Joachim Prinz (May 10, 1902 – September 30, 1988) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ger ...

- American

rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

who was outspoken against

Nazism Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in ...

and became a

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after '' Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in J ...

leader. As a young rabbi in

Berlin Berlin is Capital of Germany, the capital and largest city of Germany, both by area and List of cities in Germany by population, by population. Its more than 3.85 million inhabitants make it the European Union's List of cities in the European U ...

, he was forced to confront the rise of

, and eventually emigrated to the United States in 1937. There he became vice-chairman of the

World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) was founded in Geneva, Switzerland in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress' main purpose is to act a ...

, an active member of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

, an outspoken civil rights leader, and a participant in the

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom The March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, also known as simply the March on Washington or The Great March on Washington, was held in Washington, D.C., on August 28, 1963. The purpose of the march was to advocate for the civil and economic rig ...

Biography

Prinz was born in 1902 in the village of Bierdzan (near Oppeln), in the

Prussia Prussia, , Old Prussian: ''Prūsa'' or ''Prūsija'' was a German state on the southeast coast of the Baltic Sea. It formed the German Empire under Prussian rule when it united the German states in 1871. It was ''de facto'' dissolved by an ...

province of Silesia The Province of Silesia (german: Provinz Schlesien; pl, Prowincja Śląska; szl, Prowincyjŏ Ślōnskŏ) was a province of Prussia from 1815 to 1919. The Silesia region was part of the Prussian realm since 1740 and established as an official p ...

. Prinz was born to a Jewish family. Early on, he became motivated by a charismatic rabbi and Prinz took an increasing interest in

Judaism Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in the ...

. His Jewish roots grew even stronger following his mother's death. By 1917, he had also joined Blau Weiss (Blue White), the

Zionist youth movement A Zionist youth movement ( he, תנועות הנוער היהודיות הציוניות ''tnuot hanoar hayehudiot hatsioniot'') is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, in ...

. At 21, Joachim Prinz received his Ph.D. in Philosophy, and had minored in Art History, at the

University of Giessen University of Giessen, official name Justus Liebig University Giessen (german: Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen), is a large public research university in Giessen, Hesse, Germany. It is named after its most famous faculty member, Justus von ...

. He was ordained as a rabbi at the Jewish Theological Seminary in Breslau. He married Lucie Horovitz, the daughter of the seminary's most prominent professor. She died in Berlin in 1931, shortly after giving birth to their daughter Lucie. Prinz married Hilde Goldschmidt in 1932. They had four children, Michael (born in Berlin), Jonathan, and Deborah (both born in the United States), and they adopted another daughter, Jo Seelmann, who was Hilde’s cousin and who had survived a Nazi concentration camp. As his prominence grew in Germany and his fears of

Hitler Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Germany from 1933 until his death in 1945. He rose to power as the leader of the Nazi Party, becoming the chancellor in 1933 and the ...

's reign coming to fruition, he earned the sponsorship of Rabbi Stephen Wise who was a close adviser to President

Franklin Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (; ; January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), often referred to by his initials FDR, was an American politician and attorney who served as the 32nd president of the United States from 1933 until his death in 1945. As the ...

. In 1937, Prinz immigrated into the United States, after giving a farewell sermon attended by thousands, including

Adolf Eichmann Otto Adolf Eichmann ( ,"Eichmann"
'' He immediately began lecturing throughout the U.S. for the United Palestine Appeal, established in the 1920s as the fund raising arm in the United States for the

Jewish Agency for Israel The Jewish Agency for Israel ( he, הסוכנות היהודית לארץ ישראל, translit=HaSochnut HaYehudit L'Eretz Yisra'el) formerly known as The Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. ...

. It was, essentially, the precursor to what became the American Jewish support base for a nation state of Israel and the United Israel Appeal. Joachim Prinz settled in

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state in the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. It is bordered on the north and east by the state of New York (state), New York; on the ea ...

as the spiritual leader of Temple B'Nai Abraham in Newark. Prinz died of a heart attack at St. Barnabas Hospital in

Livingston, New Jersey Livingston is a township in Essex County, New Jersey. As of the 2010 U.S. census, the township's population was 29,366, reflecting an increase of 1,975 (+7.2%) from the 27,391 counted in the 2000 Census. In 2019, the Population Estimates Progr ...

in 1988. He was buried in the B'nai Abraham Memorial Park.

Activism

March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Martin Luther King, Jr

Jewish Rights

Within a short period, Prinz's activism helped him rise to become one of the top leaders within the Jewish organizational structure. He held top leadership positions in the

, as president of the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress or AJC) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests at home and abroad through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The AJCongress was ...

from 1958–1966, and as Chairman of th
World Conference of Jewish Organizations
Later, he was a director of the ''Conference of Jewish Material Claims Against Germany''. Prinz's early involvement in the Zionist movement made him a close ally and friend of the founding leaders of

the State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

. Prinz was essential to establishing what became the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. Prinz was Chairman from 1965-1967.

Broader Civil Rights

Dr. Prinz devoted much of his life in the United States to the Civil Rights Movement. He saw the plight of African Americans and other minority groups in the context of his own experience under Hitler. Already in 1937, the year of his immigration, Prinz wrote in an article for the German-Jewish periodical '' Der Morgen'': : ''Die Neger in Harlem erinnern uns immer noch an die Zeiten von Onkel Toms Hütte. Wir verstehen deshalb nicht, daß auch die Juden dort die Neger höchst gleichgültig betrachten, und daß auch sie hochmütig sind... Wir können das nicht. Wir verstehen sie zu gut, die Schwarzen im Ghetto zu Harlem.'' : "The negroes in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Harl ...

still remind us of the times of

Uncle Tom's Cabin ''Uncle Tom's Cabin; or, Life Among the Lowly'' is an anti-slavery novel by American author Harriet Beecher Stowe. Published in two volumes in 1852, the novel had a profound effect on attitudes toward African Americans and slavery in the U ...

. Therefore we cannot understand that the Jews there, too, regard the negroes with great indifference, and that they are equally haughty... For us mmigrants from Nazi Germany this is impossible. We understand them too well, those blacks in the ghetto of Harlem." From his early days in Newark, a city with a very large minority community, he spoke from his pulpit about the disgrace of discrimination. He joined the picket lines across America protesting racial prejudice from unequal employment to segregated schools, housing and all other areas of life. While serving as President of the American Jewish Congress, he represented the Jewish community as an organizer of the August 28, 1963, March on Washington. He came to the podium immediately following a stirring spiritual sung by the gospel singer

Mahalia Jackson Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was integral to ...

and just before Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous " I Have a Dream" speech. Dr. Prinz's address is remembered for its contention that, based on his experience as a rabbi in Nazi Germany after the rise of Hitler, in the face of discrimination, "the most urgent, the most disgraceful, the most shameful and the most tragic problem is silence." Reston, James via ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

''
"The March's First Test: In The Churches"
'' St. Petersburg Times'', August 31, 1963. Accessed January 11, 2011. Prinz attended King's funeral following his assassination in April 1968.

Books

* ' ("On the concept of religious experience") - Breslau 1927 * ' ("Biblical heroes and adventures") - Berlin-Charlottenburg: P. Baumann 1930 * ' ("Jewish history") - Berlin: Verlag für Kulturpolitik 1931 (2. Auflage: ''Illustrierte jüdische Geschichte.'' Berlin: Brandus 1933) * ' ("We Jews") Berlin: Reiss 1934 (Excerpts in: Christoph Schulte, ' ("Germanness and Jewishness. A dispute among Jews in Germany") - Stuttgart: Reclam 1993, Reclams Universal-Bibliothek; Nr. 8899, ) * ' ("Bible stories") - Berlin: Reiss Verl. 1934 (7 editions to 1937, new edition: New York: Atheneum Jewish publisher in 1988) * ' ("The Friday evening") - Berlin: Brandus 935 Nachdruck: Zürich: Verl. Jüd. Buch-Gemeinde 1954 * ' ("The kingdoms of Israel and Judah") - Berlin: Reiss 1936 * ' ("Life in the ghetto") - Berlin: Löwe 1937 * ''Prayers for the High Holidays'', 1951. * ''The Dilemma of the Modern Jew'', Boston: Little, Brown, 1962. * ''Popes from the ghetto: a view of medieval Christendom'', New York: Horizon Press, 1966. * ''The secret Jews'', New York: Random House, 1973. * ''Joachim Prinz, Rebellious Rabbi: An Autobiography: the German and early American years'',(ed. Michael A. Meyer) Indiana University Press, 2008

References and citations

External links

Speech on March on Washington
{{DEFAULTSORT:Prinz, Joachim 1902 births 1988 deaths American activists American Jewish Congress American Zionists American Conservative rabbis 20th-century German rabbis University of Giessen alumni Zionist activists Jewish peace activists Silesian Jews American people of German-Jewish descent American people of Silesian descent Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to the United States People from the Province of Upper Silesia People from the Province of Silesia People from the Kingdom of Saxony People from Opole County Activists for African-American civil rights 20th-century American rabbis