Historian Steven J. Ross contends that Americans like to believe the end of World War II brought a new era of tolerance in the United States, but antisemitism and racism went up, not down, after the war's end. Violence broke out in cities across the country, and the number of organized extremist groups more than doubled from 1940 to 1946.
Ross reveals how key leaders of these groups worked together to launch deadly attacks on Jews and African Americans across the U.S. during this period, while establishing a broader network of extremist organizations across the country. In response, three men—Arnold Forster of the Anti-Defamation League, George Mintzer of the American Jewish Committee, and James Sheldon of the Non-Sectarian Anti-Nazi League to Champion Human Rights—along with dozens of men and women, launched a multipronged effort: They infiltrated, monitored, and undermined these extremist groups, putting their own safety on the line.
Tracing the extraordinary work of these unsung heroes, Ross provides a reconsideration of the legacy of the “Good War,” while telling the story of the intrepid activists who scored important victories that have been all but forgotten.
His book The Secret War Against Hate: American Resistance to Antisemitism and White Supremacy (Bloomsbury Publishing) is available for purchase.
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