George Backer, president of the American ORT Federation from 1938 to 1950 and a president of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency from 1935 to 1950, died last night at Columbia Presbyterian Hospital after a long illness. Mr. Backer, who was 71, was a novelist, playwright and a former publisher of the New York Post. During the 1930s, Mr. Backer went to Europe several times to help Jewish refugees flee from Hitlerism. For this he was made a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor by the French government in 1936.
From 1932 to 1942 Mr. Backer was married to Dorothy Schiff. They bought the New York Post in 1939 and Mr. Backer, then a New York City Councilman chosen by the American Labor Party, became publisher. He was with the Office of War Information during World War II as propaganda policy director.
Mr. Backer was also a national vice-president of the Joint Distribution Committee; president of the central board of World ORT Union from 1946 to 1949; a director of the Palestine Economic Corp. and the Refugee Economic Corp and was associated with the American Jewish Committee. During the 1930s he wrote with S.N. Behrman, a play called “The Scant P. it,” and with Samuel Chotzinoff a play called “Honeymoon.” In 1966 he had published a novel, “Appearance of a Man.”
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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.
