America First: The Story of Sol Bloom, the Most Powerful Jew in Congress During the Holocaust (Brenn Books, 2023) by Elliot Resnick, PhD
Reviewed by Rabbi Reuven Chaim Klein (Rachack Review)
In this book, Elliot Resnick — a former
editor of the Jewish Press and scholar of Jewish History — offers a
scholarly biography of Sol Bloom (1870–1949), the U.S. Congressman who served
as Chairman of the House Foreign Affair Committee from before World War II
until after the war. Bloom has been much maligned by some Jewish historians for
failing to help save the Jews of Europe during the Holocaust despite his
prominent position in Congress. In this book, Resnick convincingly argues that
Bloom never betrayed the Jewish People, but continued to do whatever he could
to help fellows Jews. Instead, as alluded to in the title of Resnick’s book,
Bloom decided to put his responsibility to America and the American people
first, and only helped the global Jewish community when that did not conflict
with how he perceived his role as an elected member of the House of
Representatives.
In the early chapters of the
book, Resnick sets the tone by introducing the reader to the biographical
details of Bloom’s early life growing up in San Francisco to a family of Polish
immigrants. Although Mr. Bloom was raised in an Orthodox Jewish family and he
proudly identified with that stream of Judaism, he was not personally observant.
The author gives us a glimpse of Bloom’s early ambition and spunk by discussing
his early career as a promoter and his prominent role in the 1893 Fair in Chicago
that celebrated the 400th anniversary of Christopher Columbus’
discovery of the Americas.
Eventually, Bloom relocated to
New York and entered politics, representing the 19th district of New
York in the House of Representatives. In that early part of his career in
Congress, Bloom showed just how proud he was of his Jewishness by standing up
to the anti-Semitism espoused by carmaker Henry Ford’s newspaper The
Dearborn Independent and calling him out on his unacceptable
characterization of Jews. He also vigorously fought the proposal to switch the
calendar to an eight-day week because he recognized the hardship that would
bring upon observant Jews keeping the Sabbath.
Throughout his career, Bloom
gained a reputation of being the go-to guy for Jews in need. Many families and
important Jewish leader turned to him for help in smoothing along whatever bureaucratic
or legal issues stood in their way. Yet, despite having maintained a sterling
reputation in the Jewish community both before and after World War II,
Congressman Bloom has often been maligned in some circles for his behavior
during the World War II and the Holocaust. They claim that Bloom even
deliberately sabotaged the strategic-level rescue activism by such heroes as Hillel
Kook (aka Peter Bergson). It is claimed that Bloom colluded with progressive
Jewish leaders like Stephen S. Wise (a prominent Reform clergyman) and Nahum
Goldman (head of the World Jewish Congress) to block rescue efforts that tried
to save Jews in Europe who were susceptible to the Nazi’s nefarious
machinations. They argue that Free World Jewish leaders including Bloom have
blood on their hands for their inaction during the Holocaust.
However, as Resnick makes it
clear, these accusations invariably fail to consider all the nuances and
circumstances behind Bloom’s opportunities. For example, when appointed to
represent the U.S.A. in the 1943 Bermuda Conference in which the US government
officials and their British counterparts discussed the question of Jewish
refugees from Nazi-occupied territories in Europe, Bloom was given clear
instructions that opening the U.S. or British Mandator Palestine to more Jewish
immigration was not on the table. His hands were tied before the discussion
could even begin.
Moreover, Resnick adduces
documents — including numerous “thank you” letters — as clear evidence that
even when Bloom seemingly did not act in the best interest of European Jewry,
he continued to help those who turned to him behind the scenes to secure for
them safe passage or naturalization whenever possible. Yet, Bloom’s strong
moral convictions led to him resolve never to go against the law, so all the
good work he did in helping others was always within the framework of whatever
laws existed on the books.
Indeed, Bloom never criticized
the U.S. immigration policy and its quotas on how many Jews may be admitted
because he did not want to jeopardize his close relationship with fellow
Democrat President Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945) and his administration,
which might hinder his ability to help those who turned to him. He also saw the
spirit of the time as supporting American isolationism and felt that any effort
to overturn to those immigration policies would ultimately backfire and lead to
even more limitations.
Resnick convincingly argues that
if Bloom had pushed more to save Jews, it could have majorly gone wrong and compromised
popular U.S. support for England, which would potentially have made for an even
more disastrous Holocaust had the Nazis been able to subdue their greatest
opponent in Europe.
Resnick’s book brings to light
much nuance that has been lost in discussions about the Holocaust and who acted
nobly. Indeed, the whole topic is a bit murky, but Resnick provides the reader
with enough information to make his own informed decision. He essentially
concedes that the historians have valid arguments in their claims against Bloom,
but that the situation was far less black and white than they portray it to have
been.
In doing researching for this
book (which was based on his doctoral dissertation), Elliot Resnick availed
himself of the Bloom papers held in the NYPL archives, as well as other
archival documents and publicly-available newspaper articles and press
releases. He often employs strategically-placed direct quotations from these
primary and secondary sources to make his points, instead of simply asserting
them himself. This reflects the due diligence of a scholar interested in mining
the depths of history to find the truth — as opposed to a rhetorician
advocating for a certain position or a propogandist trying to whitewash
history. Indeed, even as Resnick defends Bloom’s actions and words, he also duly
criticizes Bloom when he feels necessary. All in all, Resnick shows that Sol
Bloom was a life-long proud Jew and dedicated Zionist, cogently deflecting much
of the criticism levelled against him as misdirected.
