ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a pattern of population movement very different in scope and consequence since it looks at a massive population shift and an adaptation resulting in severe discontinuities in the migrants’ lives. It examines a very specific case of secondary migration, the factors precipitating the general process are as varied as its consequences and no single configuration of circumstances or motivations defines the term. The chapter discusses the short-lived Industrial Removal Office (IRO) in the important formative period in American ethnic history. It focuses on the IRO in light of its stated policies and goals as articulated by its leadership and occasionally refers to the specific operation of the organization in relationship to the movement of Jewish immigrants to Indianapolis and environs. The chapter describes the aspirations of the IRO and the relationship of its resettlement program to self-interested efforts to safeguard the hard-won position of established American Jewish citizens.
