The claim has been made by J.D. Hayworth and his Jewish Republican fellow travelers that the congressman's comments about Henry Ford and Americanization have been taken out of context. It has further been alleged that all Ford was doing in his call for Americanization was asking immigrants to learn English.
It is well known that between 1920 and 1922, Henry Ford serialized the publication of "The Protocols of the Learned Elders of Zion" in the Dearborn Independent, a newspaper he purchased for that sole purpose. However, he did more than just replicate the translation of Serge Nilus' 1903 version of "The Protocols." He edited and added to them. He included numerous articles about the Jews in the United States, and these collected articles were published in 1922 in four volumes. Today, those four volumes are known collectively as "The International Jew."
It is interesting to note that Hitler read the Ford volumes while a prisoner after the failed Beer Hall Putsch in 1923 and credits Ford with his enlightenment on the Jewish problem.
So exactly what does Ford say about Americanization, and does it have any bearing on his anti-Semitism? Readers can judge for themselves based on selected quotes from Ford's additions to "The Protocols":
"Indeed, it is such a statement as the Gentile mind could not have evolved, because the trend of Gentile feeling is all in the opposite direction, namely that Americanization is a good thing for the Jew. It is from authoritative Jewish sources we learn this fact, that what we call civilizing influences are looked upon as being at enmity with Judaism. It is not the Gentile who says that Jewish ideals, as ideals, are incompatible with the life of our country; it is the Jew who says so. It is he who inveighs against Americanism, not the American who inveighs against Judaism. Americanism is yet unfinished, Judaism has been complete for centuries. While no American would think of pointing to any part of the country or to any group as representing the true and final type of Americanism, the Jews quite unhesitatingly point to parts of the world and to certain groups as representing the true type of Judaism." (Henry Ford, "Jew Objection to Americanism")
"One of the strongest causes militating against the full Americanization of several millions of Jews in this country is their belief - instilled in them by their religious authorities - that they are 'chosen,' that this land is theirs, that the inhabitants are idolators, that the day is coming when the Jews will be supreme." (Henry Ford, "Jews and the 'Religious Persecution' Cry")
"Wherever Jewish tendencies are permitted to work unhindered, the result is not 'Americanization,' nor 'Anglicization' nor any other distinctive nationalism, but a strong and ruling reversion back to essential 'Judaization.'" (Henry Ford, "Protocols Claim Partial Fulfillment")
It seems clear that Hayworth and his Jewish "fans" are reverting back to that old football philosophy: "the best defense is a good offense" --- hence their attempt to obfuscate the stupid statements by Hayworth by attacking the Jewish News.
Gordon Weiner is professor emeritus & former director of the Jewish Studies Program at Arizona State University.
