“jewish Applications Not Accepted”: No Employment for Jews in New York, “chances Against Jews out of

Some agencies frankly declare, through printed slips handed out to callers, that Jewish applicants will not even be registered for employment, let alone given a chance to see prospective employers. And some have had the brazen effrontery to post placards declaring: “For the present, Jewish applications not accepted”. One agency manager, the more quickly to dispose of a roomful of applicants, told them en masse: “I’m sorry, but we have no jobs open for book-keepers – or Jews”, Rabbi J. X. Cohen, Assistant Rabbi of the Free Synagogue and Secretary of the National Committee on economic discrimination set up by the American Jewish Congress, declared to-day, complaining that the Jewish leaders in New York were neglecting their duty of taking up the fight against the anti-Jewish discrimination existing in places of employment in New York City.

When some of these leaders have been rebuked for neglect of duty, Rabbi Cohen said, their response and defence has been that their eyes have been turned eastward to the awful plight of Jewry overseas. But it bodes ill for the Jews of Eastern Europe, and of Palestine, too, Rabbi Cohen exclaimed, if economic strangulation should overtake any large segment of American Jewry.

Describing the results of his recent investigation with regard to discrimination against Jews in employment in New York City, Rabbi Cohen said that one investigator had reported that he had applied to exactly 100 agencies for a position as bookkeeper, clerk, etc., and in 91 cases he was told that a Jew would be unacceptable. The files of an agency serving 400 representative corporations and business establishments came recently under scrutiny, disclosing that 89 per cent. of them preferred Christian applicants. These two instances, Rabbi Cohen said, give startling verification to the Broun-Britt declaration that the chances against the Jew out of work are as ten to one.

What is the most feared question posed to a Jewish applicant for a job? he continued. It is – “What is your religion?”. Not training, talents or experience, but faith, seems to be the primary requisite in getting a job. Agencies use the semi-secret terms – No. 1, No. 2, or No. 3 – to describe the applicants. One is a Protestant; two is a Catholic; three is a Jew. Recently, in the course of my investigation, I applied for a position with a great corporation with over 34,000 employees in New York, and reputed to discriminate against Jewish applicants. A careful scrutiny of the 4 page, 78 question application blank showed no basis for religious classification. Since religious classification is the keystone of the whole arch of religious discrimination, I was about to say to myself that the rumour concerning this company was false. But – in an off-hand, after-thought manner, the interviewer asked, “And what is your religion?”, and my answer went into the upper left square on page one – in code.

The secrecy with which some employers exercise discrimination, Rabbi Cohen concludes, discloses the weakness of their position and the wisdom of bringing the whole subject out into the light for discussion, consideration and remedial action.