Henry Ford’s repudiated attack on the Jews, the volume of articles entitled “The International Jew,” is rivaling his automobiles in European sales despite his apology for the book and withdrawal of circulation rights from the German publishers in 1927.
The thirty-second edition has just been issued by the Hammer-Verlag of Leipzig, which makes a total of 116,000 copies sold by the publishing house. In Barcelona the fourth edition has been brought out under the Hammer-Verlag’s imprint and is being sold at a nominal price. Sir Oswald Mosley’s Imperial Fascist League is distributing the book in England.
Although Mr. Ford followed his withdrawal of publication rights in 1927 by an announcement in 1934 that he had taken the matter up with his German representatives and that his name would no longer be used, the book is still issued under his name and the foreword to the last two editions says that “thanks are due to Henry Ford for having given the impulse to the unrolling of the Jewish question.”
The foreword adds: “The value of this book is continually increasing, and it in the nature of the relations of the Jews to the other nations that this value should increase with time. America and the Jews–this is the theme which to this day Henry Ford is the first and the only one to have tackled.”
Withdrawal of publication rights was made by Mr. Ford in a letter written Nov. 1, 1927, to Theodor Fritsch, the German anti-Semite who translated the book for the Hammer Verlag. The letter follows:
“One June 30, 1927, I issued a statement regarding articles concerning the Jews which had appeared in the Dearborn Independent and some of which have been reprinted in pamphlet form under the title ‘The International Jew.’ Being satisfied that these publications were unwarranted and that consequently it was my duty as an honorable man to retract the charges against the Jews contained in these publications and to withdraw the publications from circulation. I gave this statement the fullest publicity, and took it for granted that my wish in this regard would be scrupulously observed. I am enclosing a correct and authorized copy of that statement. All of the copies of ‘The International Jew’ in the possession or under the control of the Dearborn Publishing Company have been destroyed at my instance.
“I am informed through the public prints that you are still publishing and circulating these pamphlets in various European countries in a number of languages, using my name in connection therewith and asserting that the publication rights thereof have not been withdrawn.
“In order that there may be no misunderstanding as to my wishes in this regard, you are accordingly notified that whatever rights you have or claim to have to publish ‘The International Jew’ anywhere or in any language whatsoever, are hereby revoked and terminated, and that the publication, sale or other distribution of ‘The International Jew’ and the use of the name of Henry Ford or of the Dearborn Publishing Company in connection therewith, by you or by any person or corporation claiming under you or acting by your authority as agent, licensee or otherwise, are hereby forbidden.
“In acknowledging this letter will you kindly inform me of your assurance that you will in all respects acquiesce in this demand.”
In a circular advertising the book, the publishing house declares that Mr. Ford’s “retreat” was dictated by economic motives and “there can scarcely be a better proof of the world supremacy of all Jewry.”
The German edition of the book comprises 352 pages and sells for 4.50 reichsmarks.
Mr. Ford, has not replied to a request by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency for comment on the latest phase of the Nazi use of his repudiated volume.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
