the CRC. Subseries B,
Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee (LAJCRC or CRC)
(1945-1950), consists of minutes and correspondence between committee members and the
executive secretary. It documents JCCs subcommittee structure. Subseries C,
Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee, Executive Office
(1947-1950), consists of correspondence, inter-office memoranda, and reports. Subseries
D,
Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee, Supported
Groups
(1947-1950), consists of materials that document the cooperation between
Jewish and non-Jewish groups in the region. Subseries E,
Los Angeles
Jewish Community Council
(1940-1950), consists of materials that document the
relationships between different areas in the Jewish community in Los Angeles. Subseries F,
Motion Picture Project Council (1947-1950), consists of
materials that document the relationship between JCC and the film industry, as well as the
Council's role in establishing the News Research Service, Inc. Subseries G,
National Community Relations Advisory Council (1947-1950), consists
of materials that document community programs that worked to end discrimination and advance
civil rights. Subseries H,
Community Relations Committees and Councils,
CRC by State
(1947-1950), consists of correspondence, memoranda, publications and
other printed matter for Community Relations Committee's and Council's outside of the state
of California.
Series II,
Fact Finding and Community Relations, is divided
into 9 subseries covering the period 1933-1951. Subseries A,
Complaints,
Inquiries, and Investigations
(1947-1950), consists of the records of
investigations into complaints received about anti-Semitism and discrimination in the Jewish
community. Subseries B,
Court Cases and Legislative Hearings
(1947-1950), consists of materials that document the Henry D. Allen libel suit, filed
in 1947 against John Roy Carlson who had extensively documented Allen's pre-war pro-Nazi
activities in Southern California. Subseries C
, Fact-Finding
Files
(previously Informant Files) (1947-1950), consists of correspondence with
informants and their reports back to the JCC, as well as some of the printed materials and
letters they collected while on assignment. Materials are arranged chronologically by date
and include the code names informants were assigned by Joe Roos to help protect their
identities. Subseries D,
Investigated Groups and Individuals (ca.
1940-1950), consists of materials that document the activities of groups in Southern
California such as the German American Bund down to a few pieces of literature collected at
meetings or received in the mail from less active or out-of-state organizations. Subseries
E,
Issues and Projects (1946-1951), consists of background
information on many of the issues the JCC was involved with, including displaced persons,
discrimination, fair employment practices, de-Nazification, and intercultural education.
Subseries F,
Jewish Groups and Individuals (1946-1950), consists
of correspondence, reports, and printed matter that document cooperation and disagreements
within the Jewish community on issues and tactics used by the JCC to combat right wing
activities. Subseries G,
Master Files (1933-1950), consists of
Roos' reorganized JCC files used for collected information. Many of the general files
contain cross-reference (or removal) sheets leading to a document located in the Master
File. Subseries H,
News Research Service (NRS) (ca. 1940-1950),
consists of newsletters and other materials used to disseminate information collected by the
JCC. Subseries I,
Secular/Interfaith Cooperation Groups and
Individuals
(1938-1950), consists of materials that document JCC's cooperation with
the non-Jewish community on special projects and joint committees.
Arrangement of Materials:
Series I: Administration, 1940-1950
Subseries A: Jewish Defense Agencies Coordinating Committee, Los Angeles (JDACC),
1945-1950
Subseries B: Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee (LAJCRC or CRC),
1945-1950
Subseries C: Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee, Executive Office,
1947-1950
Subseries D: Los Angeles Jewish Community Relations Committee, Supported Groups,
1947-1950
Subseries E: Los Angeles Jewish Community Council, 1940-1950
Subseries F: Motion Picture Project Council, 1947-1950
Subseries G: National Community Relations Advisory Council, 1947-1950
Subseries H: State Community Relations Committees and Councils, by State, 1947-1950
Series II: Fact Finding and Community Relations, 1933-1951
Subseries A: Complaints, Inquiries, and Investigations, 1947-1950
Subseries B: Court Cases and Legislative Hearings, 1947-1950
Subseries C: Fact-Finding Files (previously Informant Files), 1947-1950
Subseries D: Investigated Groups and Individuals, ca. 1940-1950
Subseries E: Issues and Projects, 1946-1951
Subseries F: Jewish Groups and Individuals, 1946-1950
Subseries G: Master Files, 1933-1950
Subseries H: News Research Service (NRS), ca. 1940-1950
Subseries I: Secular/Interfaith Cooperation Groups and Individuals, 1938-1950
Existence and Location of Copies
Digital reproductions of items in this collection are available electronically as a part of
the
In Our
Own Backyard
exhibit.
Related Material
General
Other Note: Processing for portions of this collection was funded by a grant from the J.
Paul Getty Trust.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is open for research use.
Conditions Governing Use
Copyright for unpublished materials authored or otherwise produced by the creator(s) of
this collection has not been transferred to California State University, Northridge.
Copyright status for other materials is unknown. Transmission or reproduction of materials
protected by U.S. Copyright Law (Title 17, U.S.C.) beyond that allowed by fair use requires
the written permission of the copyright owners. Works not in the public domain cannot be
commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owners. Responsibility for any
use rests exclusively with the user.
Accruals
1987, 1997, 2005
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Jewish Federation Council, 1979.
Preferred Citation
For information about citing items in this collection consult the appropriate style manual,
or see the
Citing Archival
Materials
guide.
Processing Information
Robert G. Marshall, Sharon Howe, and Katherine Cannarozzi
Subjects and Indexing Terms
Documents
Photographs