Little known today, B’nai B’rith leader Max J. Kohler (1871-1934) worked to ameliorate the plight of German Jews suffering under the Nazis by using his knowledge of constitutional and immigration law. He fought on their behalf until the last day of his life.

The son and grandson of prominent American Reform rabbis, Kohler practiced law from the age of 22 and spent his career writing and speaking out against discrimination. When he entered private practice, he served his clients—Chinese and European immigrants—without charge. He also published books considered among the first to focus on American Jewish history.

B’nai B’rith’s Holocaust and Related Materials Collection at the Jacob Rader Marcus Center documents Kohler’s work on the Joint Council, a committee formed after Hitler began to persecute Jews in early 1933. Its members—B’nai B’rith, the American Jewish Committee and the American Jewish Congress—made plans to coordinate activities and meet with Washington leaders, to voice the need for action.

Kohler sent Secretary of State Cordell Hull a strongly-worded brief, “The United States and German Jewish Persecutions—Precedents for Popular and Governmental Actions.” It cited examples of the times that the American government applied economic sanctions or other measures to induce foreign nations to amend discriminatory policies; his intent was to justify U.S. intervention in Germany in the present.

During the Great Depression, even wealthy individuals applying for immigration to the United States had to name an American sponsor committed to their financial support, a regulation which intentionally reduced numbers of new arrivals. Submitting a bill to Washington legislators, Kohler vehemently underscored the urgency of facilitating emigration for German Jews. He proposed that they be allowed to post their own bond before emigrating. Although it received support and was sent to the Department of Immigration and Naturalization for approval in May 1933, the change was protested by members of President Franklin Roosevelt’s cabinet and never enacted.

Fiercely driven, Kohler labored without respite to help German Jews but saw no progress. The anguish and despair he experienced may have caused his fatal heart attack in July 1934. In a B’nai B’rith Magazine tribute, his friend, Judge Abram Elkus, eulogized: “courage was the mark of his entire life.”

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