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