2025-10-03 10:32 AM <br/> Tags: #people #AmericanJewry ![[image-140.png|369x457]] # Adolph Held (1885-1969) - Adolph Held was an American Jewish immigrant involved in organized Jewry from the early 1900s until his death in 1969. - Held was banker, Journalist, Jewish trade union leader, and a lobbyist for Jewish and Israeli matters. --- - Held joined [[The Forward]], a socialist Yiddish language daily newspaper, in 1907. - Held became the paper's general manager from 1912-1917. - Held served as president of the Forward Association, the parent company of *The Forward* for many decades beginning in 1924. - During his time working for the Forward, Held worked closely with its longtime polarizing editor [[Abraham Cahan]]. - Held returned to *The Forward* as general manager from 1962-1967. - From 1920-1924 Held worked in Europe as the European director of the [[Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society (HIAS)]]. - In his role at HIAS Held facilitated hundreds of thousands of Jew's immigration to the United States. - In 1925 Held joined the board of the Amalgamated Bank of New York (ABNY). - The ABNY was the first Jewish labor union bank in the United States. - By 1928 Held was president of the ABNY. Held was president until 1945. - The Amalgamated Bank of New York was founded in 1923 by the trade union Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America (ACWA). - The ACWA was led by [[Sidney Hillman]], a staunch socialist endorsed by the Communist Party USA. - Held and Hillman were credited with the Bank's early success in the 1920s. - The ABNY under Held was noted for its constant transfers of money to the [[Bank Hapoalim|Worker's Bank]] in Jewish Palestine. - The [[Bank Hapoalim|Workers' Bank]] was founded by the Jewish trade union [[Histadrut]] in 1921. - Held was chairman of the Amalgamated Cooperative Housing project in the Bronx. - The housing project provided labor union subsidized housing for mostly Jews. - Today the housing projects are majority black. --- - Held co-founded the [[Jewish Labor Committee (JLC)]] in 1934 with [[Baruch Charney Vladeck]], and [[David Dubinsky]]. - From 1938-1969 Held was president of the JLC. - The JLC was founded to oppose Nazi Germany and support Jewish anti-Hitler resistance in Europe. - By the 1950s the JLC represented ~500,000 Jewish workers in the United States. - Held represented the JLC at the 1945 United Nations founding conference in San Francisco. Held presented a multi point plan for the reconstruction of Jewish life in Europe. - The JLC under Held supported the civil rights movement of the 50s and 60s. - Held personally lobbied congressmen to investigate racial bigotry. - At the 1953 JLC convention, which Held was presiding over, a resolution was passed urging the [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] and the [[ADL]] to rejoin the National Community Relations Advisory Council, later renamed to the [[Jewish Council for Public Affairs (JCPA)]]. - During WWII the JLC under Held was involved in lobbying the FDR administration to recognize and react to the plight of European Jews. - In 1942 Held joined a group of Jewish leaders in presenting FDR a report on purported Nazi atrocities against Jews including: - Rabbi [[Stephen S. Wise]] of the [[American Jewish Congress]] and [[World Jewish Congress]] - [[Henry Monsky]] of [[B'nai B'rith]] - Rabbi Israel Rosenberg of the [[Union of Orthodox Rabbis]] - [[Israel Goldstein]] of the Synagogue Council of America - [[Maurice Wertheim]] of the [[American Jewish Committee (AJC)]] - As JLC chairman Held participated in meetings with senior government officials. - One such meeting occurred in 1955 between Assistant US Secretary of State George V. Allen and Held, [[Nahum Goldmann]], and [[Israel Goldstein]]. - Another meeting occurred in 1959 between US Secretary of State Christian Herter and Held, [[Philip Klutznick]], [[Rose Halprin]], and [[Maurice Eisendrath]]. - Held lobbied Herter on behalf of Israel in the Arab Israeli conflict. In particular regarding Arab boycotts, the Suez Canal, and ship movements. --- - Held was a founder of the [[Conference of Presidents]], of which the JLC was a founding member. - Held joined the [[Claims Conference]] upon its establishment in 1952. - The Claims Conference has been extorting Germany for holocaust reparations since its founding. - When Held visited Israel in 1955 he was accommodated by the Israeli national labor union [[Histadrut]]. - During his trip Held had a long discussion with Israeli Prime Minister [[David Ben-Gurion]]. - In September of 1967 Martin Luther King Jr. send Held a letter explaining that he would oppose any resolution condemning Israel. - MLK upheld "Israel's right to exist." - MLK explained that antisemitism is used to "divide Negro and Jew, who effectively collaborated in the struggle for justice." *Straight from the horses mouth: Jews were essentially equal partners with blacks during the civil rights era.* - Held sat on the board of the [[American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC)]]. #### References - “Adolph Held Dies at 84, Served on ‘Forward,’ in Labor Posts and Organizations.” _Jewish Telegraphic Agency_, May 15, 1969. [https://www.jta.org/archive/adolph-held-dies-at-84-served-on-forward-in-labor-posts-and-organizations](https://www.jta.org/archive/adolph-held-dies-at-84-served-on-forward-in-labor-posts-and-organizations) - “111. Memorandum of a Conversation, Department of State, Washington, December 7, 1959, 2:30 p.m.” In _Foreign Relations of the United States, 1958–1960, Arab–Israeli Dispute; United Arab Republic; North Africa, Volume XIII._ Office of the Historian, U.S. Department of State. [https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v13/d111](https://history.state.gov/historicaldocuments/frus1958-60v13/d111) - “Held, Adolph.” _Jewish Virtual Library._ [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/held-adolph](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/held-adolph) - “Memo from Jewish Leader Press President Roosevelt to Act (December 8, 1942).” _Jewish Virtual Library_. [https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/memo-from-jewish-leader-press-president-roosevelt-to-act](https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/memo-from-jewish-leader-press-president-roosevelt-to-act) - Tyler, Gus. “Oral History Interview.” _Association for Diplomatic Studies and Training, Labor Diplomacy Oral History Project_, 1995 (PDF). [https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Tyler,%20Gus.toc.pdf](https://adst.org/OH%20TOCs/Tyler,%20Gus.toc.pdf) - “Jewish Life, vol. 11, no. 9 (July 1957).” _Jewish Life_ (PDF; coverage of JLC statements on racial bigotry). [https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/jewish-life/vol-11/v11n09-jul-1957-JL.pdf](https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/jewish-life/vol-11/v11n09-jul-1957-JL.pdf) - Eli Sperling, “MLK’s Support for Israel Clear in Letters,” _Atlanta Jewish Times_, February 19, 2017, [https://www.atlantajewishtimes.com/mlks-support-for-israel-clear-in-letters/](https://www.atlantajewishtimes.com/mlks-support-for-israel-clear-in-letters)