2: Article excerpts, Jerome Frank’s “Red, White, and Blue Herring,” 1941.

2: Article excerpts, Jerome Frank’s “Red, White, and Blue Herring,” 1941.

Jerome Frank was a prominent Jewish American judge and legal scholar. On December 6, 1941 (about a year and a half after "Select Clientele" was published, and one day before the attack on Pearl Harbor that quickly entered the United States into World War II), the Saturday Evening Post published an article written by Frank explaining to the American people the folly of anti-Semitism and trying to dispel anti-Semitic tropes, particularly the belief that Jewish Americans were more loyal to world Jewry than to the United States. The article followed accusations by American isolationists that American Jews, concerned for Jews in Germany and Eastern Europe, were the primary proponents of American intervention in the developing European war.

Suggested Activity: Ask students what they think of the excerpts from Frank’s article. What claims is he making? What is the “hush policy” he’s talking about, and what are its consequences? Does it exist today among Jews? Frank claims that, at the time he wrote his article, most American Jews would not “fight and die” to save the Jewish people, but would “fight and die” to save American democracy. Why would he feel the need to make this argument? What does it indicate about popular opinion on Jewish Americans during this era that might help us understand "Select Clientele"? Is the question of loyalty to America versus loyalty to the Jewish people still relevant for American Jews today?

For a longer project, have students do some research to try to determine whether Frank’s claim was legitimate in 1941. What can they come up with to support or challenge his claim?

Source: Jerome Frank, "Red, White, and Blue Herring," The Saturday Evening Post, December 6 1941, 10, 86, https://archive.org/details/the-saturday-evening-post-1941-12-06/page/n9.