Nathan David Perlman (August 2, 1887 – June 29, 1952) was an American lawyer and politician from

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

who served as a member of the

U.S. House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives is a chamber of the bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Article One of th ...

from 1920 to 1927.

Life

Born in Prusice,

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

(then part of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

), Perlman immigrated to the United States in 1891 with his mother where they settled in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

. After attending the city's public schools he pursued higher education by attending College of the City of New York; and

New York University Law School The New York University School of Law (NYU Law) is the law school of New York University, a private research university in New York City. Established in 1835, it was the first law school established in New York City and is the oldest survivin ...

. Perlman graduated from law school in 1907, was admitted to the bar in 1909, and practiced law in New York City.

State assembly

Perlman was a Special Deputy

New York Attorney General The attorney general of New York is the chief legal officer of the U.S. state of New York and head of the Department of Law of the state government. The office has existed in various forms since 1626, originally established under the Dutch c ...

from 1912 to 1914; and a member of the

New York State Assembly The New York State Assembly is the lower house of the New York State Legislature, with the New York State Senate being the upper house. There are 150 seats in the Assembly. Assembly members serve two-year terms without term limits. The Ass ...

(New York Co., 6th D.) in

1915 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January *January – British physicist Sir Joseph Larmor publishes his observations on "The Influence of Local Atmospheric Cooling on Astronomical Refraction". *January 1 * ...

1916 Events Below, the events of the First World War have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 1 – The British Empire, British Royal Army Medical Corps carries out the first successful blood transfusion, using blood that has been stored ...

and

1917 Events Below, the events of World War I have the "WWI" prefix. January * January 9 – WWI – Battle of Rafa: The last substantial Ottoman Army garrison on the Sinai Peninsula is captured by the Egyptian Expeditionary Force's ...

Congress

He was elected as a Republican to the

66th United States Congress The 66th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, comprising the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C., from March 4, 1919, to ...

to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Fiorello H. La Guardia. Perlman was re-elected to the 67th, 68th and

69th United States Congress The 69th United States Congress was a meeting of the legislative branch of the United States federal government, consisting of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives. It met in Washington, D.C. from March 4, 1925, ...

es, holding office from November 2, 1920, to March 3, 1927.

Later career

Afterwards Perlman resumed the practice of law. He was a delegate to the New York State Convention to enact the Twenty-first Amendment, and then became a New York City Magistrate serving from May 1, 1935, to September 1, 1936. Perlman wanted to disrupt rallies in New York organized by the

German American Bund The German American Bund, or the German American Federation (, ''Amerikadeutscher Volksbund'', AV), was a German-American Nazi organization which was established in 1936 as a successor to the Friends of New Germany (FONG, FDND in German) and ...

, but could not find any legal means or justification to do so. Setting the law aside, Perlman then conspired with the organized crime figure

Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Lucky Luciano, Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the dev ...

to violently attack the rallies using Jewish mobsters. These attacks went on for months. At the New York state election, 1936, he ran on the Republican ticket for

but was defeated by the incumbent John J. Bennett Jr. He was then appointed as a justice of the Court of Special Sessions of the City of New York on November 26, 1936, and was re-appointed on July 1, 1945. Perlman was a senior official of the

American Jewish Congress The American Jewish Congress (AJCongress) is an association of American Jews organized to defend Jewish interests in the US and internationally through public policy advocacy, using diplomacy, legislation, and the courts. History The idea for a ...

and, in 1945, consulted with and provided assistance to U.S. Supreme Court Justice

Robert H. Jackson Robert Houghwout Jackson (February 13, 1892 – October 9, 1954) was an American lawyer, jurist, and politician who served as an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court from 1941 until his death in 1954. He had previously served as Un ...

, President Truman's appointee to serve as chief U.S. prosecutor of Nazi war criminals.

Death and burial

Perlman died at Beth Israel Hospital in New York City, and was buried at Mount Hebron Cemetery in

Queens Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...

Electoral history

References

Sources

External links

Jewish Gangsters
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Perlman, Nathan D 1887 births 1952 deaths Jewish members of the United States House of Representatives New York University School of Law alumni Republican Party members of the New York State Assembly American people of Polish-Jewish descent American anti-fascists Politicians from New York City New York state court judges Republican Party members of the United States House of Representatives from New York (state) 20th-century New York state court judges Lawyers from New York City 20th-century American lawyers Burials at Mount Hebron Cemetery (New York City) People from Trzebnica County Polish emigrants to the United States American Jewish Congress members 20th-century members of the New York State Legislature 20th-century members of the United States House of Representatives Jewish state legislators in New York (state)