Monroe Goldwater, honorary vice president of the Joint Distribution Committee and a man active in New York State politics, died Friday, 10 days after observing his 95th birthday. A memorial service will be scheduled at a later date.
Born in the Yorkville section of Manhattan, and a graduate of the New York University School of Law, Goldwater was a law partner of the late Edward Flynn, onetime Democratic National Chairman. Goldwater was on advisor to political figures and was a delegate to Democratic National Conventions since 1924.
In the 1930s he become increasingly active in the campaigns of the Jewish Federation of Greater New York. During World War II he served as Special Assistant to the U.S. Attorney General in the cases of conscientious objectors.
Goldwater become chairman of the JDC’s Reconstruction Committee in 1947 helping survivors of the Holocaust rebuild their lives. He later became the JDC’s vice president and then honorary vice president while continuing on the board of directors. He was president of the United Jewish Appeal of Greater New York for many years starting in 1944.
Several of his friends recognized his devotion to Jewish causes by establishing the Monroe Goldwater High School in Eilat, Israel.
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.
