A Zekelman Holocaust Center discussion examined how Henry Ford and Charles Coughlin spread antisemitism before World War II, how Detroit groups resisted Nazi influence, and why that history remains relevant after a 2026 attack on a West Bloomfield synagogue.
Michigan lawmakers adopted House Resolution 361 on Sept. 23, 2026. The measure recorded more than 150 antisemitic incidents in Michigan during 2025 and designated October as Combating Antisemitism Month. It also referenced the March 12 attack at Temple Israel in West Bloomfield Township. The discussion at the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills took place on a Thursday.
The program examined two powerful figures who used mass media to spread antisemitic ideas before World War II: Ford Motor Co. CEO Henry Ford and Catholic priest Charles Coughlin. It also focused on a part of the story that receives less attention. Jewish organizations and allied communities in Detroit publicly resisted antisemitism and Nazism.
Antisemitism in uncertain times
Harry Smith, the center's senior education program director, said southeast Michigan's resources, cultural diversity and class diversity helped create conditions in which antisemitism could spread. A large German immigrant population settled in the Midwest after World War I. Some immigrants joined the German American Bund, a pro-Nazi organization that reached 69 chapters at its height.
Economic hardship made that appeal stronger. So did political uncertainty. Catherine Cangany, CEO of the Jewish Historic Society of Michigan, said antisemitism has historically increased during economic depressions and periods of political anxiety. People seek simple explanations when they fear the future. Jewish people have repeatedly become the target of that search for blame.
The discussion also followed the March 12 attack at Temple Israel. According to the Anti-Defamation League, a man drove a truck into the synagogue while 106 children were inside its preschool. Gunfire followed at the scene. The FBI later characterized the incident as a Hezbollah-inspired act of terrorism targeting the Jewish community. A 2026 U.S. Commission on Civil Rights report placed the Michigan attack within a broader national pattern involving assaults on Jewish institutions.
The episode feels immediate in Farmington Hills, West Bloomfield Township and nearby communities. The City of Farmington Hills is the municipality where the Holocaust center is located. Oakland County administration encompasses both the center and the Temple Israel area. Those boundaries do not contain the history. Schools, houses of worship, cultural organizations and local governments all deal with the effects of public prejudice.
Rep. Noah Arbit, a Michigan Democrat, said in a floor speech that the Temple Israel congregation was targeted because it is proudly Zionist. That framing separates antisemitic violence against Jews and Jewish institutions from legitimate debate over religion or government policy. It also points to the continuing dispute over how political language can reinforce or challenge antisemitic assumptions.
Ford and Coughlin used mass media
Ford used the Dearborn Independent to publish antisemitic propaganda. At its peak, the newspaper circulated 900,000 copies. That made it the second-largest newspaper in the United States behind the New York Times. Cangany said antisemites still use archives from the Dearborn Independent to promote those ideas.
The history exists alongside institutions that now employ and serve millions of people. Ford is one of the world's largest vehicle producers. Henry Ford Health is the region's largest hospital network. Smith said working for either organization does not mean accepting Ford's views. Modern institutions should not use their present-day role to erase the record of their founder.
Coughlin spread antisemitic claims through his radio program and his newspaper Social Justice from his home in Royal Oak. In 1938, he claimed that Jewish financiers controlled world politics. He was also associated with Gerald L.K. Smith. Smith later established the America First party in Detroit in 1943 and modeled his message distribution on Coughlin's radio strategy.
Jeffrey Ram, a Jewish resident who moved to Royal Oak in 1977, said his parents immediately connected the city with Coughlin when he bought a house there. A local address can keep its historical meaning long after the person tied to it is gone.
That memory lasts.
Detroit organized against Nazism
Resistance did not wait for antisemitic propaganda to disappear. In 1937, members of 45 Jewish organizations in Detroit protested the German American Bund outside the Hammond Building downtown. Smith described the action as coordinated community resistance. One organization did not act alone.
Detroit's response grew again in 1943 after Rabbi Stephen Wise of New York brought the Nazis' mass murder of Jews to the attention of the press. Allied powers condemned the extermination of Jews the following month. Their statement did not include a mandate to rescue people in danger. Wise then organized rallies across the United States, including one at Cass Technical High School in Detroit.
Poles, Czechs, Protestants, Catholics and Jews supported that Detroit rally. The coalition treated Nazi tyranny as a threat to more than one religious or ethnic group. It called for solidarity with Jews and other victims of persecution. Its makeup showed that public opposition could cross community and class lines.
The coalition mattered.
Why the history remains current
For residents trying to understand present-day antisemitism, the lesson is not just a list of names. It is the way prejudice moves through newspapers, radio, political messaging and periods of public fear. The same region that produced prominent antisemitic voices also produced organized opposition to them.
A recent school account involving Nazi imagery at Warner Middle School shows why that distinction still has practical value. The Farmington Public Schools board and district administration operate in a community where school safety, student conduct and historical literacy are closely connected. District records and public discussions offer local context for how incidents are addressed.
Residents can place those school questions within the wider civic responsibilities of the City of Farmington Hills, Oakland County administration and the State of Michigan. Municipal governments, school districts and state agencies have different authorities. Each helps maintain the public records, educational policies and community partnerships needed to respond to bias without normalizing it.
ADL CEO Jonathan Greenblatt separately accused U.S. Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed of peddling in antisemitic tropes in campaign messaging. The accusation shows how arguments about antisemitism have entered current Michigan politics. Such claims require careful attribution and scrutiny. The historical record shows why public officials, candidates and community institutions should address antisemitism directly instead of leaving audiences to interpret coded language on their own.
The evidence presented at the Zekelman Holocaust Center points to a clear civic duty. Teach the history accurately. Preserve the record of resistance alongside the record of hate. Antisemitism did not emerge from nowhere in southeast Michigan, and it has never been the region's only story. Informed recognition must lead to organized public opposition.
