Nazis in Newark

Rating:
Summary: "Ex-Newarker's Reaction to 'Nazis In Newark" "
Review: A masterfully written and meticulously researched
history of Nazi sympathizers in the Newark NJ area during the era from Hitler's rise to power until the start of World War 2, and the reactions and efforts of Newark's then large Jewish community to deal with the Hitler-sympathizers.

The book also contains the story of the Newark Third Ward legendary "Minutemen" ... youthful Newark Jewish musclemen, mobsters, and ex-boxers who broke up Newark-area Nazi rallies, cracked heads, and otherwise disrupted and made life miserable for the Hitler-followers.

The author, Warren Grover, is a native Newarker and Jewish community leader, as well as a Newark historian who relied on scores of interviews and insider sources who makes the reader feel like he or she is there as part of the action.

A book for all ex Newarkers and those with an interest in Newark
or Newark-Jewish history, and not to be missed.

-- Nat Bodian

Rating:
Summary: Nazis in Newark: do the ends justify the means?
Review: This book is well-researched, well-written and well argued, but at its core the author's message is immoral. He glorifies the use of Jewish gangsters to beat up Nazi sympathizers in Newark during the 1930s. He also defends a wide range of government actions which denied these Nazi sympathizers their First Amendment rights.

It would be one thing if the Jewish gangsters were defending the Jewish community in Newark from Nazi abuse and harassment, but the author provides no evidence of this. Rather the Jewish gangsters, who called themselves the Minutemen, went out of their way to attack Nazi meetings and beat up the participants. I guess you could call these attacks pre-emptive, but Grover fails to show that the Jewish community was in danger of immanent attack. The author seems to believe that the mere presence of Nazis in public justified the use of violence against them. As obnoxious as Nazis were and are, that is a dangerous notion.

In making these thugs into heroes, Grover ignores that they were largely immunized from the consequences of their actions. Despite their flagrant use of violence, they always escaped serious punishment. Why? Because they were under the protection of a Jewish crime boss, who fixed things with the authorities. You call that heroism?

Finally these same gangsters were running protection rackets, corrupting unions and breaking strikes. And you can be sure that most of the victims of their criminal behavior were Jews. They were also used to prevent a rally in support of union organizing in Newark, lead by legendary socialist leader Norman Thomas, who, of course, was an enemy of anti-Semitism.

That Grover has no problem with this, as long as the Minutemen were beating up Nazis too, shows misplaced loyalties.

Still, it is an interesting book and a good read.