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1st American ed. (1920)

{it} Enrico Ford (Henry Ford). L'ebreo internazionale: un problema del mondo. Milano [Italy]: Sonzogno, 1938

• Italian ed. of The international Jew: The world's foremost problem. Dearborn, MI [USA]: The Dearborn Publishing House, 1920.

Abstract

Translated into 12 languages and available throughout North America and Europe, The International Jew was widely read. Its contents rely heavily on the antisemitic tract The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an antisemitic publication that spread lies about Jews and advanced the idea of a Jewish conspiracy to conquer the world.

The International Jew describes the world's Jewish population as "being dispersed among the nations, but never merging themselves with nations and never losing a very distinctive identity." Mirroring another common stereotype in the United States and Europe, The International Jew asserted that "The Jew is the world's enigma. Poor in his masses, he yet controls the world's finances…." Every industry, it continues, had been "infiltrated" by Jewish people, from magazines, to theater, to real estate. Jews are also portrayed as crafty and greedy by nature.

Henry Ford, as an important business figure and industrialist, used his Dearborn Independent to legitimize and spread such views. The International Jew served as a central means of introducing antisemitic attitudes, and stereotypes could easily find their way into American public forums.