ABSTRACT
Adolf Hitler's ascension to the German chancellorship in January 1933 resulted in Nazi outrages against German Jews and Nazi-sponsored anti-Semitic incidents in large American cities including Newark. Liberalism in the 1930s supported the underdog, and Jews in Germany certainly fit that description. To understand the failure of Newark's liberals to fight Nazism in the 1930s, it is necessary to assess liberalism's influence as well as its strengths and weaknesses. Amelia Moorfield, Newark's pre-eminent liberal woman was involved in anti-Nazi activities, including the Non Sectarian Anti-Nazi League (NSANL) boycott. The growth of fascism throughout the Western world, with its attendant wars of conquest, palpable social ills manifested in the continuing lynchings in the South, and the industrial exploitation of women and children gave rise to an unprecedented range of responses. Students, teachers, clergymen, political activists, and ordinary citizens participated in efforts to help those threatened by violence, intolerance, and poverty.
