Looking Back in The 1940's In Portland's Anti-Semitism

 Nadene Goldfoot                                           

                                                  

OHS photo. Minor White photo. Portland. 1940. Intersection of SW Front and SW Madison looking west.

In the 1940s, Portland’s Jewish community—largely centered in the South Portland neighborhood—navigated a landscape marked by both overt discrimination and social exclusion. While there were no widespread violent riots, local antisemitism mirrored national trends: Jewish residents faced restrictive neighborhood housing covenants, employment discrimination, and exclusion from elite social and country clubs.  What times these were;  anyone not a White Protestant would be facing discrimination, not only us Jews. 

The United States officially declared war in WWII in two primary stages following the attack on Pearl Harbor:   December 8, 1941: Congress declared war on the Empire of Japan.  December 11, 1941: Congress declared war on Germany and Italy after those nations declared war on the U.S. with Franklin D. Roosevelt dying on us on April 12, 1945.  We cried and cried in school.  He was president for so long we thought he was our supreme father.  

Neveh Zedek on SW 6th and Hall was an early Russian-Jewish congregation founded in Portland in 1895.The original Neveh Zedek was established to serve Eastern European and Russian Jewish immigrants who were fleeing persecution, acting as an important counterpoint to Portland's earlier, more German-centric congregations. It was my paternal grandparents' shul, and then ours, too. 

 In 1940, Neveh Zedek (now known as Congregation Neveh Shalom) was led by Rabbi Meyer Rubin. The synagogue frequently lacked a permanent rabbi during this era and relied heavily on its longtime Cantor, Abraham Rosencrantz, who also acted as an interim rabbi, led religious services, and directed the congregation's Talmud Torah.  I attended starting as a 5 year old in 1939 onto 1949 when I became a teacher there going through confirmation at 12 or 13 in 1946-1947. 

Polina Olson, historian: Olsen tells us the story of the Neighborhood House, a place that South Portland European immigrants went to to learn how to be Americanized in the early 20th Century. Created by the National Council of Jewish Women in 1897, the Neighborhood House modestly began as a sewing school. When the house was built in 1910, it grew to be a place for the community with athletics, a Hebrew School, classes for immigrants, and clubs. It was still usable by 1940.  

During the 1940s, Portland's Jewish immigration shifted focus to European refugees escaping Nazi-occupied territories and the Holocaust. These newcomers, alongside returning WWII veterans, bolstered traditional institutions but struggled to find housing, leading them to settle in South Portland before eventually fanning out to eastside and southwest neighborhoods.

During the 1940s, Portland’s Black population surged from roughly 2,000 to over 20,000. Thousands migrated to the Pacific Northwest to work in the wartime shipbuilding industry. Confined by strict housing discrimination and redlining, most of the new arrivals were forced to settle in the Vanport housing project or the Albina district. Vanport was actually built in 1942, but the rapid wartime migration meant thousands of Black workers were living in Portland and the surrounding area during the 1940s. Because of strict redlining, these residents were heavily concentrated into specific temporary housing areas and the Albina neighborhood.

  Portland’s Black community primarily jitterbugged and danced in the historic Albina district, a thriving hub for jazz and rhythm in North and Northeast Portland during the 1940s through the 1960s.

During the 1940s, jitterbugging and swing dancing exploded in popularity across Portland, with crowds of servicemen and locals frequently packing grand regional ballrooms. The most popular local hotspots of the era were the Golden Canopy Ballroom at Jantzen Beach Amusement Park on Hayden Island and the Uptown (Palais Royale) Ballroom on 2115 West Burnside St. 

Social and Institutional Exclusion: Prestigious local institutions, such as the Waverley Country Club, Arlington Country Club and University Club maintained strict policies excluding Jewish and Black members. Blacks were excluded in the other country clubs such as Alderwood,  and Portland Golf Club,  in Portland as well. Because of this widespread discrimination, Black golfers and community members founded their own organizations, such as the Leisure Hour Golf Club in 1944. They were largely restricted to playing at public courses, primarily Eastmoreland Golf Course, which was one of the few places welcoming to Black players Similar unwritten quotas and restrictions were common in banking, medical fields, and corporate hiring.                         

Housing Discrimination: Redlining and restrictive covenants were heavily utilized across Portland. Real estate deeds in developing neighborhoods explicitly barred the sale or rental of properties to Jewish individuals.

Far-Right Movements: Throughout the 1930s and 1940s, a localized, vocal subset of white supremacist and interwar fascist groups were active in Oregon. These groups peddled antisemitic propaganda and conspiracy theories, laying the ideological groundwork for radical right-wing groups that would occasionally surface in subsequent decades. 

Silver Legion of America (Silver Shirts): Active in the Pacific Northwest, this pro-Nazi, anti-Semitic paramilitary organization led by William Dudley Pelley maintained a visible chapter in Oregon. The group operated openly in the 1930s before being heavily suppressed by the federal government at the onset of WWII. 

German-American Bund: Portland hosted a local chapter of this pro-Nazi organization, embraced by the Third Reich as the hub of the American Nazi movement. The local branch regularly met in the city and was known to circulate virulently anti-Semitic newspapers, such as the Nachrichten.

Former Klan Splinter Groups: Following the collapse of the 1920s Ku Klux Klan, former Grand Dragon Fred Gifford formed the National Crusaders, while other displaced leaders established the National Brotherhood. These factions splintered further but remained focused on white supremacy and anti-Semitism well into the decade.

Portland Assembly Center: The 1940s brought forced incarceration for Japanese Americans. The Portland Expo Center, used first as  a livestock exhibition hall, was transformed into the Portland Assembly Center, where roughly 3,700 people were imprisoned in prison-like conditions, ultimately resulting in the loss of their property and businesses.

Community Response: Facing these pressures, and deeply shaken by the Holocaust, local Jewish civic leaders engaged in protests and rallied for international relief. Many recent immigrants or refugees from Europe who arrived in Portland during this period found it necessary to keep their religious identities hidden to avoid prejudice from neighbors and in schools.  

Aleppo, Syria, Land Once filled With Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot

Alhalabi and Halabi; they are simply different ways of transliterating the same Arabic surname. Both indicate that a person or their ancestors originate from the city of Aleppo (known in Arabic as Halab) in Syria.  This is the surname of my friend, Omran,   I met him online before 2014.  I am Jewish.  Omran was raised by a stepmother.  Both parents were Muslims being he was born in Damascus, Syria. Aleppo was said to be the hub of Jewish business.  

Right now, Aleppo has been suffering with the presence of Terrorists.   Aleppo has a significant terrorist presence. The city and its surrounding region remain a volatile battleground involving multiple organizations designated as terrorist groups, including Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), the PKK/YPG, and splinter factions of the Islamic State (ISIS), all of which have recently been involved in armed clashes, shelling, and suicide bombings.

Abu Muhammad al-Jolani, leader of the rebel group Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), led a surprise offensive that captured Syria's second-largest city, Aleppo, in late 2024. Following the collapse of the Assad regime, he visited the historic Aleppo Citadel, where he was mobbed by supporters, and issued public assurances protecting the city's diverse communities.  

Aleppo has such an interesting history:  It was called by the Jews living there-Aram-Zobah, (found in Psalms 60-2) and its Jewish community is one of the oldest in the world.  Aleppo is one of the world's oldest continuously inhabited cities, tracing its origins over 5,000 years to the 3rd millennium BCE. Located in northern Syria at a strategic crossroads of Silk Road trade routes, it has been governed by numerous empires, including the Amorites, Hittites, Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs. Aleppo was a major cult center for the storm god Hadad. Alexander the Great conquered the city in 333 BCE, and it subsequently flourished under Hellenistic, Roman, and Byzantine rule as a Macedonian colony named Beroea.

   Captured by Arab armies in 637 CE, Aleppo regained its ancient name and developed into a vibrant cultural and intellectual center. It was fiercely contested during the Crusades and later experienced immense prosperity under the Ayyubid and Mamluk dynasties, building the iconic Aleppo Citadel and the city's labyrinthine souks

Serving as a key western terminus on the historic Silk Road, Aleppo connected merchants from China, Persia, India, and Arabia with their European counterparts. The heart of this mercantile activity lies within the labyrinthine alleyways of the Al-Madina Souq, which historically housed over 4,000 shops. The market complex features dozens of khans (historic caravanserais) that originally served as trading houses, workshops, and resting places for traveling merchants.                                 

The Al-Hayyat Mosque was formerly a synagogue !  It dated from the 6th century.  Benjamin Tudela found 1,500 Jews there in 1170 CE, and later during the Middle Ages the community assumed some importance, being the home of many men of learning. 

Aleppo is home to a rich concentration of historic Islamic architecture, with the Ancient City of Aleppo housing numerous landmark structures. Prominent historic examples include the Great Mosque of Aleppo, the Mamluk-era Al-Otrosh Mosque, and the Ayyubid Al-Sultaniyeh Mosque, many of which are undergoing restoration following damage during the Syrian Civil War.

Spanish Jews settled there after 1492 and reinvigorated the community. 

Before 1914 there were 14,000 Jews living in Aleppo.  Emigration to the USA and England dwindled the population.  

After  the UN's decision of November 1947 to partition Palestine, anti-Jewish riots took place in Aleppo and many Jews again fled this city.  

By 1991 there were all of 400 Jews remaining in Aleppo.  with the main occupation trading and peddling. 

The Jewish Quarter still held many different synagogues, with the oldest, Mustaribah,  destroyed in 1947 riots that took place.  The main part of this synagogue dated back to the 4th century.  It was here a famous 10th century masoretic codex of the Bible was found, now finding a new home in Israel. 

 In fact, my friend's mother was from Jew Street in Damascus, but maybe originally from Aleppo.    

Syrians Banned From USA

 Nadene Goldfoot                                             

                             One Syrian Seeking Entrance, Being Refused                                 Omran Alhalabi (b: 1980) taken 2014 ?

We have recent arrivals of Syrians in Portland, Oregon, one of which I already have met.  Approximately 261,000 individuals of Syrian descent live in the United States, with about 122,000 being foreign-born.  

In Portland, Oregon, the local Syrian population is quite small, with current estimates placing around 200 to 400 individuals or families living directly in the city as part of the broader 10,000-person Arab American community in Multnomah County.                                         

   Omran (Amram) in Torah, father of Moses waiting in 2026

However, Syrian nationals are largely restricted from entering the United States today due to an expanded travel ban under Presidential Proclamation 10998, which suspends the issuance of most immigrant and nonimmigrant visas. 

Libya is the only other country that completely bans entry and prohibits visas for Syrian citizens. Additionally, many countries worldwide maintain de facto entry bans by completely denying tourist visas to Syrian passport holders or heavily restricting overland and airport transit. 

The U.S. government maintains these restrictions for the following specific reasons:

Travel Ban and Security: The Proclamation fully suspends the entry of Syrian nationals, citing national security concerns, persistent deficiencies in identity verification, and an inability of the Syrian government to meet U.S. security screening standards. 
Immigrant Visa Pause: The Department of State has also paused new immigrant visa issuances for citizens of designated countries, including Syria, that are deemed to have high rates of public assistance usage at the expense of U.S. taxpayers. 
Temporary Protected Status (TPS) Rulings: In a major 6-3 ruling, the Supreme Court upheld the U.S. government's termination of TPS, clearing the way for the removal of legal protections and potential deportation for thousands of Syrian immigrants who previously resided in the U.S. under humanitarian protection.

While there are limited exceptions for lawful permanent residents, dual nationals traveling on non-restricted passports, and certain diplomatic or official visas, general tourist and business travel remains largely barred. Omran would be in this category.                                 

My friend, Jewish, Syrian and multi-lingual speaking Arabic, English, some Italian, College Grad from Lebanon college, worked at Khayyat Contracting and Trading from 2000 to 2012. He was the manager in this major Italian investment and Development Company  in the Syrian industrial project referred to as the "Steel Melt Project." He dealt with people from all over the world.  He also worked with some small contracting companies and all this broadened his experience and made him more valuable to the company.  He even wrote a safety code for his government as an OSHA system evaluator.  

The Syrian Civil War came in 2012, and he took his mother and siblings to Egypt with him.  Presidents have gone from Assad to Jolani, a terrorist reformed, he says.  Omran saw otherwise and  left Syria, then worked on his computer which he has sold to another country.              

He's the subject of a book I wrote about him. Messages From A Syrian Jew Trapped In Egypt. Now, in 2016...

He recently overheard a conversation that talked of sabotage/ plans about doing harm and told me.  I checked it out and found more info that made it clear. We sent it to the proper source for such information.  The next thing I knew, it came true and both of us were amazed to say the least. Without this information, I think a very important person could have been killed.  As it was, providence saved this person by not being in a hotel at the time.  I don't know if it ever got to the authorities that could have tried to work on it.    

Resource:

Edited: 7/18/2026, 5:30am

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Visa_requirements_for_Syrian_citizens

Looking Back: Anti-Semitism in the 30's in Portland, Oregon With Jewish Immigration, Nazis

 Nadene Goldfoot                                               

                            Stock market Crash of 1929

In the 1930s, Portland’s Jewish community—largely centered in the South Portland neighborhood—navigated a complex environment of civic success and rising institutional antisemitism. While Jews achieved notable political milestones, they faced pervasive social exclusion, rising white nationalism, and the arrival of refugees fleeing Nazi-occupied Europe.                                      

Civic Prominence vs. Social Exclusion

Political Gains: Despite the national rise of bigotry, Julius Meier—a Jewish businessman from the prominent Meier & Frank department store family—was overwhelmingly elected Governor of Oregon in 1930. 

        Jitterbug dancing in Portland, Oregon:  The jitterbug exploded in Portland during the 1930s, fueled by touring big bands and local ballrooms. Couples flocked to local dance halls to showcase freewheeling acrobatic swings.
The Palais Royale Ballroom: A premier venue for youth to jitterbug and perfect the famous "Portland Walk".
Jantzen Beach Amusement Park: The spacious dance floors here regularly hosted regional and national bands, drawing thousands of dancers.  Sammy Arnstein and I danced here many times.  
Institutional Barriers: Socially, Jewish residents faced significant discrimination. Many of Portland’s elite country clubs, such as the Waverley and Tualatin country clubs, maintained strict policies excluding Jewish members. So Jews had their own country clubs.  The Tualatin Country Club (established in 1912) is the Portland area's historically Jewish country club. It was founded by prominent Jewish business leaders, such as former Oregon Governor Julius Meier, because Jewish residents were barred from the region's elite, established country clubs at the time.  How was it taken over by the anti-Semites?  AI said this but it wasn't the name I new when a teen  in the late 40's.  

The Rise of Far-Right Extremism

Interwar Fascism: During the Great Depression (The severe global economic downturn known as the Great Depression occurred in the United States from 1929 to 1939. It began with the devastating Wall Street stock market crash in October 1929 and reached its bottom in 1933, before gradual recovery and full economic restoration in the 1940s), various fascist and white supremacist organizations gained traction in Oregon.

     New Yorkers selling apples during the Great Depression
Exploiting economic anxieties, these groups frequently blamed the Jewish community for the economic crash and for Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies. In 1929, staple grocery prices were significantly lower in absolute terms than they are today, though they represented a much larger chunk of the average worker's weekly paycheck. On average across the United States, a dozen eggs cost about 40 to 45 cents, a quart of milk cost about 12 cents, and a loaf of bread cost about 9 cents. 

Summer Camp Siegfried of Nazi teens, August 29, 1937
Organized Nativism: Local pro-Nazi and antisemitic groups, though smaller in number, laid ideological groundwork that fueled radical right-wing groups in the postwar era.  Between 1929 and 1939, the most prominent Nazi group in the United States was the German American Bund (Amerikadeutscher Volksbund). Led by Fritz Kuhn, the Bund operated dozens of summer camps and local chapters across the country. Their activities, propaganda, and rallies peaked with a notorious gathering at New York's Madison Square Garden.

The Refugee Influx and Community Activism

European Refugees: The 1930s marked a pivotal demographic shift as Portland welcomed its first major wave of refugees escaping Nazi-occupied Europe. Approximately 100 German-Jewish refugees settled in and around Portland during the late 1930s. 

        "The German cruiser “Emden” chugged down the Willamette River with the Nazi naval flag, or ensign, at the stern. The ship moored in Portland at the foot of West Couch Street, just north of the Burnside Bridge. The photograph shows the flag at half-mast, likely honoring King George V of England, who died on January 20, 1936, the day the ship arrived in Portland."  This was the first time Nazis marched in Portland. 
While strict federal immigration quotas and the isolationist climate of the Great Depression severely limited the total number of arrivals, the local Jewish community and local media actively campaigned to welcome and support these initial refugees.                    

                   SS Washington
My father's sister, Ann Goldfoot, married one of these refugees, Werner Siegbert Oster, who managed to arrive in New York at age 22 from ship SS Washington on that left Germany on May 4, 1939, one of the last that were allowed to leave. He had a 1st cousin who had come to the US before him and was living in New York.  Werner was born in Westerburg, Hildesheim, Niedersachsen, Germany.  Werner worked for my father, then became partners with him as his father and he had a meat business in Germany. 

                         Rabbi Henry Berkwitz 
Local Protests: Portland’s Jewish community actively mobilized against the atrocities occurring overseas. In November 1938, in response to Kristallnacht in Germany, local Jewish congregations led by Rabbi Henry J. Berkowitz held mass demonstrations and public persecution protests in Portland.  Mass Protest and Prayer: Portland Jewish groups publicly added their voices to national protests. The mass demonstration included local congregations gathering in prayer and solidarity to denounce the violence of the pogroms,
While Portlanders formally organized in 1938, city dynamics regarding the Nazi threat were complex. Just two years earlier, a German Nazi cruiser (Emden) had docked in Portland, resulting in both city-sponsored receptions and counter-protests. This tells me that the anti-Semitism went along with the Nazi groups in the city, and that the city government was also anti-semitic.  
While Jews were to live in one section only,

                            Dr. DeNorval Unthank
 Portland Black, community in the 1930's was small (under 2,000 residents), facing severe structural segregation. Black residents were primarily restricted by real estate redlining to the Lower Albina neighborhood. The railroad industry was the largest employer for Black Portlanders during this era.   The 1930s saw the Portland Realty Board actively enforcing discriminatory covenants, which barred non-white residents from purchasing homes in white neighborhoods. Even prominent professionals, such as Black physician Dr. DeNorval Unthank, faced petitions and vandalism when they attempted to move into affluent, white areas like Ladd's Addition. This systemic pressure restricted most Black families to the Lower Albina area