Jewish boycott of German goods

A rally to boycott Nazi-Germany, held at the third Madison Square Garden on March 15, 1937. It was sponsored by the American Jewish Congress and the Jewish Labor Committee. John L. Lewis of the Congress of Industrial Organizations and New York City mayor Fiorello LaGuardia were among the speakers.

The Jewish boycott of German goods refers to one of the international Jewish initiatives against Nazi Germany.

The boycott started in March 1933 in both Europe and the US. According to Berel Lang it was uncoordinated and soon ended. Other sources claim it continued until the entry of the US into the war.

The Nazi regime was sufficiently concerned by the boycott that they protested internationally and on April 1, 1933 also organized a (one day) counter-boycott of Jewish business in Germany.

Both the Nazis and some outside Germany saw the boycott as an act of aggression, with the UK newspaper Daily Express going so far as to put as headline:

"Judea Declares War on Germany".

The Haavara Agreement (Transfer agreement) was signed on 25 August 1933, the success of this, together with lessened dependence on trade with the west had by 1937 largely negated the effects of the Jewish boycott on Germany.

According to a December 1936 article in Time Magazine the Association of German National Jews was then fighting against the Jewish boycott of German goods.