Through My Eyes A Brief History of the JLC
Title
Through My Eyes
A Brief History of the JLC
Creator
Jacob Schlitt
Description
"I cannot describe the joy I feel in seeing so many young people in the Boston area committed to the Jewish Labor Committee, and to its role as a bridge between the labor movement and the Jewish community."
Date
2009
Format
application/pdf
Type
text
Language
en
Coverage
1934/1956
Identifier
About_me_and_the_JLC
Text
Through My Eyes
A Brief History of the JLC
I cannot describe the joy I feel in seeing so many young people in the Boston area committed to the Jewish Labor Committee, and to its role as a bridge between the labor movement and the Jewish community. I joined the staff of the JLC in 1956, after having been an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, so that makes me a part of the JLC for over 53 years, longer than many of our young activists have been alive. In the six years that I served on the staff, I absorbed its remarkable history, and would like to share some of that with you through the pages of the New England JLC’s Newsletter.
The JLC was formed in February 1934, and its primary concern was the rescue of Jews and trade unionists from death at the hands of the Nazis. More than 1,000 delegates came together, representing the “Jewish unions,” the Workmen’s Circle, the Jewish Daily Forward and others. They elected B. Charney Vladeck of the Forward as President, Joseph Baskin of the Workmen’s Circle as Secretary, and David Dubinsky of the ILGWU as Treasurer. Declaring that only a broad-based workers movement could overthrow Hitlerism, it sought to mobilize the American labor movement in the fight, which included fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination.
Soon after the JLC’s formation, its officers called on AFL President William Green to persuade the Roosevelt Administration to rescue Jews and labor leaders targeted by the Nazis, by issuing them visas. The JLC compiled a list of Jewish and non-Jewish labor and Socialist leaders from Eastern Europe, Germany, Austria, France and Belgium. After some delay, close to 2000 were saved from certain death.
By the late ‘30s, two Polish Bundist leaders, Jacob Pat and Benjamin Tabachinsky, had come to the United States and soon became the leaders of the JLC, following the untimely death of Vladeck. Their ties to the Polish Labor Bund gave them access to information from the resistance groups in Eastern Europe. In the fall of 1942, they learned from Polish Underground courier Jan Karski of the slaughter of Polish Jews, but their appeals fell on deaf ears. The JLC organized a mass rally at Madison Square Garden, and in December 1942, they held a Day of Mourning in which a half million workers stopped work for ten minutes. Unable to get the United States to rescue Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe, the JLC concentrated its efforts on getting funds to the underground, and aiding the resistance. Money was sent abroad through the Polish government-in-exile to the Jewish underground. In 1943, the JLC sent $115,000 to the Jewish underground by way of the Polish government-in-exile, and another $175,000 in 1944.
As the war ended and survivors made their way to Displaced Persons camps, the JLC served as the clearinghouse for help to keep them alive. Two JLC representatives were assigned to work in the camps, getting survivors food, medical treatment and transit visas. The JLC opened offices in Brussels and Stockholm to help in the resettlement of refugees. A fund-raising campaign was initiated by the JLC among union members across the country to help survivors. Union locals “adopted” children. They contributed funds which were earmarked for an individual child, and they received the child’s picture and letters. Countless packages of food and clothing, organized by JLC volunteers, were sent overseas each month. And survivors who made it to the United States were assisted in finding housing and jobs.
When I was hired in 1956, Zalman Lichtenstein was the staff person involved with the child adoption program, and Lasar Epstein coordinated aid for other refugee groups. The National office of the JLC had moved from the Forward Building at 175 East Broadway to the Atran Center at 25 East 78 Street. Friends Lichtenstein and Epstein were on the first floor opposite the Congress for Jewish Culture headed by Hyman Bass. Friends Pat and Tabachinsky had their offices at one end of the third floor and I, together with the other members of the JLC’s Anti-Discrimination Department, were at the other end. The Director of my department was Manny Muravchik who had been hired in 1949 and who had put together a very effective field operation. By 1956, the JLC had field offices in Boston, Bridgeport, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, St. Paul, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and in Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
Tune in next time for a description of the development of JLC’s innovative civil rights program, and the creation of Labor Committees for Human Rights across the country, as well as our relationship with organized labor and the other Jewish agencies.
Jacob Schlitt
A Brief History of the JLC
I cannot describe the joy I feel in seeing so many young people in the Boston area committed to the Jewish Labor Committee, and to its role as a bridge between the labor movement and the Jewish community. I joined the staff of the JLC in 1956, after having been an organizer for the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, so that makes me a part of the JLC for over 53 years, longer than many of our young activists have been alive. In the six years that I served on the staff, I absorbed its remarkable history, and would like to share some of that with you through the pages of the New England JLC’s Newsletter.
The JLC was formed in February 1934, and its primary concern was the rescue of Jews and trade unionists from death at the hands of the Nazis. More than 1,000 delegates came together, representing the “Jewish unions,” the Workmen’s Circle, the Jewish Daily Forward and others. They elected B. Charney Vladeck of the Forward as President, Joseph Baskin of the Workmen’s Circle as Secretary, and David Dubinsky of the ILGWU as Treasurer. Declaring that only a broad-based workers movement could overthrow Hitlerism, it sought to mobilize the American labor movement in the fight, which included fighting anti-Semitism and all forms of discrimination.
Soon after the JLC’s formation, its officers called on AFL President William Green to persuade the Roosevelt Administration to rescue Jews and labor leaders targeted by the Nazis, by issuing them visas. The JLC compiled a list of Jewish and non-Jewish labor and Socialist leaders from Eastern Europe, Germany, Austria, France and Belgium. After some delay, close to 2000 were saved from certain death.
By the late ‘30s, two Polish Bundist leaders, Jacob Pat and Benjamin Tabachinsky, had come to the United States and soon became the leaders of the JLC, following the untimely death of Vladeck. Their ties to the Polish Labor Bund gave them access to information from the resistance groups in Eastern Europe. In the fall of 1942, they learned from Polish Underground courier Jan Karski of the slaughter of Polish Jews, but their appeals fell on deaf ears. The JLC organized a mass rally at Madison Square Garden, and in December 1942, they held a Day of Mourning in which a half million workers stopped work for ten minutes. Unable to get the United States to rescue Jews in Nazi-occupied Europe, the JLC concentrated its efforts on getting funds to the underground, and aiding the resistance. Money was sent abroad through the Polish government-in-exile to the Jewish underground. In 1943, the JLC sent $115,000 to the Jewish underground by way of the Polish government-in-exile, and another $175,000 in 1944.
As the war ended and survivors made their way to Displaced Persons camps, the JLC served as the clearinghouse for help to keep them alive. Two JLC representatives were assigned to work in the camps, getting survivors food, medical treatment and transit visas. The JLC opened offices in Brussels and Stockholm to help in the resettlement of refugees. A fund-raising campaign was initiated by the JLC among union members across the country to help survivors. Union locals “adopted” children. They contributed funds which were earmarked for an individual child, and they received the child’s picture and letters. Countless packages of food and clothing, organized by JLC volunteers, were sent overseas each month. And survivors who made it to the United States were assisted in finding housing and jobs.
When I was hired in 1956, Zalman Lichtenstein was the staff person involved with the child adoption program, and Lasar Epstein coordinated aid for other refugee groups. The National office of the JLC had moved from the Forward Building at 175 East Broadway to the Atran Center at 25 East 78 Street. Friends Lichtenstein and Epstein were on the first floor opposite the Congress for Jewish Culture headed by Hyman Bass. Friends Pat and Tabachinsky had their offices at one end of the third floor and I, together with the other members of the JLC’s Anti-Discrimination Department, were at the other end. The Director of my department was Manny Muravchik who had been hired in 1949 and who had put together a very effective field operation. By 1956, the JLC had field offices in Boston, Bridgeport, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Detroit, Chicago, St. Paul, Los Angeles, San Francisco, and in Montreal, Vancouver and Winnipeg.
Tune in next time for a description of the development of JLC’s innovative civil rights program, and the creation of Labor Committees for Human Rights across the country, as well as our relationship with organized labor and the other Jewish agencies.
Jacob Schlitt
Original Format
application/msword
Collection
Citation
Jacob Schlitt, “Through My Eyes
A Brief History of the JLC,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 20, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/84.
A Brief History of the JLC,” Autobiographical stories & other writing by Jacob Schlitt, accessed April 20, 2024, https://tsirlson.omeka.net/items/show/84.