Gemma R. Birnbaum: All We Have Standing Between Us is made possible thanks to the generous support of the Knapp Family Foundation. Additional funding provided by the Leon Levy Foundation, the Achelis and Bodman Foundation, the Atran Foundation, and Anonymous.
Visit the companion exhibition in New York City, on view at the Center for Jewish History July 21st through December 31st, 2026.
Archival Audio – 1929 Stock Market Crash
Somehow it didn’t last forever. The time came when the ticker tape in the broker’s office told a new story: A panic. Sixteen and a half million shares of stock sold in a single day. Sold hopelessly, desperately, at any price. It was the forerunner of depression and crisis.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: On October 29, 1929, the Roaring Twenties and an era of unprecedented prosperity came to a shocking halt. Days of stock market panic and sinking markets had led to the moment that would become known as “Black Tuesday.” The panic turned to total pandemonium, and for the next three years, the economy continued its free fall.
Welcome to All We Have Standing Between Us. I’m Gemma R. Birnbaum, executive director of the American Jewish Historical Society.
Today’s episode, Never in the History of the World, begins with a crash.
Archival Audio – 1929 Stock Market Crash
That same winter, the richest country in the world began a bitter journey downhill. The stock market buckled and crashed, and the nation’s economy plummeted into the Depression. By 1932, nearly one man out of four was unemployed. Working men spent their days on park benches, and the government set up public soup kitchens. New York, the richest city in the richest country in the world, found itself bankrupt, politically as well as economically.
Deborah Dash Moore: So one of the things that happens with the stock market crash, it’s very much like gambling. Because people entered the stock market, ordinary people entered the stock market. They were tempted to buy on margin, which meant that they didn’t actually have the money to purchase all that they were buying in terms of the stocks.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: Deborah Dash Moore is professor of history and Judaic studies at the University of Michigan.
Deborah Dash Moore: And as a result, when the value of the stocks start to go down, they lose what they had invested. Nowadays we talk about a bubble. It was a big bubble in October of 1929 when it crashed. It had an impact on middle-class Americans who had invested in the stock market. But many, many Americans did not invest in the stock market. The impact that they felt had to do as the economy contracted, and people were thrown out of work. That’s the big effect. And Hoover, Herbert Hoover, who was president at that time, did not really know how to respond.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: Believing that with enough time, the economy would right itself and the strife would pass, the Hoover administration responded to the deepening Great Depression by promoting volunteerism, local charity, private philanthropy, and what the Republican President called “rugged individualism.”
As the country, and the globe, plunged further into turmoil, Americans became increasingly frustrated with Hoover’s response, which included federal intervention and bailouts for railroads, banks, and other large businesses, but no direct relief to the American people. Across the US, so-called “Hoovervilles” – shanty towns built by people who became homeless during the Depression – popped up in vacant lots, public parks, under bridges, and on the outskirts of cities.
In 1932, after he ordered that the US Army break up and disperse World War I veterans who were protesting to receive early payment of their military bonuses, Hoover’s approval rating plummeted to new lows.
As the presidential election approached, an obstinate Hoover appeared grim, weary, and frustrated on the campaign trail. In sharp contrast was Democratic nominee Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who optimistically promised a new deal for the American people.
Deborah Dash Moore: Now, by contrast, FDR was in the governor’s mansion in New York State, and New York State began a number of programs to help workers. Workers on the left, and this of course included Jews, had been pressing for unemployment insurance, for example. When you’re thrown out of work, there should be money that you’re paid to tide you over. Another left-wing demand had to do with Social Security. People should be able to retire with income.
The concept of social responsibility, which was a socialist idea, and also a Communist one, was something that Jews, especially in New York, but also in Chicago and other big cities where Jews lived, it was something that they supported, and that definitely was not what Hoover was willing to do.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: On November 9, 1932, headlines across the nation announced Roosevelt’s extraordinary win, with the governor taking 42 out of 48 states in a near-sweep.
Archival Audio – FDR’s 1932 Acceptance Speech
I am glad of this opportunity to extend my deep appreciation to the electorate of this country, which gave me yesterday such a great vote of confidence. It is a vote that had more than mere party significance. It transcended party lines and became a national expression of liberal thought. It means, I am sure, that the masses of the people of the nation firmly believe that there is great and actual possibility in an orderly recovery through a well-conceived and actively directed plan of action. Such a plan has been presented to you, and you have expressed approval of it. This, my friends, is most reassuring to me. It shows that there is in this country unbounded confidence in the future of sound agriculture and of honorable industry. This clear mandate shall not be forgotten, and I pledge you this, and I invite your help in the happy task of restoration.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: On March 4, 1933, he was sworn in as President, ushering in an era of hope and recovery.
Archival Audio – Congress Reacts to New Deal
The new president goes into action, as Secretary of Treasury Wooden looks on. Mr. Roosevelt signs the first of the new banking bills. The bill was passed in the record time of 8 hours and 15 minutes and no time was lost in the formality in signing it. By his signature, the President marked the beginning of the long promised New Deal.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: Tony Michels is professor of American Jewish history at the University of Wisconsin.
Tony Michels: The New Deal is basically the idea that the federal government has to play an active role in the economy. This includes a regulatory role, regulating the way capitalism functions. It also includes social welfare, making sure there’s at least some minimal protections, a safety net, for Americans. So these are two important aspects of it, regulation and welfare. It also plays a very important role in supporting organized labor. ‘Cause one important part of the New Deal is the Wagner Act, which gives the right of workers to bargain collectively. So this encourages a great expansion of organized labor.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: Relief, Recovery and Reform – these were the Three R’s that defined the New Deal.
Programs and projects such as the Tennessee Valley Authority employed millions of people, though recovery was slow and stilted. By 1935, a Second New Deal that included additional agencies and programs like the Works Progress Administration ramped up recovery efforts.
For American Jews, this new era of reform meant new opportunities. For the first time, through the expansion of civil service jobs, Jews could apply for government positions.
Roosevelt’s cabinet was also remarkable. Among those who played a vital role in the recovery were Labor Secretary Frances Perkins, the first woman to ever hold a cabinet position, and Henry Morgenthau, Jr. Morgenthau came from a prominent German Jewish family, the son of Josephine and Henry Morgenthau Sr, a diplomat and real estate mogul.
Deborah Dash Moore: Morgenthau was a neighbor of FDR in Hyde Park, and a wealthy man, like FDR, and knew him and they were friends. And FDR appoints him as Secretary of the Treasury. It’s going to become a significant role later on, but it leads to attacks on FDR as the “Jew Deal” rather than the New Deal.
Archival Audio – Father Coughlin Before the 1936 Election
Voiceover: As another presidential election approaches, a Roman Catholic priest for the first time in American history is seriously involved in National politics.
Coughlin: Some are unpopular but God hates the hypocrite! And as long as you shall permit a little handful of mobilize…
Voiceover: Father Charles Edward Coughlin today is far more than just a valuable voice over the radio. At his Shrine of the Little Flower near Detroit converge elements of a mighty political power, a power that grows with every name added to the 12 million already in his letter files. With every handshake that adds another individual to his colossal following which he has welded into the most potent political Lobby this country has ever known: the single voice National Union for social justice.”
Gemma R. Birnbaum: Father Charles Coughlin, a Catholic priest based out of Royal Oak, Michigan and former Roosevelt ally, rose to prominence for his incendiary radio shows. A pro-fascist propagandist and ardent anticommunist, Coughlin and his ilk lambasted Democrats and Republicans alike. In some of his most inflammatory claims, he promoted conspiracy theories that alleged Jewish, quote, “communistic” control of the federal government, and derogatively referred to Roosevelt as “President Rosenfeld.” Because of his high profile role in FDR’s cabinet, Secretary Morgenthau also became a frequent target.
Deborah Dash Moore: Now, of course, he’s not the first Jew, right? Oscar Straus is the first Jew, and that’s appointed by a Republican, Teddy Roosevelt does that. But, there’s a lot of opposition by ’36 to FDR’s programs, and there’s rising antisemitism around the world, right?
Tony Michels: You have the growth of the Nazi movement in Germany. Hitler comes to power in 1933 And then between 1933 and 1939, the Nazi government becomes increasingly hostile to Jews. Basically strips Jews of their citizenship. There’s the Nuremberg Laws of 1935. There’s Kristallnacht in 1938. And Jews are expelled, purged from the German body politic as they’re losing their rights and being attacked. And of course, the German Jews that can leave do leave during this period. But not everyone can get out and, or rather, let me put it this way, not everyone can find a place to go. So the threat of Nazism is growing.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: As authoritarianism abroad infected large swaths of Europe, Asia, and beyond, homefront hate was becoming a problem. Among Coughlin’s closest allies was fellow broadcast preacher Gerald L.K. Smith. A far right demagogue and self-avowed white Christian nationalist, Smith amplified Coughlin’s anti-Jewish messages, and coined a few of his own. References to “internationalists” and other antisemitic dog whistles peppered his radio broadcasts.
While he amassed hundreds of thousands of listeners – likely far fewer than the 10 million disciples he claimed to have – his hateful rhetoric did receive pushback. In October 1936, after delivering a radio talk at a New Orleans station, Smith was punched in the face.
The far right in America, though small in number, had infested big cities and small towns alike.
Archival Audio – American Nazi Rally News Footage
They wore Hitler’s uniforms, but they wrapped themselves in the American flag. They preached the doctrine of racial and class hatred. For Hitler had said America could be conquered from within and fall as an overright plum to the Nazi master race.
[Music]
Jewish Moscow-directed domination.
We let them speak. When occasionally a lone outraged dissenter wanted to air his opposition, we provided police to preserve order.
This was Madison Square Garden in New York City, and not Berlin nor Nuremberg. Later this speaker was arrested. It was because he had filched money from his deluded followers and he was sent to Sing Sing to brood upon the strange ways of democracy.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: On a stage draped in American flags, swastikas, and a stories-high portrait of George Washington, inside the World’s Most Famous Arena, the Nazi sympathizer and German American Bund leader Fritz Kuhn stood in front of 20,000 attendees.
The Bund, a pro-Hitler organization founded in 1936, preached an “America First” approach to the escalating war in Europe. Posters for the event at the Garden promised, quote, “a mass demonstration for true Americanism.”
In his speech, Kuhn accused American Jews of clandestinely controlling the federal government.
Deborah Dash Moore: They saw Jews as trying to manipulate the United States into war. Jews were supportive of the Lend-Lease program that was helping Britain. So just to remind you, after the fall of France, Britain remains the only country fighting Nazi Germany, right? And so you have the Battle of Britain that is largely an air, somewhat sea battle that is taking place, but the Soviet Union is not fighting Nazi Germany, right? So, Europe is pretty uniformly dominated either by the Soviets or by the Nazis. How does the United States get into the war? Well, among the allies of the Axis powers in Europe, Germany and Italy, especially, is Japan. And Japan bombs Pearl Harbor.
Archival Audio – Pearl Harbor Attack
December 7th, 1941, a day of infamy. Even as Japanese diplomats were conferring with Secretary of State Hull on peace measures, Nipponese planes were sweeping down on Pearl Harbor. This pictorial record includes both US films and pictures made by the enemy as they dropped their load of death on the naval base, on Wheeler Field, on civilian homes and schools. A hundred Japanese planes and a number of midget submarines took part in the attack. In an hour and five minutes, the battleship Arizona was completely destroyed, and four others severely damaged. Three other battleships and three cruisers suffered lesser damage. Nearly 200 planes were destroyed. In that Sunday morning inferno, the Pacific Fleet appeared to be completely immobilized by the sneak attack. Nearly 3,000 casualties added to the catastrophe. In hours, the United States declared war. The attack on Pearl Harbor united Americans as never before in history.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: The attack on Pearl Harbor made US entry into World War II an inevitability, and on December 8, 1941, Congress authorized the war against Japan. Declarations of war against Germany and Italy soon followed.
Later that month, the German American Bund was disbanded. While versions of “America First” and isolationist messaging continued to crop up throughout American involvement in World War II, including Gerald L.K. Smith’s efforts to create the “America First Party” in 1943, Americans largely united around the war effort. Additionally, war production stimulated the economy.
Archival Audio – America’s Call to Arms
[Music]
America prepares All America alters its pattern of life and work to meet the demand for protection. Industry is a double step to supply the sinews of safety, the armaments of war that an embattled world must have if democracy is to survive. Mechanical genius joins with a muscle of millions of men working to win for the ways of freedom. Freedom to think, to speak, to rise, to live and plan with one’s fellow man.
Deborah Dash Moore: The Great Depression finally comes to an end through mobilization for the war. There’s no question. Instead of building cars, Ford Motor Company starts building airplanes, and the airplanes are rolling off, one every three days or some incredible rate of construction.
There’s a draft. And the draft had been instituted in 1940, but now they really start to draft people. In addition, of course, many people sign up and volunteer to fight. By the end of the war, there had been 12 million Americans serving in the military. That’s a huge number, and that means that you start recruiting women. There are opportunities for Black Americans to work, which previously had been unavailable.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: The war led to mass migrations across the country, and thousands of people relocated to work in massive munitions factories, most notably on the West Coast in California, but also in midwestern cities like Detroit, which became one of the largest producers of war material.
In all, more than 550,000 American Jews served in the armed forces.
Deborah Dash Moore: They’re integrated into the military. That means that although there may be a couple of Jews in a unit, there’s usually not more than that. It’s very rare. Let’s say occasionally you would, you would have, in the Air Corps, a unit where the four officers of a plane might all be Jewish, but that rarely happened. And because they’re integrated, they’re meeting people who had never met Jews before, and who hold stereotypes of Jews, many of them negative stereotypes. They think Jews are shirkers. They think Jews have horns. They think Jews are not to be trusted. And so Jewish GIs have to prove themselves, and they pick different ways of proving themselves. Sometimes they get into fights to show that they’re tough. Other times, they use explanations. But they need to prove themselves. And as I mentioned, the Jews are in the fight to defeat Nazi Germany, and their fellow GIs, many of them are in the fight to defeat the Japanese. And that difference of politics also comes out. And they also experience elements of acceptance by their fellow GIs.
Gemma R. Birnbaum: For nearly four years, American servicemen and women and their allies engaged in a war on multiple fronts, stationed across the Pacific, Europe, and as far away as North Africa. Finally, on May 8, 1945, the Allied powers accepted Germany’s unconditional surrender. And on August 14, after the United States deployed devastating atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan also offered its unconditional surrender.
The true brutality of World War II and the Holocaust would only become known in the days, weeks, and months that followed, and it would take years to rebuild these war-torn areas and find homes for millions of Jewish and other refugees who had been left stateless.
But as the hard work to rebuild a broken world continued, tensions between the United States and its former ally, the communist-led Soviet Union, began to build. The effects were far reaching, and touched nearly every aspect of American life in the 1940s and even into the 1950s.
Tony Michels: There are two legacies that are bad. One is the right-wing anti-communism that opposes civil liberties. And at the same time, communism itself is anti-democratic and in opposition to civil liberties. So we have two problems that existed together, communism and a kind of communism which was the dominant form of communism in America, which was paranoid, conspiratorial in its thinking, often antisemitic, anti-civil libertarian. Those two things are problems coming out of World War II and going forward. And I think those legacies still exist.
Archival Audio – Joseph McCarthy’s “One Communist Too Many”
One communist on the faculty of one university is one communist too many.
[Applause]
One communist among the American advisors at Yalta was one in communist too many. And even if there were only one communist in the state department, even if there are only one communist in the state department, that would still be one communist too many.
[Applause]
Gemma R. Birnbaum: For more on Henry Morgenthau Jr, the aftermath of World War II, and the second Red Scare, check out our other podcast series, The Wreckage, available on all platforms.
From the American Jewish Historical Society, I’m Gemma R. Birnbaum. This episode was written by me. Recording, sound design, and mixing were done at Sound Lounge. Archival material is from the AJHS collections, and the US National Archives.
For episode transcripts, additional resources, and links to the collections discussed in this episode, visit ajhs.org/democracy. If you enjoyed this episode, please rate and review us on your preferred podcast platform which helps others discover our series.
