associated with him in his law offices at 25 West Forty-third street. Another sister, Miss Rose Kohler, who was visiting in Cincinnati, was informed of her brother’s death by telephone. She left immediately for New York City.
The body was brought to New York late yesterday, when funeral arrangements were still incomplete. Except for the two sisters and the brother mentioned above, there are no other immediate survivors. Dr. Kohler’s wife, the late Winifred Lichtenauer Kohler, whom he married in 1906, died several years ago. The jurist had resided at 777 West End Avenue, New York City.
Max James Kohler was born in Detroit on May 22, 1871, the son of the late Rev. Dr. Kaufmann and Johanna Einhorn Kohler. He received his Bachelor of Science degree from the College of the City of New York in 1890 and his Master of Science degree three years later from the same institution. In 1925 Hebrew Union College conferred the honorary degree of Doctor of Hebrew Laws upon him. While he was attending C. C. N. Y. he also took courses at Columbia University, where he received A. M. and LL.B. degrees in 1891 and 1893 respectively.
An Independent Democrat, he was appointed assistant United States district attorney for New York in 1894, a position which he held for four years. Immediately thereafter he spent one year as special assistant United States district attorney for New York. In 1905 he was named honorary secretary of the National Committee on the celebration of the 250th anniversary of the settlement of the Jews in the United States.
WROTE MANY BOOKS
He was the author of many legal and sociological books and papers, many of them devoted to the problem of Jewish rights. Among them were “Methods of Review in Criminal Cases in the United States,” “Un-American Character of Race Legislation,” “Jewish Rights at International Congresses,” “Jewish Disabilities in the Balkan States with Particular Reference to the Congress of Berlin,” “Jewish Rights at the Congresses of Vienna and Aix la-Chapelle,” “The Right of Asylum,” “An Important European Mission to Investigate American Immigration Conditions,” “Judah P. Benjamin, Statesman and Jurist,” “Some Aspects of the Immigration Problem,” “Injustice of a Literary Test for Immigrants,” “Registration of Aliens—a Dangerous Project,” and “The Jews in America.”
Dr. Kohler also wrote numerous articles on immigration and Chinese exclusion. He was a frequent contributor to the publication of the American Jewish Historical Society and did a number of brochures for the Jewish Encyclopedia.
JEWRY MOURNS KOHLER’S DEATH AS GREAT LOSS
Sincere regret at the passing of Max J. Kohler, eminent jurist and scholar, and generous praise for his activity in behalf of the Jewish people, were voiced yesterday by prominent lawyers and social workers.
Morris D. Waldman: Max Kohler’s passing is a profound loss both to the community at large and the Jewish community. He will be sadly missed not only by those whose lives had the inspiration of close contact with him, not only by those who received the benefits of his generous scholarship, but also by those millions in whose fate and whose rights he was so wholeheartedly interested, and by those throughout the world who looked to his wisdom for counsel and help. He was a man who dedicated his life to the principle of human freedom.
Bernard S. Deutsch, president of American Jewish Congress: It is with deep shock that I learn of the sudden passing of Max J. Kohler. Mr. Kohler was one of the finest public servants in the interests of the Jewish people. Though there were many of us who often differed with him in his views, all of us are united in his views, all of us are united in appreciation of his selfless and consistent service to the Jewish people and in the recognition that the supreme desire of his life was to serve his people.
One of his finest contributions is in the field of immigration, where his study of the legal aspects and his clarification of the issues involved has done much to ease the vigors by the present immigration strictures to this country.
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.
