Harry Louis Selden, an editor who set aside his profession in order to promote the rescue of Jews from the Holocaust and establish a Jewish homeland, passed away in Rockville, Maryland, on February 14. He was 96.
Employed as managing editor of the humor magazine "Judge," his life changed dramatically in 1939 after he learned of the pro-Arab shift in British policy in Mandatory Palestine. He became active in American Friends of a Jewish Palestine (AFJP), established by followers of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, to raise funds to smuggle European Jews to Palestine in defiance of British restrictions. Forsaking his career as an editor, Selden devoted himself first to full-time writing and editing for the AFJP and then to helping Peter Bergson (Hillel Kook) in his work in the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe. The Bergson group was one of the first Jewish organizations to utilize such now-familiar protest tactics as full-page newspaper advertisements, public rallies, and lobbying on Capitol Hill - PR efforts in which editor Selden played a key role.
Selden, who later served as vice chairman of the Fair Campaign Practices Committee, is survived by his wife of 67 years, Florence, and their daughter, Judith. The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies ("www.WymanInstitute.org") has established a Harry Selden Memorial Fund to encourage research into the work of Selden and his colleagues. The Wyman Institute holds the Harry Selden Papers, a collection of memoirs and documents about his work.
Employed as managing editor of the humor magazine "Judge," his life changed dramatically in 1939 after he learned of the pro-Arab shift in British policy in Mandatory Palestine. He became active in American Friends of a Jewish Palestine (AFJP), established by followers of Ze'ev Jabotinsky, to raise funds to smuggle European Jews to Palestine in defiance of British restrictions. Forsaking his career as an editor, Selden devoted himself first to full-time writing and editing for the AFJP and then to helping Peter Bergson (Hillel Kook) in his work in the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe. The Bergson group was one of the first Jewish organizations to utilize such now-familiar protest tactics as full-page newspaper advertisements, public rallies, and lobbying on Capitol Hill - PR efforts in which editor Selden played a key role.
Selden, who later served as vice chairman of the Fair Campaign Practices Committee, is survived by his wife of 67 years, Florence, and their daughter, Judith. The David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies ("www.WymanInstitute.org") has established a Harry Selden Memorial Fund to encourage research into the work of Selden and his colleagues. The Wyman Institute holds the Harry Selden Papers, a collection of memoirs and documents about his work.